Summary: When the young, upcoming, cocky Doctor Benjamin Stone misses his turn, crashing into the fence of local judge his big shot LA surgical profession, only to get whisked away for a couple of days while serving his court order community device at the local doctor's office.
They become even more complicated when someone gets rushed in, mumbling with a small head injury from their car accident. Only for the victim to also be served hospital community service.
Issues arise and fast when he learns just how I'll his new helper is, and how they both accidently crashed their cars in such a small town, and how they're both on a too tight schedule it seems..
Notes: Typical mention of what happened in flatliners, mixed with some at times detailed description of an unknown medical condition! Needles, hospital things, it's like a sickfic if it were an entier plot line and...yeah!
Tags: @dontwanttobeanamericanidiot
Chapter 1: Small Town - [Prone to Car Accidents and Doctors]
The warm sun could keep most people awake behind the wheel. Wide awake and only a little panicked if they get a bit lost. For some it can cause a small rash, but mostly a simple sunburn if it sticks to you for long.
However Benjamin, "Ben" Stone, was now angry staring out his hospital window during his break. The sun beaming down on the small town streets before him as he sighed in frustration.
The reasoning being his sour attitude was simple: He had places to be.
After wrecking his beautiful Porche into the locals Judges fence and being served a week's worth of community service at the local doctor's office, it was leaving a more than tart taste in his mouth.
The day was dragging on, people coming and going with the strangest cases all the while he tried (and failed) to befriend the gorgeous ambulance driver who he felt pulled at his heart.
His mind was wandering back to his first night there, or last night rather when he met those three elderly women who let him sleep beneath their friendship quilt. How the quilt was so cozy and safe, made sleeping a breeze.
Something about how you could dream of your first love, or true love? Something along those lines...and while he remembered seeing someone, he hoped it was that girl~ Vialula, better known as Lou~ oh she was a gorgeous woman.
However- Something deep in him told him that… the person in that all too vivid dream wasn't her. They had shorter blond hair, and a soft face. A bright smile and seemed to be carrying something while holding a cane- probably a new nurse~ helping out~♡
He held a dopey smile plastered across his face thinking about it, that glaring look vanished, now having melted into a dreamy haze while he almost felt like kicking his feet for joy at the dream.
Ben's day dreaming was quickly cut short when he was alerted there was a new patient that had arrived. Another local, this time with a fishing hook stuck in his thumb by some bizarre and cruel fate- the man was one of those who waved his arms to tell stories which is fine! If he wasn't trying to carefully remove said hook from his thumb..
After that it became quite busy again. How he was rushing around until nightfall with random patients and some paperwork.
He met all sorts that day, and sure he'll admit he was starting to enjoy a few parts of it, he was also fuming. That old asshole, Doctor Hogue, who ran the doctor's office told him off and God forbid he has a different opinion than him- Who even lets their kid run around and get into stuff that can cause them to get sick!?!? How was he supposed to know the differences between severe gas build up and a mild heart attack- the kid’s lips were blue for Christ's sake!
He was still playing the incident in his mind seething over it as he shuffled around for things before going to the front to happily head home.
He was finally going to head home, the idea of a bed welcoming him from across town, only for Deputy Cotton to come rushing inside the office. A Man who was barely conscious was around his arms.
"Uhh, Doctor Stone I-I know it's late but this young man here was found in a car accident and is knocked out-" He began, trying to gesture to the blond haired man who seemed a bit worse for wear.
"JESUS GET HIM INSIDE GOD DAMNIT!" The shrill shock in his voice as he yelled out to him to bring the man inside, a distant 'Clinking!' Oh his time card being punched back in by the Nurse went unheard on his ears as he rushed to get this mysterious blond up onto he exam table.
"How'd you find him!?" Ben was opening the man's shirt up, while he rushed to hook up various machines to him. From a blood pressure cuff, to a heart monitor clip, he was working with what the small town office had. This moment in time he was beginning to wish he was back at that too busy ER, for at least they had more equipment.
"He crashed his car onto Mayor Nickolson's backyard!!" He was explaining it, but with only some concern, the common belief or idea being he was on something or sleep deprived as to how he crashed his car. "Came off the highway that's behind his house and-" Ben stopped listening for a while, grabbing a pen light as he forced the blonds eyes open, his breathing low and a bit too shallow. His blood pressure was teetering on 90, then plummeted down to 60. His heart rate wasn't much better as it was extremely low. Too low.
Dangerously so.
"Hey grab that machine next to you! NO! The OTHER one- the defibrillator!! It has the two pad things!!!!" Ben shouted out, almost ready to leap for the machine as he flipped it on, shocking the still unconscious man who was just managing to come to after two shocks and an oxygen mask placed on his face now.
"Hey! Heey it's gonna be okay, stay with us sir, stay awake, I kno- jeez your hearts bouncing between being dead and living!" He was tapping his face, nearly slapping it here and there to keep him awake. "I need you to stay awake now please! Stay with us! No- stay awake! Come'on!!" The sheer concern in his voice rang out into the others ears, how he could just faintly hear the blonds panting as his eyes barely stayed open.
