Chapter Text
¨Lance, I know something's wrong, you can't hide anything from me.¨
Keith said, trying to coax the truth out of his boyfriend. He had seemed so off at their date night, and it was only made worse by an emergency call they were both called in to respond to.
¨Keith, it's nothing, I´m fine¨
Lance said softly. His voice wavered, and Keith could tell he was lying.
¨Lance, you can't not tell me if something is wrong, we've been together for 3 years, I need to know these things¨
Keith said, halfly distracted by Pidge waving her hands to get his attention.
¨ You don't need to know every little thing about me, Keith. I don't have to tell you anything. Nothing is wrong, can't you just leave me be?¨Lance said just as quiet. He should have sounded mad, but he didn't.
It was so unlike Lance to not fill his words with emotion. He just seemed so deflated. Out of the side of his vision he could see Pidge stomping over to him, clearly not happy about him ignoring them.
¨keith, we need you to hurry up your phone call, a call came in five minutes ago that you missed and Doctor Shirogane wanted to talk to you.¨
Pidge said annoyed.She gave him that look that she alway did, the knowing look. In this instance, she knew just how much trouble he was in.
Other times it was that she knew exactly how to diagnose a patient, or how to do a perfectly executed nerve damage repair operation.Her intuition struck again when she figured out that Keith had a crush on her best friend Lance.
¨Ok Pidge, I'll head over right now. Just give me a minute.¨
He said pleadingly.
¨Fine, go dig that grave buddy¨
she responded before bounding off.
¨Lance you still there?¨
he asked turning back to his phone.
¨yeah, I'm just on my way to work, today I ¨
Lance was cut off by a loud crunch and then a splash .
¨Lance, what was that ?¨
he asked. No response.
¨Lance !?!¨
he yelled into the phone.The only response was the sound of the phone sinking in water and hitting the dashboard.The panic in Keith´s voice grew
¨LANCE¨
he asked one more time. Right on cue, Hunk ran in to the EMT station.
¨A car got driven off the Altea Bridge, Keith we need you to head out immediately with us.Coran just called out sick with the Slipperies and we are short a person ¨
Hunk said. And then he realized.
¨It's Lance¨
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Keith took off in a sprint towards Hunk´s assigned ambulance. Being higher up the system meant that keith had the keys to the ambulances so he didn't need hunk to starts prepping.
At least five had been dispatched to the emergency that keith was supposed to have gone to, so Keith ran to the ones in the back of the hanger. By the time they were packed, Hunk was already in the driver's seat next to Keith.
Hunk started the engine and sped off. Hunk was one of the best drivers for one reason.His carsickness. Now one might think that this would prevent somebody from getting to the scene in a timely manner, but with Hunk, it taught him how to drive while keeping the injured in the back stable enough to be worked on.
In many cases, Hunk´s driving had been the difference between life and death. And right now, keith needed that luck more than ever if he was going to get to Lance in time.
He counted the seconds that lance had been underwater for, anxiety trying to throw him off. But he would not be distracted, not when lance´s life hung in the balance.
Finally the vehicle screeched to a halt was Keith threw himself out the door. He looked down in terror at the bubbles forming at the top of the water. He could still see lance´s car floating down. 6 minutes and 43 seconds, that's how long he had been down there.
Keith dove into the water without a second thought. The water chilled him to his bones, tensing up his muscles, but he kept swimming down. Every kick filled with pure terror and a overarching need to see lance alive and well.
The bubbles had stopped rising up from the car as he could now see the details of a license plate. He might already be too late, he might have already lost him.
What if that phone call had been the reason that Lance had gotten here in the first place.
What if this was all his fault. If Lance died, he would never forgive himself. He would never love anyone they way he loved Lance.
Keith was pulled out of his thoughts when he saw Lance´s face. His eyes were squinted weakly, looking at the water like it was the most interesting thing ever. Though Keith was sure that was not what he had been contemplating.
His skin was dulled down to a light, grayish tan, hanging loosely on his jaw. His mouth was parted slightly, water seeping in freely.
Keith unstrapped his seatbelt and flung open the door, ripping it off the hinges. He pushed off with his legs, sending the car down and himself with lance in his arms up towards the surface, his own lungs aching with the lack of oxygen.
He pushed his limp boyfriend above him to the rest of the team to pull him out. Once he regained his breathe control he climbed out of the water just as Lance was laid down on the concrete. Keith stumbled his way over to wear another EMT was checking his boyfriend´s pulse.
Everyone at work had grown an appreciation for their over the top coworker over the years. Lance was just that guy that everyone was friends with, always loud and excited about the randomest things, but nobody had ever seen him so excited when he and keith started dating.
Lance helped Keith gain a much better relationship with everyone , making him feel that he was really part of a group for the first time. It was horrible for everyone to see him so quiet. The EMT looked up at Keith with a shocked expression, and everyone knew what it meant.
Keith gasped before he got down onto the ground to check for himself. His friend was right, no air escaped from his lips and not heart beat in his chest
¨H-hunk, we need to start CPR¨
keith said, cutting through the atmosphere with his icy voice. Hunk rushed to start charging up the defibrillators. Keith started counting as he pushed all his weight down onto Lance´s chest, over and over.He bent over and breathed through the cold lips he knew so well.Keith´s glare was intense as he focused on bringing Lance back.
He couldn't afford to cry though his body screamed for a break. His muscles aches in his efforts but he pushed on. Keith loved him, he loved Lance more than anything in the world, and losing him meant losing all of the time they had planned to spend together.
2 minutes and 14 seconds, that's how long he tried to save Lance before hunk came over and pried him away. His team put Lance onto the stretcher and began resuscitation with the machines. Keith was pulled out of his daze and back into reality.
¨-eith, we have to go, come on, they need to get the water out of his lungs before they can start his heart.
¨right¨ keith responded,panting into hunk´s shoulder. He jumped into the back where Lance, his lance, was lying still and unmoving.