"What's the change in your tone when you whisper? Who's to blame? Is my message clearer?"
Arthur's hands were fair to shaking by the time he threw open his car door and began scrambling up the steps and into the hospital. He was a bundle of over-wrought nerves, his thoughts going in a circular movement of worry and discontent. Didn't want to be the one to blame. Didn't want to be the one at fault if anything were to happen to this man he had found only a night ago.
So little time for such a strange attachment.
Not that it really mattered. Not the time, not the differences. There was something here that he could not ignore. And it wasn't like he believed in fate or anything, because he most certainly did not, it was just... Well he wasn't quite sure what it was, but it was not fate. By the time he reached the receptionist in the front office, he was obviously frazzled, his voice a shaking fanatic's.
In any other situation the receptionist would probably have burst out in condemning laughter.
"Please, could you tell me if there's a man by the name of Alfred Jones here?" The woman sitting there had wide brown eyes, kind and open, she offered a slight smile and reached out to touch one of Arthur's trembling hands.
"Just one moment dear, I'll see." His heart seized in his chest, so nervous was he. And then the woman's calm and level voice drew him back out of his desperate reverie. From the look in her eyes though...Something was wrong. Something...
Something.
Something was.
Something was very...
Something was very wrong.
"There is an Alfred F. Jones down in the ICU, an American by the looks of his ID, is that who you're looking for?" The tremor in her voice said that she was hoping this wasn't the man he was so desperately searching for. Too bad he wasn't gifted with any sense of luck at all.
"That would be him miss." How he still managed to be polite was far beyond his comprehension, but at least it offered some sense of normalcy in the midst of all this chaos. And it was indeed chaos around here. Even at this somewhat late hour, people coming and going out of the doors, family's nervous whispers, single parties with similar looks of anxiousness written all over their mien.
"You know, I can't let anyone into the ICU that isn't family..." Arthur's green eyes widened and he frantically searched the young woman's face. Hoping somehow that she would see just how much he needed this. How much he needed to see Alfred. "You two look quite alike judging from this picture, you wouldn't happen to be brothers would you?" He could see the gentle coaxing in her voice. Silently he thanked whoever was giving him this little boost of luck now.
"That would be me. I'm his older brother." The woman smiled now and then clacked a few things onto her keyboard.
"Here we go, you're all cleared to go see him." She reached out and gave him a piece of paper that looked like some sort of visitor pass. "Just be warned, he just got out of surgery, and things still aren't looking very good for him...I'm not sure how much time you're going to have with him." He knew she meant to say that as gently as possible, but it didn't lighten the blow. In fact it felt like he'd just been sucker punched right in the kidneys.
"Can I ask...Can I ask what happened?" Again she offered a faint smile, and again he knew it was meant to be gentle, encouraging even.
"Car wreck. He smashed into some abandoned building at a very high speed. That's all I've heard though."
"Well, um...Thank you. Thank you so much." He had to try hard now to conceal the tears threatening to well up in his eyes. It wouldn't do well to burst out into tears at a time like this. And not just because it wasn't manly, he could give a damn about that at the moment. But on the off chance that Alfred was conscious, well, he didn't want to look weak. He wanted to be able to offer some source of comfort.
"The ICU is down that hall and to the right. I wish you the best of luck." Arthur turned to the woman now, offered his own faint smile as a few tears crept out anyways.
"Thank you."
And then he tore down the surprisingly crowded corridors at break neck speed. There were quite a few swears and other such euphemisms tossed his way but he didn't really care at the moment, just had to get to Alfred. The lady had said he'd been in surgery already...That things still weren't looking so good. Well maybe just this once he would be lucky? Maybe, for once things could turn out on the happier side?
Arthur really wanted a happy ending for once.
The moment he ran through the doors that read "ICU" he was stopped by a tall and somewhat intimidating doctor. With a breathless voice and a good deal of stuttering Arthur explained that he was Alfred's "brother" and that he had to make sure he was alright. The man offered a kind smile, seemingly following the story, seemingly believing it, and then he offered to show him to where Alfred was currently settled.
He nodded now, unable to coherently form a single word.
All around here was practical chaos, doctors and nurses moving with trained fluency, barking requests and orders at one another with voices that were strangely and steadily monotone. It was a frightening place...For good reason of course. This was a place filled with constant fights for life, and he idly wondered how many of those fights were actually won. To say that it was a disturbing thought would be an understatement, but he didn't care, because just ahead...
Just ahead he made out the battered figure of Alfred Jones.
The man that had been so vibrant and captivating hardly twenty-four hours ago. The man that had unhesitatingly offered his hand to a man that he didn't even know. Had offered him a ride home, had helped him confront an old fear...Had kissed him out of the blue and then stolen him away to his hotel room. All of this had happened in such a whirl, so fast he had hardly even realized what was happening.
That this man was carving out a solid place in his memory.
Arthur dropped to his knees. He couldn't find the strength to stand anymore. This just wasn't fair! Nothing about this was fair. That he should see the merest glimpse of happiness only to have it smashed against a bloody building! What cruel twist of fate demanded this price? He sniffled as hot tears crept out of his eyes once more, the doctor that had lead him here put a comforting hand on his shoulder.
