You are now Dave, the comatose guy, who is no longer actually comatose as you painstakingly open your eyes. Everything is incredibly bright and painful to look at. There's a noise coming from the right, but you don't process it. Your eyes hurt way too much to think at the moment. You wish you had your shades on right about now, so you close your eyes again. This time you open them slowly, allowing them to adjust even though it's still difficult to see. God, you hate bright lights.
You glance around. Yep, this is definitely a hospital and you think this is the most cliché way of waking up after passing the fuck out at Jade's. White walls, bright lights, sore all over, and the sound of a heart monitor. Yeah, you think you might be stuck in one of those dramas.
To the right you find your shades sitting on a bedside table. You also find John passed out in a chair, snoring loudly. So, that's what that noise was. Geez, you should thank John and his obnoxious snoring for waking you up. You reach over and grab your shades, putting them in their rightful place – on your face. You felt your muscles ache as you did so. How long have you been out?
You freeze. Oh god. How long have you been asleep for? You hope it was only for at least a couple of days, nothing more than that. You don't think you'd be able to handle for being out for a week. If you were out for a month or more, you might just flip off the handle.
"Hey." Your head snaps to the left. Dirk is sitting there, looking bored or tired. Maybe both.
"Sup." You reply. You glance around the room for anyone else. The TV is on, playing some weird cartoon, but other than that the room feels a little in active. "So," you turn back to Dirk, "how's it going?"
He stares at you for a second, "I don't know. How's it going for you?"
You shrug, "Well, it's going as good as it gets for someone who just woke up in a hospital. The fuck happened anyway? Seriously, I've got no clue."
"You had meningitis, nearly died, and we got you to the hospital via windows." That is less than comforting, but hey, you are alive.
"Kay, so how long have I been-?"
"Over a week," he cuts you off. Well, at least you weren't out for a month. You aren't sure what to say, so you nod and Dirk continues. "You gave everyone a scare too. No one was sure when you'd wake up."
"Well, here I am awake now. Everyone can take some chill pills." He raises an eyebrow. "So when can I get the hell out of here?"
Dirk looks like he's rolling his eyes; you can normally tell from the way his face twitches. He opens his mouth but another voice cuts him off.
"Nngh, Dave?" John slurs as he wakes up. He yawns and looks at you dazed, and suddenly his eyes go wide. "Dave!" You wince as he nearly crushes very bone in your torso with a large hug. "Holy crap, you're awake! Dude, you have knoooooooow idea how worried we all were! Seriously, you're probably going to get your butt kicked by Jade for nearly dying on us."
"I'll look forward to that butt kicking from Jade. But right now I'd appreciate if you stopped crushing my lungs. I'd rather not accidentally die from getting a hug, that's embarrassing."
John laughs, but complies. "It's good to have you back man," he pats your shoulder before he lights up. "Oh! We should probably tell the others that you're awake."
"Already on it," Dirk pipes up, texting away on his phone.
John nods. "I'll go get a nurse then. Oh yeah," he turns to you, "Jade's going to be here with coffee soon. So I hope you were serious about looking forward to a butt kicking."
"Wow, John, leaving a poor, hospitalized man alone to fend off a soon-to-be angry, amazon warrior. That's just cruel. Have you no heart? Or has it been stolen by the clutches of evil?"
He laughs, "You'll be fine, besides Dirk rights there." Dirk lefts his head up, he looks confused for a second from not paying attention, but then just gives a thumbs up. "I'll be quick," he says before going off.
It shouldn't take him too long anyway, but you think he's going to take a detour – just a hunch. He looked a little worried for a moment, you're not sure what about but it's enough for him to take a while. It can't be that bad, you think, probably just needs to take a piss.
Just as he exits the room you hear his muffled voice say, "Hey, Jade," and the door closes. You can't make out what either of them are saying through it, but you assume he's telling her your awake and to go easy on you. Not that you need her to go easy on you, you just know she's probably going to be both ecstatic and angry that you didn't mention feeling horrible sooner so this hole disaster could have been avoided.
Finally, she comes in with a tray of coffee in her hands and an expression of joyous anticipation on her face. She also looks ready to scold you, but has probably decided otherwise. Hopefully.
"It's about time, Dave," she smiles, her bright teeth showing.
The rest of the day goes by quickly, and you get a few other visitors. Jade did give you a piece of her mind, but it wasn't as bad as you thought it would be. She really isn't up for having to deal with losing friends, so it's understandable. As for the others, they gave you a much easier time. Although, it was a little annoying since they kept treating you like glass.
You're not like glass though. You had dealt with tougher shit than this. It could be because there's no such thing as coming back to life this go around that makes everyone so careful. Even Vriska is being careful, but you think that's because of the baby. Either way, they don't have to be so gentle with you.
It almost makes you think they don't want you to know something. In fact, they haven't even brought up Karkat at all. You noticed when you asked about him subtly, that they either ignored it or just diverted the conversation to something else. It makes you a little worried, because even though it's only been over a week since you last saw him a lot could have happened. He might be dead for all you know.
That thought makes your bones cold. So you just drop the Karkat subject for a while, you'll ask Terezi about it when she comes to visit. John told you she was in town with Vriska, since Vriska tends to be around John and vice versa. In the meantime, you sit in the bed waiting for the doctors to let you leave – whenever that may be.
