Archive of Our Own

Glancing towards the clock that hung on the wall of the break room, Charlie frowned a little. It was well past eight now... and Pim still wasn’t here. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and observed it for a moment, no texts from him. He opened his last message to Pim and typed quickly.

C: dude u sick?

He stared at the message for a moment before switching to reddit and began to scroll.

When Allan walked in to start making his early morning coffee he glanced towards him. “Hey Allan. Uh. You heard from Pim?”

“No.” Allan replied swiftly, turning the coffee machine on.

“Oh. Not like I care or anything. Just. Wondering.” Charlie turned back and leaned back in his chair, smacking his lips together. In all his years of working alongside Pim, the other had never missed a day. He even came to work sick, wearing face masks and bundled up.

But now he was well over an hour late on a Monday morning and something didn’t sit right at the pit of Charlie’s big gut. Something... Bad was approaching. He didn’t know what, but he felt it.

His phone suddenly buzzed and how quickly Charlie sat up to whip it from his pocket to flip to the message... only to see it wasn’t from Pim.

It was from his uncle.

Opening it, he frowned.

X: lol hit sum1 with my car
X: pigs here

That feeling in his stomach became heavier. He swallowed audibly, and set his phone down on the table face up. How soon he was strumming a beat onto the table with his fingers he wasn’t sure, but Allan was shooting him annoyed glares soon enough.

“Can you stop.”

“Right! Right. Sorry.”

Glep, strolling into the breakroom mumbling one of his random little tunes, hopped up onto the table and grabbed the television remote and switched it on.

“--reporting live from up town where a pedestrian was struck by a vehicle this morning at around six am. The thirty four year old man has been rushed to the city’s emergency centre. His condition remains highly critical.”

Behind the reporter there was live footage of the car which... yes. His uncle’s car. Smashed into a storefront, and hearing that he hit some poor bastard?

There were cops and ambulance people roping off the area too, and some of the cops were even holding up white sheets to block the vision of some of the more gorey details. That would mean there was plenty of blood.

The sinking feeling felt as though it was going to pin him to his seat, if not the entire ground, as he heard the approaching steps of the Boss down the hallway. They were rushed. Was he hurrying?

Even though he’d heard the approach, Charlie jumped when the boss appeared.

“Guys! I got some terrible news!”

The whimsy from his voice was gone. Charlie couldn’t remember the last time he’d heard the boss sound so serious.

“Terrible?” Allan asked, looking up from washing an abandoned dirty dish in the sink.

“Pim’s been involved in a horrible vehicle accident, he’s been taken to the hospital.”

The ground beneath Charlie suddenly cracked open and swallowed him whole. He could feel that sensation of falling, and he felt immediately sick, his hands gripping the table.

A high pitched ringing began to fill his ears to the point he couldn’t hear anything at all.

“What?” Allan sounded like he didn’t believe the news at all.

Glep rambled off quickly, running to the Boss, then to Allan, and jumping onto the table to talk to Charlie. But Charlie was unresponsive. The big lout just sat there, staring vacantly ahead.

“GLUH!” Glep slapped Charlie right across the face which appeared to do the trick.

“Ow the FUCK?”

“Good idea.” Allan pulled out his phone, “Which ward is he in?”

“Still an emergency from what I just heard. He got really messed up.” Mr. Boss reported. “I’m pretty sure if we send the flowers with his name they’ll know where to put them.”

Allan nodded and began calling the local florist, being a company that worked with making people smile, knowing your local flower store was very important.

Charlie, meanwhile, remained sitting at the table unmoving. He looked to the television screen where they’d moved onto the weather; how could they do that so easily? Didn’t they know Pim had been hit? Shouldn’t they be showing that?

And looking at his phone, seeing it still open on his uncle’s message, he felt his heart begin to beat faster and faster to the point he could feel the blood pumping through his ears. He lifted his hands and pressed them over them, gritting his teeth as he shut his ears.

“No.”

Allan moved out the room to keep talking to the person on the other end of the line, but Mr. Boss and Glep stared at Charlie who up till now had been incredibly quiet.

“No.” Charlie repeated as he got to his feet, grabbed his phone, and rushed from the room, almost knocking Mr. Boss over.

“Charlie? Charlie. Charlie.” Allan watched him leave through the front door but couldn’t follow him as he was still on the call about ‘get well’ flowers.

Charlie didn’t even really know where he was going. He was just running down the street away from the office, away from the break room, away from the news. It wasn’t right. This wasn’t happening. Clearly this was a nightmare he was living in.

Pim never missed work. He worked so hard every day in the face of every grumpy customer, as well as Charlie. Never did he falter, never did he fail, he kept trying.

One day he called it what it was, to Pim’s face. Toxic positivity. He had looked so confused at such a statement, how could a critter so much older than him not know this shit? He had laughed, not at him, not in his face, more to himself.

“Don’t be silly, Charlie. I’m just doing my job. And I love my job.”

He tripped on the pavement and grunted as his chin hit the ground, scraping it badly as his knees as he hit it. People surrounding him gasped, some moved forward to even offer to help him up.

