Chapter 2: Papyrus

AN: Wow, this story got two reviews in the first day! Thanks, I wasn't expecting anything! I've got a pretty good plan for where this story is headed, so if you're staying along for the ride, I plan to update rather frequently.

Your vision was blurry, the pain in your side excruciating to the point that you no longer had any control of voice and you whimpered helplessly in pain. Sans looked down on you, worried beyond words, clutching his head. You were seated in his lap, curled into yourself as much as you could, blood pooling underneath the both of you. One of the elder skeleton's arms was around you, the other extended to his brother's hand, holding on for dear life. He laid crumpled in a mass of bone and metal, practically folded in two, magic energy fluctuating visibly around him.

Neither you nor Papyrus were conscious enough to realise that Sans had teleported you both to the nearest hospital, about two miles away from the crash site. Sans chuckled, lightheaded, amazed and awe stricken that he was able to be so accurate in his calculations, before collapsing on the ground, writhing in pain and howling in agony. With the last of his energy, he managed to shriek, "Nurse!" before passing out.

Where am I? Beep, beep.

What happened? Beep, beep.

W-where's Sans? Beep, beep, beep.

Why can't I feel my legs? Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.

"Nurse, get in here!"

You awoke with a start, instinctively sitting up, only to fall back down with a plop. Panic flooded through you. "Sans?" you whimpered, head tilting from side to side frantically. "Sans?" you called, but nobody came. "Sans!" you screamed, beginning to thrash. The beeping increased pace further. Just as you were about to bawl, you saw Sans approach around the corner, towards you. Tear began to fell as he ran to you and held you close, clutching your face.

"Calm down, it's me. I'm here." Sans was here. "You're safe." Safe.

"W-where am I?" Your voice was hardly recognizable, even to yourself.

"You're in a hospital. You're okay." Sans expertly held back tears. Still, you could tell he was relieved.

"What happened?" Your memory was fuzzy.

"We got into a car accident, remember?"

Oh yeah. Either you passed out before the ambulance came, or Sans must have taken a shortcut. "Are you hurt?"
"Nothing major, just cuts and scrapes. Don't worry, kid. I'll be fine."

That was comforting. "And Papyrus?"

Sans' consoling grin faltered. He bit back the truth, not wanting to get you more worked up in your current condition. However, he knew you wouldn't accept anything less than an honest answer. "He's…" Sans looked down before continuing in a somber, low tone, "Not doing so well."

You inhaled sharply, blinking away tears. "Is he-" you didn't have the heart to say dead.

"He's alive, but the doctors don't know how long he's got." Sans didn't look up as he droned out the information. Despite his monotony, you could tell he was crying.

You wanted to ask how bad his injuries were but you couldn't seem to get any words out. It was for the better, you decided, not wanting to imagine how hard it was for the skeleton in front of you without being asked to reiterate the news of his brother's condition, if he even knew the extent to begin with.

You reached out to him and he gladly accepted your gesture, leaning into your touch, the two of you grieving for a moment before the nurses pulled him away. He stepped to the side without a struggle, limbs weak, finally looking up enough for you too see the hurt in his eyes.

Two nurses leant over you, asking you some questions, to which you responded the best you could while keeping an eye on Sans. You watched as one of them gently asked him to leave to which he shook his head vehemently. You asked if he could stay and they didn't push the issue. Were you in pain? They asked. You replied, Very much so. You asked what happened to you until they told you. Six broken ribs, broken femur on one side, broken tibia and fibula on both, pelvis fracture, and lower back spinal cord trauma. Lumbosacral sprain, to be exact, which meant that you would be paralyzed in your legs. Of course, they didn't tell you all of this flat out, only that you broke some bones in your legs and injured your spine so badly that you wouldn't be able to walk. Sans held you as you cried, muttering about paralysis and death.

Sans talked to you whenever he could throughout the day. So many things happened that you tried not to remember. The doctors insisted that you not know all of the details about your situation immediately, that it would be too much, but both you and Sans knew you could take it. You had been through alot and would rather know sooner than later. You had undergone surgery successfully and were kept unconscious for a while. You were stable now. Sans had stayed at the hospital for several days, going back and forth between the Monster Emergency Room where Papyrus was and the Pediatrics Surgery section where you were. Sans had teleported you to the hospital just off the highway by your house, UHAM (United Human And Monster Medical Center). Both you and Papyrus had insurance provided by the Surface Medical Association, or SMA, and you profusely thanked Sans for setting up the nitty gritty details of living on the surface that you had so courteously neglected once all the monsters had settled in from the underground and the major corporations had been arranged and implicated.

However, it concerned you that while programs for the health and wellbeing of monsters were put into effect earlier than you had expected, they were far from complete. Many types of monsters did not have physicians hired by official means that were well versed in the specifics of medications and procedures for their body types.

You weren't sure if skeletons fell under that category, but from what Sans had told you, basic monster anatomy was definitely known by most, if not all, monster doctors at this point, and emergency procedures and surgeries were a priority when covering medicinal practices. He had also said that skeleton anatomy shouldn't be a problem, especially with monsters and humans working together, in the medical and scientific fields, at least, to combine their knowledge and utilize it to the best of their ability. In addition, you knew that human doctors had a thorough understanding of the human skeleton, which was overwhelmingly similar to monster skeleton anatomy, despite the differences of their inner workings, Sans' structure being a skeletal organism that was his body, other than just a living support system of bone and marrow.

You were convinced that Papyrus was in good hands, despite how skeptical Sans was. But then, it was his brother at stake. You assumed he couldn't be too careful, not wanting to take any chances.

The next day, Sans told you that Papyrus hadn't yet been moved to a recovery wind after the initial surgery and was still in urgent care. He said that he would be readmitted into surgery in a few hours and that the odds were against him. His body was in worse shape than they had thought, and the damage to his soul might be irreversible. His life force was steadily draining, soul flickering as his body failed to repair itself or respond to any treatment administered through tubes tied to his frail form. Even if he survived the shock of two (what sans had described as similar to open heart surgeries in human terms) within 48 hours, he might never be the same.

The two of you cried together, thankful to have at least each other to hold on to.

It wasn't even a day later when you received the news that Papyrus hadn't made it through the second surgery. Sans was openly crying, though he didn't say anything to you other than an initial "He's gone." You cried with him, trying to comfort him, scared to talk about it, frightened of how he wouldn't even look you in the eyes.

You figured the only thing you could do was be there for him, so you held him, patting his back as sobs wracked his being, not knowing what else to do.