Prompt 13: Emergency room

Dynamic: Sleepybee

Other tags: Modern AU setting, drowning, fainting, hospitalization, slight self-hatred/guilt near the end

Technoblade was never big on swimming.

Not that he outright hated it or anything, there were just a hundred things he could imagine enjoying more. He disliked how his long hair was a pain to dry anywhere but in the bathroom at home, he disliked having to put on his clothes over damp skin, he disliked that when you went swimming at the beach, sand would always get all over you and stick in unpleasant places. Techno shuddered at the very thought.

Today they were at the lake. Phil loved coming there because it was a spot he'd often visited as a child. Tommy loved it too, especially since he was allowed to bring his friends and they could spend all afternoon splashing around. Wilbur must share Techno's sentiment about swimming though, he'd opted to stay home and go into town with Niki.

To his credit, Wilbur had offered for Techno to come with them instead and Techno knew Niki wouldn't even have minded if he said yes. But he wasn't cruel enough to leave Phil by himself at the mercy of three chaotic high schoolers. So there he was, sitting on a blanket at the shore, watching Tommy, Tubbo, and Ranboo challenge each other into staying under the longest. Earlier, Techno had gone into the water with them, never submerging himself deeper than his waist. Now he was just watching though. Phil was sitting next to him, sketchbook in hand. His fingers were stained with charcoal.

Despite Techno not being fond of swimming, he enjoyed this. There was something quiet about it, peaceful. Nostalgic - the soft sound of Phil humming a song from his youth while he drew.

With Techno looking on, the three boys moved to a deeper part of the lake. Perhaps to make their little game easier, to see not only who could hold his breath the longest but also who could dive deeper. Their countdown was so loud it carried over to where Techno and Phil were sitting. Tommy waved his arms wildly, yelling something about cheating. Then they all took a deep breath and went under.

Ripples moved across the lake and for a moment it was almost entirely silent, except for the sound of pencil scratching on paper beside him. Techno picked at the blanket. He had brought a book and his headphones in case he wanted music. But sometimes it was nicer to simply exist in the moment.

Then Tommy burst above the surface again, gasping and yelling, and their fragile tranquility was shattered.

Techno smiled watching his brother flop around like a fish on dry land. Tommy talked a big game, it's as if he forgot that he shared Wilbur's misfortune of having weak lungs. Techno couldn't relate.

Tubbo surfaced next, inhaling deeply to compensate for his laughing. He must have said something to make fun of Tommy because the two started splashing water at each other vigorously. They barely noticed that Ranboo hadn't come up yet.

Techno was watching.

Every second felt like it dragged on an eternity into the next. Techno was waiting, waiting, waiting and his legs had already forced him into standing up without him consciously deciding he should because something must be wrong. Ranboo wasn't coming up and even Tubbo was starting to look around a little awkwardly and Tommy was yelling Ranboo's name and Techno felt his heart skip a beat.

Making a split-second decision, he started running.

Technoblade was never big on swimming, but he was decent at it. Decent enough to cross the distance quickly after hitting the water, the sudden cold a shock to his system. Tommy had already dove back under, aware of the problem going on. But his head popped up again almost immediately, gasping. "He's fucking stuck! There's weeds or some shit." Then he was gone again.

After taking a deep breath, Techno dove in after him.

Ranboo's foot had become tangled in a thick mop of algae that grew on the lake's sandy bottom. They had wrapped almost to his knee, effectively preventing him from swimming up again. The boy was struggling wildly, but panic had blinded him from the obvious solution which was using his hands to tear away at what entrapped him. Not that Techno could blame him, he'd been under a while and a lack of oxygen wasn't great when trying to think things through logically.

Tommy and Tubbo were trying to help, but couldn't get the algae free by themselves. They couldn't stay under that long either.

So Techno swam down to help them. The water was murky and stung his eyes, Ranboo had his own closed and couldn't see anything. He wasn't aware of the other three trying to get him loose.

Which meant Techno didn't really blame him when a desperately flailing arm hit him against the sternum.

The punch was unexpected though, making him release the air in his lungs in surprise and almost exhale once more out of instinct. His mouth got flooded by lake water, disgusting beyond belief, and Techno choked on it, couching with nowhere for the liquid to go. Ignoring that rather painful distraction, he still got to the algae and started ripping at them with his hands. He got Ranboo freed pretty quickly, all things considered.

