really angsty hangster idea where they're strangers on a train when something goes wrong and the tunnel the train is passing through collapses.
Jake is pretty sure his leg is broken, but he can't fucking see anything
Bradley knows what a concussion feels like, and given the harsh impact with the pole, he's aware it's no surprise that he feels that sharp pain and waning focus means he's probably in trouble. Maybe not right this second, but definitely soon.
too bad it doesn't seem like anyone is still alive.
bradley, fed up with the rolling nausea and bleak darkness, heads through the train trying to find a way out, maybe a survivor, anything.
he finds Jake, who is lethargic and almost delirious in pain and probably going crazy thinking he's all alone as well.
bradley introduces himself and goes about searching through bags for things to use to help stabilize Jake's leg so it doesn't get more injured. And maybe some food and water, since they don't quite know how long they'll be stuck.
(his dizziness is getting worse, but Jake's injuries are more pressing, so he pushes through)
they end up finding someones bag full of snacks, and then another few bottles of water, and they hunker down and wait.
While they wait they talk; about everything. they can't see one another, even when their shoulders are pressed together and their fingers brush lightly. but the darkness and the hopelessness gives them both the excuse to be honest and find connection.
bradley tells jake about his parents being gone, and how his mom passing is what sent him off the rails and why he all but hunted the drunk driver down. the years he spent regretting things but not that while he sat in that prison cell. how he doesnt know where to go with his life now that hes out and 'free'.
jake talks about his son, and how Cody was a happy accident but his whole damn world. about how cody's mom took off one night a month in and never looked back, and how jake has done his absolute best to just be present and give his son a childhood full of love and support.
their connection is remarkable, but they feel its almost too little too late, considering where they are.
then bradley passes out on the 3rd day, and jake - panics. starts screaming and banging whatever he finds and lets the white hot terror and the anger drive him to just keep hollering.
jake is delirious again, attention splintering between the sudden light and all the noise, passing out before he can find out where bradley was taken.
when he wakes again he tries to ask about bradley, but finds out bradley was sent to a different hospital (one that specialized in neurology) and because he doesnt know bradley's last name or even what he looks like, let alone be anything besides the unlucky soul he got trapped with, jake is left without a way to contact the other.
years go by. jake recovers, but he's still weary of taking the train anymore so he now bikes everywhere. therapy once a month, zero romance in the years thats passed, he's...surviving.
and then he crashes his bike into a blue bronco and comes face to face with bradley (who he instantly recognizes the sound of his voice - always hears bradley talking to him quietly while on that train, every night he struggles to sleep)
bradley's brown eyes go soft, crinkling at the edges. "hi jake"