“Stop it,” he growled, feeling the blood pooling on his knees, one of his palms, and his chin. “STOP IT.”

Once he was on his feet he looked at the faces of the people, but they were like they were out of focus. He pushed past them, hurrying on a journey whose destination he didn’t know.

The only thing that made him finally stop was reaching a bridge. Slamming into it it almost knocked the wind out of him, and he finally stopped, gasping for breath. Far below him his reflection looked back up at him and oh God he looked like shit.

He felt his phone buzzing in his pocket.

Charlie reached in and pulled out his phone, frowning as he saw it had acquired a brand new crack on its screen.

It was Allan.

It was almost midnight. Had he been running all day?

Allan hung up and moments later, he got the familiar ding of a voice message. He listened to it quietly.

“Charlie. Pim has been moved from emergency. I will text you the room number. Don’t be stupid.”

A message.

His hands were shaking. Why were they shaking? Please stop shaking. Charlie moved to the messages and saw the room. So did this mean he was stable? Or was he still super fucked up?

His brain cursed Charlie with the sudden mental image of what Pim must have knocked like after the car struck him. God, he was so small. He was the size of a kid. And his uncle always drove over the speed limit.

What if he won’t walk again.

What if he was paralysed from the neck down.

What if death was better.

“Hhuuuaaaaggghhhh....” Charlie buckled forward as a wave of nausea washed over him.

Thank God he was by the river.

After cleaning his mouth with the sleeve of his hoodie, Charlie called an uber. He was not going to work. He was going to the hospital.

The driver looked concerned as the sweaty, vomit stained, rumbled looking critter climbed into his back seat. The hospital? Looked like he needed it.

The trip was over faster than he thought, and he stood outside the big blocky white building and just stared at it for a while. The last time he came here... no. He wasn’t going there.

He took a steadying breath through his nose and walked into the entrance way. The receptionist stared at him, equally aghast like the Uber driver. He asked where the room was and she said that was down that way on that lift and to follow the blue line.

Charlie, who normally hated directions, followed them.

“Can we help you?” another faceless nurse.

“‘I'm looking for Pim. Pim Pimling. I heard he was... in this wing.”

“Do you know him?”

Do I know him.

People say when you die, your life flashes before your eyes because your brain is trying to find all the altercations you’d experienced to see if it knew how to survive. The question had Charlie experiencing something like that, only it was all the memories of knowing Pim.

Seven years ago, he shook his hand for the first time in the break room. His superior. He’ll show you the ropes.

Six years ago. Pim stopped wearing glasses but he never bothered to ask why.

Five years ago. The two start going to see shows and movies after work, on the weekends.

Four years ago. They went on a drive down state for a camping trip and they were both eaten alive by mosquitos.

Three years ago. He takes Pim to an adult store for the laughs, and he swore Pim was red skinned for a week.

Two years ago. Pim shows Charlie how good he was at playing Shadow of the Colossus and does a speed run while he sits there one evening. It was the coolest shit.

One year ago. They went to Brazil together, but didn’t even get to leave the airport because Pim had been given too many jobs to do.

Today. Pim got hit by a car driven by his own uncle and here he stood, feeling sick and empty.

“Yeah. I’m his co-worker. How uh... how is... he...”

The nurse gestured for Charlie to follow her and he did just that, though he felt approaching dread with every step he took. How messed up was he? Could he even see her, or was she playing with him? Moving him to a waiting room to rot forever?

She brought him to a stop by a wall that had a large window that looked into a room. The curtains were drawn but she reached, and opened them.

The sight that Charlie met made his legs feel weak.

Pim. Oh Pim.

His small broken body was in a hospital bed that was far too big for him. His head was set in position by a brace. There were casts down both his legs, and one of his arms. The other arm was covered in wires and tubes.

Another tube was shoved down his throat. His eyes were shut. Bandages covered his head protectively. Both his eyes were blackened, one bandaged entirely.

There were so many screens around the room and there were still people dressed in white in there with him. They were checking the machines that went beep, ping, and other noises.

Charlie’s gaze found the heart monitoring machine and he watched as the heart rate beeped away. He wished he knew more medical stuff. He didn’t know if it was good, bad, or terrible.

He slammed a hand against the glass making the nurse jump, and the doctors and nurses within the room to glance at him.

“Sir, please don’t do that.”

“How bad is it?”

“Unless you’re immediate family, we can’t disclose that kind of information.”

The hand against the wall balled into a fist. “...yeah. Sure. Right. That’s what we pay hospitals for. To keep important shit about people who end up here away from those who know them and care about them just because you don’t share blood.”

She sighed. Clearly the man was upset. “Tell you what, we’ve contacted his family. You can wait in our waiting room for them.”

Charlie was in two minds to lie through his teeth and say that Pim was his fiance. That they were sordid, secret lovers that his family didn’t know about. Or that his family hated him because they were gay.

Then they might give him information. He needed, desperately needed, to know just how broken he was. Could he be fixed? Would he walk again? Would he even be able to smile? It looked like his jaw had been shattered on impact, too.

He stepped back and took a deep, steadying breath.

No, he wasn’t going to say he was engaged to Pim. “I’ll wait.” he said dryly.

