With the end of the world happening, Wally knew he was probably going to die. Especially once the Reach activated their doomsday device, and it was up to the speedsters to reverse it. The lightning that came off of it added to the danger, hitting his bodies as he ran. He'd noticed with a start that his hand had started fading in and out of existence as he ran, and he had a feeling he wouldn't last much longer. The odds weren't good.
That's why it was so shocking when Nightwing took the last bolt instead.
Dick wasn't supposed to be there. He was supposed to be regrouping with the others at the watchtower. But he was here now, laying in the snow limply because the storm had detected just how much slower he was compared to the physically-impossible speedsters. Wally had anticipated himself dying today. He hadn't anticipated Dick dying instead.
The storm disappeared a few seconds later, time turned back just enough to prevent the world from being destroyed. Wally's lungs burned, his legs felt weak and he wasn't sure he'd ever be able to eat enough to fill the hole in his stomach, but he ran (stumbled, really), over to Dick. The acrobat was pale, his hands randomly twitching even as everything else was so concerningly still. Wally managed to turn him onto his back, pressing his fingers against Dick's neck. Wally's heart felt like it wasn't beating until he finally felt a pulse, fluttering weakly against his fingers. Dick had managed to hold on. They had both managed to make it past the initial storm.
A hand rested on Wally's shoulder, stinging his overly-sensitive skin. Artemis and Batman were both there, talking to each other and trying to talk to Wally. He felt like he couldn't hear them. There was a ringing in his ear, his body still buzzing uncomfortably from the bolts. He had stopped flashing, but his senses had suddenly stopped working. Everything but touch, which was painfully heightened, and sight, which wouldn't let him look away from Dick. Of course, that was hard to do anyway, with how beautiful hos boyfriend was, but it was especially bad now that he was hurt. Wally still remembers the last time Dick got hurt bad, a year or two ago at this point, he'd completely shut down. Dinah had said something about his body needing to comprehend the damage, that he'd basically had one very long, kind of calm panic attack (however the hell that made sense. How can a panic attack be calm?).
Batman picked Dick up after wrapping him in a shock blanket, turning towards the Bioship (which Wally still doesn't know how he missed. Yeah, his hearing was shit at that point, but how do you miss a giant red ship? That was like missing the broad side of a barn). Barry and Bart were being assisted onto the ship as well, both getting food practically shoved in their hands. Artemis was trying to talk to him again, her mouth clearly moving and yet Wally could hear nothing. He couldn't hear the ship, he couldn't hear people talking to him, he couldn't even hear the wrappers from the food. Barry and Bart don't seem to be suffering from a strange lack of hearing, since they're talking to the others like normal. Wally just finds a seat where he can see Dick, and he just watches. Even as Batman works on the younger man, he doesn't seem to get any better. No color is regained, he doesn't stir at all, he gives no indication that he is conscious in any form. Hell, he barely looked alive.
They barely make it to the Watchtower before Dinah is dragging Wally into the med-bay. From what Wally can gather, Barry had informed her of the couple hits Wally took, and now she's on a hell-bent mission to determine what all is wrong with him. The hearing is obvious, although she's not certain if it's permanent, and she attributes the over-sensitivity to the lightning overwhelming his nerves. She still performs nearly every single test on him, taking blood and making him move around in a lot of weird ways just to prove that his Range of Motion is still good.
She finally declares that he's not going to drop dead, and signs to him to go take a shower and then go to sleep. Wally is always thankful to Dick for forcing him to learn sign language, even if it was originally just to talk shit in front of other people, but now it serves as the only way others can talk to him. She won't tell him anything about Dick, although he tried to ask.
The Watchtower had apparently turned into a ghost-town, everyone disappearing either to their rooms or to their homes outside. The only person he comes across is Blue Beetle, who's staring out into the expanse of space as if to ensure the Reach is gone. Wally doesn't say anything, just heads towards the showers with the hopes to wash some of the discomfort off (It doesn't work. If anything, the hypersensitivity is even worse). By the time he gets to the end, Wally wants to completely burn every single towel and any fabric that isn't as soft as a cloud.
It's harder to go to sleep. The blanket and the sheets rub uncomfortably, and the room is cold without Dick with him. Wally may be the heater between the two of them, but Dick brought a sense of comfort that Wally couldn't find anywhere else. But it was now hanging in the balance, because a group of aliens came to Earth and tried to destroy it. Yeah, sure, Dick had little to no self-preservation at the best of times, but this situation was unavoidable for once! Dick's inability to break the sound barrier had gotten him hit with strange lightning. How was he supposed to escape that?
A week passed, and Dick never woke up. And then two weeks, then a month, then two months. It was nearly nine weeks before Dick's beautiful eyes opened up again. Wally's hearing had mostly returned by that point, and most of his days were spent by Dick's bedside. It was another typical Tuesday of studying physics when a groan came from the bed, along with a beautiful pair of blue eyes that Wally was seriously missing.
Wally sighed with a smile, setting his laptop to the side. "Welcome back to the land of the living, angel."
"This is the land of the living? Feels more like the land of the hurting." Dick rasped out, closing his eyes tightly at the light.
"Well, anything that kept you unconscious for over two months would hurt a lot, I imagine."
"Two months?"
"Yep."
"Wow. I'm going back to sleep."
"Like hell you are. You're never allowed to scare me like that again, you hear?"
"No promises. Love you."
"Love you too, even if you drive me bonkers."
