Work Text:
"Ranger Candidate R. Becket, number 1221.21-b, unresponsive, pupils fixed, BP is—"
"Raleigh—Rals listen you gotta stay with me. Stay with me okay? Rals—"
Yancy’s got a hand on the bed rail and the metal is warm under his fingertips as he runs with the doctors. He would be holding Raleigh’s hands but the doctors are using those, sticking him with needles and wrapping monitors around him. Raleigh is limp and pale in the bed and he knows the only reason his little brother is getting air is because of the bag the nurse is pumping. Yancy wants to glare at them all but he can’t look away from Raleigh.
He runs with them in to the sick bay where they lift Raleigh on to a hospital bed, still shouting orders over his brother’s prone body. It was supposed to just be a routine training excise but something happened. his side went dead, disconnected and the weight of the simulated drift collapsed on Raleigh. When the doctors lift Raleigh’s eyelid and he sees the blood he has to fight not to be sick.
"Come on Rals," he says through gritted teeth, "come on, come on—"
"He’s going in to v-fib!" Someone shouts.
"Raleigh!" He screams his brother’s name as a cart is wheeled over and they stick two orange pads to his chest, "Raleigh!"
There are hands on him holding him back, a lot of them which is good because he’s going to keep Raleigh alive no matter what. If he has to he’s going to crack open his chest and and pump his heart for him, he doesn’t give a damn. They hold him back and he has to watch as Raleigh’s body jerks with electricity when they shot him with increasingly higher voltage until his heart starts again.
Someone shoves a tube down his throat and another gets blood samples Yancy knows won’t tell them shit. It’s all in Raleigh’s brain. He wants to take the vials back because there’s blood from his nose and his ears, he’s lost enough of it without her taking more. But then she runs off and he decides he’d rather stay with Raleigh more. The doctors scan his little brother’s body as he watches, digging his fingers in to his ribs so he stays still because otherwise he’s going to kill someone and then he’ll be sedated or worse.
"Mr. Becket," one of the doctors says and wisely doesn’t suggest leaving the room, "your brother require surgery."
"What?" he demands, "why?"
"The weight of the neural load has caused his brain to swell," the doctor says, "we need to relieve the pressure."
He looks at Raleigh and tries not to think of their mother who wasted away slowly in a hospital bed, dying one ventilator pump at a time. If his eyes are wet when the doctor looks at him, the man is wise enough not to say anything.
"Do it," he says.
Hours later he collapses in a chair besides Raleigh’s hospital bed, looking at the white bandages that are too close to Raleigh’s skin. He scrubs his face with his hands and braces his elbows on his knees, afraid to look away from Raleigh. Simulations are supposed to be without risk. They aren’t supposed to go so wrong. He knows something went wrong with the machine, he gets that. But it shouldn’t be Raleigh in that bed.
If anyone should be there it’s him.
He’s the oldest. He’s supposed to protect Raleigh from everything. He’s been doing it since the day his mom showed him the tiny baby born too soon. He stayed up with Raleigh as long as the doctors would let him and made sure he was safe when he got home. they’ve been sharing a room since Raleigh came home from the hospital. He picks up Raleigh’s hand between his own, bows his head and begins to pray. God can’t have Raleigh back just yet, selfishly Yancy needs him for a while longer.
He’s awake for two days straight though he knows Raleigh won’t wake up in that time frame. He doesn’t sleep, he barely eats and he leaves the door open when he goes to the bathroom so he can watch and make sure the monitors are still reading Raleigh’s vitals correctly. They are. Everything is holding steady, they’re just waiting to see if he wakes up.
When, Yancy corrects, they’re waiting to see when he wakes up.
He has to, there’s no other option.
On the third day his body gives out and he falls asleep, his face on Raleigh’s bed and their hands tightly locked. He comes to hours later with a jerk, his disoriented gaze locking on Raleigh whose still sleeping peacefully. There’s a sound in the bathroom and his eyes go there as the door opens on a young woman.
She’s very young and not dressed for the weather meaning she just got here. Her eyes are downcast as she walks forward, like she doesn’t think she should be there. Wordlessly she gets another cup of water and Yancy sees there’s one already there with a straw in it. He looks from her to Raleigh desperately.
"He woke up?" He questions and she bobs her head, "how was he, did he say anything, does the doctor know?" He demands.
The girl stares at him like a deer caught in the headlights and Yancy swears, going to push himself up to get some answers when Raleigh’s fingers tighten on his. He spins around to see Raleigh’s eyes half open and his lips parted. Yancy drops heavily on to the bed besides Raleigh as the girl gets the other cup of water and almost shoves the straw up his nose.
As Yancy tries to get his throat to work Raleigh takes the straw from the girl and drinks before smiling and nodding his head slightly. The girl bows back respectfully. Raleigh’s eyes lock on Yancy and he gives a slightly smile.
"You look awful," he rasps.
"Pot meet kettle," Yancy says with a crooked smile though he knows he’s close to tears. The girl watches the exchange silently, "when’d you wake up?"
"Dunno," Raleigh mumbles, "told them to let you sleep."
"you should’ve woken me up," Yancy says and looks for the girl who is gone, only to return with the doctor. The doctor says something in a language Yancy doesn’t understand and she replies quickly.
"How is he?" Yancy demands.
"The neurologist is on his way," the doctor says, "but this is good progress."
Yancy exhales and tightens his fingers on Raleigh’s. Raleigh cranes his neck and smiles at the girl who blushes furiously.
"Hey doc, whose your assistant?" He asks.
"This is Mako," the doctor says and smiles at her, saying something again.
"Hi," Mako says shyly and Yancy realizes she doesn’t speak English very well.
The man says something and Mako nods, going to the door before turning around.
"I am happy you are okay," she stammers out.
"Thanks," Raleigh says.
She goes almost plum colored and runs off.
Yancy is already looking at Raleigh who watches Mako run off before looking at Yancy who knows he’s staring like an idiot. Raleigh hates that. Not just the being stared at part but the worrying him part. The doctor goes to check on the neurologist and Yancy stays right there, memorizing how Raleigh looks now that he’s awake and trying to pretend the last few days have been nothing but a bad dream.
"I’m not gonna vanish," Raleigh mutters.
"you better not," Yancy says, "we’re in this together, remember?"
"Yeah," Raleigh says with a weak smile, "together."