Deal With It - Sidemen Fanfiction

Epilogue - Six Add None

S•I•M•O•N

His body was entangled in the sheets impossibly, surrounded by a small collection of wires and tubes, his pale skin blending with the white covers. Eyes shut, breathing peaceful, he almost seemed at ease except for the quiet mumbling and shivers. My own eyes were as wide and open as they had been a day before, never straying from the sight in front of me, ignoring the door as it open and shut numerous times.

"He looks half dead," Ethan had commented the first time the door creaked on its hinges. Perhaps he saw my flinch, my eyebrows knitting a furrowed scarf across my forehead but he rapidly back-pedalled, trying to reassure me.

"He looked worse when I first found him in the basement Si," his voice was lower the second time, his hand resting on my shoulder as I continued to stare at Josh's sleeping face, "They said he's going to get better."

"They said he wouldn't just go back to normal," I had retorted finally, biting my lip in frustration, "Fuck JJ." This comment had earned a confident nod of agreement, every small shred of trust or familial love attached to my best friend long gone in Ethan's eyes. But despite my venomous words, my resolve was slowly failing me.

"Try not to worry," he left with a final squeeze of my arm and a small but ever present smile. And for the second time I was left alone.

The next time the door opened, the end of the day had finally crept up on me, the sun slowly disappearing behind the glass of the small, prison-like window of the hospital room on the fourth floor. The view was uninspiring to say the least, looking out on to the back of some industrial building, the bricks stained with years of wear and tear, metal fire escapes twisting and warping out of shape. Tobi had crossed the room, his own eyes fixed on the view as if it was a picturesque postcard scene, feigning interest to avoid the sight of our mutual friend lying silently on the bed nearby.

"How's the cut?" I had broken the silence, prompting him to turn, sporting a small cross hatched pattern of surgical tape across one cheek. A mere shrug in response, I watched him finally spare a glance towards Josh, his nose wrinkling slightly in discomfort.

"Has he," he began uncertainly, "You know, done anything?" I shook my head, the sides of my mouth turning up slightly.

"What did you think?" I asked amusedly, "He got up at lunch time and did a tap dance on the bed. Then just five minutes ago he recited the entire works of Shakespeare before going back to sleep." Tobi laughed slightly, shaking his head at my weak attempt at sarcasm before sitting quietly with me for a few minutes.

"Are you going to get some sleep?" He asked in concern, "You must be exhausted too." I nodded convincingly, eventually persuading him to go and rest himself, leaving me alone with Josh and a small chair for a bed.

The third and final time the door opened before he opened his eyes again, it was the dead of night. There was the soft hum of machines, the sound of laboured breathing and very little else to fill the silent static. The telltale creak drew me out of my halfhearted slumber, my eyes focusing on the door as someone slipped through the small gap they had created. The room itself was dark, the only light coming from the window in the form of a nearby streetlight, casting a soft orange glow on a narrow panel of flooring.

The third visitor stepped into the light uncertainly, lowering their hood and meeting my gaze reluctantly. I wasn't angry; I sure as hell had expected to be the first time I saw them, but it was different in the flesh. Every heroic image in my mind that I had conjured up, of a fight on a street corner or a confrontation on our doorstep, melted away at the sight of his face. I stood up, ignoring his cautious step back and took two steps forward, pulling him into a tight embrace.