You get a few messages from those who are far, far away, and can't visit. For instance, Sollux sends you a polite message congratulating you in not dying. Aradia says she was prepared to make the best "corpse party" for you in case you did die, and she's is only mildly disappointed that won't happen but is still glad that means you are alive. Sometimes you forget that they are still trolls that had lived on a different planet from this one.
Anyhow, you aren't left alone at all, there's always someone with you. Dirk left you with Jade while John went back to the hotel he was staying in.
Talking to Jade was nice, but when Dirk came back with McDonald's things got fantastic. It's been so long since you've had chicken nuggets. Okay that's a lie, you're pretty sure you had some before you went to Jade's island. You pretty sure your favorite foods will always consist of chicken nuggets, Doritos, and apple juice – you'll never get sick of them.
Bro comes to visit too, but it's quick. He's there for a few minutes and then leaving the next. Things will always be fucked up between you and Bro, only this go around he's not being an abusive dick. He doesn't give you surprise attacks, and he doesn't challenge you or force you to fight on the roof, and he just leaves you be. The only "attacks" he has are dropping a shit ton of smuppets on to people. And he can be a dick at times still, but he's not outright causing as much harm as he did in the past. It became clear it was Lil Cal being possessed that caused he's douchebag of douchebaggery abusiveness. But, that still doesn't change what he had done.
Dirk isn't comfortable around Bro either, and you don't blame him. Meeting a different version of you that you know was a huge ass towards someone you care about is going to make things awkward. But Dirk is able to tolerate it, even though, like you, he'll never trust Bro.
You pass out again for a few times throughout the day. There's not much else to do, other than watch T.V. or browse the internet on your phone. At some point you end up counting the ceiling tiles repeatedly. It gets a pretty boring and any conversations you have aren't able to keep your interest. Yeah, you would like to know what's going on in their lives, but honestly they seem to be more focus on you than themselves.
Luckily, you aren't bored for too long since the doctors show up run some tests. And once they're done, the party arrives – and by party you mean Terezi.
"Well, well, well. Look who decided to finally wake up! Did your prince charming give you a kiss? Was it John? It was John, wasn't it?" She cackles as she enters, tapping her cane around. She's wearing her red blindfold today again, and her glasses are tucked in her coat pocket so you know she wasn't wearing it all day.
"Of course not, he's a man who loyal to his spiderbitch. He wouldn't go around kissing some sleepy beauty," you joke. "But, then I wouldn't know, I was asleep." You hope no one person was macking on you, that'd be just wrong. Karkat might be an exception, but you'd rather be awake for those make outs.
"Do I need to interrogate him? If you want to sue, I will gladly support you," she says, sitting down in one of the many empty seats. Dirk left to do some shit at home, and Jade went back with him but only because she knew Terezi would show up. So it's just you and TZ.
"Geez, think you can tone down the blackrom? You and John can flirt all you want but keep it in the bedroom, please." You actually aren't sure if John and Terezi are in a blackrom relationship, but from what you can tell there is definitely something going on. Vriska obviously doesn't care since it is normal for trolls - as long as they don't fuck up on another. Although, you're not sure what John's feelings are on a blackrom with TZ. Your guess is that he's conflicted.
"I should say the same to you, Strider. During thanksgiving, you just couldn't keep yourself from saying how much you love Karkat! Everything reeked of delicious red. Talk about hypocrisy," she sticks her tongue out at you.
"Oh come on, you know how irresistible he is. It's hard not to think about the adorable things about."
"Adorbloodthirsty things," she corrects.
"Same thing," you roll your eyes. "How is he anyway?"
"Hmm, getting straight to the vital information, aren't we?" She clicks her tongue thoughtfully. Right now, it only makes you think she's stalling. "How do I put this? I guess he's in a similar situation you are right now."
"Meaning?" You urge further.
"He's in the hospital," she answers. "He was admitted just yesterday, not because he's dying, just because there were some difficulties," she quickly adds, when she notices your near panic. Or you guess, smells your near panic.
"Oh okay," you swallow, "so, those difficulties?"
She shrugs, "his legs decided they weren't going to walk for him. That's all I know right ow. Luckily, Kanaya was there with some others to help. They got to him to a hospital, and have been with him since - which is why you probably haven't heard anything from Rose or Roxy. They've been giving everyone updates about Karkat."
"They're with him?"
"Yep, they apparently had a girls' night out, that included Karkat, in Vancouver," she replies. "Also, my guess is since you didn't know that, you don't know that Rose proposed to Kanaya."
You stare at the sharp-tooth grin that Terezi sports, "damn you and your seer powers, Terezi, damn you."
"He, he, he, he! You better pay up, Dave!" You seriously shouldn't make bets with a seer. You had really thought Kanaya was going to propose, not Rose. Oh well, you're happy for them.
"So, is there any other gossip I am missing out on?"
She ponders, tapping her fingers on the head of her cane. "I think Jade and Feferi are Moirails now. Not much of a surprise. Oh! Did you hear that Gamzee has been flirting with Equius?"
"Wait, seriously? Wow."
"I know! No one knows what quadrant they're aiming for. My guess is blackrom."
"Nah, they'd probably be the really weird redrom," you shake your head. Honestly, if Gamzee were in a blackrom it'd be with Nepeta – you're pretty sure about that.
She cackles, "Wanna make a bet on it?"
"FUCK no."
Sorry for any grammar mistakes. Also, the next chapter might be a while since i've driven my brain into a rut for it.