Chapter Text
Three people walked down the road, chatting pleasantly as they strolled. None of them knew what was going to happen next. It was a normal enough afternoon. The sky was a light blue with a few tendrils of orange starting to grasp the edge of the horizon. Birds sung a joyful song in the surrounding trees. The sun shone over the roofs of the houses, casting a shadow over the street.
Not a single cloud masked the sky, the sun shining down in all of its glory. The distant thrumming of the M25 nearby was masked by the compressed housing.
The trio soon approached a zebra crossing, where they could cross the road. Looking left and right while continuing to chat eagerly, they began crossing before one of them stopped, looking to the left. There was an extremely loud engine noise, the sound of something approacihing the group. He didn’t know what it was, so he looked.
A car was rapidly approaching, the younger boy freezing in his path. It didn't seem to be going any slower, let alone stopping. The shouts of his friends felt like mere mumbles, barely audible over the sound of the vehicle. It came closer and closer faster than he could even comprehend until he had no time to dive out of the way.
It felt as if the world stopped around him. He felt every time his body made contact with the car, every sickening jolt and blast of pain that ran through him. The air left his lungs as he hit the ground with an unholy crack, his back bursting into unbearable agony. His ears were ringing, everything was too bright. Everything hurt. He felt the warm feeling of fresh blood trickling down the back of his head. The concrete was extremely spiky on the multiple contact points on his body. Everything hurt too much, and it was starting to hurt even more now he was lying on the ground as still as a statue. When time seemed to resume its usual course, he felt his grip on himself slipping as everything faded into black. It was almost tranquil, the pain in every single part of his body fading into a euphoric silence.
“G!” the other pair screamed in synchronization. They were much too far away to even do a thing to stop it from happening.
“Finlay,” Elsie almost ordered with an extremely shaky voice. “Make sure the guy who ran G over doesn’t leave the area! I’m gonna call for an ambulance.”
Not sure what to say, Finlay nodded, running over to the car and helping the man out before half-forcing him onto a nearby bench.
“Why?” Finlay growled. “Why did you run him over?” The man shook his head silently, turning away to try and avert his eyes.
“Pl-please don’t hurt me,” the man pleaded. Much to his dismay, Finlay's expression did not soften even a tiny bit. He continued staring at the man annoyedly, finally taking a hard seat on the bench next to the man, sighing loudly and crossing his arms. In the distance, sirens were blaring. Finlay could see red and blue lights around the corner.
“There we go.” Elsie exclaimed, voice filled with relief.
She paced towards the paramedics and led them over. Finlay could hear some distant talking and her showing them different things and telling them certain details. She seemed to know what she was doing, much more than he did. He just knew how to try his best to make this man regret his decisions.
Soon, Elsie walked over to him, sitting on the bench on the unoccupied side of him. She occasionally glanced at the man and the paramedics, while staying silent.
"They're doing the other secondary surveys right now, so I can't be of much use, sadly," she finally explained, and Finlay nodded.
Elsie must've felt horrible, he thought, she really liked helping people. That was why she'd gotten as much training on helping people as possible, aside from needing to for her parent's charity.
"Also, man-who-ran-G-over, what's your name?" Elsie added and the man sighed.
"Arthur. Arthur Lynch." Elsie nodded, going back to watching the paramedics, silently noting down their technique for future reference.
They sat there for what seemed like ages until G had been rolled up into the ambulance, when a paramedic walked up to them. She put her hands on her hips and smiled.
"The ambulance is ready, do you want to come?" The paramedic asked, and the three stood up. "Of course you have to come along sir, seeing as you caused this. We may need your input on a few things." Lynch nodded, and the three walked to the ambulance, sitting down and buckling their seat belts. The parameic sat down on the other side after checking the stretcher harnesses. The vehicle started, jolting a bit as the engine started.
"So, my name's Hazel," the paramedic smiled, her grin warm and comforting.
"My name's Elsie," Elsie introduced, returning the smile.
"Finlay."
"I'm Arthur."
