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Chapter Nineteen
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"No."
"Come again?"
"…No."
Axel stared down at Roxas, lifting an eyebrow, "Care to try that one more time, Finn?"
"I'm not doing it," the blond remained defiant as it said in the script.
"Oh, but I think you are…" Axel remained seated on the couch, resting his emerald eyes on the boy cooly. His head was aching like hell again, but he just needed to get through this scene… "Undress me. Now."
Roxas turned his back to the redhead and crossed his arms over his chest. "You can't make me. I wanna go home."
"Home where? To that asshole Nicolas?"
"Well… no… but I wanna be anywhere but here!"
Axel rolled his eyes casually, "Get the fuck over here and undress me like I asked you to ten minutes ago."
He turned back to face him, "You can forget about it. I'm not going to do a single thing you say. You can't make me."
Axel hated what he had to do next… but it was in the script. In a flash of movement, he had Roxas by the throat, trying to make it look like he was gripping hard without actually hurting him. "Yeah? I think—"
But standing up so quickly was a bad idea. Suddenly it was as if the world was melting away and he was being swallowed into a black hole. He couldn't think, couldn't control himself… all he could feel was the blinding pain in his head.
…
"Axel... Axe…" Roxas clawed at the hand around his throat as it suddenly tightened hard, "St…" he couldn't even speak… his airway was completely cut off.
"Axel, what the fuck are you doing?!" Xigbar ran onto the set, trying to pry Axel's hand off the blond.
Tears fell from Roxas' eyes as he started to panic, his vision blackening around the edges. His mind kept flashing back to the night when Van had choked him, but it was only making him panic more.
"Axel!" Xigbar shouted, trying to find some semblence of humanity in the redhead's eyes. They were completely blank… it was as if Axel wasn't even in his body.
Roxas could feel himself starting to slip out of conciousness when he was finally released from the death grip on his neck. He crumpled to the ground, gasping for air and sobbing uncontrollably as he tried to figure out what was happening around him. He could hear people screaming and calling for help, but he could hardly see through his tears. When his vision finally focused… the scene before him was horrifying.
Axel was on the ground in a full-blow grand mal seizure, his entire body convulsing.
"Turn him on his side!" Xion shrieked, running onto set and helping Xigbar get him rolled onto one side. They held him there as he continued to seize, one of the crew members frantically dialing 911.
"Roxas, are you okay?" Demyx appeared by his side.
His voice was hoarse and his throat hurt like hell, "I…I'll be fine…" he breathed shallowly, feeling like he couldn't get enough air into his lungs.
"You're bleeding…" Demy's voice floated above him, but he could hardly focus on anything but his best friend. "Roxas, let me see you…"
He fended the older man off weakly, "I'm fine… we need to help Axel…"
"The ambulance is on the way… they're going to take care of you too, Roxas…"
"I'm fine…" he whispered, but he knew that he wasn't. Even with the adrenaline rush coursing through his veins, he could tell that he was struggling to breathe. He'd been seconds from losing conciousness… from death…
Demyx wouldn't leave him alone, "Jesus… you're bleeding a lot, Rox… His nails dug into your skin…"
"Stop…" he whimpered, swatting at Demy's hands as he tried to fuss over him.
His brain just couldn't process what had happened… it was shutting down on him. The EMT kept asking him questions, but he was in a complete haze… Demyx stayed by him trying to explain what he thought had happened, but nobody was really sure.
Roxas remembered being strapped into a bed of some sort, and he remembered looking over and seeing Axel on a similar stretcher… but the redhead was completely unconcious.
He was fading in and out slowly… he wasn't sure if it was sleep that was overtaking him, or if he'd lost too much blood and oxygen, but he could feel himself starting to pass out. Maybe when he woke up it would all be over… Axel would be fine, and it will have all been a dream.
…
"Roxas… Roxas, c'mon… just wake up…" a familiar voice cut through the darkness enveloping him.
His eyes slowly peeled open, blinking a few times as they tried to adjust to the bright lights around him.
"Oh thank God…"
"Van…" he whispered hoarsely, cringing immediately at how painful it was to speak.
Vanitas grabbed his hand, "Damn it, Roxas… what the hell happened?!" he demanded, looking both pissed and relieved.
"I…" he tried to speak, but it felt like he'd tried to swallow a brillo pad. His throat was absolutely on fire.
"Don't try to speak, Roxas… it'll probably be pretty painful for awhile."