All four of them came up, sputtering and heaving. Techno swam back to the shore, presuming the others would follow. It was hard to pay attention when his lungs felt like they'd been set on fire. Phil helped him get out of the water, his own pants getting soaked up to the knee as he waded into the shallow to check on them. Techno waved him off, retching up some fluid.

"I'm fine-" He coughed, hard. "Ranboo?"

Taking his word for it, Phil went to the younger teen. Ranboo was lying on his back on the shore too, chest rising and falling too quickly and with some algae still attached to him. But going by his ragged panting, he was definitely breathing.

"Ranboo, are you okay?" Phil pinched his shoulder, helping him upright.

"Traumatized for life probably," Ranboo said with fake nonchalance in his voice. "But yeah, I'm good."

Tubbo let out a burst of laughter and pushed him back down. Tommy looked mortified.

"What the fuck, man. You almost died!?"

Techno shook his head. If that was the type of humor kids had these days, he was getting old.

"Seriously, I'm fine," Ranboo insisted. "Techno?"

"I'm good." As soon as he could sit down again and put his head between his knees so he could puke out half the lake still stuck inside his lungs, he'd be golden.

"Would you guys rather go home now or…" Phil started, looking specifically at Ranboo and Techno for an answer. Techno gave him his usual shrug, indicating he wasn't willing to make the call.

Ranboo glanced at Tubbo and Tommy. He was probably gauging their reaction, seeing what they would prefer. Even if he was the one who almost drowned. "I don't mind staying," he said eventually.

"Maybe we can stay in the shallow part though," Tubbo added on.

The incident had passed them by with little consequence. Techno went back to sitting, hunched over to make breathing easier for his strained lungs. Phil went back to drawing, sending him the occasional worried glance and asking him if he felt okay a few more times, though he never pushed the matter. He knew Techno well enough to know it wouldn't work. Ranboo, Tubbo, and Tommy messed around in the water for a few more hours, though they never went as deep as they did earlier. Then they set off into the woods surrounding the lake, looking for 'cool rocks' as Tommy called them.

By the time the sun was setting, Techno was internally begging for Phil to take them home. He was dizzy, and his chest hurt. Sitting bent over made it easier for him to breathe, but he had no idea why it had to be so darn painful. When Phil finally announced they should be packing up, Techno could sob in relief. Getting up made all the blood rush into his head or something because dark spots danced before his vision. Thank God Phil was facing the other direction and didn't see.

It was just a little scare. Techno had no idea why his body was reacting this extremely.

They all piled into the car, Techno wasted no time sinking into the seat with his head resting against the window. The engine's vibrations kinda made him want to puke, but it was nice to close his eyes. The adrenaline must be wearing off, there was no other explanation for his exhaustion.

"Can we stop for snacks?" Tommy asked. "I'm fucking starving."

"We're having dinner when we get home," Phil said. He didn't pull his eyes away from the road.

"That's like, an hour's drive away."

Tommy's complaining went ignored, but then Tubbo decided to back him up.

"You know, Ranboo almost died today. I think he deserves reparations for that."

"Do you even know what reparations are?" Techno asked him, smothering a cough into his elbow.

Tubbo smiled. "I'm taking a political science class."

"Almost dying should entitle me to candy, I do agree," Ranboo said. It was most likely a joke, but Phil had the backbone of a goldfish. He was so bad at denying them things, it bordered on ridiculous.

"Fine, I need to put gas in anyway."

They pulled over at the next opportunity. Before the car had even come to a full stop, those three had already leaped out to be menaces to the local gas station store employees. Techno had planned to stay seated before Phil leaned over and patted his knee. "Will you keep an eye on them? If they break shit, I have to pay for it."

Techno snorted a laugh, nodding. "Yeah, fair enough."

Except when he opened the door and stepped out, darkness overtook his vision completely.

"Techno?!"

Phil's yell seemed to reach him through a tunnel, distant and muffled. Techno winced when he hit the pavement, unable to grab a hold of the car to keep his balance. Then he was on the ground, wheezing. No matter how much he tried, air seemed to refuse to reach his lungs. And the simple physical act of standing up had squeezed out what little oxygen was left.

He couldn't breathe.