The plastic chairs in hospital waiting rooms were created by the Devil. Charlie knew this as he’d attempted getting comfortable over and over again, but no way did the chair give him an inch of comfort.

He’d emptied the water cooler in the corner of the room as soon as he’d entered it. What had stopped him from yanking the clear tankard completely off the white base and glugging it like a frat boy? He didn’t know.

His head was still spinning.

At least one of the nurses had brought him some gauze and bandage for the badly scraped palm and chin. God it had stung and he had sworn exceptionally loud which had earned him angry glares.

It’s at this moment, when he was adjusting his seat for the umpteenth time, he saw the family. The Pimlings. The towering, unkempt father, the skinny trembling mother, and the daughter with the fake everything. He sat up a little straighter.

They were talking to a nurse, and by the looks of it they too were being forced to wait in the waiting room.

“Tch can’t believe we’re here.” Amy said as she walked into the waiting room. “I had a super important pedicure booked today.”

“Amy shut up.” Steven, Pim’s father, grumbled as he managed to squeeze his massive form into one of the same plastic chairs of uncomfortableness.

Charlie sat there, legs spread in front of him, watching them as they were so absorbed in their own world. They talked about everything in the world but Pim. They didn’t even look worried.

He took a deep breath.

“Waiting on news bout your son?” Charlie asked.

The mother and father turned their heads to look at him.

“Who’re you??” the shrill voice of Pim’s mother grated on Charlie’s poor ears.

“Oi. I seen your face before.” Steven squinted as he pointed towards the critter.

“I work with your son.”

“Right, right. What the fuck’re you doin’ here?”

“...I work with your son?”

“Yeah and?”

“I. I know him. He’s my best friend. I wanna know what’s wrong.”

“He got hit by a stupid car,” Amy explained as if Charlie had brain damage. “How bad do you think it is?”

Another deep breath to steady himself. Can’t hit a lady.

“Pretty fuckin’ bad.” Charlie said.

“Pimlings?” a nurse appeared in the doorway and Steven, bemoaning as he’d just somehow found a slither of comfort, had to get up. Amy lingered in the doorway however, shooting Charlie a squint.

“...what?” Charlie dared the bite.

“Tch. Nothing. Have fun waiting.” she smiled the fakest smile he’d ever seen and walked out of the room.

No invitation to follow. Nothing.

He wanted a drink of something stronger than water but he didn’t have any money for the vending machine that sat in the corner. And the water still hadn’t been replaced. So he rubbed at his eyes with his open palms, before grabbing his phone and began texting.

C: his stupid famy just rived
C: no news

Charlie looked at the above message to Allen that only said

C: he looks like shit
A: Oh no.

He wanted to throw his phone away. He wanted to throw the chairs. He wanted to scream and demand answers as to what was going on. How was Pim? Was he going to die? What if his family was in there right now, taking him off life support? Was he even on that? What was the machine that counted his heart beats?

Sickness grew in his stomach and he rushed forwards towards the waste paper bin and was violently sick for a critter who hadn’t had a thing to eat since his last time throwing up.

At least he was in the right place to be throwing up.

While the nurses were worrying over him, bringing him some frozen liquid hydrolites disguised as popsicles, he saw the Pimlings making their way past the waiting room. He was up and shoving one of the nurses over as he rushed over towards them.

“Howishe?” Charlie asked quickly.

“Awful.” Steven said.

“He’s got like, one collapsed lung. His spleen all but exploded. Both his legs are shattered. Ribs broken. Jaw broken. One of his hands was so mangled they’re gonna have to do the Dr Strange hand operation on him. He had bleeding on his brain too. One of his eyes almost ruptured. They’ve basically knocked him out and will keep him knocked out for, what did they say Daddy?”

Amy had listed off the list of horrendous injuries Pim had sustained as if she were talking about a grocery list. With every utterance of her words through those fake, plastic lips, Charlie felt more and more dread. There was just so much wrong. His brain was bleeding. That was the worst one, right?

“He’s under a medically induced coma until he’s recovered from the worst. Could take months.'' The man looked so... disinterested. The only one of them who looked more than a little concerned was Pim’s mother who was looking at the ground, trembling as she held herself, her eyes wet.

“Is he gonna walk again?” Charlie asked.

“In time.”

“But like, a super long time.” Amy actually smiled.

Charlie had never wanted to push his fist through a woman’s face so strongly before in his entire life. He turned his head to look at her though, unblinking at her, before looking back to, and up, at Steven.

“When. When. Are they gonna wake him up in a month? Two? More?”

“Why do you care so much?” Steven asked, giving Charlie the once over that he knew all too well. It was the look a straight CIS man gave a man who he couldn’t tell if he was just like him.

“HE’S MY FUCKING FRIEND!” Charlie screamed, unable to hold it back anymore. “WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE YOUR SON IS LAYING IN A HOSPITAL BED FILLED WITH SO MANY TUBES AND WIRES AND YOU’RE ACTING LIKE IT’S JUST ANOTHER DAY??”

He watched Amy take a few steps back, and Pim’s mother flinched but his father remained unmoved, unbothered.

“Watch your tone son.”

