Intercomm fic: Never Lie To A Dying Man
Title: Never lie to a dying man
Author: Channiegurl
Word count: 616
Raiting: R
Characters/Pairings: Djaq/Will
Warnings: AU, Character death.
Summary: Those six words had been her constant mantra in the battle feilds. But now, for the first time, Djaq found herself battling against them.
Never lie to a dying man.
That was one of the first things Djaq had learnt from her father. She’d seen men die in his care many times. A lot, probably most, had gotten better, but some had died. And he had never once lied to them. He’d been honest with them always. When they asked how bad it was, he’d told them without hesitation.
As brutal as the honesty often was, Djaq knew it was for the best. Giving false hope to someone when there was nothing you could do was worse by far than the fact that they were dying.
Djaq followed every word her father had ever taught her about treating the sick and injured. Respect a dying man’s wishes. Don’t let a patient fall asleep. But that first piece of advice was the one that came back to her more than any other. Whenever things looked bad, and she switched off her emotions to deal with the task at hand, this was always the first thing she thought of.
There was a difference between lying and not telling the truth of course. If they didn’t ask you, then you didn’t have to tell them. Secretly, Djaq always prayed they wouldn’t ask.
Never lie to a dying man.
She hadn’t lied to Marian, when she was lying in that cave. Djaq hadn’t pretended she was ok. She hadn’t said “it’s not as bad as it looks”, although that’s exactly what most people would have said. A miracle had saved Marian that time, but Djaq never regretted telling her the truth, she was sure Marian appreciated it.
Those six words, her constant mantra in the battle fields.
But now, for the first time, Djaq found herself battling against them. Because this couldn’t be happening. This man could not be dying. Not her friend, her Will. Will was not meant to die like this. He was meant to die many, many years from now, in his sleep. That’s what he wanted. What Djaq wanted too.
Blood stained the fresh snow beneath him, more bubbling at his lips as he tried to speak.
Djaq’s hands shook as she tried to quieten him, wiping the blood away from his mouth, stroking his hair. She didn’t know, or care, where the rest of the gang was. She didn’t know if they’d made it to safety. She didn’t even know if the guards were still right behind her. Her whole world had narrowed down to this one single point, and those words still echoing in her head.
“Please.” Will mumbled, gripping Djaq’s arm as she tried to move him. His breath was staggered, fighting for each extra second. “Please just...tell me everything’s alright.”
Djaq couldn’t stop the sobbing that was making it almost as difficult for her to speak.
Never lie to a dying man.
“Will..” she began to shake her head but stopped when she felt Will’s hand brush her cheek. Surely it was meant to be her catching his tears now?
“I know.” He took another deep, rattling breath, the last of his energy. “I know it’s not, just please tell me everything’s...alright.”
Never lie to dying man. Respect a dying man’s wishes. Djaq never thought the two would come into conflict quite so much as this. This choice she now had to make.
She already knew there was nothing she could do.
Closing her eyes, Djaq hesitated and when she opened her eyes again, she forced a smile even through her tears.
“Everything’s...ok, Will.” She lied. She bent and kissed his forehead, felt him kiss her cheek one final time.
“It’s all going to be just fine. Close your eyes. You can go to sleep now.”
Author: Channiegurl
Word count: 616
Raiting: R
Characters/Pairings: Djaq/Will
Warnings: AU, Character death.
Summary: Those six words had been her constant mantra in the battle feilds. But now, for the first time, Djaq found herself battling against them.
Never lie to a dying man.
That was one of the first things Djaq had learnt from her father. She’d seen men die in his care many times. A lot, probably most, had gotten better, but some had died. And he had never once lied to them. He’d been honest with them always. When they asked how bad it was, he’d told them without hesitation.
As brutal as the honesty often was, Djaq knew it was for the best. Giving false hope to someone when there was nothing you could do was worse by far than the fact that they were dying.
Djaq followed every word her father had ever taught her about treating the sick and injured. Respect a dying man’s wishes. Don’t let a patient fall asleep. But that first piece of advice was the one that came back to her more than any other. Whenever things looked bad, and she switched off her emotions to deal with the task at hand, this was always the first thing she thought of.
There was a difference between lying and not telling the truth of course. If they didn’t ask you, then you didn’t have to tell them. Secretly, Djaq always prayed they wouldn’t ask.
Never lie to a dying man.
She hadn’t lied to Marian, when she was lying in that cave. Djaq hadn’t pretended she was ok. She hadn’t said “it’s not as bad as it looks”, although that’s exactly what most people would have said. A miracle had saved Marian that time, but Djaq never regretted telling her the truth, she was sure Marian appreciated it.
Those six words, her constant mantra in the battle fields.
But now, for the first time, Djaq found herself battling against them. Because this couldn’t be happening. This man could not be dying. Not her friend, her Will. Will was not meant to die like this. He was meant to die many, many years from now, in his sleep. That’s what he wanted. What Djaq wanted too.
Blood stained the fresh snow beneath him, more bubbling at his lips as he tried to speak.
Djaq’s hands shook as she tried to quieten him, wiping the blood away from his mouth, stroking his hair. She didn’t know, or care, where the rest of the gang was. She didn’t know if they’d made it to safety. She didn’t even know if the guards were still right behind her. Her whole world had narrowed down to this one single point, and those words still echoing in her head.
“Please.” Will mumbled, gripping Djaq’s arm as she tried to move him. His breath was staggered, fighting for each extra second. “Please just...tell me everything’s alright.”
Djaq couldn’t stop the sobbing that was making it almost as difficult for her to speak.
Never lie to a dying man.
“Will..” she began to shake her head but stopped when she felt Will’s hand brush her cheek. Surely it was meant to be her catching his tears now?
“I know.” He took another deep, rattling breath, the last of his energy. “I know it’s not, just please tell me everything’s...alright.”
Never lie to dying man. Respect a dying man’s wishes. Djaq never thought the two would come into conflict quite so much as this. This choice she now had to make.
She already knew there was nothing she could do.
Closing her eyes, Djaq hesitated and when she opened her eyes again, she forced a smile even through her tears.
“Everything’s...ok, Will.” She lied. She bent and kissed his forehead, felt him kiss her cheek one final time.
“It’s all going to be just fine. Close your eyes. You can go to sleep now.”