2D's body wanted to give out on him but he desperately continued on as fast as he could, his gaze continuously moving between the approaching truck and his love. He couldn't gather his breath enough to yell. He had to get Murdoc out of the way himself. He knew the truck saw him.. but they weren't slowing down. Speeding up, if anything. Curse modern-day silent engines.

Murdoc felt it before anything. Felt the push of Stuart's hand against his chest. Saw the flash of the lights just outside his vision...

2D had tears glistening on his cheeks by the time he reached Murdoc- not out of knowledge of the fact that only one of them was going to get out of the way in time, but out of fear that he'd be the one who walked away. There were words trying to scrape past his lips as he launched himself against the bassist, but they were shattered as the truck slammed into him in mid-air. 2D's eyes shut tightly as he felt the splintering power of the impact jarring his thin body.

There was a feeling in the numbness. Like a lock and shackles were undone about his heart. The thrum of the engine. Murdoc watched as he fell. Watched it all come shattering down as Stuart took his place. There'd been a car...he'd never noticed. The look on Stuart's face mimicked the horror in his own. A wide-eyed moment of fear. No. Sheer terror. Stuart rolled with the impact, up and over the hood of the car, out of sight as Murdoc met the ground, his head bouncing off the asphalt. He knew it as he fell. He'd killed him. He'd killed him as easy as he'd kissed him. All because he'd been a coward. A Niccals. Adrenaline pushed Murdoc upright, numbness creeping in as he registered a motionless Stuart on the pavement and the headlights disappearing around the corner.

There was ringing. A deafeningly loud ringing that rattled the lad's skull as he lay there. His chest refused to move, his vocals to produce sound, his muscles to produce tension. He felt calm, however; Murdoc hadn't been touched. He knew it. That was enough for him… He managed a shuddering, painful breath that left him coughing crimson weakly against the pavement.

Hysteria began at the sight blood. Murdoc opened his mouth to scream, but nothing came out. He shuddered, tearless sobs wracking his body, feeling weaker than he'd ever been before. He was no longer Murdoc Niccals. He was Murdoc Tusspot, lover of Stuart Tusspot. And he was powerless to stop this horror before him. Horror he caused.

With every draw of breath 2D's chest would only continue to hurt worse. His entire upper body felt shattered, his lower not even felt anymore. He forced out a single word, his speech garbled with blood and jerking with pain. "M-Mu'doc...?" Though he could no longer focus his eyes, he could hear his lover's trembling breaths and wretching sobs.

"S-Stu...?" He couldn't control himself. He didn't trust his feet. Murdoc crawled to his lover, numbly thinking about the cell phone in his pocket. Call for help. Scream. Ms. Linnette would hear him. But he couldn't nothing responded like a normal, logical person would. He reached his lover's side, hand dragging through blood to pull himself into a sitting position. He didn't trust himself to touch the boy. He'd caused enough pain. "Luv...?"

2D's eyes fluttered a bit, tears still dripping down his face. Why wouldn't Murdoc touch him? Had he.. had he gotten hurt after all? Did he hurt his lover? Stuart's breathing evened slightly, but the moment he started to talk he was cut off by a violent coughing fit that shook his frail figure. "A-a'e.. yew.. o-okay..?" He inquired slowly, having to measure his breathing to keep from choking over his blood.

More blood poured from his thin lips, turning whiter by the second. "God, Stu, don't talk!" Murdoc shrieked, having the sense to take out his phone and call an ambulance. "Jus' stop! I'm gonna...I'm gonna..." he choked on his sobs, hands shaking on the buttons. Finally pressing the right three, he held the object to his ear, running a hand through Stuart's hair, only touching the ends in fear of touching blood should he delve deeper.

Just the dim light of the stars made Stu's head spin and he gingerly closed his eyes, sniffling as the crimson found its way to his nose as well. It occurred to him, through his own agony and Murdoc's frantic sobs, that he probably wasn't going to make it out of this one. He couldn't leave Murdoc like this, though. "Pwease.. s'op c-cwyin', Mudsy..." One of his pale hands twitched as he tried to reach up to his lover's face, yet he couldn't force it to do much else. Just the effort put into that drained the lad terribly.

Murdoc shook twice as bad when that hand rested against his face. "Luv, I..." he placed his hand over Stuart's, a frightened child. "I...I can't..." The line picked up, a monotone voice asking what his emergency was. "My husband's been hit." He never stumbled over the unfamiliar word, despite his shaking. "We're down the road from The Midnight House. Come quick." He hung up. He couldn't waste this time on chatter. The phone hit the ground, the cover breaking off, but was paid no heed. Murdoc was unable to look away from those eyes. Onyx to ebony to charcoal. They were slowly losing their shine, growing softer, the light in them weaker. He was dying. And Murdoc couldn't stop it.