“I am NOT your son.” Charlie breathed harshly.

“Quit actin’ like a kid. This don’t concern you, get back to your work.” Steven turned and began to leave, but Charlie rushed forward and grabbed his arm.

“Look, listen to me--I know you’re busy with your job and all of you have lives to lead but let ME keep an eye on him for you. I-I’ll give you updates and shit that way you can know how he’s going without having to come here cuz I can tell how much you don’t wanna be here. Cuz it hurts.”

He pinned that last part on so he wouldn’t appear as much of an asshole.

Steven had stopped immediately as he’d felt the stranger grab him, but he had at least listened. This critter, whatever his name was, was clearly confident and sure in himself to speak so boldly about this. He appreciated that. This was a man.

“Y’know. Sure. Give us ya number.”

The number exchange was done quickly, though he could see Amy wasn’t impressed nor did she want to give this creep her phone in case of emergencies. They then had to talk to the doctors and nurses about allowing Charlie Dompler permission to visit, and only him.

Nobody else.

As long as the family agreed, this was fine. His name and number was again recorded, this time by the hospital, as he explained he lived across town but could get here very quickly in case of something happening. Not like he could help but... fuck, he wanted to be able to do something.

Anything.

The whole thing felt like a spectacle. Like he had to continually jump through hoops for this stupid system that should have let him through in the first place. Didn’t they know how close him and Pim were?

Pim had all but sang that he was his best friend when he introduced him to Bill, all those months ago. Didn’t they understand all the trauma the two had experienced together, what sense of safety both felt when in another's presence?

Didn’t they know...

He did not remember saying goodbye to Pim’s family. He didn’t remember making his way down the cold, sterile corridor, but suddenly he found himself at the room. He couldn’t see Pim, the family had clearly drawn the curtains.

The nurse advised him to sanitise his hands before entering and he did, mumbling to himself as he could remember the days of COVID and having to do this so much his palms basically became sandpaper from all the moisture.

He did as instructed and moved into the room.

The blinds were drawn to keep out the afternoon sun. Across from all the machines and hospital bed there were flowers.

Only one bouquet and he could tell it was from work. Tied to it was a ‘get well’ balloon. Seeing that Pim’s own family hadn’t brought him anything, Charlie saw white hot anger if only for a split second before he forced his eyes to look at Pim.

He looked so utterly broken he felt his own heart being wrenched from his chest from just looking at him.

“Jesus Pim.”

Charlie saw a chair and grabbed it, and dragged it over and sat by the hospital bed. These chairs weren’t the same ones from the waiting room.

He looked him over and it looked as though Pim was more bruise than critter now. Not a single part of him hadn’t been damaged in some way, shape or form. Didn’t they say one of his hands had been entirely crushed? He saw it and he flinched, as there were rods sticking out through plaster and oh God.

Charlie Dompler was never a critter to cry. At least, as an adult. When he was a little homunculus he was so easily brought to tears.

Then his balls dropped and that shit stopped. Nobody saw Charlie Dompler cry.

But here in the hospital room besides Pim, who was now more machine than critter, Charlie lowered his head and dragged his hat off his head and started to sob. Tears welled and rolled down his nose to drip to the floor below, hands gripped his knees and he just openly sobbed, and heaved.

He and Pim were meant to be on a job today. Like every other day. There was almost always work. They were always so busy.

Pim was supposed to have been waiting at the break room for him this morning, wishing him a ‘good morning!’ with that stupid big smile on his stupid face. But now that stupid face was bandaged, bruised, broken, and unconscious.

He wouldn’t see Pim smile for possible months.

He won’t hear his voice. Won’t hear his stupid jokes. Won’t...

The room was too quiet save for the beeping. Charlie found the remote that turned on the television and after struggling with it, he found a radio station to leave it on. Not too loud, but not too quiet that he couldn’t hear the music.

Turning his gaze at last, face flushed, nose stuffed, Charlie looked over Pim as he lay there on the bed. He reached, hand shaking, for the small hand that wasn’t wrapped and dug into with rods. Touching the back of Pim’s small hand he realised how cold he was.

If not for the gentle beeping of the heart rate monitor, he could have almost thought he was dead.

He could only rest the tip of two of his fingers on Pim’s poor hand, and that’s where he kept them for as long as he could before he, ultimately, fell asleep. His whole body eased forward but the sheer size of him kept him from rolling onto the floor entirely.

But he didn’t sleep for long. Maybe ten minutes. Because nurses came in, of course they did, and startled him awake. Pim needed more tending to, could you please wait outside?

Charlie didn’t want to but he knew he had to. Casting several glances at Pim before leaving, the nurse reassured him he’d be fine, and be allowed back in once they were done.

Bitches even kept the blinds drawn.

Man, Pim would be suffering a blood nose if he knew he was surrounded by lady nurses. But given the time, Charlie walked out of the hospital and called Mr. Boss. What followed was a very detailed explanation as to what had happened, and how messed up Pim was.

His mind clouded still, even with the nurses walking around him talking about this, and that, and other. In his phone sat the message from his uncle still, but clearly he’d been taken into some kind of custody after the accident.

