The Great Book of One-Shots

Tag, You're It (Part 2)

Warning: blood mention

Woo, part 2!! :P

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Ian had almost instinctively thrown himself over the smaller boy the second he heard the sound.

He wouldn't allow Ben to get hurt any further.

He wouldn't allow Ben to suffer anymore.

He didn't know if Ben could survive it.

The pain Ian felt was almost instant. Countless blown away pieces of glass and metal had either cut across or dug into the parts of his body that had been facing the explosion. Shaking now from both fear for Ben's life and the pain of his own wounds, Ian went back to pressing on the other's worst wounds.

His arms shook and he was barely able to hold himself up. Everything in Ian screamed for him to just lay down and save his strength but, he ignored it. He had to save Ben. He would save his lover no matter what that meant doing. Ian's focus was on one thing and one thing only: keep Ben alive. Keep pressing on the wounds and keep him alive.

His attention was snapped away by movement under his hands. Hoping that he wasn't just imagining things, Ian looked up to Ben's face. Relief flooded over him as he watched the boy's eyes slowly open and heard a groan escape him.

"Ben?"

"I-Ian?," said boy winced at how much pain was in the other's voice, "What happened?"

"You... you got hit by a car... Just stay awake now, okay?"

"E-everything hurts, Ian."

"I-" Ian cut himself off. It felt like it would of been insensitive to say the rest. I know. He couldn't say that to Ben. So, he said something else instead. "Just hang in there okay?" Ian bit his lip for a moment. "I love you."

"I love you t-too." The weak smile that twitched at Ben's lips shattered Ian's heart. Though, the smile disappeared as the smaller boy noticed the shards of metal and glass sticking out of Ian's arm. "I-Ian!" Ben coughed from the strain of trying to yell, "What h-happened to you..." Ben shakily reached up towards the other's wounds but, hand his hand was gently brought back to the cold ground.

"Don't move, I don't want you accidentally hurting yourself more."

"Bu-"

"But, you just got hit by a car, baby. Please, just stay still, okay?"

A pause. "Kay..."

"I love you," Ian felt the need to say it now more than ever.

"I l-love you, too, I-Ian."

Ian quickly kissed Ben's lips before turning his attention back to the wounds. He tended to Ben to the best of his abilities while, simultaneously, ignoring his own needs. That one thought was still in his head: save Ben. Though, deep down, Ian knew that nothing he could do would be enough to save him.

He knew that Ben needed more treatment that he could give him.

He knew that Ben needed to be in a hospital.

He knew Ben needed surgery.

He knew Ben needed that ambulance.

He knew Ben needed all that and he knew that he needed it fast.

Time was not on Ian's side. Not now. Realistically, only a few minutes had passed but, it seemed like ages ago that Ian had called 911 and they said that an ambulance would be there soon. The next few minutes seemed to drag on as well.

Both boys sat in silence, too afraid to say anything. Not that there was anything to say at the moment anyways. The silence, however, was broken by Ben. In an impossibility weak and pained voice, the smaller boy managed to get the words out, "I l-love you..."

Ian immediately looked up and his heart sank at the expression he saw. Ben wasn't fighting. He was giving in. There was a weak smile on his face.

Those were meant to be last words.

"No. You have to keep fighting, Benjamin. You... you can't give in." Ian paused before letting his emotions take over, "I need you, Ben. I love you and never want to be away from you. So... so you can't die, not now. You're...You're too young and too good of a person to die now. So, please, please keep fighting Benjamin. You... you have to. Please." Ian was letting his tears freely fall down his face and drip onto the boy beneath him.

They had both been so caught in the moment of Ben dying that neither of them had heard the approaching sirens.

Neither of them had noticed the emergency vehicles pulling up around the scene.

Neither of them had noticed the paramedics approaching them until they were being spoken to.

"Sir," Ian jumped at the unexpected voice, "Sir, we're going to need you to get off of him and come with us."

"But-"

"We'll take care of him. You need medical attention, too." The paramedics helped Ian up and led him into an ambulance.

Ian looked back at Ben before the doors closed and saw that he already had an oxygen mask on and an IV in his arm, proving just how badly he'd been hurt.

Ian tried to get a better look but, the ambulance doors slammed close and his view was cut off. Now, he was left with only his imagination to decide what was happening to his injured boyfriend.

The ride to the hospital was long. Ian did whatever the paramedics wanted him to do, including giving a detailed description of the accident. It hurt to think back to the crash; as short of a time as it had been, it was certainly filled with fear and horror.

The memories of Ben beaten and broken in the street and bleeding out at an alarming rate on the sidewalk wouldn't leave him. The horrible thoughts just repeated over and over in Ian's head. Though, after what seemed like ages, they arrived at the hospital.

Inside, Ian tried to catch a glimpse of Ben but, he never found the boy. From the moment the ambulance doors opened to the moment the operating room doors closed, he never saw him.

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1k words!! I actually had to take out a bit to make this part work but, I think it still turned out quite good.

Part 3 out tomorrow.

Requests always open!

~Angel ^-^