Lost Words

by Princess of Kickassery

Just a small little one shot written for the au ask blog ask-readyplayergaymers ( ht tps :/ /ask-readyplayergaymers./ ). In it the gang is a group of gamers and the SQUIP is a group of extremist gamers who threw Jake off his balcony and put him in a coma. ((RichXJake, Rated T for character death.))

"So then Christine just, like, jumped on my back and we both went down. We were fine though, but I was surprised she thought my tiny ass could hold both of us upright haha." Rich chuckled, pretty much to himself, as he relayed the story to his unconscious friend. He smiled at Jake, taking his hand in his as he said, the smile faltering a bit, "We really miss you Jakey D. I just hope that you can hear me in… your head I guess? I don't know, just the thought that you can hear me is a relief… Jake, I… I miss you. And I lo-"

Rich was cut off, however, when Jake's monitors began to beep rapidly. Immediately Rich slammed his hand on the nurse call button and yelled for help, growing increasingly frantic as Jake began to shake violently on the bed. As doctors and nurses swarmed into the room, Rich was ushered out quickly as the paramedics attempted to stabilize Jake, who was still thrashing on the bed.

Watching from the doorway, Rich gripped his shirt in panic as the doctors rushed about in the room. That's when he heard it: the steady, heart dropping whine of Jake's heart monitor. Jake had stilled suddenly, along with Rich's heart. The world began to swim around Rich and he vaguely heard someone shout for a defibrillator. A doctor shouted "clear," and pressed the paddles to Jake's chest. The boy bounced on the bed, but there was no response from the heart unit. They tried again, and again, until finally… "We've lost him. I'm so sorry sir."

Rich barely looked at the nurse in front of him as he watched them pull the sheet over Jake's head. He stumbled back groggily until he reached the wall- feeling as though this couldn't be real- as he slid down to the ground against the wall. Rich curled into himself, feeling the tears stream down his face but hearing nothing coming out of him. It was as though his body knew what had happened, but refused to react properly, acknowledging the tragedy that had occurred not seconds earlier. Adminst his tears and swirling thoughts, one came to him stronger than any other thought or feeling: I never told him "I love you."