Like normal he’ll probably get a call from the cops too, asking him to come in and discuss what happened with his uncle. It wasn’t the first time he’d been involved with hitting someone with his vehicle and to think, all those previous times Charlie had been so dismissive.

He’d never considered the people who’d been hit. And now, here he sat with the person who mattered the most, hurt by one of the only family members Charlie had left.

What if he didn’t answer when the police station rang. What if he left his uncle to stay in that cell for as long as the cops wanted him. Maybe letting him out wasn’t even an option this time. Would Pim’s family press charges? They seemed as though they didn’t care at all.

And who did care?

He did. The one guy who normally didn’t care a lick what happened to most.

“Fuck me dude.” he groaned, ignoring the nurses, and leaned back and rubbed his forehead with his eyes squeezed tightly shut. “This is the worst.”

And he still had to contact work about all this.

To get on the phone properly he had to get up and out of the room as there were very strict rules about phones inside these parts of the hospital. Charlie never truly brought into that a single phone could disrupt that stuff, much like planes.

But with nurses glaring and clearly itching for a reason to throw the scraped up fat yellow critter out, he didn’t want to risk it. He was already planning on staying overnight. He didn’t care that there was a one hundred percent chance Pim wouldn’t wake up tonight, he just... had to stay there.

He had to be here. His family clearly didn’t care. So he would care in their place. He would care so hard that Pim would wake up and see him there first. He was sure of it.

Two and a half months later

Charlie leaned over the sink in the bathroom, spitting out the foam he’d worked up in his mouth with his toothbrush. It was the weekend, which meant he spent the nights at the hospital. During the week, he would swing by after work before making his way home.

Weekends though, after sorting his shit out back at his apartment, Charlie would make his way round to the hospital. By now, Pim’s recovery still kept him heavily sedated and under the medically induced coma but so many of the bandages and casts were now gone.

They’d fixed his hand as best to their ability and the muscle tests looked positive, but they wouldn’t know one hundred percent until Pim was finally able to be woken up.

This weekend, Charlie was bringing another book over to read to the sleeping critter. It’s what he’d been encouraged to do by one of the nicer nurses a few weeks into his first stint of visiting every single day without fail.

Many people found sharing books, music, or films with those in comas helped feel connected. And many people theorised those in the coma could hear them. Charlie didn’t know about that. But it felt nice, talking to Pim about things he was interested in.

As for his uncle... well. He told the police clearly that he wanted nothing to do with the man and to just throw him to the latest free lawyer he just didn’t care any more. He wouldn’t admit how much that hurt, as he really was the only family member that Charlie had left.

His parents were long dead. Grandpa was dead before he was long born. And Grandma had died a few years prior. His uncle was all he had, and he had just cut him out of his life without so much as a goodbye. If there was a court case, he didn’t care to attend.

“Hey man,” Charlie walked into the hospital room and grabbed the book he’d brought with him. “Heard there was some woman who had like three babies last night. Can’t imagine that. How’d they not split her in half? Pfft.” he laughed, amused in his own way.

Turns out when you visit a hospital every single day for two and a half months that you get to know a lot of local gossip among the patients and nurses. Naturally it wasn’t as interesting as ER or Scrubs or anything like that, but it was something.

He sat at the bedside chair and sighed, before looking to Pim.

The soft gentle beep of the machine filled the room as it always had. Distant PA systems rattled off. Gentle warm sun filtered through the window and it splashed gently over Pim’s no longer bruised face.

He’d watched him slowly heal all this time, going from the small broken critter into... a less broken small critter. But he still wasn’t awake. The doctors said they’d be looking into it, but it was weeks away. That had his gut twist and flip. Pim was going to wake up...

...oh he’d missed him. Even though he was right here, he was in a shell. Deep inside this sleeping critter in that bed, Pim was locked. He’d had nightmares about trying to break Pim out of his own body but whenever he tried he’d pull out only goop and organs and blood.

It reminded him of his childhood. Breaking open butterfly chrysalis. In fact it was just like that. Only worse, because it was Pim.

He remembered waking up from that nightmare screaming Pim’s name and thank God it had been a nightmare from when he was in his apartment.

Was it weird? Was it wrong? To grow closer to a critter who was sleeping? He was feeling so conflicted. Among the texts and calls to Allan and Mr. Boss, to the text messages updates to Pim’s family that never came with responses, it was all building up to something and he didn’t know if he liked it.

Or if he even knew what it was.

No, no... no.

“I’m not an idiot, you know.” Charlie said out loud to himself. “I know what this is.”

He reached out and touched his large hand to Pim’s small hand which once had been plugged so full of wires and cables. The medical insertions had healed nicely, you could barely see the scars especially on his hand which had been crushed.

“I love you.” he said as if it were the most obvious thing in all the world. “I’ve fallen in love with you and you’re... you’re not even here to hear it. Or know it.”

Charlie dared to close his hand more around Pim’s smaller hand, lowering his head and groaning. “I don’t even know if you’re into guys. This might be the biggest, fattest waste of feelings for me. And what hurts? Fuck Pim, YOU’RE my bisexual awakening?”