"Well that's all well and good," she chuckled. "I'm sure you're all a bit worried about your friend,"
“He is not my friend.” Arthur narrowed his eyes slightly, immediately settling into a pissed mood. Hazel gave him a hard frown before returning to her more familiar smile. Finlay, who was also still feeling somewhat pissed, aggressively nudged the other male.
“Guys, please.” Elsie looked towards the pair next to her.
“Yeah… okay.” Finlay muttered, gaze meeting floor.
"As I was saying. You want to know about your friend?" Hazel accentuated the last word, looking straight into Lynch's eyes. The man shuddered but didn't speak.
"He's in a pretty stable condition, though he has been busted up pretty badly, but he'll live," Hazel explained, and Elsie sighed with relief. Finlay though was more worried and angry than before. He'd heard of people surviving crashes without a single scratch. Why was this different?
"I'm guessing you drove pretty fast, young man. If you were staying below the speed limit, it would not have been so serious," Hazel continued and Arthur looked down to the ground. Elsie brought out her phone from her pocket and opened the phone app.
"If you don't mind, I'm just going to call G's dad, don't mind me, I might also put it on speaker," she quickly said before dialing. Finlay appeared to be slightly put off by the idea but didn't say anything, aside from nodding. The sound of the phone ringing rang out, filling the previously silent ambulance with sound.
"Hello, Miss Lewis. Why are you calling me," an old voice spoke from the phone, tinny and low quality.
"Hi, Gandezi, I just wanted to tell you… um… how do I say this…"
"Spit it out."
"So um… we were involved in a road accident."
"And?"
"G got hit by a speeding car."
"Another Sunday." Gandezi didn't seem to care in the slightest, and Elsie frowned, her eyes, for once, becoming agitated.
"Do you even care about your own son?"
"To be fair, why should I? He seems to not want me to with his track record, so why should I provide him with care if he insists on being such a failure? Now if you may excuse me, I have much more important things to occupy myself with." The man hung up, and Elsie could barely contain her urge to chuck her phone at the wall. Finlay sighed and patted her on the hand, Arthur blinking.
"It's fine Elsie, the dude just doesn't have a good grasp on a few things," Finlay reassured.
"That asshole," Elsie muttered under her breath, shutting down her phone. She placed it carefully on the seat next to her and started awkwardly fidgeting with the seatbelt.
“That’s a lot coming from you," Finlay started, shocked at how Elsie could use such language.
“I mean… does he deserve better?”
“True.” Finlay sighed. He looked at Arthur for a second and smiled.
"That applies to you as well," He added and the man turned away and brought out his own phone, scrolling through some website.
The other simply rolled his eyes, before fixing his gaze on the floor. The ambulance once again became silent, the only sound being the sound of the wheels on the hard concrete of the road and the sirens above. Elsie watched the sunset through the window above the door, the reds and golds making her red hair appear translucent.
Soon, the ambulance shifted into park, and stopped smoothly. Hazel stood up and opened the doors, ushering Finlay, Elsie and Arthur out.
"You guys go to the waiting room and relax," she ordered, and Elsie nodded, pulling Finlay inside. It was a short walk to reception, passing along a ton of closed doors and quiet talking and beeping and other sounds. They followed the signs directing them to reception before finally arriving. Arthur strolled behind them, putting his phone in his pocket. The doors opened, and the three sat down on the bench near the door. The sound of people talking was quite loud in the reception for obvious reasons.
The three sat in silence, not saying anything while they waited for an update on G’s condition. Elsie twiddled her thumbs and Arthur scrolled through TikTok, occasionally chuckling, earning a hard scowl from Finlay.
"What? He ain't dead so I'm allowed to have fun, aren't I?" Arthur pouted and Finlay flipped him off yet again.
“You better shut your mouth before I do it for you.” Finlay all but snarled.
"Boys…" Elsie advised sternly and went back to twiddling her thumbs.
"Do Roy and Lek know what happened?" She suddenly spoke up, and Finlay frowned.
"Finally something to do," he sighed, bringing his phone out of his coat pocket. Putting in his pin, he clicked onto Discord, going onto the private group server before starting to type.