His hand over the blond's heart, to better check it with his stethoscope over it, the beating heart which was doing its best impression of a jack hammer. Ben looked up to the man, eyes locking in an instant, eyes, his blue eyes stared deeply into a pair of very sickly, tired greenish blue eyes. They made him think of a lily pond, full of speckles and stars as the man's heart finally slowed as his eyes fluttered closed, head falling back into a deep sleep.
"..Well his heart rate is normal, breathing is regulated...." He spoke out to himself, moving to set him up in the bedroom where he kept the mask and small heart monitor clip on him.
Something in him wanted to stay.
Stay the night at the clinic to ensure he's okay, he's stable and all sure, but he's gonna need to be transferred to the big hospital just outside the town. Yet he didn't want to risk moving him… not yet-
"Ughhhh..." He groaned out as he called the hospital, asking for some vague advice on if he should or shouldn't send him in, for the sole reasons being his heart. Unfortunately, the nurse on the other end wasn't much helpful, seeing as he was made to hang up soon and retreat to his patients room.
"You're not gonna go home Doc?" Nurse Packer asked while Deputy Cotton also peeked his head into the room, seeing him fall into the chair next to the blond's bed.
"Yeah… Yeah no… ‘M worried, his heart is bouncing around and the damn hospital wasn't any help…- just gonna stay for a while..." Ben rubbed his tired eyes as he wiggled his way to some resemblance of comfort in the rather plush chair.
It wasn't long before he was completely out, way beyond in dreamland while his mind filled with foggy hazy dreams of those piercingly gentle lily water eyes full of a deep sickness and haze. They seemed to be plaguing his dreams until he woke with a jolt.
Head snapping to the empty bed, his mystery man vanished as he heard a distant 'Thud!' in the hallway.
Bolting upright, he quickly found himself falling over himself, flat on the floor before stumbling upward and slamming himself at the wall, a pure panic rushing through him as he thankfully found the Patient on the floor leaned against the wall towards the waiting room.
"Hey! Hey what the hell! You shouldn't be out here, you just about had a heart atta-" Ben started by wrapping an arm around him, only to be shoved off. Toppling over on his behind as those lily water eyes glared burning daggers into his soul.
"Shut up!" The blond shouted, as he tried to push himself off the floor, barely getting halfway up while he clinged to the wall, as his leg locked up, giving out beneath him sending him crashing down again. A muffled, yet broken whine fell from his mouth as he tried again.
This time being swiftly lifted by the doctor he had shoved away, the shorter male helping him stand as he did so.
"And where- are you trying to go sir?" A sour note came from Ben when he asked him, making him turn slowly as he led the shakey, limping man back to the bed, where upon being forced to sit down, he quickly fell back. Hands gripping the sheets tightly in some attempt to ground himself from the spinning room he saw, as he began to pant, and whine.
While hooking the little bit he could to blond back up, he seems more coherent after a little bit of his dizzy spell passed.
"I-I need, huff mmm-my-my c-c-caaaane, an… and need… to leave, 'm fine-" His voice came out strained, the sound of sickness coated his cords as he whined, while being forced to be in the bed, the sheet being tossed back over him while his head was now on a pillow.
"Yeah well, you can get those later! You were brought in yesterday because you crashed your car into the Mayor's yard!" Ben was beyond frustrated with the blond. Even if he was alright, he still needed rest and some medicine before being discharged, not to mention being seen about his… accident he was involved in. "Now mind telling me what the hell!? Your plan is when you can't even walk down the hall without falling!!?" The shouting caused the other to wince before rubbing his head with his hand. Burying a part of his face into the pillow before trying his best to explain what all he remembers.
°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°
Nelson Wright- was many things in life. An extraordinary med student who's methods were more maddening and teetering on the edge of unethical and insanity,
The man was often cocky, and had a silver tongue that would spit out a million words and leave anyone stunned.
The most promising medical student, a brilliant mind who dared to try things beyond the mind's comprehension, while proving realms beyond our own can exist but oh..
It cost him everything...
Like Icarus, with his homemade wings made of feather and wax, powerful enough to carry him beyond his wildest dreams. He too, grew cocky and fell while chasing the sun, desperate to chase that dream, meet the gods and be worshiped as one of them even-
And when he fell- he dove into the sea- costing him his life.
Nelson Wright… for all intensive purposes was Icarus. He was the man who made his wild ideas come to life, only to dive too far, tampering with things he never should have messed with, leaving himself scared, as he fell from the sun, plummeting into the sea that was his death.
9 minutes is how long it takes for a person to ruin their life, maybe even less.
One minute cuts it extremely close, yet nine? Nine minutes left its mark on him.
His wild dreams of proving the afterlife existed, the insanity he brought on himself to prove it all, to spite God with it even, left him sick and broken.
It's dangerous enough for someone to be dead, for a limited time, to flatline and come back makes anyone loopy or woozy even after the fact.
But to purposely kill yourself, to be hazy for just a minute to prove the life beyond exist? It was amazing, it was so beautiful. The country side of golden fields was an oddly warm welcome, even when he returned and it was a nightmare there was something vague resemblance of beauty in it. It faded away as soon as he found himself being chased and falling from a tree, unable to cope and feeling he'd be trapped in the hell of his own making.
