Possibly to late (a Zac Levi/Tom Hiddleston story) (Ami Book 3)

A battle of wills

*Zac*
Zac had almost given up when Tom finally took a gasping breath and the blue colour started to reside from his lips, the colour returning to his face.

"Fuck Tom, I thought I lost you there". Zac pulled his legs up and put his arms around his knees or the left arm because the right arm wouldn't work and he couldn't hold back the tears.

Tom coughed violently and slowly sat up, but he would have fallen over from the dizziness if Zac hadn't been right at his side catching him and supporting him.

"What happened Zac ? There was another earthquake, and then everything just went black". Tom was blinking confused, he was clutching his chest, it felt like he had been stepped on by an elephant.

Zac dried his eyes and helped Tom to his feet. "A whole house came down on top of us, so I guess we were kind of lucky".

"Well you can say that again, we better get going, we have several hours of walking in front of us". Tom sighed, they were only about half way there, and it didn't seem to get any easier.

Zac grabbed his arm and shook his head. "No Tom, you are done, we are finding someone who can get you to safety, but your trip ends here".

"No I am not leaving you here, I said I was with you, and I am with you to the end". Tom said with certainty.

Zac snapped around, his voice broken and emotional. "Tom I just dug  you out from under a wall and gave you fucking CPR, you weren't breathing, you were practically dead for God's sake, you could have internal bleeding, so yes you are done".

"Zac I am capable of .. Fuck Zac what happened to your arm ?" He had just noticed that Zac's right arm was hanging down limp.

He shook his head. "I kind of landed on it and something hit my shoulder, I kind of made it worse digging you out I guess, so it kind of don't work".

"Seriously Zac, how would you go on alone with only one arm ? Do you really think I am going to leave you like this ?" Tom was shaking his head.

Zac knew it wouldn't help to try and reason with Tom, but it didn't keep him from trying. "I will be okay Tom, this is my quest. I would never forgive myself if you got badly hurt".

"Just stop trying, I am more stubborn than you are and now let me check that arm". Tom was very gentle, but Zac couldn't keep back a gasp of pain as he touched his shoulder.

Tom got out the first aid kit, luckily it contained a sling and he helped Zac get his arm into it, it would let him rest it a bit and stop him from using it.

"Let's get going, but we better take it a bit easy". Tom slung the backpack over his shoulder, Zac logically wasn't able to carry it anymore.

Zac sighed and followed Tom, he hated it, but unfortunately Tom was right, he wouldn't get far on his own with only one usable arm, and he knew the smart thing would be to give up. Tom needed to be checked by a doctor, but he couldn't, he needed to know if she was okay.

It was hard getting anywhere, not only because of the debris and destruction around them, but also because Tom had to help Zac every time they had to crawl over things, as he couldn't do it very well with one arm.

Tom was unusually quiet, he didn't feel very well, his chest hurt a lot, but he guessed that was to be expected and he didn't want to worry Zac any more.