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It had been a normal game up until that point.
Dream had been running around, getting a pretty decent amount of field time compared to what he normally got. They were up against Philly, and Dream found himself going against some of his older teammates and older friends. He hadn’t bonded with a ton of them, especially not the man in front of him, but he and Jared had always been fairly friendly as far as everything went. They were running for the same ball, and Dream ducked around Jared, sent the ball towards one of his teammates. Which, that was when it happened.
It was a pretty simple hit, all things considered. Dream had heard his heart roaring in his ears, hear the blood rushing and feel his pulse pounding in his throat. He kept running around at a good speed, kept running, could hear people cheering and yelling as the game went on. But still, it was under the harsh pounding. Which was why he just knew something was off, how he knew something had happened.
Jared’s arm collided with his chest, hard .
Dream stumbled back. “Sorry.” Jared turned and ran off, and Dream took a step. Blinked harshly. In his ears, he could hear this heart thump , pause for a moment. Flutter. Swallowing, he touched his chest. Knew he had a weird look on his face.
Stepping to the side, feeling his heart do another strange thud of some sort, Dream sucked in a breath. His mouth fell open. Gritting his teeth, he blinked. Stumbled to the side again, threw a leg out to try and catch himself. What—what’s happening? I don’t— he swallowed again. Saw one of his New York teammates sprinting towards him, and Dream met their gaze for a moment. There was another thump in his chest, he dimly realized his heart was probably struggling. Something happened. Something’s wrong, he realized. Looked at them in a panic.
“Dream? Are you okay?” His teammate asked, reaching out to him. “What’s happened?” He shook his head. Coughed again and stumbled again. One of his arms went out. “Hey, hey, you’re alright. What happened?” This wasn’t Dream trying to flop. He really didn’t want people to think he was trying to flop, like he was trying to get a penalty. One of his knees buckled, and he dropped down.
“Sidelines—” He forced out, feeling his heart thumping oddly, “get me to the sidelines. Now.”
“Okay, okay. Come on, help me out,” his teammate said, curling an arm around Dream’s side. The sound around him suddenly got…really loud. The lights were bright. Way too bright. Mouth falling open, Dream gasped in raggedly. Something was wrong in his chest. There were black spots in his eyes, and he glanced towards where he knew George was sitting. This isn’t good. This isn’t good at all. I think— his knees dropped out beneath him. Eyesight going dark, Dream cried out weakly. His chest hurt. Really, really bad. The grass brushed against his knees, against his legs, and he felt his teammate struggle to keep him up. Heard his name being called. The cameras were on him now, doubtlessly. “How were you even standing?” Fingers pressed to his pulse point. There was a pause, and then his teammate turned and shouted, “Get a medic! We need someone over here, now! Hey, hold on, you’re going to be alright.” He was settled on his back. People were talking to him, trying to get him to respond. His head was cupped, a hand around his neck as the short grass brushed against his hair. Someone pulled his mouth open, he could barely feel the hands doing it, though.
Then, Dream’s hearing finally went, and after a while he would realize that that was the moment his heart stopping finally got to the rest of his body.
+
George jolted upright from his seat as he watched Dream fall to the ground.
Immediately, Dream’s teammates were around him, trying to block off the cameras as the camerapeople moved them to focus on something, anything else. As he moved, George forced his way down the steps. “Dream!” He shouted out, struggling when Sapnap grabbed onto him. Turning, George met his gaze.
“Come on, we’ll go down quietly, we’ll let them come and bring us after that, you understand? It’s going to be fine. He’s going to be fine,” Sapnap reassured. Glancing at the field, George shook his head. Pulled away. He hurried down to the lockers, flashed his ID that said he was Dream’s husband, and he stood at the archway where the New York team entered into the field. In front of him, the medics were all rushing around. Someone was leaning over Dream, hands on his chest as they pumped down compression after compression into Dream’s chest, trying to bring him back. Heart pounding, George stared at Dream’s unmoving form. Watched and waited. Eventually, Sapnap managed to reach him, settled a hand on George’s shoulder and tugged him back. George glanced his way. Then, he turned back to look at the others. Sighed softly and then shook, let himself fall back against Sapnap as he watched Dream’s teammates force air into his lungs and then go back to compressions. There were EMTs rushing over, one of them pulled out a thing. Dream’s shirt was ripped off, the AED (was that what it was, or was it something else?), was strapped to his chest, and then they shocked him the first time. Went back to compressions.
Ten minutes. Dream was gone for ten minutes, and then they shocked him a second time and he jolted. Gasped with his mouth falling open, eyes fluttering open for a moment before they closed again. He was quickly treated by the EMTs, moved onto a stretcher. George grabbed for him as he passed. Looked to the EMTs in a panic. One of them seemed to register who he was as his coworker reached to pry George’s hand off the stretcher. “No, that’s his husband. Come on, we’ll take you with us.”
“Sap, follow in the car.” George said, following along. He grabbed Dream’s hand, rubbed a thumb over his knuckles. Letting out a soft groan, Dream opened his eyes. Turned and looked at him, blinked again and then twitched. His eyes shuttered halfway closed, he had an oxygen mask strapped to his face. He was breathing evenly, sort of. Like he was trying to keep breathing but it hurt too much. Which, maybe his ribs were broken, they probably were. He still had the sticky pads for the AED on his chest, ribs flexing as he breathed in and out.
George kept holding onto his hand, rubbed his thumb over the cool metal of Dream’s wedding band.
+
After a doctor’s visit confirming it was a random strike of cardiac arrest caused by Jared hitting him in the chest during that run, and then a night being observed in hospital with George sleeping beside him the whole time on a cot, Dream was back home, and he really appreciated it.
Lying on the couch, Dream had his head in George’s lap, and George was petting his hair while Patches sat curled on Dream’s chest. Yawning, Dream curled onto his side. Held Patches to his chest. Then, he closed his eyes. Dozed off for a little while. He heard Sapnap come into the room, heard him set some plates on the coffee table and talk softly to George. Lying there, Dream felt a shiver hit him. Sapnap and George quickly tucked a blanket around him. Shared some soft laughs, probably at his expense. Nudging into George’s hand when he had the chance, Dream yawned. “Get some rest. You’re still healing.” George told him softly, smiling. Blinking his eyes open, Dream looked at him. Reached up and touched George’s cheek. George leaned into the touch.
This time, when Dream drifted off, he was okay with it.