Darkness

Ladder

Scott climbed down the ladder and dropped down on his knees next to Avi.

"Avriel, wake up! C'mon buddy, wake up. Open your eyes" he mumbled and gently cupped the man's cheek. Scott reached for his hand, brought it closer to his body and squeezed it.

The bearded man didn't move a single inch, not for the first couple of minutes. Then his eyelids began to flutter and he took deeper breaths, his chest rose and fell more noticeable and soon after he opened his eyes.

"Oh God, Avi. Did you fall? What happened?"

But he didn't respond, he blinked slowly and just closed his eyes again. His head fell back to the side.

"Avriel, stay with me" Scott tried a few times, gently reached into the dark mane, touching his head but the bass stayed unconscious. He had to force himself to stay calm and not to freak out when he got up to fetch his phone from the kitchen counter where he had left it the day prior. He quickly opened the front door, dialed 911 on the way back to Avi and turned on the lights before he grabbed a woolen blanket from the couch for his boyfriend.

"Scott Hoying, hi. My boyfriend is unconscious, I think he fell from a ladder. Nine feet max, he woke up a moment ago but he didn't respond and drifted off again. He is in his late twenties."

While he was on the phone Scott dragged the blanket over Avi's body, covering him to keep him warm since he wasn't wearing anything except plaid boxer shorts.

"I didn't move him, no. Just his arm, his head fell to the side but I didn't move him. No bleeding, not that I can see, he is breathing and his heart is beating" he kept talking and intertwined his fingers with Avi's. "Thank you."

Scott waited for the ambulance and it felt like they needed forever to show up. Avi slowly regained consciousness, he smacked his lips and blinked a couple of times and the baritone kept squeezing his hand lightly to let him know he was there. At first he didn't know if Avi realized what had happened and that Scott was there but when he heard him quietly groan and squeeze back Scott shuffled closer.

"Hey" he whispered and carefully brushed some of the curls back. "Don't move. It's going to be fine."

But Avi didn't seem to understand. His world was filled with pain, pulsing through his body with every single heartbeat, ripping his brain apart. He didn't know what had happened, at least he couldn't remember why he was in such horrible pain and he wanted to ask for Scott, he didn't know where he was, but all that left his lips was another barely audible grunt. Then the pain got less and less and he was out again.

Scott dealt with the paramedics once they arrived. He filled them in on Avi's medical history, especially the crash that happened barely six months ago, and tried not to be in the way while the two men were working.

They checked Avi's vitals, made sure there was enough oxygen for him to breathe, gave him some pain medication through an IV port sitting on the back of his hand and put a brace around his neck.

The baritone was relieved when he noticed that there was no blood on the floor once Avi was secured on a stretcher. He was still unconscious and Scott was getting nervous but all he could do was be patient and hope for the best. "Can I ride with him? He- He's blind and I'd just- please?"

One of the men looked at him while they lifted the stretcher to wheel Avi to the car waiting in the driveway. "Yes, sure. Just don't get in the way."

Scott nodded immediately, reached for his hoodie so he'd have something Avi could wear and slipped into his shoes. He locked the front door while the paramedics dealt with Avi and barely five minutes later they were on the way to a nearby hospital.

On the way to the hospital Scott was keeping a close eye on Avi while one of the paramedics checked the size of the bearded man's pupils.

"Is it bad?" Scott asked slowly and took Avi's hand again. "Why isn't he waking up?"

"Mr. Hoying-"

"Scott, please call me Scott."

"Alright, Scott. His pupils aren't the same size, he's been unconscious for quite a few minutes now and he probably hit his head pretty bad, we're probably dealing with a concussion but I can't tell you how severe it is. It's a good sign that he isn't bleeding but I'm sure the staff in the ER is sending him straight to the CT."

"O-okay, thank you." Scott rubbed the back of Avi's hand with his thumb and sighed softly. "You have to wake up, Avi..."

"No, you don't understand, he can't see! He needs someone there, especially now where-"

"Mr. Hoying, I am sorry. You have to stay here. We have to run a couple of tests now to figure out how bad the concussion is, if his spine is injured, as fast as possible."

"But he is waking up and I-" Scott looked down at Avi whose eyes were halfway open. The man's lips were parted and he took deeper breaths while he squeezed Scott's hand to make sure he was still there

"I am sorry" the nurse said again and kept pushing the stretcher through the hallway to one of the rooms. Avi was still holding Scott's hand, as tight as possible, and then frowned.

"Avi? What's wrong?" the baritone asked immediately and touched his cheek. He didn't know if Avi understood what he was saying, if his brain was injured and he simple didn't grasp that his boyfriend was talking to him, but he wanted to try. He needed Avi to know that he was there for him.

But instead of saying something Avi tried and failed to turn his head to the side. The pain coming from his head made him tear up and before he realized what was happening he was throwing up bile. Since he was on his back, secured to the stretcher and with a brace around his neck, Avi wasn't able to turn to his side and soon started coughing, choking on the liquid in his mouth. His eyes went wide, he was gripping his boyfriend's hand as hard as it was possible for him, before it suddenly disappeared and he heard a door slam shut.

Scott was standing in the hallway in front of a white door, still feeling Avi's tight grip around his hand, still seeing the panicked expression on the bearded man's face in front of him.