Whumpay Day 15: Near-Death/Immortality Angst
The building came down.
This was not an unusual turn of events for International Rescue. It had been quite a blaze, and the building would have come down without iR's help. But because they were there the collapse seemed that much more of an issue.
No, what was more of an issue was that the building coming down had not stopped Scott dashing in to reach the last life sign. He had reached it but had not made it out before there was an almighty groan and the building collapsed into itself.
In the sudden quiet Virgil thought his heart had stopped. He was pretty sure his breathing had. It was as if there was this moment, frozen in time, and all there was was dust and debris. Then time sped up again and everyone moved.
His brother was a lucky bastard. There was no other explanation. Virgil and Gordon had spent a fraught 20 minutes digging Scott and his rescuee out, ever mindful of potential injuries. And as was typical for their big brother, Scott was curled over and around his charge, protecting him as much as he could.
Scott had been lucky. His jet pack had taken the weight of a support beam that would have almost certainly broken his brother's back, but that still left injuries, and as Virgil ran the medscan over him before attempting any sort of moving, there were lots of red lights showing.
Lucky is a relative term, he now reflected as he waited in the private rooms the hospital set aside for them. Lucky hadn't stopped other potentially life-threatening injuries. Lucky hadn't kept him breathing unaided.
Lucky hadn't stopped his heart from giving out.
But, yeah. His brother was lucky. Gordon had managed to get his heart going while Virgil flew Two as if the devil was on his heels. Brains was going to have to give her a once-over, his gal didn't like speeds like that.
Lucky now meant Scott was alive.
He may not be breathing unaided, after damaging both a lung and his diaphragm, and he may still be unconscious in a medically-induced coma, but he was alive and Virgil was ever so thankful for that.
Another near-death experience to add to the growing list.
Sometimes Virgil wondered if his brother thought he was immortal. The way he threw himself around, the complete disregard for his own safety while doing his utmost to protect others. The way he would ignore him when Virgil said it was too dangerous.
Sometimes Virgil thought his brother just wanted to die, out here on a rescue. They had even had the conversation about going down with their ships. But then Virgil would reflect on how tight-knit they were, and how there was no way Scott would do that to them.
Sometimes his brother was just an idiot who didn't think further than 'save a life' before he charged in.
(Sometimes Virgil was the same.)