Upon being jolted awake with his electrical shock it didn't take long for him to get his whereabouts. He breezed through everything fine, and was perfectly healthy for a while.
Until he wasn't.
He often wonders if this was some punishment for playing God.
The first moments after being brought back to life had him shaken up, the way he was dazed and wild eyed as his head spun to get his surroundings back as air flooded his lungs with a heavy gasp. He felt normal, fine even.
A little too normal for it to be good, the adrenaline pulsing through his veins made him shaky as hysterical laughter burst from his chest into the abandoned air as it echoed in the night.
Life carried on like normal. A week flew by without any complications, only the occasional problems with sudden headaches which could also be due to the workload of studying he was taking on.
Two weeks flew by, then three, four, finally a month had passed with his mental fog worsening as the days crept on.
What started small, something he assumed was a caffeine or study issue, the lack of proper sleep while his mind grew foggy, to the point he was having difficulties answering questions in class discussions. The bright light of a student fading fast.
However, the brain fog was nothing, and he kept playing it off as him being exhausted of course. Nightmares and stress is all it was to him.
It really wasn't, it was something much deeper, something much worse, and his underlying worries, his fears came true when he found himself standing over a cadaver in class. He was to perform a sort of autopsy, and study where everything was, which was an easy enough task sure, he could manage it, he could force his hands to remember and write- but something was spinning in him.
His body felt heavy, as if he was soaking wet, dragging it around and trying to stand felt impossible as he kept shaking his head, causing it to whirl around as he let out occasional groans.
Nelson, doesn't quite remember how it happened.
Just that it did happen.
He remembers his body running cold before a hot flash crept over him, striking him like lightning as he grasped for nothingness, falling onto the floor with a loud 'Thud!' According to others, he began convulsing, seizing, to the point when he came to he was in the medical bay, panting still.
A new change of clothes dawned on him as well, he could only pray it was to get the test done, but he knew deep down, especially from the hushed mummers among peers and staff that he most likely did wake up in a change of clothes for...other more unsanitary reasons.
Seizures, caused by "Electricity Malfunctions" in the brain, often make a person lose all control of their body. Often making them black out as sounds escape the person's mouth against their will at times. More often than not in many cases, people have had accidents on themselves, namely urinating on themselves as they shake and convulse.
While the person is seizing, it's recommended, rather told, for you try to sit them up or shake them, to stop them from swallowing their tongue or accidentally drowning in spit. Upon coming back to, the person is exhausted, panting, and makes slurred groggy sounds, grasping around for support or someone to help them.
Nelson Wright, simply had a small "Piss"(as everyone murmured it) accident, but it, along with his hazy exhaustion left him, for once- worried about life, and worried about standing for long periods.
He switched his classes, going from being a doctor, with a study in surgeries and general nursing, to trying his hand at being a phlebotomist. Drawing blood couldn't take too much, and he'd be able to sit a lot more often.
But this sudden schedule change had him rushing up and down stairs, to and from other ends of the building as he got used to and moved around for a week before settling in again.
That is, until he started waking up stiff. Stiff and sore all over, while moving caused jolts of pain through his joints and limbs.
He carried on like normal, popping enough pain killers to knock anyone out, while downing them with coffee only led to more complications. His habits of sleeping on the floor only worsened his body.
One morning, which ultimately caused his downfall, the day God struck him down literally, was when he was needing to take that semester's finals exam.
Running a bit behind, his leg was starting to drag and give way beneath his weight, the staggering blond felt what he could only, and still describes as an electric shock that pulled at his nerves, making his vision blur and head spin from the sheer agony that it caused, as tears formed in his eyes, falling face first on the stairway to class.
He ultimately missed his exams that day.
Not long after, he developed jerking motions, which much like his limping leg, grew worse with time, forcing him to face the reality he tried so desperately to avoid and cling to his dreams.
He needed to drop out..
That-
Was his Icarus moment. The moment he fell, plummeting into the sea, that was his new life.
The limping, shakey and jerking movements with that electrifying, sharp, shooting pain...His head fog, his occasional seizures, his everything now.
Nelson couldn't sleep on the floor anymore, the few final attempts at even trying seemed to keep putting his back out, or rather his hip and leg...
So he invested in a bed. A very comfortable bed, one that holds his weight nicely, but then came pillows, and blankets. Something to keep him warm but not too heavy, yet not light enough to kick off...several pillows to put under or between his legs, build a sort of nest for comfort and soreness easing.
He got a lower bed, one he can easily sit down on and get off of, a floor bed in the sense of… well it's low to the ground but has a frame and all.
Then came the chairs, the couches, the extra pillows. A foot stool or two, coffee table, even a TV and bookshelves-
After a while that minimal desolate apartment he loved became crowded with furniture to show someone really lived there, it looked almost inviting and warm, oddly messy too.
Messy, in fact, Nelson couldn't always count on keeping everything organized. He tried, but between doctors appointments, medications, refills, and just trying to re-navigate his career options he found himself more often than not leaving clean laundry on a chair and dirty ones in a hamper while he struggled to clear off his mail counter and replace any over the counter things to help his stiffening joints, while searching for the second heating pad he's misplaced in the past three months.