"@Lakemeister @RoyMcAnderly urgent pls read asap. At hospital rn. Traffic accident on our walk and G got hurt bad." He typed, doing a quick proofread before sending the message. Before long, his phone pinged back. Roy had been the one to message first. No matter the time or place, he always messaged back.
"Wtf bruv you serious? Pls tell me this a joke."
"Not joking."
"Well shit, on my way"
"eta?"
"Bout 10 minutes in my car lol"
"Shoulda known that, take care Roy. Don’t want you getting hurt too.”
"Love you bro"
"gayyyyy" Lek suddenly piped up in the chat and Finlay couldn't hold back a snicker.
"sweet home alabama ahh"
"Dis what you say in a serious situation Lek? Your friend might be fucking dying,” Finlay raised an eyebrow from behind the screen, not believing how his friend was acting.
"You want Roy to pick you up on the way or you chill?"
"Yeah Roy yknow where i live rite?"
"Ofc kid omw to get u now"
Finlay sighed as they went offline, closing his phone and putting it back in his pocket. Elsie was smiling at him and Arthur was stuck in the world of TikTok. They sat there in silence yet again until they finally saw the sliding doors opening. Lek and Roy walked through, the younger looking around before locking his eyes on the group. He ran over, hugging Elsie and Finlay before taking a seat on the chair next to Elsie. He looked at the ceiling, spacing out for a moment before smiling at them.
"I'm so anxious I feel happy and I don't know if that's normal!" Lek grinned before spacing out again. Sighing, Roy sat down next to him, looking towards the three.
"Who's that lad?" He nodded at Arthur, who looked up from his phone.
"He's the lad who caused this mess."
"Your friend was the one standing in the road, 's not my fault."
"Brakes exist."
"Guys, please be a bit quieter, maybe don't be as angry at each other for the time being," Elsie interrupted. The boys looked at her, silent, and went back to doing their own thing.
"Anyway, now that's over, what's your name, lad?" Roy asked, Arthur looking up from his phone again.
"Arthur Lynch."
"Nice to meet you, Arthur Lynch. The name's Roy McAnderly" Roy smiled at the man, holding out his hand to shake. Hesitantly, Arthur returned the handshake. His handshake was extremely firm and fast, along with being mildly painful.
"I saw a vending machine on the way in, so should I go get you guys something to drink?" Roy added, and everyone nodded.
"Ok, what would you guys want?"
"I'd like an orange Tango please," Elsie asked politely, nodding at Lek.
"Could I have a Coffee Boss?" He asked and Roy shook his head.
"I'll have the same as Elsie then," the boy grumbled.
"I'll have a diet pepsi," Finlay requested. Roy nodded, typing all of the requests on his phone.
"I'll pay for all of that, Arthur, do you want anything?" He shook his head, Roy smiling and walking over to the vending machine. Soon, he walked back, his arms filled with a variety of soft drinks. Standing up, everyone got the ones they'd asked for, thanking Roy as they went.
"Never actually had this before," Lek muttered as he opened the can.
"It'll make a nice change from all that caffeine, it might almost be good for you despite being a soft drink," Elsie smiled, and Lek laughed before taking a gulp of the drink. His eyes were filled with wonder and he took a better look at the can.
"Roy, I'm getting more of these. I absolutely love them," Lek grinned, running over to the vending machine as Elsie and Roy chuckled.
"Why is that kid so hyper?" Arthur leaned over to speak to Finlay.
"It's a mix of the amount of caffeine and sugar in his system and his weird habit of becoming hyper when he's anxious," he explained, and Arthur nodded.
"That's weird. I can see why you're friends with him."
"You know, he's quite a bit younger than us, but he just tags along because he's friends with G, and the poor soul is a bit too hyper to keep a long term friendship with anyone else, so he just chills with us. Not to mention, the lad lost his best friend to a drug bust gone awry a few years back," Finlay continued, Lek walking back over.
"I heard you talking about me!" He smiled, and Finlay chuckled.
"We were, Lek, didn't mean to bother ya. How've you been?"
