Some Say In Ice
Some say the world will end in fire... Some say in ice...
Usually Wyatt loves driving. Though, usual doesn't mean a snowstorm in Montana in the middle of nowhere.
"Maybe you should go slower!" Chris speaks up from the other side of the car. A glance to the side tells Wyatt that his little brother is leaning forward with narrowed eyes. Maybe he is trying to see through the snowstorm.
Which is kind of impossible even for Wyatt. And this is kind of frightening considering the fact that he is driving.
"Slower, Wy! That means you get your big foot off slightly from the accelerator!" Chris hisses.
Wyatt rolls his eyes, though even that is also slightly dangerous. "Chris, I'm going as slow as possible!"
Chris shakes his head and when it occurs to him that his brother is slightly occupied with staring out of the windshield searching for the road, he also voices his opinion.
"Nope, Wy! You are going as fast as it shouldn't be possible!"
From this point Wyatt chooses to ignore the brunette boy, because it really turns out to be a hell of a drive and he needs to concentrate. Though Chris has other ideas as always.
"You know there should be a scarp somewhere near. If it's okay, I don't want to end up down there!" the younger of the two comments. Now he is holding a map in his hands. "Oh, and the road gonna be slightly tortuous from here."
"Chris? You. Are. Not. Helping!" This time it's Wyatt's turn to hiss.
"You going way too fast, that's not helping!" Chris shots back immediately.
"I'm not going too fa-" Wyatt freezes in the middle of the sentence as he spots a light coming closer from the front and it gets bigger and bigger. Really, really rapidly. The recognition turns the older boy's inside into ice. There is a vehicle racing towards them and he should turn their car away, but where?
Probably Chris also spots the danger, because as Wyatt turns the wheel sharply he hears his little brother's half-hearted comment.
"Well, fuck!"
Then the other vehicle crashes into theirs and there is noise, shouts (maybe his own too) sharp light and in the end cold and dark.
-o-
Wyatt wakes slowly and he groans because while he wakes slowly the pain comes quickly. Why is there so much pain? Pain which is burning his legs and his chest. Oh, and the cold... What? Has he decided to sleep in the freezer? Wait… Montana. Yeah! He moved to Montana for a several month because of this new job of his. Cold, check! But what about the pain? What did he do? Then suddenly everything rushes back.
The snowstorm, the other car, he turning the wheel, the tree, the other tree and the scarp…
As his uncomfortable position finally gets a little space in his brain, he notes that he is half hanging, only kept in his seat by his seatbelt. The car it seems ended up on its passenger side after the hellish rolling.
Another word, passenger… It is really trying to remind him of something. Passenger… He wasn't traveling alone! His little brother!
He turns his head sharply which isn't such a good idea, but he doesn't care right now.
"Chris?"
Chris is pressed against the passenger door despite the seatbelt's best efforts. He looks just like how he usually sleeps, on his side, arms in front of his body also leaning against the door. But usually when he sleeps he is not deadly pale and unresponsive.
"Chris?" Wyatt repeats.
Chris is usually like an owl, a bird of the night. He can stay up as long as he wants, but when he finally lets himself sleep, he ends up being a heavy sleeper. Impossible to be awakened.
Wyatt hopes that this time it is only that. Chris is a heavy sleeper when he finally sleep.
He reaches for the door and tries to open it. The metal cries and whines, but finally after long and painful minutes it gives and it opens. Wyatt pushes hard then braces it when it recoiling. He relaxes for a second then with one hand he grabs the side of the car, with his legs he braces himself and with his other hand he unlocks the seatbelt. It takes some difficulty, but he manages to hold himself up avoiding falling onto Chris.
Pulling himself out is another round of hard work, but somehow he does and he soon falls onto the snow. Wetness and cold is what he feels as the snow melts on his clothes and as it soaks up the water.
Get out of the car. Check! Get Chris out of the car, still have to do.
Wyatt pushes himself to his feet and grabs the car when the world turns. He smells gasoline. Get Chris out of the car!