Watching that brilliant mind fumble into the equivalent of a mild stoner, or someone who's incredibly dazed 87% of the time was a sight to behold. It concerned everyone of course, why wouldn't it concern his friends?
Seeing him dip away from social gathering early due to sickness or pains. Watching him become used to his cane which acted as a third leg, or an extension of his body now. The way he'd get a sickness in his eyes and tremble in his hands when he started feeling worse for wear.
It was Nelson, but not the Nelson anyone knew. He'd still have that silver tongue, which could spit out words when it wanted to cooperate with him of course.
But, most of the time his speech was hazy, slurred and a bit off followed by silence and often strings of curses or simply yelling at his friends.
David, his best friend, couldn't blame him one bit. Nelson's dreams had been shattered before his very eyes, he'd be upset too, but regardless of the mountains of advice he and others gave, Nelson still wasn't quite budging on anything outside of trying to find a treatment or cure, even an explanation to what his illness was.
And for some unholy reason, Chicago didn't have his answer..
His rather kind physician did refer him to places like New York of course, but they also had no real answer, or their machines kept messing up so they sent him back home.
Then came Texas...Of all states Texas? They apparently had a number of wonderful hospitals, many of which also did research on odd illnesses, so Nelson was the perfect candidate for a referral or two.
Now, Nelson Wright was a man of many things… he was smart, cocky, and never really fully listened to instructions given to him by other doctors. Because, of course not.
This current circumstance came from his lack of listening and believing he could manage all on his own.
A long drive from Chicago to Texas is wild enough as is, but combined with his newfound night blindness, severe brain fog, and cocktail of medications he was on. Many of which said not to operate any motorized vehicle...not to mention the odd new diet he was on which left him weak and starved, often making him spin and blackout more so than help him.
For something that's meant to help his seizures, the medications and diet just made him prone to blacking out, becoming a short term narcoleptic to go with his fainting and dizzy spells he was now prone to, which even without medication he'd be having those.
Nelson found himself lost and confused to hell and back, blinking a few to many times before finding himself being jolted awake from crashing his car into someone's back yard into a tree. Which he survived, his car? He couldn't say the same.
He couldn't say much frankly. Even when arriving at the hospital he was dizzy, and out of it. His heart was hammering in his chest as he flatlined for a third time in his life, certain he wouldn't come back, yet, the doctor was quick and ensured his heart was going to be beating for the foreseeable future.
The big blue eyes that felt like odd gemstones looking back at him before he fell asleep, passing out for the night until morning where he found himself in some...less than likable bedroom type place, with the doctor next to his bed in a chair.
Snoring… and loudly at that.
°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°
"Wait- Wait you mean to tell me, you are on a cocktail of medications, and at least four of them say 'Don't Drive-' while on a starvation keto like diet- AND YOU DROVE ANYWAY!?!?" The shorter brunette was beyond upset as he ran a hand through his hair, eyes visibly widening in pure shock from what he heard.
Now, Nelson didn't tell him everything. Just said he was a newer college dropout due to an accident which caused his slew of health problems, and explained what it was he remembered of how he came to be in the bed.
There's something… that he knows would make him sound insane if he told the whole story, let alone say he was an ex med student.
"Ahah! Yeah~ … Nelson, Nelson Wright by the way, and..." A chipper, yet tired chuckle fell from his lips as he looked at the other. "Look it's...it's dumb to drive on my own I know, just…- trying to get to Texas." He outstretched a hand in a friendly gesture to the other who gladly accepted it.
"Benjamin Stone- you can call me Ben or Doctor Stone!" The firm grasp on Nelson's hand, which lasted a little longer than normal, the small jerk of the man made him look at him closer, a concerned look forming on his face. "Nice to meet you Nelson, now at least you acknowledge what you did was a little on the stupid side." He smiled, pulling his hand back, in an attempt to lighten the mood.
"Well, what's your orders then, Doctor Stone~?" Nelson said coyly as he moved a hand to cover his eyes. A small whine escaped him, as he tried to toughen it out, falling short as he sunk into the pillow further.
"Ah, well how about an ice pack, or cool rag? How's that sound?" Ben got up and pulled the blinds closed, the room dimming immediately which earned him a relaxed moan of joy from the blond he was treating.
Nelson… His name was Nelson. He had to remember that, and how he wasn't some strangely alluring blond.
"Then you tell me more about your health, how this came to be, and I try my best to treat and monitor you!" He finished up his statement as he stepped out of the room, to get him a cold wet rag, which seemed to help ease him greatly.
"Hmmmm~ yeaah.." Nelson mumbled, that exhausted feeling washing over him again. "Do we have to?? 'M tired.." His croaking voice told Ben that he wasn't feeling well, but it didn't stop the other pressing him for a few details.
"I was in an accident, my heart stopped for a while and when I was re-re-res-ressastant-re- when..When they brought me back, I-I got sick..took a month," His voice was growing more groggy by the passing second. Slurred as his words struggled to get out of his mouth. "But started getting foggy headed..and..ill, Seizures and then limping..get pains and dizzy spells..migraines and bad joints..can't talk sometimes.."