"Been pretty scared, but 's all good! How've y'guys been?" The boy laughed, throwing himself down next to them. His grin was almost contagious as he stared at them innocently, his eyes almost entirely sparkles. He had a half drunk Tango in one hand, his wallet in the other.
"Been pretty good aside from this whole mess, thanks for asking," Finlay smiled, and Arthur did as well.
"Thought ya guys were enemies and now yer smiling at the same time. Cor blimey, Elsie's gonna love this," he chuckled, scurrying off back to the unassuming green haired girl. Soon, someone came through one of the inside doors. The someone was a girl with blonde hair, coily and black at the roots. Her scrubs were flawlessly clean, ironed to a stiff form.
"Hazel told us about you guys coming to wait here, so she sent me to check on you and see if you were all good. You are free to go home if you so wish, but you can stay here if you want to do so. So, are you guys all good?" She asked, and they nodded, Finlay putting his thumb up.
“Yeah, we're good,” Roy stated.
“At least, as good as we can be,” Lek added quickly, and Roy looked at him with a funny expression on his face before looking back at the nurse.
“How is he?”
"Do you want the answer you want or the honest answer?"
“The honest answer, please.” Roy stated, knowing it was going to be a slap in the face.
Before the others could react, Roy added. “Better the honest slap in the face than false hope.”
“Well, he isn't in the best of conditions. We just did an X-Ray, and he has too many broken bones to count, not to mention severe lacerations from where he made contact with the ground and skidded. Not to mention, out of all of the injuries, there's one that might pose a long-term problem, that being that quite a few of his vertabrae have shattered, possibly affecting his spinal cord. He's very lucky to be alive," the nurse explained. Roy frowned, steeling up. Lek blinked, not understanding most of the more serious words. Arthur looked up from his phone, closing the tabs and putting it in his pocket.
"What are lacerations, vertabrae and why is everyone looking so grim. It's bad isn't it," Lek muttered, and everyone stayed silent.
"Just drink your Tango Lek," Elsie told him, and he nodded.
"Thanks for being honest Mrs, even if it wrecked the residual happiness we had, but thanks," Roy told the nurse, who nodded.
"If you need anything, just go to the reception people. They're really nice," she added before walking off through the doors.
After the nurse had left, Finlay cursed under his breath, before shooting a glare towards Arthur, a glare so cold that if glares could kill, the target would be dead in the hospital.
“What?” Arthur asked in a tone that only increased Finlay’s level of anger towards him.
"You screwed up really bad pal, you ruined everyone's day just because you thought what you were watching on your phone was more important than our friend's health," Finlay growled.
“Because of you, our friend now has a chance of not being able to walk again for the rest of his life!” the purple haired boy all but yelled.
Arthur didn’t see too much of a problem. “And?”
“HE’S ONLY 16 YOU MOTHERF-“
“Finlay!” Elsie interrupted before Finlay could finish his badmouthing towards Arthur. She had taken hold of his shoulder and was grasping it firmly. Looking back at her, Finlay's eyes were filled with fury.
"You'll get kicked out if you're too loud," she whispered to Finlay, and he untensed, his rage full gaze still trained on Arthur.
"Lucky bastard," he growled, turning to Elsie and bringing out his phone.
"I hate that motherfucker. I absolutely hate that motherfucker," he muttered under his breath as he scrolled through different things on his phone. He was shaking slightly, Elsie's grasp on his shoulder still fast but more comforting.
"I'm going to the bathroom," Finlay finalised, standing up and walking off. Lek looked at him once, blinked and went to buy some more Tango. Elsie sighed deeply, wringing her forehead in between two fingers.
"Still don't understand what I did wrong," Arthur muttered a bit shakily, and Roy elbowed him lightly.
"Now that my brother's away I can explain to you. Basically, my bro was trying to say you probably ruined the life of that kid you crashed into," He explained, Arthur blinking and going back to his phone.
"Gonna regret this," he finally muttered and Roy smiled.
"Glad ya understand now."
“Mmph,” Arthur mumbled. He sighed and went back to being on his phone. Roy sighed, his smile genuine.
