“I thought…” His voice scraped raw. “God, Penelope, I thought…”
“Luke…”
She caught his wrist before he could pull away. Cold fingers. Shaking. Still there.
“Hey, it’s okay,” she whispered. “I’m okay.”
He barely shook his head.
Penelope held tighter, thumb pressed to his racing pulse.
“I’m right here,” she said. “You found me.”
Whumptober 2025 No. 17 "Tell me there's a hope for me"
Internal Bleeding | Coma | Redemption
A/N: Whumper gets the turns tabled on them >:) Whimper turned Whumpee and hurt/comfort has always been a favorite trope of mine!
"Caretaker..?" A groggy voice asked. Quick footsteps grew closer as they walked in.
"I'm here. Everything alright? Another nightmare?" They questioned, looking at their sleepy face.
Whumpee's tired eyes stared at the wall behind them for a few moments before looking up at their friend. Their dark brown irises slowly following Caretaker's figure.
"Do you wanna tell me about it?"
"Just a nightmare... 'M okay...." They said softly, rubbing their eyes. Whumpee was still working to regain a lot of their functions. Today marked their second week out of the hospital. The doctors told them both that it would take some time to find a new normal.
"Didn't mean to wake you... Sorry" Whumpee mumbled sleepily into their friend's shoulder. Caretaker happily wrapped their arms around them, comforted by the steady beating of their heart.
"Hey, remember what I said, okay? Never feel bad about coming to me." They soothed with a pressed kiss to their forehead. Going by the soft content sigh, Whumpee was doing much better.
"I'll stay with you till you fall asleep again tonight, okay? How does that sound?"
....
1:47 AM
Caretaker ran a gentle hand through Whumpee's hair, making their way out of the bedroom. Thank goodness they actually managed to go to sleep. The poor thing needed all the rest they could get.
And besides, Caretaker had some business to take care of downstairs anyway.
Deep in the cellar, a long way down from the main apartment, Caretaker had a special someone waiting for them.
"Enjoying your stay?" Caretaker mocked, stepping into the room. The cellar was always colder at night. And for someone like Whumper, they deserved only the worst. Especially after what they did to Whumpee.
Whumper was shackled to a table, an IV drip by their side. "Y-you're back..." They murmured weakly.
They looked horrible. A fitting change for someone so untouchable. Their eyes were bloodshot and framed with dark circles. Not to mention the dark painting of bruises that Caretaker had dealt them.
One for every tear Whumpee cried while they were with that monster.
"Aren't you happy to see me? Or would you like more time down here in the dark again? I hear the temperature's set to drop tonight." Caretaker said with a chuckle.
"You're sick-"
"Let's cut to the chase. Give me one reason why I shouldn't kill you." They said coldly, sharpening a familiar looking blade.
"W-where did you-"
"Doesn't this bring back memories? You used this on my Whumpee... I wonder how easy it'll be to slice through you. What was it you said before? Like butter?" They teased, plunging the blade deep into Whumper's thigh.
Their screams were music to their ears.
"T-tell me there's.. a hope for me..." Whumper rasped, weakly clutching Caretaker's hand as tears welled up in their eyes. "I wanna- I wanna be free again... P-please- don't do this..." They begged with fearful eyes.
Caretaker ripped their hand out of Whumper's grasp as they watched them with cold detachment. "You'll wish there were any left for you."
And with that, they left the room with Whumper crying out in their restraints.
Whumpee stood in front of the full length mirror, staring at their reflection. A stranger looked back at them.
Whumpee's hair was darkening at the roots again, their blond ends hanging limply around their shoulders. They'd cut it soon. It was the only trace of Whumper they could get rid of. They couldn't pull out the lenses he'd fixed to their eyes, wipe away the perfectly curved eyebrows he'd inked to their skin, or take back the surgery he'd done that had permanently altered the shape of their face.
Their heart clenched in their chest as they turned about, taking in their full reflection. Whumpee was gorgeous now, perfectly symmetrical and conventionally stunning, muscled in the right places and slim in the others. Whumpee's eyes squeezed shut. They told themself over and over that the outside didn't matter, that it didn't make someone who they are. They knew they still Whumpee, they knew they were still themself.
And yet, Whumpee couldn't help but feel they had lost such a big part of themself, ripped away without their knowledge or the courtesy of an explanation.
Hours passed. Whumpee was fixed in front of the mirror, gazing deep into the green eyes of their reflection, searching for a reason to the madness. But they didn't know any better than Whumpee, not when they were someone Whumpee didn't know anymore. The only bit of themself they recognized was in the stray tears that slid down their cheek.