"Aha, I gather from you struggling with the word resuscitate!!" Ben was greeted with an attempt at being kicked, or maybe the man's legs were jerking, he wasn't sure, but he could tell he didn't like the joke. A quick, yet soft "Sorry.." earned him a deep sigh. "Now it's okay, so you experience: Seizures, Joint pains, limping, migraines, dizzy spells, and brain fog, which affects your speech… Are you epileptic? Or have you not yet been tested?" The faint sound of him scribbling down on a clipboard filled Nelson's ears.
That could be him.
That could have been him…
If only he hadn't gotten all cocky, coy and wanting to prove the existence of an afterlife, prove everything before it crashed down on him.
He could feel that overwhelming feeling creeping up on him again. Ever since he got this way, he was prone to crying fits, small mental breaks and fits of hysteria and fear induced insomnia filled nights.
"N-No, no i-i-I'm not..'M not- ...Fuck." His voice was extremely shaky, as his voice cracked. He hated this, he hated being alive, why couldn't this damn doctor have let him flatline for a third time-!? Why- why-
"WHY!?" A sob broke from his lips as he pulled his legs up to him, curling up on himself as he shook and trembled. A scared terrified feeling, that he couldn't soothe on his own this time.
"Hey! Hey, come'ere come'ere.." Ben sat the clipboard down before sitting next to the trembling distraught man, who whined upon having someone so close to him. "It's Okay, hey it's okay! I understand-"
"No you don't!!" Nelson shot upright, his cooling rag falling off of him as he whined from his head spinning from the sudden movement. The pained groan was met with Ben pulling him close, a gentle and rhythmic rubbing on his back eased him enough to mumble about his condition, adding a very important detail as to why his behaviors were this way.
"Was in med school..." Is what slipped from his lips as he spoke, while the brunette laid him back onto the pillows. "Get upset about it...was a great student..now I'm sick- meds don't help...nothing helps...why'd- why? Why..." His voice fell into a groggy mess as now sick tired eyes stared up to the man. He looked a little sad, and very sick.
"Why'd I not let you flatline? Well it's my job- and you don't have anything on you saying don't resuscitate..." He chuckled, brushing the hair from his face as he gave him back the cool rag on his forehead. "Now, how about I get you some meds, hmm?" Ben stood again, leaving the room, and returned with a syringe filled with something.
"Come'ere this'll sting a little- it's a bit of pain medicine is all, I think you need it for sleep..." A sharp groan filled the air as he injected the other with the medication, which had him woozy in a good way, in an instant. Giggles filling the air as the blond whined a little from the feeling, before falling back further into the pillow. "And of course it doubles as a sedative!" The words didn't reach Nelson, who was out in a coma instantly.
"...Sleep well little ex-med.." Ben couldn't begin to imagine the pain, the heartache and suffering, even guilt of trying to be a med student, only for an accident to happen and it rearranged his entire life.
I mean… he can- but this was a job opportunity he's struggling to get to, not his entire career.
°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°
Nelson was fast asleep for the majority of the day. Patients coming and going with Ben racing around, making sure to check up on the blond who had the occasional jerks and a bad heart.
Come lunchtime, the clinic was starting to close for lunch, which is when the Judge, Mayor, and of course the Deputy showed up. Something that felt messy, a little wild in the way they tried talking all at once at times.
"Well, he's still asleep, you see, he's not well-" Ben began trying to explain his patients' condition, the fact of the matter being he's far from well.
"No kiddin'! He crashed into my yard!" Mayor Nickolson laughed about it at first, sure, but he was still in quite the shock, understandably so.
"Well no- and yes it's n- not like that he's on- on seizure medications is all, he was on his way to Texas!" Ben tried, yet felt he was failing to explain Nelson's unknown conditions. "He just..was dumb and didn't listen to his doctor..." He quietly sighed out the last part more to himself than the others before him.
"Well can he do community service?" Judge Evans asked out to the young doctor.
"Well about that sir, I was wondering if he could help out here?" Ben rubbed the nap of his neck, feeling the air shift to a more awkward feel as he felt all the eyes on him.
"He's not also a doctor is he?!" A chuckle fell from Nickolson who beamed at the idea of yet another doctor, before his face faltered, realizing he also wrecked his car much like Ben. Must be a city slicker habit.
"Aha, well he was a nursing student of sorts! But I’m sure he'll be great help, could use another set of hands you know?" Ben rushed out his words, his voice cracking a few times as he assured Nelson was going to be able to function as a member of staff just not to overwork him. "Just can't overwork him due to his conditions..." He found himself peering behind him, eyes darting to the room which held the blond, his door barely cracked open.
"And what are those again?" Deputy Cotton began asking.
"He needs a cane to walk-" The sweet brunette began to explain, only to be cut off by Evans.
"He's your age!? Why does such a young man need a cane!?" This earned him chuckles from others, and a very annoyed tone from Ben, who wasn't taking the joke nicely.
"Well he was in a car accident, and his nerves in his leg a- are shot so he limps and it gives out, he can't help that... but he needs his cane, and of course medications maybe…!" Ben raised his voice, as it echoed slightly through the empty clinic had the eyes on him again, as he explained away everything to do with Nelson. The man couldn't help but get into an accident, or more likely that it would be so bad as to cause some debilitating problems.