Finlay stormed into the bathrooms, seriously upset with Arthur. He really, really felt like punching some sort of wall. Unfortunately, property damage charges existed.
The boy sighed. If only Arthur could have the decency and not annoy the hell out of him. It was infuriating. Behind him, he noticed the door open, and his brother walked through.
"You alright bro?" Roy asked concernedly.
"To be honest, not at all. Like, everything thats been happening, why the fuck did it even happen to us?" Finlay spilled, his voice shaky.
"And that bastard ain't making it any better. What is even happening right now, it all just feels like a darned nightmare."
"Finlay -"
"I can't -"
"Finlay, you're really tired and really moody and angry, I think you need to come home with me now," Roy interrupted, walking over to Finlay. He wrapped his little brother in a big bear hug.
“I think we all need a break.” Finlay muttered into his brother’s shoulder.
"Let's say bye to the others and get going, shall we?"
"Yeah…" Finlay and Roy slowly walked out of the bathroom. Walking past the others, Roy waved.
"I'll see you guys in the morning, Finlay just had a bit of a moment and we agreed to head home," he elaborated, and Elsie smiled.
"Get some good shut-eye boys," she added, and the brothers walked through the sliding doors.
“Will try to, thanks Elsie!” Roy yelled backwards and Elsie chuckled.
She sighed. When were they going to be able to see G again? It felt like forever since she had last seen him and she couldn’t help the growing pit of concern in her stomach. Would things be different? Finlay had made a fair point beforehand. When would they be able to hold their next D&D session? She had too many questions and her subconscious gave her too many negative answers.
Elsie decided to start praying, hoping that her friend would be okay. It was at that moment another doctor approached her, Arthur and Lek.
“Are you guys friends of the boy that just came in?" The doctor asked, Elsie and Lek nodding.
"The nurse who came to check on you said you seemed a bit concerned, and assumed you'd probably want to see your friend. Is that correct?" He explained, Elsie and Lek nodding again.
"Come with me. Just warning you, it might be distressing."
"Okay,” Elsie got up and followed the nurse. They passed many rooms, until they finally arrived at the one they needed.
The red haired girl swallowed down her nerves. She could feel Lek's grip on her hand grow ever tighter; at this point she could barely feel any blood going into her hand.
"You guys ready?"
"... yeah…" Lek muttered and Elsie looked down at him.
"Are you sure you want to come in here?"
"Of course - a stupid bit of anxiety ain't gonna stop me from seeing my B-F-F." Lek steeled himself up, and the nurse smiled warmly, leading them inside.
“O- oh Jesus…” Elsie muttered when she first caught sight of the absolute train wreck that was her friend. Lek didn't have any visible reaction on his face apart from clear shock in his eyes.
"That's… a lot of splints 'n bandages," Lek finally muttered, Elsie looking down at him.
"I know. Well at least we know he's alive," she responded uncertainly. The doctor frowned understandingly.
"I hate treating high-speed crash victims. They all end up the same," he quietly mused, his brow creased in painful sympathy.
"I'll need you guys to fill out some forms and the like, and if it's any closure to you, the average person usually wakes up within the week," he added, and Elsie nodded, turning to face Lek.
"I'll fill out the forms - it's all good. You go get some rest, especially as it's a school day tomorrow." Lek nodded, starting towards the door.
"I guess I'll… see you then," he muttered before leaving the room.
"Also miss, may I ask if your friend has any family we need to call?"
"Don't bother."
"... Alright. Let's start on the forms, shall we?"
“That sounds like a good idea.” The nurse smiled, picking a small pile of paper off of the table near him along with a ballpoint pen.
“If you could fill his basic details in on this form, please,” he stated, Elsie taking the stuff and immediately halting at the first question.
"I'm sorry, but I don't actually know his full name. From what I'm aware, he hasn't told anyone." Aldein frowned, taking a wicked glance at the form then back up at Elsie.
"Hmm. What do you know him as?"
"G."
"Just write G then, if that's all you know, that’s alright."
"Alright Dr…” Elsie paused at the lack of name.
“You may call me Aldein,” the nurse replied. Elsie smiled.