"Technoblade!?" Phil was shaking his shoulder, panicked. Techno couldn't blame him, he wasn't very calm himself. His neck craned back, eyes bulging as he choked on nothing. Smothered coughs closer to him gulping for air forced their way out of his constricted throat.

The faraway sound of a siren was the last thing he heard before passing out completely.

In hindsight, it was probably half a miracle that they hadn't ended up in a car crash on the way to the hospital.

Wilbur knew he shouldn't be driving in his condition, so he let Niki do it. But even she, who usually was a conscientious driver and wouldn't be reckless for the sake of it, ran at least two yellow lights on the way over.

If they crashed, Wilbur might end up in a hospital bed next to his brother. Maybe that would have usurped some of the guilt he was feeling.

Logically speaking, Wilbur knew it wasn't his fault.

What had happened was a stupid accident. Ranboo almost drowning, Techoblade inhaling water and it going unnoticed until his lungs burst with it. It was no more than a series of coincidentals tuning into some horrific domino of bad luck. It's not like Wilbur could have actually done anything if he was there when Techno collapsed. He might not even have been able to help Ranboo.

But that didn't change how Wilbur wasn't there and Techno was and now his little brother had been rushed to the ER. Phil called him in a state of distress, half-understandable sentences about getting the other kids home and not being allowed into the room yet.

When they arrived, Phil was sitting with his head in his hands, elbows planted on his knees. Wilbur rushed over immediately. "Where is he?"

He felt a bit bad when his sudden appearance made Phil physically jolt. Sitting back, the older man rubbed at his face. Wilbur always thought Phil looked good for his age, he'd started fostering pretty early in life and was younger than most parents with older teens, but that had never stopped them from making fun of him.

At that moment, every wrinkle on Phil's face was the pronounced effect of worry and exhaustion.

"He's not back yet," he said eventually, tired blue eyes blinking up at Wilbur, then glancing over his shoulder. "Hi Niki."

"Hey," Niki said.

"Would you guys mind taking the boys home? This could take a while, they shouldn't have to sit around here all evening. I sent them down to the gift shop for now, to distract them."

"Smart," Wilbur said, falling down onto a chair next to Phil.

"I'll take them home," Niki said. "I can stay the night too, make sure they're fed and don't get up to anything." Her light, casual tone stood out oddly in the waiting room filled with people preparing to hear the worst about hurt family members. But that's what Wilbur appreciated about her. Niki was steadfast.

Phil appreciated it too, giving her a grateful nod.

"And I'm staying here," Wilbur added, leaving no room for refusal. Whether Phil was too tired to protest or didn't want to be alone, he didn't know. His father merely reached out to hold his hand, the touch an anchoring presence.

They waited for what felt like hours, though Wilbur was surprised to find only a good thirty minutes had passed by the time a nurse came to get them. She had bright blue eyes and dark brown hair pinned back to stay out of her face, the kind of smile that would comfort people with a mere glimpse. Wilbur didn't hear a word she said as she explained to them the exact procedure they'd done on Techno. All he cared about was that Techno had been dying, but wasn't anymore. The rest was just static to him.

They'd hooked Techno up to a lot of tubes, one that went all the way down his throat. It looked painful - Wilbur hated it, he hated himself for not preventing it - making him thankful the drugs meant Techno couldn't feel any of it.

"By morning, we'll be able to wean off the sedatives," a doctor said. Wilbur tuned back into the conversation around this part, sitting on a shitty plastic chair next to the bed and stroking his brother's hair. "We're gradually lowering the oxygen too so he can breathe on his own again. If all goes well, he'll be discharged tomorrow."

Phil asked some more questions and was prompted to sign some papers. Wilbur couldn't focus on it, the world narrowed down to Techno's pale face and the rise and fall of his chest in tune with the machine connected to him.

"I'm sorry," he said softly. Nobody could hear him, but with just those words he felt an immeasurable pressure taken off his own rib cage, allowing him to also breathe again. "I'm sorry I wasn't there."

If Techno was conscious, he'd probably call him out on it. He'd say Wilbur was being dramatic, or throwing himself a pity party. He'd tell Wilbur that blaming himself for something completely incidental was the stupidest thing Wilbur could possibly do. And they'd laugh about it too.

But Techno wasn't awake. There was a monitor next to him, beeping in tune with his heartbeat. Wilbur was stroking his hair and feeling like he had failed his family somehow.

And there was nobody to tell Wilbur he was wrong.