"Oh well Bless his heart, that poor boy's been through it hasn't he? Sure we can give him about…- 72 hours of community service give or take?" The faux and yet genuine concern was odd from Judge Evans, who jumped to serve the blond a very long community service sentencing. It was technically just about 3 days, but that's three full days, not working days..
"72 HOURS!? T-That's a lot!?"
"...Yours is 36-!"
"Yeah but all I did was wreck the Judges fence- how come he has so much more!?" It felt like he was fighting for his life. Something nagged at him inside as he raced once more to try and help Nelson.
"He crashed into the Mayor's backyard and into his tree! We had to get a towing service to get his car out, and he's using up a hospital bed!" Evans made sense, sure, yet it wasn't helping the fact that Nelson couldn't possibly work that much, he'd keel over!
"OKAY AND!?" His shrill yell made the others wince slightly as he waved his arms about in a frustrated frenzy. "Lower it! Gi- give him like only 48 can't you do that!?" He pleaded.
"...Well, I'll see how he does, how about that Doctor." Was the last, and only response he was given before they all left.
Ben found himself racing after them, asking about the man's car, and belongings, seeing if he could get some form of help moving him to the cabin he was staying in.
"W-Well, ahem, I need his cane at least before I take him home, so he can walk you know?" Ben explained to Deputy Cotton.
"Well, it's in the auto shop!! All of it is with Mevin!!" That was nice, his stuff was there. Ben could get them on his way home.
The day dragged on, with Ben finding himself racing around to ensure the cabin would have a comfortable spot for Nelson, and to get his cane to him before he woke up.
Come 8pm, he was right on time. An exhausted Nelson came to, groaning in a daze as he smiled at Ben who stood in the doorway.
"Hi there blondie.." His voice came soft as he pushed himself off the doorframe, holding the very nice wooden cane in hand as he gave it to Nelson.
"My cane!" He sat up, voice groggy still, as his hands moved up to wipe any sleep he still had in his eyes. Hair tossed all around as he let out a yawn. He almost had a child-like wonder with how he was waking up, especially with the way his golden hair sparked a glow in the light bleeding into the room.
"Yes, it's your cane! It's beautiful too," He handed him his cane as he reached out his hands to simply hold it, not yet making any move to get up quite yet. "Not ready to leave bed?" A chuckle came from Ben before he was told why he wasn't getting up yet.
"No, no…- Can't get up too fast, I'll faint, so I'm easing myself is all..." He confessed, and just as stated he took his time in getting out of the bed, stretching as he did so. The small few wires hooked up to him were getting removed again as he slowly stood.
"Can I go now, Doctor~?" He smiled, his voice sparking something in Ben who smiled back to him.
"S-sure! Sure! Aha...You're gonna be staying with me however..." Ben explained, letting Nelson know he was in a cabin currently and It'll be alright getting there he's sure, especially with his cane now.
"Hmmm, that's fine… 'M real hungry, and thirst- need… need a shower..." Nelson was a bit wobbly on his feet, but after a few steps was managing to walk just fine as he lent on his cane, giving himself a small limp as he did so.
It was his right leg that seemed to be the problem, the one that gives out or has the most issues. Which if Ben thought back to it, made sense since he appeared to be trying his best not to put any pressure on it in the hall earlier that day.
"Well the diner is still open if you'd fancy a bite there, that is if you don't mind going in all… disheveled and such." He looked like a mess, but something told Ben the man stopped caring about his looks long ago.
"I'm fine with that, I just need a meal in me, a real meal, I don't think keto is working- and if I don't get some actual food in me I'm gonna start chewing off my arm- or better yet yours~" There was a pant in his voice as he spoke, with a hazy look in his eyes. He was starved for a good meal, and looked at Ben as if he could be his next one if he didn't feed him soon.
"Heh, well let's get going then shall we?" He lead him out of the clinic, he himself long since changing back into his more civilian clothes, as his new tall blond acquaintance walked out on his fine cane, shoes hitting the concrete as his shirt needed it's buttons doing back up, and hair vaguely brushed aside by Ben, but overall he just looked tired.
°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°
You can't do anything in a small town. Ben knew this, but it felt worse somehow in Grady. The way everyone knew everything after a few hours never never would cease to make him feel some type of way.
So, when he and his blond patient had dinner, they were met with a million comments, questions, and all of them were being ignored by Nelson who was dazed out of his mind after a few bites and a drink.
He can see why doctors put him on keto, eating caused him very odd flare ups and some sort of butterfly rash to form on his face- then again it very well could have easily been the food he was eating. Rich in fats, and other such things can cause a mild flare up, especially if he has a small allergy to something he was eating.
It was just some chicken fried steak however, which Nelson devoured and moaned out in joy after a few bites. He seemed as if he hadn't eaten in months, which to himself he very well might have felt exactly that way.
The two talked, vaguely and it was learned they both crashed their cars for very different reasons and were stuck in the town temporarily. Nelson didn't hear him about the community service however, all he heard was gibberish as he began to twitch, a tell tale sign he once again needed to rest.
"You can't do much can you?" Ben asked as he helped Nelson lay on the couch, the only bed of sorts available until he could find something better later.
