Sick (Peterick AU)

I Will Hold My Tongue

White.

Lights.

I'm moving.

I can't move.

Where are they?

I groan, make an attempt to touch my head, only to realize that I've been restrained.

Fuck.

I hear yelling, which only fuels the horrible fire behind my eyes. I slowly regain feeling, and immediately regret waking up, even though I'd had no choice in the matter.

Everything burns. Some places more than others. Nevertheless, I'm in pain.

More yelling. Those horrible lights. I feel myself shake a bit, suddenly igniting every part of my body into an even more horrid inferno.

I stop.

No more noise, until a nurse is beside me. She says something. I can't understand her.

Then, gradually, the pain I'm feeling lessens. First, my arms and hands, then my head, my torso, my hips, my legs, and lastly, my feet. Everything becomes numb. A feeling of drowsiness overtakes me, and breathing becomes easier.

Morphine?

"Yes," someone to my right interrupts my thinking. "Morphine." This confuses me. I said that out loud? The person scoffs a bit. It sounds feminine. They finally come into my field of vision, lightly shaking their head. It is a girl... who is she, though?

"Hi, Patrick," she cuts into my thoughts again. "I'm Alice. Your new nurse, for the length of Ryan's recovery."

"Ryan's okay?" I ask, relieved. I begin to think of Pete, though, and find myself too scared to ask about him. Oh, god... what if he's hurt? Or worse...

Stop. Stop. He's fine. Ryan survived. Pete's going to be fine. I hope...

She checks my IV once over, and runs a few diagnostics; I think that's what they call it. "Ryan's fine," she finally answers. "A bit sore, I'm sure. The truck's brakes apparently went out, and he couldn't stop for the red light. They're still doing some investigations, though. Everything will be okay."

Through her spiel, I decide to push away my fears of asking. "and Pete?"

She turns from the IV and other monitors to answer me, but is interrupted by Dr. Priddy himself, pushing the sliding door and curtains on my right side closed. I block them out for a second, slipping into a stupor, and trying to remember it correctly.

It was bright outside. Not as bright as hospital lights, but still almost blinding. We were in Ryan's car. It smelled like watermelon and cinnamon. Pete and Ryan were talking about Harry Potter. I was smiling. Pete was too. A truck barreled toward us. I blacked out.

Now I'm in the hospital, and my doctor is saying something to me. He's saying something to me.

"What?" I ask on reflex, sounding more annoyed than intended. "Sorry," I apologize for my outburst.

"It's fine, Patrick," Priddy says, his voice raspy. "How are you holding up?"

He only talks to me like this when he has bad news. "Fine. What's going on?" I ask hesitantly, not sure if I really want to know the answer.

"Pete," he begins, finally getting to the point. "is not in the best condition right now. He's stable for the moment, but it's unlikely he'll stay that way."