Bundle of Branches

Chapter 5

Teddy wakes up to a commotion outside. He climbs out of his tent and is greeted by a crowd of people, all swarming around someone who's being brought through the throng on a stretcher, but he can't get a good look at the someone's face until-

"Romeo," Teddy gasps, and his heart is dissolving, it's falling down. Into his stomach and the world is spinning and it's not going to stop, because it's Romeo on the stretcher, and there's metal embedded in his stomach. "Romeo!" Teddy pushes past the crowd and runs to the stretcher.

Romeo's eyes are open, and he's staring at the sky. His skin is pale and clammy, and his lips are slightly blue. Blood soaks his shirt and seeps out from his stomach surrounding the large pieces of metal that pierce it. His left leg is missing from the knee down.

"What happened?" Teddy asks, clutching Romeo's hand like it's a life preserver, and it is, it's the only thing tethering Teddy to this world. If he lets go then surely he will be miles away. His eyes roam over Romeo's body, assessing it for signs, for clues, for anything. Romeo's pupils are dilated, and his pulse is quick. Those along with his ashen skin are all signs of shock. "He's going into shock, we have to get him to Paula, we have to-"

"There was a bomb," says the person pulling the stretcher - Reid, Teddy remembers. "I'm sorry, I tried to stop it, but- Romeo is a hero. He jumped on the bomb, and he saved our lives."

Teddy is lightheaded, and he stumbles. A bomb. Romeo jumped on a bomb to save people's lives? That was very in character for him: putting other people's lives before his own. Teddy had always told him that his selflessness was going to get him killed one day, and now he was terrified that might actually be true. "What... what are his odds?"

Reid looks tired, broken. "It's a miracle he's even alive right now, Teddy." He lowers his voice. "I don't think he's going to survive the night. He's lost so much blood, and there's no telling how great his internal injuries are."

Teddy grips Romeo's hand harder. "He can't die," he breathes, following along next to the stretcher as Reid brings Romeo to the emergency med bay. "Do you hear me, Romeo? You can't die. Please."

But Romeo doesn't respond, just keeps breathing shallowly. His face is spattered with blood, and it leaks from the corner of his mouth. And yet he still doesn't make a sound.

"He sustained primary injuries and secondary injuries from the blast," Reid is saying. "I suspect a concussion and pulmonary contusion, at least. Corneal abrasions are likely." But Teddy can't tell if he's talking to him or Paula, who has come out of the emergency med bay to help transfer Romeo to one of the cots.

Paula and Reid gently lift Romeo up, carrying him off of the stretcher and into the emergency med bay, where they lie him down on a free cot. Then Paula puts a mask on him, and his eyes flutter closed. "Anesthesia," she tells Teddy, who stands frozen in the doorway. "Now I'm going to need to intubate him, okay? That means putting a tube down his throat."

Teddy can only nod.

Reid hands Paula a long plastic tube. She opens Romeo's mouth, feeds the tube down his airway, and then hooks the other end of the tube up to oxygen. Romeo's eyes are still closed, and now his breathing is more even.

"You're right, I do think he has a pulmonary contusion," says Paula. "But right now, my top priority is stopping his bleeding. Reid, can you please hand me some bandages?" Reid tosses her a roll of bandages, and she immediately begins wrapping Romeo's left leg - or, what's left of it.

Seeing the bloody stump where Romeo's leg used to be makes Teddy's stomach turn, and he closes his eyes, trying to slow his breathing. Romeo can't die, he can't die, because that would mean that Teddy never got a chance to tell him how he felt. He'd gotten chances before, but always chickened out at the last minute, and now he's kicking himself. Romeo is most likely dying, and he probably won't live long enough for Teddy to ask him out on a date. The thought of it causes Teddy to waver on his feet, his head pounding. He's anxious, he's dizzy, but above all, he's tired, and...

The next thing Teddy knows, he's curled up in a chair in the emergency med bay. Someone has thrown a blanket over him, almost as an afterthought. And Romeo, Romeo is lying on a cot a few feet away - a tube coming out of his mouth that's keeping him alive. His shirt is off, and bandages are wrapped around his abdomen. The shrapnel that was embedded in his stomach is nowhere to be seen.

"Romeo." Teddy stands up and takes a few steps towards the cot with Romeo on it. "Romeo, I know you can't hear me, but... I think I love you." He feels his cheeks grow warm. "I want to go out on a date with you. I've never told you this, because I'm scared. But when... if... you wake up, I'm going to do it. Okay?" Tears are in his eyes, and he blinks them away.

Romeo's chest rises and falls in measured breaths. The blood has been cleaned off of his face, and beneath it, he looks so vulnerable. It hurts Teddy's heart to see him like this - lying on a cot in the emergency med bay, surrounded by machines that dwarf him. Teddy sits down next to the cot, reaches out, and takes Romeo's hand.

"I'm going to sit here until you wake up," he decides. "I'm going to-"

Romeo squeezes his hand.

Teddy's heart flutters. "Romeo?" He slowly stands, his chest warming as he sees Romeo's eyes are open. He's awake, and even though he still may not survive, he's alive now, and Teddy feels as if he's going to melt. "Oh my God. You're- you're awake." Tears are running down his cheeks, but he doesn't care.

Romeo nods slightly. The tube in his trachea is preventing him from speaking, but that doesn't matter, because his eyes communicate all that needs to be said. He's relieved to be alive, and he's happy to see Teddy - he's happy to see Teddy! That alone sends sparks of electricity down Teddy's arms and into his hands.

"When you get that tube out, we can talk, alright? I'll talk about anything you want. Hell, I'll even talk about old black and white movies. And there's... something I need to tell you, too." Teddy glances down for a brief second. "But that can wait until Paula takes your tube out." He takes a shaky breath. "I'm so happy to have you back, man. For a while, I was so worried... I thought I was going to lose you."

The corners of Romeo's mouth turn up in a small smile, as much as they can with a tube in the way. He squeezes Teddy's hand again, four short squeezes, and then a pause, and then two more short squeezes. And then he winks.

Teddy's confused at first, but realization dawns on him. He thinks back to when he was eleven, and learning Morse code. Four dots, that's H... and then two dots is I. H-I. He grins. "Hi."

Romeo squeezes Teddy's hand for two long squeezes, and then a short one, G. Then he does one short squeeze, a long squeeze, and two more short ones, L. Slowly and painstakingly, he spells out the rest of the sentence. G-L-A-D T-O S-E-E Y-O-U.

And that's when Teddy can't take it anymore. He breaks down crying, and it's embarrassing, it's horrible, but he can't stop himself. He's happy and sad all at once - happy that Romeo is happy, but sad that Romeo may not be alive to see tomorrow. "I'm g-glad to s-see you, too," he stammers out between sobs. "L-look, I, I don't k-know if I can k-keep this from you anymore, but... I l-love you." With tear-filled eyes, he studies Romeo's face, waiting for any sign, any clue what he thinks.

A tear spills down Romeo's cheek, too. Carefully, he spells out L-O-V-E Y-O-U. He makes a sound between a cough and a sob, and more tears fall. Then he spells it again: L-O-V-E Y-O-U.

Teddy's electric, he's on fire, he's just so happy because Romeo said he loves him back, Romeo feels the same way, and it's overwhelming. Despite that, more sadness than before weighs him down. If Romeo ends up dying, it will be an even worse heartbreak. "Romeo, you need to pull through for me. I won't be able to handle it if you die, okay? Fight this with all you have."

Romeo manages another nod. And no pattern of hand squeezes are able to express the pure love that fills the room.