Chapter Text
Wilbur hated this. He hated the waiting, he hated the crying, he hated the rushing around him. He just wanted to hold Tommy closer and to let all of this end. He ran his hand through Tommy's golden hair again, hoping, praying he'd wake up.
He had no idea how long again it had been since Tommy had come through that door, frozen, cold, begging for help. Saying his name. Saying Wilby.
He should have known that something was wrong when Tommy hadn't shown up. He should have known that Tommy was getting up to trouble. And he was terrified.
The bed sank under his weight as Tommy nuzzled into Wilbur's warm fuzzy sweater. "You smell, Wilbur." He mumbled.
"Oh, Tommy..." Wilbur murmured, letting out a sigh of relief. "You're awake. Thank god."
"Hmm?" Tommy mumbled, tugging slightly at the cord on his wrist that connected up to a little bag at the top of his bed. "Whas dis?" He asked, slurring his words.
"That's an IV, Toms," Wilbur answered, swallowing back his guilt. "It's giving you liquids and painkillers. You're lucky Eret had some stashed away in the shed." He paused, "It's mostly just saline water though."
"Don' need." Tommy grumbled, reaching over to the IV in his arm. His movements were shaky, irregular, and his fingers were covered in soft layers of cotton padding to protect him from accidentally harming himself.
Instantly realizing what was going to happen, Wilbur grabbed Tommy's hand. "Don't you dare pull that out. You need fluids."
Sighing, Tommy removed his head from Wilbur's sleeve, laying on the pillow. "Are 'ubbo and Ranboo okay?" He asked, mumbling slightly.
"We can't go looking for them yet. The storm is too strong and we don't know where they are." Wilbur replied truthfully, "We have no way of finding them, and no way of coming back. It's too dangerous."
Tommy's ice blue eyes met Wilbur's mahogany ones, as he wheezed out, "You haven't gone to look for them yet?" He asked, and guilt hit Wilbur's heart, sinking in like a knife.
"Phil and Techno have been sending out search parties," Wilbur answered truthfully, "But we have no place to start looking. They just... aren't finding them. I'm sorry."
Tommy looked away, laying his head on the silk pillow. "I should have stayed with them." He murmured, tightening his hand around the blankets, trying to prevent the tears already bubbling at his eyelids, "I should have tried to help them."
"No, no Tommy, you did the right thing. Without you coming here, we wouldn't even know they were out there, and we wouldn't be looking for them." Wilbur told Tommy, reaching out to put a hand on his sleeve. "Tommy, you could've died."
"Maybe that's what should have happened!" Tommy snapped back, his blue eyes flashing with fire, startling Wilbur into pulling back his hand. Shock and worry flashed through Wilbur's mind as he processed the teen's words.
"Tommy... you don't mean that." Wilbur stated shakily. "You're in shock, Tommy. You have a lot of feelings right now and that's okay. You don't mean that. You don't." He finished, more trying to convince himself than Tommy.
Tommy let out a sigh as he sunk into the sheets. "I'm sorry Wilbur... It hurts... My fingers hurt..." He whined, letting the tears fall onto the sheets.
Wilbur's worry crumbled into brotherly love, and he leaned forwards to plant a kiss on Tommy's forehead. "It's going to be okay Toms." He murmured, running a hand through his brown hair. "I don't know by what miracle brought you here, but you are safe, and that's all that matters for now."
Tommy stiffened suddenly. "Wait...I have an idea." He announced, pulling away from Wilbur, and lifting something gold in the air. It glistened in the light above them, it twirled aimlessly on a chain made from the same gold as its own shiny surface. "It'll bring you to them." Dropping it into Wilbur's open hand, Tommy grinned. "Then you can use yours to find me."
Wilbur's fingers grazed over the golden necklace, rubbing against the words scrawled in slated cursive font. "Your Tubbo." He breathed, feeling a swell of emotion fill him. "I had no idea you kept this." He remarked, opening the compass to watch the tiny green arrow spin to point off in a separate direction. "The enchantment still works?"
