cont. from here namedafternewton halfshank
It had seemed like it was just going to be a regular day. A normal Tuesday -- Alby and Nick would go out filming for a few hours, either with each other or some of their other friends, maybe get some food to bring back because damn Newt couldn’t cook to save his life, and they would sit around, laughing and joking and watch TV and maybe fight over the show they were watching, maybe talk about video ideas, and eventually just go to bed. A regular day. Why couldn’t it have just been a regular day?
He knew something was wrong when he walked in the door. There was no indication of anyone in the house; no sink running, no television on, no footsteps or voices from an unseen room, no excited voice calling their names. “Newt?” he called, taking a few steps in. He shouldn’t be worried; he was probably out or listening to music or something. Alby tried calling him a few more times as he set his stuff down and looked around. Getting no reply, he tried his phone.
[Text]: Hey where’d you go? I got McDonalds
His stomach sank when he heard Newt’s text tone go off from his bedroom. He’d been ignoring him. ‘Maybe he’s just sleeping,’ he thought, before quickly ruling it out. Newt had trouble going to sleep at regular times, much less in the middle of the day. Alby followed the noise into his room and his heart stopped.
His world started crumbling when he saw his barely-moving body on the ground, his phone a few inches from his hand. Alby knew something was wrong -- what exactly, he didn’t know and he didn’t particularly care, but something was wrong with Newt and he had to do something to fix it. Dropping everything he still had left on his person, he ran over to the boy and tried to get him to wake up, to move to do something, anything. With shaky hands, he rolled him over to find that he was still breathing, but only just. Shouting his name didn’t work, he knew it wouldn’t, but dammit Alby still tried.
Confusion, highlighted with anger and sadness, takes over his world as he reaches for his phone, dialing first 911 to give them all the necessary information and then Nick to somehow try to explain what he couldn’t understand.
The rest that followed may as well have been happening to someone else. The ambulance arrived and carried them both to the hospital; Alby answered the same painful questions over and over and over again to what felt like every single person working in the goddamned hospital. His heart ached and he wanted nothing more than to be left alone -- well, maybe alone with Nick and Newt -- but he realized he didn’t have that option. He cried when the doctors told them what had happened -- what else has he supposed to do? -- and wasn’t really sure what to do with himself, but knew he had to at least keep a facade of strength up for the other two.
What felt like days later and a lifetime of emotions, the nurses said Newt was allowed visitors, but that he would still be weak. Alby wanted to snap at them, but knew it wouldn’t make a difference. Tentatively stepping in through the door, a hopeless kind of sadness washed over him, and he wants to reach out to grab something to keep himself from collapsing. They almost lost him. They almost lost Newt. He tried to keep the tears from stinging at his eyes, so he dropped his gaze to the ground, hoping that they wouldn’t notice.
Taking a deep breath and attempting to steady his voice, Alby can only weakly manage to say, “Hey.”
halfshank