"Hmm not really, dinner was amazing, haven't had a proper meal in a while~" He giggled out as Ben gave him a glass of water with his medications, his sparkling lily water eyes gazing up to Ben who felt as if someone was stabbing him in the heart.
"Y-yeah it-it was good yeah! Get… Get some rest now Nelson, you need it..." He moved his hair out of the way once more as the others' eyes closed, mumbling out a goodnight to the brunette before he fell asleep again.
Ben found his mind racing as he sat in the chair. He's never really had chronically ill cases before, the occasional person in agony showing up, but he's only ever heard about some of that stuff in med school, never witnessed it first hand. The way Nelson slept so much and yet was still exhausted fascinated him frankly.
What he also found fascinating, as it gnawed and bit the inside of his mind, why?
Why did he enjoy looking at him so much?
It wasn't a matter of company he felt… it was something deeper, but perhaps it was the worry for him mixed with an aching curiosity to study and help him.
He wasn't positive, but as he fell asleep, he found his mind clouded with visions of hazy dreams filled with him and Nelson, laughing and smiling.
warnings: talk of death, Nelson wants to go through with his experiment, swearing
running my hands through my hair, I took a shaky breath.
“Nelson,” i sighed. “This is a bad idea. A real terrible, shit idea.” He shrugged as he looked at me over the rim of his cup.
“Oh come on (Y/N). You can’t tell me you never thought about what comes next.” Nelson shot back. I bit my lip and he smiled triumphantly at me. “This is our chance to see what’s on the other side. All I’m asking you to do is record it. You don’t have to be a part of it anymore than that.” I shook my head and sighed again.
“Nelson what you are doing is fucking suicide.” I said with a hard edge to my tone. “Literally. Or homicide depending on you look at it. Have you listened to suicide survivors versus real near death experiences? Suicide survivors have a vastly different view of the afterlife because they fucked around and found out. Near death experience is a whole other realm.”
“and how am I supposed to replicate a near death experience without it being construed as a suicide attempt? Huh?” Nelson growled. “I can’t. So I go the route I know. The one I know my classmates can bring me back from.”
“assisted suicide then.” I cried, throwing my hands up. “Dammit Nelson.” I put my head in my hands and took a shuddering breath. “Do you have any idea what this is going to do to me?” I looked at him, tears shining in my eyes.
“do to you? I’m coming back.” He laughed. I shook my head.
“And if Dave can’t bring you back? Or Rachel?” I asked. “You and I both know steckle is only there for the equipment and to be the voice of reason. Joe is just there for kicks.” Nelson looked at me with an eyebrow raised. “What happens then? You can’t tell me that isn’t a possibility.” We sat in silence for a few minutes.
“they can do it.” He whispered, reaching out to grab my hand. I pulled it back from him.
“and if they can’t? I want to know what happens then Nelson.” I shot back. “You are so damn positive this will work you can’t even think of the fucking reproductions.” I threw the papers he had given me back across the table at him as I stood up. “Like what would happen to the four of them if it was found out what you roped them into. Or what would happen to me.”
“I’ve got a note absolving them of any responsibility.” Nelson said, standing up with his hands up trying to calm me down. “You don’t have anything to do with this except recording. They can’t touch you. Besides you’re not even in the department.” Nelson gently wrapped his arms around me. I hit his chest, making him curl in on himself and step back slightly.
“Ow.” He moaned as I hit him again. “Hey. Stop. What’re you doing that for?” He tried to grab my hands but I kept hitting him.
“I don’t care about my reputation. Or if I’m kicked out of school. I’ll go somewhere else.” I ground out as I accidentally slapped him. Nelson grabbed my wrist and held tight. “I care about what happens to me after you’re gone. Do you expect me to move on? Go about my days with the same cold exterior you’re expected to have as a doctor? Forget you’re gone and just find someone else?” I finally started crying and I collapsed against Nelson’s chest as he hugged me tightly. He sighed and rubbed my back as I gripped his shirt tightly. Nelson pressed his nose to my head and kissed me gently.
“I get it now.” He whispered. “I get it.” His grip tightened on me and I gently hit his chest again.
“no you don’t.” I chuckled. “You never do. But that’s alright.” I pulled back to look at him. “I’ll be there Nelson. But I won’t record. I won’t help. Not unless I need to.” Nelson nodded, cupping my cheeks to wipe away my tears. “I know you all are certified but if they can’t do it, I’m going to be the one to do CPR. I’ll bring you back.” Nelson nodded as he gently kissed me, making sure he showed me how much he loved me in it.
“I don’t doubt that. Not for one second.” He whispered as he drew back. He rubbed his thumb over my cheek before drawing me back to his chest. “I love you.” I sniffled and hugged him tighter.
“I love you too.” I whispered back. “Just promise you’ll come back to me. Just come back to me.”
“I promise.” Nelson assured me. “I’ll always come back to you.”
As Alive As You Need Me to Be, Chapter 14: Something Other
HA WOW I feel silly. Finally figured out how to just hyperlink phrases etc. Assuming it works.
Well. I am still learning. And I still find sometimes the link preview cooperates, and other times, it doesn't.