"Of course. Do you not have yours?" Tommy asked, lifting a second a chain, a silver chain from around his neck. The silver words Your Wilbur seemed to blur slightly in the light, and Wilbur reached forwards to wipe his eyes, only come back with tears on his fingertips.
"Yeah, I still have mine." Wilbur answered, fishing it up from under his shirt. The same silver colour met their eyes and the two necklaces moved out towards each other, suspended in the air by an invisible string.
"You can follow my compass back to Tubbo, and then you can follow your compass back home to me." Tommy remarked, closing the golden compass in Wilbur's hand. "You can go get them."
"You're a genius Tommy." Wilbur commented in awe, "That's a brilliant idea."
"I AM A GENIUS!" Tommy yelled, thrusting his fist in the air with excitement. Almost instantly he crumpled back into the pillows, crying out in pain. "Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh, hell of hell this hurts. Oh god-" He let out a tiny whine of pain, "Wilbur help me- Wilbur Wilbur Wilbur-"
"Don't move Toms," Wilbur advised, panic filling him like liquid lead, "I'm right here Tommy, I'm right here."
Tommy nestled back down into the bed, scrunching his face up as he let out a tiny cry of pain. Wilbur felt fucking awful. He couldn't do anything.
Suddenly movement at the doorway caught his attention. Eret stood there, medical cart in hand. They grinned sheepishly, "Hey. I'm just here to give Tommy some medication for swelling and pain and such." He looked awkward for a moment. "May I come in?"
"Of course Eret." Wilbur remarked, and Tommy shifted slightly in the bed, his eyes closed again. "You're always welcome. For all that you've done tonight, we owe you everything." He affirmed, swallowing back his anxieties about Tommy's wellbeing. If there was anyone who could take care of Tommy in a kind and compassionate way, it was Eret.
Standing next to the bed, Eret started to administer medication into the bag connected to the IV. "This won't hurt a bit, Tommy. It might just make you a little sleepy, and maybe even a little silly, but that's okay, because that means it's working, and you'll be better soon." She remarked, his hands working quickly and methodically.
"Thank the gods you're hooking me up with the good stuff doc-" Tommy noted, before breaking off suddenly. "Oh thas weird. Oh, das weally weiwd." He giggled for a moment, "Canth feew mah tounge..."
Wilbur turned to Eret, "What did you give him?" He asked, deadly serious. "If you're getting this kid high, I'll personally murder you myself."
"Powered ghast tears, nether wart, with a base of a saline solution." Eret winked at Wilbur, somehow still optimistic. "And then some painkillers a little on the heavy side, just something to help numb the pain and circulate blood around the frostbitten areas. He might sleep for a while. That's enough medication to get him through a long night."
"Wilby." Tommy murmured, his eyes closed as he cuddled deeper into the sheets. He looked so small and so helpless, all hooked up to big machines, and Wilbur felt like a terrible brother.
"Yeah, what's up Bubs?" Wilbur asked, holding the compass a little tighter in his hand as he leaned against the bed. Tommy hadn't called him Wilby in so long. Since he was.. so little. He hated this. He hated everything about this.
"You'll go get'em right? Go save em?" Tommy asked, his voice so small as he lay there in the cotton white sheets, hooked up to various beeping machine's as his reddened face burrowed deeper into the pillow.
"Yeah," Wilbur murmured, pressing a kiss on his baby brother's forehead. "I'll go get them, and then as soon as you wake up, I'll be right here. I promise."
There was no answer, and Eret met Wilbur's eyes, nodding reassuringly. "He'll be okay. I'll watch over him." She whispered, her brown hair falling over her eyes like a cascade of coffee-coloured rain.
Wilbur stood, heading towards the door. Stopping the doorway, he stared at the compasses for a moment, then his brother. Tommy. This was for him. This was all for him. This for him. This was for them.
And with love and determination buzzing through his veins like emotional electricity, Wilbur was ready to face the world.