He walks around the car till he gets to the right spot. The windshield is broken which is fortunate now as it takes less effort to break it. Though Wyatt has to be careful if he wants to avoid getting it all over his little brother. When he finally gets the glass fragments out of the way, he half climbs into the car for a better access to Chris. They are somewhat lucky, the brunette isn't stuck despite the fact that the car is a wreck.
First the seatbelt. He carefully unlocks it while with his other hand he holds onto his brother making sure that there is no sudden movement. After the procedure Chris slumps against the passenger door even more. And that is when Wyatt spots the blood on the window, it is slowly forming a little puddle.
Head injuries bleed a lot. Wyatt tells it to himself again and again. But the worry is such a hard thing to defeat.
It is really hard and awkward getting Chris out of the car. Slow and careful movements, but still urgent. The hardest things are the brunette's legs and Wyatt thanks God again and again that Chris is such a skinny brat.
Finally Chris is free too.
However, there is no time to waste, because the cracking of the fire can be already heard and they really have to get as far away from the vehicle as possible.
The fact that he doesn't know the length of Chris' injuries doesn't help either.
In the end though he hauls the younger boy up and staggers away from the danger, through the snow not caring about his own pain.
Because it is his responsibility. He is the one awake, he is the older brother and he was driving the car.
He thinks it is enough. The distance. They are far enough. And he nearly collapses. Okay, maybe not nearly, but totally, though it is not the point right now. The point is making sure, that he doesn't jar Chris. He carefully lets the brunette slide down to the snow onto his back. Wyatt brushes the dark locks out of the wound. He touches it carefully, but he can't see bone. That's good. He doesn't know much about medicine, because that is usually Chris' thing, but he knows first aid well enough.
And he also knows that his coats sleeve hasn't been soaked in blood several minutes before and it has nothing to do with Chris' head injury. He quickly checks himself, but he himself isn't bleeding. But someone is.
He unzips Chris' coat and here it is. His originally white jumper is turned into bloody red. He pulls it up as much as he dares, the same with the brunettes shirt. Chris' skin is pale under the dark blood, but despite that he spots something he really didn't want to see. The end of the broken rib poking out of the open wound. He not so gently pulls the clothes down as his stomach churns. It wasn't that forceful, but this was the very movement which woke Chris up.
"Ow!" he manages softly. And he has Wyatt's full attention in no time.
"Don't move!" the blond orders quickly and for good measure he places his hands onto Chris' shoulders. Does it even matter after dragging the brunette out of the car and here?
"I wasn't… planning" Chris mumbles, but despite that he turns his head enough so he can have a look at his surroundings. "I told you that… I didn't want to end up… down here!"
"Well damn!" Wyatt huffs.
Chris glances down onto his jumper and frowns at the sight of the blood. Wyatt follows his gaze and winces.
"You have a broken rib," he says weakly.
Chris lets his head fall back and raises his eyebrow at his older brother.
"Oh, and …let me guess. I have a hole …in myself… made by that said… rib?"
Wyatt nods.
"So, that explains… why it hurts… to breath."
"Than don't talk! The ambulance should-" and Wyatt cuts himself off suddenly. He stares at Chris who looks back at him with first a confused gaze then when the realization comes, he narrows his eyes at the older boy.
"You never called the ambulance, right?"
-o-
Stupid stupid stupid! Wyatt repeats to himself. There is an accident, what's the first thing you do? Call the ambulance! And what did he do? Everything else. At least he is doing it right now. When someone finally answers the phone he quickly tells her everything he knows. When the question of the number of victims comes up he is not sure what to say, because there was another vehicle involved, but he can't see it right now. Maybe it stayed up on the road.
After few instructions the call is ended and he turns back to his brother. Chris hasn't moved an inch and he is staring up to the clouded sky with a blank expression. He looks completely dazed which he probably is.
"You with me?" Wyatt asks with concern.
Chris glances at him and Wyatt notes that the younger's breathing has become slightly erratic
"Next time… I drive!" Chris says quietly.