He looked over to find a doctor standing in the room with them, scribbling something on a clipboard, "Wh…what…h…ha…"
"We want to know what exactly happened, doc," Van cut him off.
The doctor nodded and pulled up a chair next to them, "Your coworker Axel had a generalized tonic-clonic seizure, otherwise known as a grand mal seizure. During the tonic phase, the muscles will completely contract, which caused his hand to tighten substantially around your neck for a few seconds."
"Seconds…? Doc, it looks like he was strangled for minutes!"
"It only takes about ten seconds, maybe more, to lose conciousness when being choked so tightly, and even in such a short period of time, the effects can be very visually startling."
Roxas suddenly wanted to know what he looked like, because they were making it sound bad. "Is… is Axel…?"
"Your friend is going to be okay. The seizure was caused by an arteriorvenous malformation in his brain, which we're going to repair with a minimally invasive surgery."
He couldn't believe what the doctor was saying… Axel needed brain surgery?
"I don't give a shit about that asshole. Roxas is going to be okay, right?" Vanitas snapped, trying to redirect the conversation to the blond.
"He'll be fine, just sore for a few days. We've had him on oxygen, but it seems like he's able to breathe just fine on his own now. We're discharging him, but I'll give him a prescription to help with the pain."
Roxas glared at Vanitas, "Wh… where's Axel? I need… to see him…"
"We're not visiting him, Rox… he tried to kill you," Van helped him out of bed, "We're going home so you can rest…"
"No," Roxas growled, yanking his arm away from Van. "I'm going to see him…"
Vanitas stared at his boyfriend, completely dumbfounded, "He literally almost murdered you, Roxas."
"It was an accident… My best friend needs brain surgery… and I'm going to be there for him…" he grit his teeth in pain as he spoke. The sudden grip on his forearm startled him and he nearly turned around and decked Vanitas in the face, "Let go of me…"
"You're coming home with me, Roxas."
The blond scowled and tore his arm away from Vanitas again, "Fuck off."
…
"Roxas… oh shit, Rox…" the redhead melted down the moment his friend appeared in the doorway of his hospital room. "They told me what happened… I… I'm so sorry…"
The younger was by his side immediately, "Quiet… It wasn't your fault and I know that…"
"I almost… and you… oh God, that had to have been terrifying…" Axel started to sob, seeing how deeply he'd pierced the kid's skin with his nails. They weren't even that long… how hard had he been gripping…?
"Axel, I'm fine… but you… they said you have something wrong with your brain?"
He sighed, "I… I had a feeling something was wrong. I've been getting horrifying migraines lately, which I guess is one of the side effects of this thing… along with seizures, apparently…"
"Are you scared…?" Roxas tried to ignore the burning in his throat, not wanting Axel to hear him talking so hoarsely.
"I'm terrified, Rox… they told me they're going to have to do surgery to fix it… and…" And I'm alone… I've always been alone… I have nobody…
Roxas leaned over and wrapped Axel in a hug, "I'll be here for you, Axe… every step of the way…"
"But… Is Vanitas going to be okay with that…?"
"I honestly don't give a fuck… You're my best friend, Axel, and you're going to need a support system through this. I mean… it's brain surgery," he grimaced a little, his throat throbbing in pain.
Axel could feel himself choking up again, tears springing back into his eyes, "I don't deserve this, Roxas… not after what I did to you…"
"It was an accident… and I'll be fine. I'm just a little sore is all."
"You shouldn't be choosing me over your boyfriend…" he muttered, his heart heavy in his chest.
Roxas shook his head, "It's not up for discussion, Axe… I'm going to be here by your side no matter what. You're going to have to call security to get me out of here, and even then I'll put up a god damned fight."
He had to chuckle a little at that, "You really turned into a little scrapper, didn't you?"
"Only when something is worth fighting for."
…
A/N: O.O Sooo… that all just happened. BLAME ROSEKUN. The seizure was her idea! ;D Seriously though, she's been amazing to plot with. We have similar twisty minds. :3
AXELLLL. Now he needs brain surgery! NOOOOO. But also, AWWWW! Roxas is finally being a good friend! BONDING. THEY'RE BONDING!
Be proud of me! I actually did a ton of research on AVMs, the condition Axel has. They really do cause headaches and grand mal seizures, and all of the info on the tonic-clonic stages is true as well! Yay Google! (Sometimes I just wing shit, but this time I actually looked it up!)
Lemme know what you think! :3
Lovey love!
Simply Rexene