"It's not looking too terrible, he's stable right now." Arthur looked up at the man's comforting brown eyes even as tears continued to cloud his own. "Actually, he should be just fine given a little time. We actually managed to salvage a peculiar little package out of his coat pocket. It looked like it might have some value to him...Would you like to hold on to it for him?" All Arthur could manage was a weak little nod as he forced himself to his feet.
At the very least he could pretend to be strong for Alfred. For some reason that seemed imperative. Maybe because he had been...Scratch that, was such an easygoing and light-hearted man. The way he wished he could be.
All the same, the steps that he took to be beside that bed, they seemed like miles. It was like the air had turned to jelly, hindering his progress forward as much as physically possible. Binding his limbs to some incomprehensible level of air density. His eyes moved hungrily of Alfred's form. Thankfully enough, he was asleep, his brilliant blue eyes currently closed to the world. His blond hair was clumped together in strange chunks, as if it had been matted with blood, the bandage that ran around his head made it apparent enough that it must have been so.
Bruises ran up both of his arms, one of them was in a sling as if it had been broken...Arthur forced himself to look at him, didn't want to turn away from this destruction he had caused. Silently he swore to himself that when Alfred woke up he would show him all around London. He had seemed so excited to be here, he would give him the grand fucking tour! To hell if he looked like a bloody tourist alongside him, he didn't care.
He might even hold his hand. Just for the fun of it. Just in case Alfred wanted to have anything to do with him at all...
"Here you go Mr. Jones, the wrapping is quite torn, but given the circumstances it's a miracle it's intact at all." The doctor had returned, had addressed him like he truly was Alfred's brother, and was now plopping this strange little package in his trembling hands. He gripped it tightly, held it close to his chest, and then he smiled faintly at the man.
"Thank you." It seemed he was saying that a lot in the past half hour or so, but he truly was grateful. Especially since, at this very moment, Alfred was alive. And that was as much as he could ever possibly ask for. The man returned his smile, clapped him in a friendly way on the shoulder and then went off to attend to one of the many patients in this area. For a moment after that Arthur just stood there, silently considering whether he should open this beaten package and sate his curiosity or not.
So, he leaned down and whispered into Alfred's ear as he ever so gently laid a hand upon his arm.
"How about it Al, can I take a peek?" Normally he knew to leave people's possessions well enough alone, but for some reason he was just really curious about this. Maybe because Alfred had had it on his person during the wreck, and maybe it was because it could possibly be something important...Either way he looked at it, he just had to know. His green eyes raked over the unconscious man's features, took into consideration the tiniest hint of a grin at the corner of his mouth and the way his arm seemed to flex ever so slightly beneath his hand.
He took that as a yes.
With the same enthusiasm as a youngster on Christmas morning, he tore away what was left of the wrapping. What was left was a relatively tiny object that fit in the palm of his hand, but was covered by a deep green handkerchief. Now, with the tiniest hint of reverence he pulled away the lovely green fabric. What was revealed was a shiny silver pocket-watch. It had an interesting design around the face, like leaves carved into the hard material.
There was a jagged crack on the face of the clock itself. It spider-webbed from the one, branching to hit the nine, seven, and four. Arthur found himself smiling faintly, it was a lovely piece of work and it was a miracle that it hadn't been damaged any further. In fact, it was still steadily ticking its way through the minutes. It was nearly thirty minutes after nine, a good deal later than he had thought...
He gripped Alfred's arm a little tighter, listening to the slow and steady beat of his heart on the monitor. It gave him another burst of hope, that maybe this would work for the better. In fact, he wrapped his hand around Alfred's, slipping the handsome little pocket-watch into his grip even as he held on. His hand was warm, surprisingly soft as he remembered. He leaned forward a little and placed a soft kiss on his cheek since the bandage went around his forehead.
"I promise I'll make this up to you, you just have to wake up for me." Arthur didn't really realize what he was saying, knew only that those were the words that were dancing upon his tongue and that needed to be said. Whether he wanted to admit it or not, he owed this man a debt he could not repay, and he had every intention of paying him back. It was the proper thing to do after all.
****xxx****
In his dreams Alfred was happy. He was warm and felt as though someone was holding ever so tightly to his hand. This was by far the best he had felt since he had made that phone call. Maybe he'd died, maybe he'd gone to heaven. Maybe he was just imagining things again. Maybe he was still on the plane to England and had merely fallen to sleep.
That would be just his luck, wouldn't it?
He felt something cool tucked into his hand and he felt a warm kiss on his cheek. The rest of his body continued to ache in a not so subtle way, but that kiss felt like the delicate touch of a feather. A pang went through his heart, a mixture of happiness and pain. Such a strange mixture. It made no sense really, to hurt this bad and be so happy at the same time.
In fact, the happiness and the warmth began to quickly fade away.
He wanted to call out, plead for it to come back, he would do anything for it to just come back. But it didn't. In fact, it fled all the faster. Like it no longer wanted anything to do with him at all. The pain from earlier returned with a vengeance. It doubled, then tripled, then quadrupled...All in a matter of moments. Why wouldn't it stop? Where had that warmth gone? It was cold now, cold and very very painful.
This was it.
This was the end.
Alfred knew he wouldn't live through the night.