Hurtcember prompt 9- overheating
Content warnings: hyperthermia, heatstroke, irritability, vague/brief mentions of trauma, passing out/loss of consciousness, dehydration
Content: oc whump, stranger caretakers + friend caretaker, heatstroke whump, environmental/whumperless whump
"How much longer will we be wal- walk- shit, walking for?" Jay had gotten better with talking, but they still seemed to stutter a lot.
"Uh... like, 20 minutes. It's really close. You're the one who didn't want to drive, you know. Even though it's a hundred degrees out."
"I know."
"You could take off that hoodie you're always wearing-"
"I know. I'm not wearing anything under it. I don't want to."
Hot, Vince thought, though he didn't voice it. It was up to Jay, even if he thought it was a stupid decision. They didn't like going without a shirt, which was fair, but they could've just worn a tank top or something. Or tried to get over their phobia of being in a car.
Jay was usually pretty calm, if a bit spacey, but today they seemed irritable. Probably the heat, Vince figured. It certainly was a pretty miserable day- it was 89 degrees and muggy. Vince brought a water bottle at least, but Jay had forgotten to.
Despite this, they hadn't asked for any of Vince's water. They probably were thirsty, but he knew they didn't like being a bother. Seeing how flushed they were, and how their walking seemed to slow, Vince considered offering some anyway. He didn't even know when the last time they drank water was; they were pretty unhealthy and often forgot basic self-care.
They put a hand up to their head as they walked, resting their palm against their forehead and then flipping to the back of their hand. This was something they did often, Vince had noticed. They explained at one point that since their extremities were always cold, they'd use their hands to regulate the temperature of their face. Same with when they were cold- they'd put their hands up to their neck to absorb the body heat. Vince thought it was cute.
"Headache?"
"Huh?" Jay looked over at Vince. Their eyes, typically a vibrant, bright blue, were now slightly dull and glassy. "Uh, yeah..."
"Do you, um..." Vince unscrewed the lid and then held out his water bottle awkwardly. It was only half full. "...Water?" He smiled weakly as he offered it.
Jay made a vague noise of appreciation and took the water bottle. They drank a little, being careful not to get any saliva on the bottle, and handed it back. They had clearly tried not to drink too much, so that Vince would still have some. Sweet, he supposed, but they looked like they probably needed more than they had gotten.
Silently, he screwed the lid back on and kept walking with them. The sun was beating down heavily on the town, and Vince felt like he was going to get sunburnt if he stayed out for much longer. Few other people were out at this time of day.
"Hey, um, are you sure you're doing alright? We can take a break if you want. We don't have to be there exactly at 2:00."
They shook their head, looking slightly annoyed.
"It's just- you look like you're really overheating, you know?"
"Mm-hm."
"And your face is like, all flushed and red."
At that Jay turned their head away from Vince, trying to make their face less visible. He could see them tense up their shoulders a bit too, either from annoyance or embarrassment. But he also noticed their muscles were shaking pretty badly.
"H-hey, I didn't mean it like that, you still look fine, I just..." Vince trailed off. They clearly didn't want to talk right now anyway.
It was about 10 or so minutes of slow walking later when things very suddenly took a turn for the worse. Out of nowhere, Jay suddenly collapsed onto the ground.
Startled, Vince immediately dropped down beside them and began trying to check if they were okay. When he saw their eyes were closed, his chest began to tighten with panic. He tried to yell at them to wake up, but his vocal chords seemed to constrict and he couldn't get any words out.
He desperately tried to shake them a couple times, to no avail. Heatstroke, he thought, and his anxiety increased further. He looked around and immediately spotted a nearby pizza place. It was open. Air conditioning, free water, people. Good enough, he thought and tried to start dragging Jay there.
It wasn't easy. They were around half a foot taller than Vince or so. That meant that, despite their skinniness, they still were heavier than Vince could easily carry. Plus, it's never easy to carry a gangly teenager with limbs akin to that of Slenderman, regardless of your strength. He had to carry their cane too, or risk losing it.
Still, he managed to quickly drag Jay into the restaurant, which immediately caught a lot of people's attention. Vocal chords still refusing to cooperate, he resorted to signing for help, hoping somebody in there knew ASL.
A couple people did end up understanding and coming to help. They quickly understood the situation, luckily for Jay.
They woke up a couple minutes later, much to Vince's relief. Blinking dazedly, they glanced around their unfamiliar environment before sitting up unsteadily. Leaning against the wall for balance, they tried to get their bearings. Someone forced a cup of water into their hand, and they hesitated a little before drinking it all gratefully.
"Uh... what happened? I pass out or something...?" They looked up at Vince. He just nodded, still shaking a little from anxiety. At least they were okay now.
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