It was a cruel joke. It was a Shakespear comedy tragedy.

Or something like that.

There was a knock at the door and he froze; shit. How much had the person out there heard him?

“Come in.”

The door opened and he was surprised to see Allan and Glep there. Glep scurried in and jumped up onto the shelf across from Pim’s bed, and set down a great big fresh bouquet of flowers.

“Hey Charlie. Pim.”

Charlie always found it surprisingly comforting how Allan always greeted Pim when he would visit, even if his visits were sparse.

Glep blabbered to Charlie, before turning his attention to Pim and began blabbering at him excitedly. He had things to tell Pim too, it seemed.

“Yes. Big news for Glep and Marge.” Allan nodded as he handed Charlie a box of chocolates nonchalantly.

“Oh yeah?” Charlie asked as he took the box without questioning it.

The little green wizard clapped his hands together and tap danced on the table that normally would carry Charlie’s meals. When he stopped he did a little spin on a foot and got down on one knee, and opened his arms.

“What.” Allan blinked.

“Dude what! No way!” Charlie got up, set the chocolates down and rushed over, taking one of Glep’s little hands into his own and shook. “Congrats man, holy shit! How far is she?”

More gibberish.

“That’s fair.” Allan said, “I heard it was bad luck to announce pregnancy until after the first trimester in case of things going wrong.”

Glep pointed at him in a ‘you’re right’ kind of way.

“That’s amazing Glep congratulations again man, you’re gonna be a Dad? That’s wild.”

The small green critter beamed proudly. Even if he hadn’t really done a lot of the work involved, as it was now his lovely wife Marge’s job to carry their baby to term, he still felt proud.

“Mmf.”

The sound brought the congratulations to a freezing halt.

Charlie’s eyes looked before he could turn his head. That sound had come from Pim.

Pim hadn’t made a sound in over two months. He felt his face burning as he turned to look towards him, Allan taking a step back. He was closest to the bed and he had the very strong suspicion that if he didn’t move Charlie would bowl him over.

“Pim? Pim.”

Charlie indeed did move to the bedside, reaching out and taking Pim’s hand into his own. “Pim it’s Charlie. Charlie Dompler. Are y... are you waking up?”

“Get the nurses.” Allan told Glep who saluted, leaped off the bed, and rushed out the room.

“You’re not meant to be wakin’ up yet. They-they said it was gonna be a few weeks. How are you doing this? You’re too early. You’re gonna fuck something up.” Charlie was rambling now, glancing back over his shoulder to look towards the door as Allan was moving to hold it open, awaiting the nurses and doctors.

“Ch.”

Hearing just the first few letters of his name had tears already pouring from Charlie’s face, looking back he saw Pim’s eyes were actually starting to open. But before they could get any wider, they slipped back shut. And that hand, held tightly in his own, actually squeezed back for the first time in months.

A swarm of doctors and nurses suddenly filled the room and Charlie found himself being moved away. Allan grabbed his shoulder to guide him out of the way. They were all talking that medical lingo mumbo jumbo that none of them understood.

“He was waking up.” Charlie heard his voice say through a strained, sore voice. “He was-he was going to wake up he was trying to say my name!”

“Charlie. Let them work.”

“They've been working for months!” Charlie again heard his voice as though it was no longer his own. “Pim’s been healing for months! He’s had enough can’t they see it? Can’t they hear him? He’s sick of this place, I’m sick of this place, he wants to go home. Why won’t they let him go home?”

He even felt Glep’s hands on one of his legs, a gentle pat from the far older critter was surprisingly comforting. Through his tears, Charlie was eventually led from the room and sat in a chair out in the hallway. His co-workers, his friends, sat with him.

Charlie almost got his phone out to text Pim’s parents, but no.

“Guys.”

“Hm?”

“Buggah?”

“I’m in love with him.”

Of all people he would make the admission to, he didn’t think it would be Allan and Glep. The two stared at him in silence. Glep looked past Charlie’s massive form to look up at the slender, towering critter that was Allan with a look of great concern.

“With who?” Allan didn’t want to assume.

“With the doctor. With PIM. Who else?” Charlie turned to look up at Allan. “I think I’ve loved him for longer than I even knew it. It felt like I was hit with a brick today when I realised. But, but what do I do?”

“Please do not ask me.”

“WELL I AM!”

“Shhh.” Glep rasped.

“Charlie. I am not exactly the best critter to ask about romance.”

“You have a situationship!”

“Precisely. Situationship. Not relationship. An agreement. That is all. I do not love her. She does not love me. We give each other what we need. That is it. It is proper.” Allan set his hands in his lap, not at all bothered to speak so candidly about what he was dealing with in his private life.

He’d known Charlie for many years now, after all. They weren’t exactly best friends like the iconic duo of Charlie and Pim, but there was something there despite their hardships in the past.

“If anything you should ask Glep. He is the one who is married. And with a baby on the way.” Allan pointed out.

Glep hated Allan for saying that. He glared but softened his gaze when the young, clearly confused, critter turned his head to look down at him.

How do you explain how someone feels to them? Glep had been round the block for a very long time, but how one individual feels is totally different to another. For example, he’d never loved a man. He never would. That’s just not who he was.