"Age, sixteen, height, don't know that one either, weight, why would I know, relatives Haniya and Gandezi…" Elsie muttered as she filled in the form hastily, before handing the finished product back to Aldein, who nodded, straightening out the stack of papers.
“Hmm.” He didn’t tell you much, did he?” Aldein asked.
"What do you mean?"
"You barely knew anything about him apart from a few select things. That's weird."
"Well, I know him well enough to have been one of his best friends, almost a sister, for over a decade. And I don't know his full name because he said it was embarrassing," Elsie explained, and Aldein nodded.
"Very well. If you wish to leave, you may leave, but feel free to stay with him for a bit if you wish.”
“Okay. I think I’ll stay for a bit.” Aldein smiled, pulling a chair out for Elsie. She sat down, crossing her arms and relaxing. The muffled beeping from the machines inside the other room was almost relaxing, providing a sort of reassuring comfort. Aldein sat down on a chair opposite her, sitting smartly, his posture immaculate as if he had a rod holding his back straight.
"Care for small talk?" He asked, and Elsie nodded.
"Well, how did you meet this guy?"
"So, we met on the first day of school, about 12 years ago. I was reading a little book, and he came along and asked if he could read it when I was done. The book specifically was a little thing about the theory of relativity - belonged to my dad. I didn't really enjoy it, so I let G read it straight away. I remember being right confused when he actually enjoyed the book. Kept on doing other little things for him, and he kept on doing little things for me, and we became friends, and have been as such since." Elsie smiled at the memories as she explained.
"That’s actually adorable," the doctor grinned. Elsie laughed wholeheartedly and looked back at him, her eyes creased with happiness.
"You should see the sparkles in his eyes when he explains obscure concepts to us, even though none of us can really decipher the vocabulary he uses." Elsie checked her watch, and blinked.
"Golly, it’s already 9:00? I need to get home, excuse me," she spouted, shocked, standing up. She picked her handbag up from beside her and headed to the door.
"Have a good day - I'll visit when I can." She rushed out the door, past where Arthur should have been and into the night. Hailing a taxi, she got in.
"Hey there, could I go to 5 Malvern Road?" She asked, the taxi driver nodding and starting the taxi. The ride was long and silent before the driver turned to half-look at her.
"What was your business at the hospital?" He asked, and Elsie sighed.
"A friend of mine got hit by a car, I stayed to do the necessary paperwork," she explained, and she could see the driver frowning in the front mirror.
"You'll have to tell me more if we meet again, your place is just around the corner."
"Alright. Could I just get out here?" Elsie added, the driver nodding and parking the car by the side of the road. Elsie brought a bunch of coins out of her pocket, counting them and giving them to the driver.
It was cold outside as she exited the car, her breath crystallising in the air. She shivered and started to make her way down the driveway. The stones that paved it crunched under her feet as she walked. Finally reaching the doors she knocked, her mother Imigen immediately answering.
"Elsie! Where have you been?"
"Long story ma, I'll tell you inside," she answered tiredly, her mum wrapping her arm around Elsie and walking inside. They settled on the couch, the fire in front of them blazing.
"So, why were you late? Did you make new plans and forget to text me?" Imigen asked, and Elsie shook her head.
"Something horrible happened ma. Absolutely darned horrible." Elsie shook her head, Imigen hugging her tighter.
"What happened darling, you can tell your mama."
"I told you that Finlay, G and I were going on a walk right? Well, um… er…" Elsie was at a loss for how to phrase the next part
"Take your time sweetie."
"Something bad happened on that walk."
“Hm?"
"This idiot was on his phone driving towards us at a clearly illegal speed when we were crossing the road, G was in the middle of the crossing and had no time to get out of the way, and smack bang we're all at the hospital and fucking anxious beyond belief," Elsie explained somewhat frustratedly, aggressively moving her hands around.
"...oh. I'm so sorry sweetie…" Imigem spoke quietly. Elsie smiled a small smile up at her.
"I'm kinda grateful right now though. At least the dude didn't hit him so hard he'd die. That’s good." Imigen smiled down at her. The woman seemed proud. That was good.