There has been a bloody conspiracy against my adding to my fics, I tell ye... first the eight-legged friend occupying my creative space last night, then the massive allergy fit I had tonight, prompted by the ignored dust at last reaching critical mass to the point of a welt below one of my eyes.
I assure you, I just cleaned the hell out of everything else. But looking the other way and not dealing with my claustrophobic under and behind the desk space seemed harmless. OH HO it was not.
I'll have to do more. But I did clean it some. Enough for now.
Enough to write.
Some fun elements teased in this section!!! Lemme know what you think!!! I'm super thrilled to keep going. On this one AND the others. I may be a smidge preoccupied here and there writing original material too. But I won't abandon the boys.
(In other news, our Kiefer didn't sell enough tickets for his US shows, for the tour promoting his new album, and cancelled that WHOLE leg of the tour... no more watching the cities and dates to see if they'd add any closer to me... sadness... but I will keep hoping. If not a concert, maybe a fan event, some day.... much as I am sure I would be uncomfortably star-struck... bad enough I was so enthusiastic when I met a sci fi writer I admired at a book signing that he got that "do we need security" look in his eyes... 🤣)
There's a lot of relationship stuff in the previous two fics in Another Death, Another Life, sure, but they were also facing life-or-death crises that maybe made some important issues take a backseat. At least, I hope it reads that way to anyone else. Because that's how it felt, writing them.
BUT... now that they've been living together for a little while, beginning to form routines around each other, etc., Michael's carefully-constructed walls between the past and the present no longer seem so strong.
Is there legitimately another paranormal threat? Or is he inventing one, in his distress? Was he visited by David in a dream? Earlier than that, in his mind?
From the opening chapter, you get the vibe that he at least truly believes they're in danger in the present. And that was the direction I planned to take.
Along the way, however, leading up to the dream in the first scene, nothing seems as certain as that. He's finally beginning, if even at first against his will, to question everything, the way some readers had really wanted him to, from the start.
Fresh "As Alive As You Need Me to Be" chapter, if a short one. Lighthearted on the surface, but maybe underneath that, not really?
The chapter's ending is (to me, at least) still pretty funny.
I suppose it could be just as interesting for all of this to be some kind of fractured state in Michael's consciousness. Daily reminders of David in the form of Nelson, finally breaking him. We'll just have to see how it all shakes out.
As Alive As You Need Me to Be, Chapter 17: Defiance
Gif is kinda random. But I don't think I've used it yet.
Realizing the pacing on this one is a lot less frenetic than the first fic in the series. Maybe even by the second one, the urgency had slowed.
Not sure if that's inherently a flaw, or just a neutral "thing," but I'm still enjoying the writing process, regardless, discovering the story along the way. Pausing to agonize over things like "What does the tea cup in Michael's hand look like?" 🤣
But I'm thinking there will be some hardcore consequences hitting soon. Fallout from whatever may have happened "off-camera." Wherever that will lead next, with everyone seemingly crushing on or involved past or present with everyone else.
David taking on a more important role once more.
More ooky-spooky.
Possibilities of what might be uncovered via scholarly paranormal research, likely by Steckle and Joe, given the rest of them are a bit preoccupied.
Nights getting longer. More hours for any stray vampires in the city to prowl, for other things that go bump in the night, to come out to play.
Also… for the record, I am partway through writing more “As Alive As You Need Me to Be.” The next chapter. But….
There’s a spider by my computer. 😂
I don’t kill them because who am I to do that, but that doesn’t mean they don’t freak me out. Even if I’ve escorted some outside and once fished one out of a water bowl and let it sit aside on the paper towel wad until it was able to scuttle away.
I’ve jotted down some ideas for the next scene. Its beginning, anyway. Leading into something I am SUPER pumped to write, which I hope translates into happy readers.
So we’re givin’ spidey some space. Time to hopefully find a hiding spot and stay out of my way. And ideally very soon I’ll have more posted.
Also been writing poetry and journaling more, but I haven’t forgotten the fandom and WILL finish all ongoing fics. Promise.
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Chapter 10, now live, in "As Alive As You Need Me to Be."
A bit of a spicy-banter, foreplay interlude, once again, breaking up the supernatural horrors. But Nelson also suggests decorating his penthouse, and shagging surrounded by twinkling Christmas lights.
So, festive?! 🤣
Details in the note at the end about themes and ideas I'm hoping to tease out of the narrative, moving forward. Feel free to shout out here or on AO3, if you've stuck with the series up to this point. Not like I wouldn't want to keep writing it, anyway. Still nice to hear it's being appreciated.
And I added a little to my longer work in progress, which is only fanfic adjacent, with MUCH divergence from its source material.
YAY!!!
(What will be either novella #2, or full-length-book #3, in my Rock is Undead series, my take on a bisexual, polyamorous rockstar in some ways similar to David, partnered with spin-offs of both Michael and Star) .
I also watched the first episode of Designated Survivor tonight. Been cruising through the streaming services I currently have active, looking for "free" Kiefer content.
He's pretty dang talented, not just pretty. I was amazed how convincingly he played someone so humble and rather lacking in confidence. I'd seen him awkward and jittery before in a couple other things, but still! Shame it only lasted 3 seasons. I read he was banking on it being his next 24.