"Not a chance! Your driving is worse!" Wyatt complains forcing the grin onto his face, because it is not just Chris' driving which is worse, but he looks worse second by second.
"Some say… the world will end in fire... Some say in ice..."Chris mutters, "I bet… you are an ice fan…"
He looks spent and he paled even more. And Wyatt is not sure what to do, because they are out in a snowstorm, they are cold and hurt. One of the worst combinations.
"Don't speak!" Wyatt says in the end quietly. By the way, he notes, everything is so quiet. Luckily there was no big explosion, but the wrecks are burning with loud whooss sounds. But those too are quieted by the snow.
"Bu'…speakin'…s good," Chris mutters slowly and quietly. His eyes are glazed over and Wyatt isn't even sure that the younger man could even see. "If speak… not sleep…"
The storm rages on as the wind blows so hard that several times it nearly pushes Wyatt off balance. The big snowflakes cover everything, get into their clothes freezing them to the core. The blond boy moves closer to his brother and carefully he pulls the brunette close to him. Chris doesn't seem to mind as he leans into the touch. Maybe he is just seeking warmth. He probably is.
Wyatt is cold himself and he can't help but lean closer to his brother, wrapping his arm around him tightly, but still carefully. His head hurts.
"You…know…" Chris starts to speak again, but this time it is so soft that Wyatt barely can hear him through the storm, "'M rather…a fire…fan…"
"The world won't end now," Wyatt greets his teeth. Where is the ambulance?
-o-
Wyatt wakes when someone is shaking him. Wait! When did he fall asleep?
Someone is pulling on his arm. Someone is trying to take Chris away, so he tightens his hold. Not a chance!
"Son! Hey, son! We can't help him like that! You have to let go! We'll take care of him from now on!"
Wyatt looks up. There is white, but in the middle of the white he can see colors. They take a human form slowly. There is a man next to him and finally Wyatt understands. The paramedics are here, they came to help.
After that everything is a blur. Chris is taken away, he is wrapped into something warm and lead to a vehicle. He doesn't even know how he ended up in the hospital or even when he fell asleep again.
-o-
Everything is warm when Wyatt wakes up again. It is such a wonderful feeling that he wants time to stop just for this sensation. Then he notices that under the warmth there is another feeling. There is pain in his legs, in his fingers, in his chest and head. Pain has another funny side effect, it brings back memories. Memories of Montana and the crash.
Wyatt shots up to sitting position, because he has a little brother who had a broken rib and was bleeding when last time he saw him. However, sitting up isn't the smartest move right now, he notes as he nearly falls out of the bed he was laying in.
"Jesus! Stop that!" He hears a female voice and soon there is a nurse next to him guiding him back to the bed. "You, men are so stupid" she complains."
Wait, nurse. Nursee means hospital. Chris.
"Where is my brother?" he asks ignoring everything she is trying to say. She rolls her eyes at him.
"Would you just listen to me?" She asks not even trying to hide how annoyed she is. When Wyatt gives her his attention she points her finger to the side and the blond boy follows her movement with his gaze.
There is another bed in the room and it is occupied. Wyatt sighs with relief as he recognizes Chris under the covers and the oxygen mask. He is pale and unconscious, but there is no blood just a hell of a lot bandages.
Few minutes later a doctor appears in the room and the annoying nurse leaves. The doctor is man with gray hair and tired smile. He explains that both Wyatt and Chris were lucky, Wyatt because his injuries weren't that serious and his concussion was taken care of in time. And Chris was lucky because his lungs weren't compromised and the breathing problem was caused by the pain of the broken rib. He had a surgery which went well and now they are monitoring him for any sign of infection. Though his concussion was worse than Wyatt's, but he swelling is going down and there is no sign of brain damage.
All in all everything will be alright when he wakes up.
With that thought Wyatt leans back onto his pillow and let himself drift off to sleep. Chris is going to be okay. His duty as an older brother ends now for a few hours while he sleeps then he will be ready to play the mother hen and annoy Chris to no end.