Yet here was Charlie, saying he loved Pim. Not liked. Loved. That was quite the jump.

He sighed and patted Charlie’s hand and began to explain the intricacies of romance. Of how the heart can yearn so deeply and tenderly for someone and it could be either the most beautiful thing in the world, or the most painful.

Glep chose not to mention how many times he’d been an unrequited love for women. Or how many women he had actually had. A true gentleman never did a body count no matter how popular the concept now was online.

He reassured Charlie how he felt wasn’t wrong. But he had to talk to Pim about this, when he was awake. When he was healthy and clear enough in the mind, of course. Admitting your love to a doped up Pim might end in bad places.

“Y-yeah... yeah...”

Charlie was at least listening. He had grown, Glep could see this. He gave Charlie a smile and patted his hand.

“Thanks Glep.”

It was another hour before the nurses and doctors allowed Charlie back in. Allan and Glep couldn’t stay, both had weekend business but told him to keep them up to date and... be strong. He’d been strong these past few months, what’s a little longer?

Charlie wound up right back where he’d begun that day. Sitting in that bedside chair, book open, and reading about a colour of magical powers written by some old English man who was now long gone. Pim liked fantasy. And this fantasy world was pretty realistic, and not grim dark like most. It was pretty clever.

He read into the night, unable to look at Pim now. He’d come so close to waking up, and it’d been robbed from him. If Pim’s family had been involved, he had no right to know. Even with all the sitting in with Pim he had done, he still wasn’t allowed to know every single thing. That was up to his family.

“...not yet man. You’re too eager to wake up.” Charlie said after he’d finished reading the chapter. “I know you want out of that bed. But you ain’t ready. Like taking a pizza outta the oven before the cheese has gotten all melty and perfect. Can’t be ruinin’ you.”

He reached over, daringly, and brushed the back of his fingers against Pim’s cheek. Once he had felt so cold. Now he was warm. It brought on so many emotions he felt as if he was going to collapse beneath the crashing waves that were his emotions.

But he closed the book, bookmark included, and set it aside before he leaned back in his chair and pulled the blanket he always brought around himself. “G’night Pim. See you in the morning.”

And so he slept.

“Charlie. Charlie!”

His eyes opened and he found himself in a void of white. Was this a dream? Or a nightmare. Or real? His brain was so foggy, he didn’t know.

“Charlie.”

Feeling a tug at his left hand he looked down and saw Pim standing there besides him. Charlie instantly swooped down and scooped Pim up into his arms and spun, holding him tightly.

“PIM! DUDE PIM! I KNEW IT! I KNEW you were fine!” he laughed shakily, “Dude oh man I’ve MISSED you!” he didn’t know why his voice was pitching up and down, but it was.

“I didn’t miss you, Charlie. Cuz I knew you were there for me.” Pim reached out and cupped Charlie’s face with his small pudgy hands. “I could hear you.”

“Pim.” Charlie began crying, pressing his face into those small warm hands. They lifted, finding his eyes, wiping the falling tears. “Dude... dude I... I’m...”

“Shhhhh...” Pim whispered as he pulled Charlie’s head against his chest and held him. And Charlie let him. He let Pim caress the back of his head, smooth out his hair, and wipe his thumb to clean a tear when it ran down his face.

When had they laid down? He didn’t know. But he was resting his entire head on Pim’s lap like he was some overgrown dog. But he allowed it. Pim was here. He was soft, warm, and living.

“I’m sorry.” Charlie suddenly rumbled.

“What for?”

“It was my uncle. It was him. He hit you. He put you in the hospital. I... I...”

“Charlie,” a small hand ran down his head. “You didn’t hit me. It’s not your fault and you can’t blame yourself.”

“I’m sorry...”

“You didn’t do nothin’!” he shot Charlie’s own words right back to him, playfully, softly yet filled with genuine support and understanding like how he’d shot it at Pim all those months ago.

He smiled through his guilt, and slowly sat up but kept low enough so he was face to face with Pim.

“Pim. I need to do somethin’ before I lose what bravery I got dies.”

“U huh?” Pim asked, tilting his head coyly, a small smile on his face.

“Yes.”

And then he kissed him. A soft, sweet little whisper between the two. He felt Pim respond with a soft kiss of his own, a muffled giggle, as he leaned into the kiss.

And then... and then...

“Um, hello? Do you just sleep here all the time?”

It was Amy. Charlie was curled in his chair, the blanket having slipped off a little while ago, and he opened his eyes slowly. It was too early.

But his eyes snapped open at the memory of the dream which was already beginning to fade away. No. No. Pim’s kiss. It felt so real. So really real and genuine and there and--

“You’re gonna have to move yourself.” Amy said, moving to the flowers and checking out the bouquets. There were some from the Boss, Alan, Glep, Fillmore and Duncan. Bill’s family had sent on some too, as even if Bill was gone that didn’t erase him and Pim’s long rooted friendship.

So many get well cards.

Many of them were from past clients that Pim had helped, and Charlie was surprised when some flowers had arrived two months ago from an entire school.

