short drabble for @venomfest’s prompt for a couple weeks ago: Heat Stroke!
Eddie’s skin burned underneath the desert sun. He banged, his mouth and throat drying out with each breath of hot air he took. His lips cracked, his tongue stuck to the roof of his mouth like water clinging to flour. His skin was hot and dry to the touch, as if the sweat had been evaporating off of his body since he stepped into the sun.
He and Venom had broken out of the government base they were tortured in. It was sequestered in the middle of a sprawling desert, with nothing but miles and miles of sand surrounding them.
“Shit.” Eddie had not contemplated what their plan was after they had escaped and gotten the officials off of their trail, but it’s not like they could’ve done anything to prevent this. It’s not like he could’ve snagged some plastic water bottles while he ran from the government officials. They had to take the one chance they had to escape, the one gap in the guard’s shift that happened after Venom pickpocketed the key off of the guard who had brought them their meal. Of course their chance to escape came in the middle of the afternoon, as the sun reared its ugly head and the temperature outside soared.
“Eddie?” Venom asked, their tendrils nervously twining around his body underneath his clothes.
“Yeah?” Eddie’s face scrunched as he dragged one foot in front of the other. His head throbbed with each movement, an ache spreading from the back of his neck and constricting around his eyes.
“We do not mean to alarm you, but your body’s temperature regulation is not functioning properly. The heat around us is making it hard for us to maintain our internal body temperature at optimal levels. We can shield your cells from damage, but we do not know if that will prevent you from feeling the effects of heat exposure.”
“Oh yay, heat stroke. That’s what we needed right now.” Eddie groaned. “Can you do anything about the pain?”
“We can try, but your brain is rather delicate. We do not want to tamper too much when the consequences could be devastating.”
The pain in his head lessened, the ache becoming dull instead of all-consuming.
Eddie’s eyes closed and he sighed. Moving wasn’t painful anymore, it didn’t feel like he was a bobble head being tossed around by an overeager child. “That’s already super helpful, dear. Thank you.”
Venom trilled. “It is no problem, Eddie.” Their tendrils curled around his neck, a cool and gentle weight settling over his collarbones and shoulders.
He continued to trek through the desert. Eddie narrowed his focus to the next step he had to take, to the ways his feet sank into the loose sand beneath him. If he thought about anything else, he would spiral. The nearest city was still hours away by foot, and the sun was directly overhead. Relief wouldn’t come for a long time.
The fatigue set on after what felt like an eternity to Eddie. His steps became sluggish, each blink felt heavier than the last. His mouth burned, desperate for any liquid that would satiate his thirst.
“V, babe, can you do anything about dehydration?” Eddie asked.
“We can do a couple of things,” Venom replied. “We can reabsorb your sweat and filter your urine to add that water back into our bloodstream, but unfortunately we cannot do more. We cannot supplement your body’s water supply.”
Eddie sighed, resigned. “Awesome. Well, you may need to control my body for a while. My brain is fighting with my body and not letting me move.”
Venom’s tendrils moved around Eddie’s legs, relieving Eddie’s muscles of the anguish of walking. “We are sorry we cannot do more for you, Eddie.”
“It’s okay, Venom. We’ll get through it,” Eddie affirmed not only to Venom but to himself. “We’ve got miles to go before we sleep.”