Heart pumping, blood rushing, pain coursing, body convulsing, throat constructing.
"Buford!"
Wide blue eyes staring at him, lips moving, "why didn't you save me?", accusing sneers, heads shaking.
"Buford! Wake up!"
Loud screeches, harsh bangs, endless screams, sirens blaring, chopper propellers beating.
"Buford!"
Smoke suffocating, heat burning, blood flowing, cries ripping, bodies falling.
"BUFORD!"
With a loud scream he was awake, his eyes flying open and darting around the room. His breaths coming out in short bursts, his throat refusing to allow him any room to suck in lungfuls of air, heart pounding at a million miles per second, hands twtiching and body trembling uncontrollably.
"Buford…"
"Ferb…"
He was suddenly lunging at the man sitting beside him, the one who'd been shaking his shoulders and calling his name over and over, desperate to wake him up. His arms instantly sought out their place around Ferb's waist, his head dropping to rest on Ferb's shoulder. His body convulsed once in a barely held back sob before he let go, crying uncontrollably into Ferb's shirt.
"S-She w-was… I c-could've…"
"Sssh," Ferb soothed, hands coming up, one to wrap around Buford's shoulders whilst the other cupped the back of his head, pressing it even tighter to his shoulder. He closed his eyes and pressed a kiss to the side of Buford's head before resting his forehead against it. "You're okay, I promise."
"B-But-"
"You're okay."
Buford gave a shaky nod before tightening his arms and crying. Ferb flinched slightly at the wetness touching his neck and soaking his shirt but ignored it as he chose instead to rock them both backwards and forwards, making soothing noises that he hoped would reach Buford over the scared whimpers emanating from the other.
Eventually though, Buford's whimpers and sobs trailed off into small sniffles and coughs. Knowing that the other would probably have a headache now, crying tended to do that to someone, Ferb went to pull away to get him some painkillers. He hadn't expected Buford to cry out and cling to him even tighter.
"Ferb! Please… don't go… don't leave me," he whispered against the skin of Ferb's neck. "Don't go like she did."
Ferb instantly bit his lip and hugged the other back, murmuring a quiet string of "never" under his breath as he buried his nose into Buford's brown locks. He would never leave Buford, not now, not ever. And he knew the other needed to hear that.
Especially in the past two months. Two months since Buford and his mother were in a car crash. Two months since Buford's mother hadn't been able to crawl out of the car before it tipped off the edge of the cliff. Two months since she'd plummeted to her death. Two months since Buford had begun to blame himself for not holding on and helping his mother. Two months since nightmares had screwed Buford over even more than normal.
"Buford, your head must hurt," he whispered after a while, his own eyes squeezed shut. "Do you want me to get you some medicine for the pain?" He didn't say it, but he knew that Buford knew he would get the sleeping pills, the ones that knocked him out for hours and took him away from the pain of… everything.
It surprised him when Buford pushed them back against the pillows and somehow managed to curl his larger frame into Ferb's chest.
"You're the best medicine right now."
Ferb almost cried as he hugged the other tightly, refusing to let go.