Got the idea from this story shortly after reading another fanfic, but they have very little to nothing in common. I apologise beforehand for all the italics and bold, but there was no other way I could get the last paragraph across. Which I hope is clear enough thanks to the rest of the text. I trust you people to be smart enough to figure out what's going on!
Warnings: uh... this is one of those stories I'm not sure it needs warnings but... Lots of pain, people getting hurt, hospitals, uh... Weird English, I guess.
Anyway, enjoy!
A scream woke Lalli up. He stared at the ceiling, breathed heavily. It took him a few seconds to figure out that the scream came from him and he only figured it out because his mouth was still open, still silently screaming. A nightmare? He forced himself to close the mouth and rolled over to his side. His eyes fell on the rifle that stood leaned against the sink. Lalli's nightmares never made him scream, they usually just had him searching for a weapon. He didn't feel that need this time. He sat up, leaned his back against the wall. What had he even dreamt of? He couldn't remember. Only darkness. He pulled the blanket over his legs again. He knew he wouldn't be able to go back to sleep.
xxx
Pain.
Dakness swirled across his mind.
He tried breathing, but he couldn't. He tried moving, but he couldn't. He tried opening his eyes.
He could, but was forced to close them again. His head pounded and the darkness was swirling closer again.
He accepted it.
xxx
Lalli threw away the blanket. His body was restless, painful, but the pain was distant. It wasn't his. He put his boots on, grabbed his rifle, put the rifle down again. He needed to do something, wasn't sure what he needed to do. He picked the rifle up again and left the apartment. People stared at him as he walked aimlessly along the streets, not used to him being up at that hour, but he didn't care. The slight worry in the back of his mind taunted him, laughed at him and if he could only remember, but he couldn't.
xxx
Voices.
He stirred, stopped moving. There was so much pain. Blurry figures moved by his side and he closed his eyes again.
More voices. Yelling. The sound of a car and then...
Darkness.
xxx
"Lalli!"
Lalli stopped at Tuuri's call, closed his eyes as a wave of pain danced across his mind. She grabbed his arm and he opened his eyes again, looked at her. She placed a hand on his forehead.
"Are you okay?"
Lalli nodded, pulled away from her touch. It distracted him, made him lose what he already couldn't remember.
"You look like you've seen a ghost", she continued.
Lalli stopped, stared at her. Not a ghost, he hadn't seen a ghost. Something big, and then darkness. Darkness and the distant pain and that scream that still echoed in his head. He shook his head, tried to clear his mind, but the scream. He couldn't get rid of the scream.
xxx
He wanted to scream.
Every bump in the road sent jolts of pain through his body as he drifted in and out of consciouness. Consciousness. That's what the darkness was. Wasn't.
Another bump. He tried to scream, but nothing.
The taste of copper filled his mouth and he heard people yelling before darkness grabbed him again.
xxx
Lalli wasn't sure why he was on his knees. Or why his mouth tasted like blood. Tuuri was kneeling infront of him, her mouth moving, but all he could hear was silence. She shook his shoulder and he let his hands drop into his lap. Her voice was clearer now, no longer obstructed by his hands over his ears, but it was still distant. As if he was stuck inbetween this place and the dark place.
"Are you sure you're okay?"
He nodded, shook his head. Both her hands on his shoulders and she hugged them slightly. There was panic in her eyes and Lalli wanted to say something, but darkness was creeping in.
"I'll get Onni. Stay here. I-I'll be right back."
She was gone. Pain flared up in Lalli's chest and he doubled over, let the darkness grab him as the silent scream grew louder.
xxx
Beeping. Lalli's eyes opened. His eyes opened. She was there. Family. A slight comfort in all the pain. What happened? He tried to remember, but his mind swirled. In and out of darkness. Time passed. Seconds, minutes, hours. He didn't know.
His throat was blocked by a tube. Lalli's throat felt thick. He tried to speak, but no sounds managed to escape. She stirred next to him. His hand in hers, a slight squeeze. It didn't hurt. He tried to speak again.
"Tuuri..."
Lalli's voice was raspy and she squeezed his hand harder.
"You need to rest."
Her voice both close and distant, from two worlds at once. He let the darkness grab him again. The pain, shared, grew more distant every time he woke up. He remembered a moose. Lalli remembered a dream. Days had passed, he was awake now. She stayed by his side, talked to him, tried keeping him calm. Tried keeping herself calm, but he could see the tears she wouldn't let him know about. Onni leaned against the doorframe, looked at his cousin. His head felt heavy, still, but he turned towards the door. His father came closer, Onni came closer, sat down on the bed and grabbed his hand.
"Lalli..."
She helped him settle up, placed pillows behind his back to keep him comfortable. He could see the paper in his father's, in Onni's, hand.
"Your friend..."
The voice was distant, close. It was two voices united across space. He clenched his hand, already knew what was coming, but still unwilling to hear it.
"He's in the hospital."
He remembered a moose, a scream and then darkness. It wasn't his memory. He remembered pain, but not as bad as he had expected. His father looked at him, waited. Onni looked away and Lalli closed his eyes.
"Emil..."
Emil closed his eyes. He knew now what it meant to have a soulmate.
'I'm sorry, Lalli.'
The apology fluttered between the two worlds and both smiled.
'I don't mind.'
Feelings travelled between one end of the world to the other, two souls combined no matter the distance, two voices combined as they reached to each other.
'Feel better soon.'
Both knew they would because if there was one thing they had learned it was that shared pain is half the pain.
Both smiled.