"Mmm.. 'usband..." 2D hummed raspily, a small, bloody smile taking over his features. He had a frightening sensation in his hand, the one on Murdoc's cheek, as the blood drained from it. His heart wasn't pumping enough to keep the flow and gravity was taking its toll. "Y-y'know.. 'm a-a'ways gunna.. l-love yew mo'e den a-anyfing, Muds..."

and the tears start to fall…

"No, luv, no..." he whimpered, the hand losing its control. He dropped to the ground, level with 2D's eyes, kissing his bloody mouth softly. "Don' go..." he whined, kissing again. "I need yew...stay wit' me...I wanna marry yew, Stuart. I promise to be the bes' 'usband in the worl'. Jus' stay wit' me..."

2D could hardly feel the kiss, his dark eyes barely open as they gave him no use. He couldn't see anymore. "D-da' sounds loik s'g-gunna be noice, Muds.." He sounded hopeful, yet at the same time distant. He knew he wasn't going to make it.. "M-Mu'doc... ah'm.. s-sowwy... d-dun fink ah'm g-goin' t-to make i' to.. th-tha weddin'..." The gaps between his words grew with each pause, the blood slowing to a trickle as there wasn't much left to spill.

"Naw, luv, naw..." Sirens wailed in the distance. Thank God they were so close to town. "Yer gonna make it. It'll be wonderful. Noodle will forgive us. She nevah meant it. She wan's to be yer maid of 'onor. Russ'll be my best man. We'll have it somewhere nice. Jamaica. Yew loved Jamaica. An' we'll 'ave a beautiful 'oneymoon. Jus' the two of us. Hell, we'll even adopt kids." He smiled weakly, trying to keep Stuart talking, just to be assured he was alive. "What do yew wan'? Boy or a girl? What'll we name it?"

"Why no'... a-ah lil g-gi'l... Noods c'n be l-loik 'er oldeh s-sistah..." The singer drawled, his lips not wanting to work and the last part of it coming out more as a whimper than words. He tried to continue, to look forward to this bright future together, but his words were lost and his heart disbelieving. He could fight to stay with Murdoc all he like, but it wasn't going to happen.

"She'll be beautiful, Stu. She'll have yer hair...my eyes. Noodle'll dress 'er up every day. Yew can teach 'er to walk. I'll show 'er how to play bass. She'll be wonderful. Innocent, like yew. Tough, like me. Can yew see 'er?" The sirens got closer. Murdoc could hear them, only a block or so away. "Whut's 'er name, luv? Yew nevah tol' me 'er name."

Stuart was limp, his breathing ragged and shallow with the bubbles in his lungs audible. He tried to say it, but all he could conjure was a garbled sigh. The ambulance siren was lost on him as everything started fading. This was it. He couldn't even give their future child a name before a darkness overtook him and he went still.

"Stu?" Murdoc sniffled, tears finally falling. "Stuart? Luv?" He trembled, no longer feeling that ragged breath on his cheek. "No." The paramedics were just getting out of the truck when Murdoc sat up, inconsolable as he began screaming, rocking himself back and forth, holding onto himself as if he would shatter, trying not to touch his lover, for once in his life afraid of his body.

They quickly assessed 2D's condition; their orders rushed as they pulled out a stretcher and carefully shifted him onto it. Before they even got him into the back of the ambulance they'd stripped him of his shirt, showing the terrible bruising and internal bleeding of his side. There was even part where the bone had broken and was sticking out of the skin in an unsettling display. "No pulse!" One shouted to the others over the siren, the others quickly gathering the defibulator and handing it off to the head paramedic. "Everyone clear? Shock!" 2D's body jolted with the heart-starting electricity, yet they had no such luck. As the man turned to start juicing up the defib. unit once more, another paramedic started performing CPR. No one gave Murdoc a second thought.

Murdoc had stopped screaming, an almost pleasant numbness sweeping over him. He turned his head to watch the unnerving display behind him, watching 2D's body arch up under the force of electricity and being sweetly reminded of that night in the Winnie, how he'd caused that same effect with his body and pleasure alone. It was almost sickening how he saw things in the eye of a panic storm. How the blood on his lips reminded Murdoc of his finger cut and 2D played nurse, licking it clean. He licked his own lips now, tasting 2D's blood in return. 'There,' he thought calmly, 'we're both inside each other.' When the medic pressed against his chest, Murdoc remembered that steady beat of his heart the night before, lulling him to sleep. There was a spike of jealousy when the woman placed her mouth on 2D's, but it still brought him back to all those jokes, the kisses they'd shared, the look on 2D's face when he'd seen the fish, the pouting, the laughter, the smiles...

Another shock and still no pulse. They were starting up the ambulance now, one of the paramedics casting Murdoc a look. In a moment they'd be driving like mad to get this lad to the hospital and possibly resuscitate him, leaving Murdoc to sit there in the road with a puddle of blood and the abandoned remains of Stuart's shirt. More CPR, one last shock.. the defib. monitor paused, then the screen flashed with 'I do not advise another shock.' They all shared a look, slamming the doors shut as the motor roared forward. This boy needed to get to the hospital now or there was absolutely no chance.

"Let me go wit' yew," he called out, wishing...

It couldn't be too late.