Devastated
By turtlegirl42
Chapter 2: Arrival
After inconspicuously parking Archie in a safe spot a couple blocks away, Rorschach carried Daniel down the street. He moved as quickly as he could, because he knew if Dan didn't get to a hospital soon, he would die. Despite Rorschach's best efforts, Dan was still bleeding profusely. And darn…he was really heavy!
Rorschach entered the hospital unmasked. He was extremely nervous without his face on, but he thought, Better this way. Protect his identity—and mine this way.
Walter refused to give the receptionist his name, and took a seat in the waiting room. The nurses wheeled Dan away down one of those hospital corridors that seem to stretch for eternity, its whiteness almost hurting Walter's eyes.
There were several other people with him in this waiting room. There was a father holding a small child in his lap. A young woman, an obese man, and an old couple were also in the room. They all wore worried, anxious looks on their faces. Walter supposed he was not unlike them in that way.
He tried desperately not to think about what happened. Must not cry, he thought. Nothing to be done now. Only thing to do is wait.
Daniel was his only friend. If he died, Walter would never forgive himself.
Walter looked up at the television. The news was on. Nothing to report but death, violence, and destruction. There was no good news to tell.
The world was dying. It was slowly destroying itself bit by bit while everyone pretended it wasn't happening.
Daniel had been caught in the crossfire, shot down when he was needed the most.
Walter waited for what seemed like hours. Exhausted by the eventful patrol and lack of sleep the night before, Walter slept. And he dreamed…
Rorschach was walking along a dusty dirt path. The wind was strong, threatening to blow off Rorschach's hat occasionally. He didn't know where he was or what he was doing here. There wasn't a soul in sight.
Rorschach realized where he was when he saw many headstones looming ahead of him. He entered the cemetery, treading softly through the undisturbed dead.
He reached the grave he had been looking for. He set down the flowers he did not know he had been carrying. Rorschach looked at the headstone. It was small, and the headstone read:
Daniel Dreiburg
1945-1972
It is not length of life, but depth of life.
He jumped into life and never touched bottom.
Rorschach took his hat off and fell to his knees. He couldn't save Daniel. It was his fault. Daniel was gone, and it was because Rorschach couldn't save him. It was his fault. His fault. His fault. His fault…
"NO!" Walter startled himself awake, alarming everyone else in the waiting room.
Walter turned red in the face and mumbled, "Sorry, nightmare." Most of the people in the room nodded solemnly and returned to what they had been doing before.
A doctor appeared in the doorway. "Sir?" he asked, pointing to Walter. Walter got up and followed the man to an empty room.
"First of all," the doctor said, "I'd like to thank you. You saved that man's life. If you had gotten here any sooner, he wouldn't have made it. As it was, we had to perform emergency surgery and give him blood transfusions."
"Will he be alright?" Walter asked.
"He's in critical condition right now, but he should recover," the doctor said. "His vitals are stable, but unfortunately he's lost all motor function from the waist down."
The doctor motioned to the doorway with his head.
"Your friend is in the next room. He will be unresponsive, because he is in a medically induced coma. He'll wake up in a couple of days. My advice to you would be to go home and get some rest."
Walter said nothing but walked past the doctor into Dan's room.
Daniel appeared to be asleep in the hospital bed. He actually looked quite peaceful for a man who had just been shot not a couple hours before. There were several machines beside him and an IV right next to his bed. The continuous beeping of a heart monitor was the only sound in the room.
Walter didn't know what to say. Even if he were awake, Daniel wouldn't recognize him without his face on. Walter just stood there for a few minutes, thinking about what was going to happen. Then he said, "Be back soon," and left.
When outside, Walter put his face back on and went off into what was left of the night.
But Rorschach didn't go home. He drove Archie back to the Owl's Nest. Then he picked the lock and let himself inside Daniel's house.
After raiding Daniel's cupboard, Rorschach began to search for an address book. He knew there was one around here somewhere. Must tell the others, he thought.
Rorschach didn't have to look long. Daniel's address book was on a stand next to the telephone. So predictable, he thought.
Rorschach leafed through the slightly tattered address book. Not too many names in here… Mostly the names of the other masked vigilantes. Comedian… Dr. Manhattan… Hollis Mason… Silk Spectre… wait a minute! Rorschach flipped back several pages.
Hollis Mason… Wasn't Hollis Mason the first Nite Owl? Apparently they were friends of some sort. Rorschach picked up the phone and decided he would call Hollis Mason first.
After five rings, the old man picked up the phone.
"Hello?" Hollis Mason said.
"Hello. Hollis Mason there?" Rorschach asked.
"This is Hollis Mason. What do you want? It's three o'clock in the morning!"
"You know Daniel Dreiburg?"
"Yeah, we're good friends. We meet every Saturday. Why?"
"He was shot. In critical condition right now, should recover."
The other line was silent for nearly a minute.
"Oh, my God. What hospital is he staying at?"
"St. Joseph's Memorial."
"I'll be sure to visit. Poor Daniel… wait, who is this?"
But Rorschach had already hung up.
Rorschach called the rest of the masked vigilantes. Their reactions ranged from shock (Silk Spectre) to mild indifference (Ozymandias, Dr. Manhattan).
That done, Rorschach walked home in the rainy morning air.
Two days later, Daniel Dreiburg woke up.
Note: Thanks to for the epitaph. Thank you for the reviews!