They had listed pIm as their ‘long love, long lost school counsellor’ and he was surprised. More secrets from Pim’s past bubbling to the surface.

“Why?” Charlie asked as he slowly got up. Even after all this time, he’d barely spoken to the woman. He didn’t need to, he knew she was a right bitch.

“Cuz the doctors are waking him up.” She replied, putting a card back down. “Mum ‘n Dad had a long talk about it, and they’ve decided if he tried waking up ALONE yesterday then he’s ready. But now we don’t know where he’s going.”

“What do you mean you don’t know.”

“Well, once he’s discharged to recover at home, where is he gonna do it, DUH.” Amy countered. “I can’t have him at my place. Mum can’t manage him anymore cuz of Dad always being down in the mine. You can’t look at my Mum and say oh yes she is clearly in the right fit state to care for a grown man baby who will need help wiping his own ass.”

“That’s your brother.” Charlie said coldly.

“One of.”

“Who fuckin’ cares? So what’re you guys gonna do, once he can go home, just send him to his own place? The hospital won’t go with that.” he knew enough to know that was true.

“Pim will insist on going home,” she walked to the foot of his bed and looked at him. “I know Pim. He won’t want to cause a bother. Wouldn’t want to intrude on anyone and insist he’s healthy enough to do it all himself. At least after we say we’ll be taking him home.”

In his head, Charlie was grabbing Amy by the shoulders and shaking her violently. Shouting at her about what an idiot she was. That Pim couldn’t be alone. He was going to be on hard drugs to help with pain and he’ll need help. What kind of family are you? Why do you hate him? He wanted to scream at her, demanding answers, but he refused.

Not here.

Not ever.

“...I could take care of him at his place.” Charlie heard himself say.

“Huh?” Amy looked at him, “What are you, gay or something?”

Before he could answer the head doctor walked in, followed by Steven and his wife. The large man gave Charlie a once over. “Cheers for the updates mate.”

“I want to take care of him.” Charlie blurted immediately. “I’ll stay with him. I cared for my Grandma before she died. I know how to do it.”

The doctor looked surprised, before looking to the Pimlings. “Uh. Right. We’ll discuss this privately, thank you.”

Charlie wanted to swear at the doctor, remind him how HE had been the one staying here every day. How his weekends were spent here. That he put his life on hold after work to be here for his best friend and that he was truly, fully capable of caring for someone.

But not here. He shoved his hands into his pockets and walked out, closing the door behind him.

And so he waited. And waited. And waited.

Sleep almost took him into its loving embrace again before a nurse came to retrieve him.

“Charlie.”

It was Lucy. He liked Lucy. She had tatts an black hair.

“Ugh?” he rubbed his eyes.

“Pim’s been taken out of his medically induced coma but he’s still sleeping. His family’s okayed you to take him home with you when he’s recovered enough.” she smiled, “C’mon let’s get back to him.”

And so that’s what he did. Lucy showed him back to the room he knew the way to so much he’d make it blind folded. Opening the door he found Pim with another one of the nurses, keeping an eye on him.

Another recognisable face.

“Mai.”

The green critter smiled and moved around the bed. “His breathing is great.” they had swiftly learned when talking to Charlie to speak simple terms. “His lung has really healed nicely. We’ve even taken the oxygen off, he’s doing that well.”

“Course. Pim’s tougher than everyone thinks.” Charlie said as he moved to stand beside the bed, not seeing how Lucy and Mai glanced at each other. “He got through this. He’ll be okay.”

He reached, despite being in front of the two women, and held Pim’s hand within his two large ones. “I’m comin’ home with you, dude. I’m gonna be taking care of you. And I’ll do good. You’ll be up and doing stuff and smiling and it’ll be like old times yeah? I gotta keep reading to you. You like it, I know it.”

“Gosh.” Lucy touched her chest above where her heart was. “You two are so cute.”

“Honestly. If they made a tv film ‘bout you two I would pirate the shit out of it.” Mai agreed before giving a small wave. “You got our button if you need us!”

Charlie blinked as he watched them leave, before his face burned bright orange. Oh my God they hadn’t left. He’d just blurted that in front of the two as if it was just. Normal to announce such things in the presence of other people.

He groaned, and sat down in the chair.

“Fuck.”

Waiting was something Charlie had become exceptionally good at. He had months of practice now. Maybe he should add it to his resume... that’d be a decent thing to do. Thankfully he still had a job, as Mr. Boss had wanted to be kept up to date on Pim’s condition too.

They could get back to work...! Never in his entire life did Charlie Dompler think he would look forward to work.

But if that meant being with Pim again, talking about nothing, arguing over stupid little things that brought on swift apologies, zany adventures... if it meant all that, he would welcome it.

“Charlie?”

The voice struck him like a bullet out of nowhere.

He sat up swiftly, so much so his hat fell from his head. Eyes wide he looked at Pim, laying in that hospital bed, wearing that familiar pale blue hospital gown, beneath stiff white blankets, and for the first time in over two months... his eyes were open.

“Pim.”

Charlie took a deep, steadying breath. Don’t freak out. He’s been brought out of the coma at last. And you’re here. You said all those months ago you would be the one who he sees first and... and he was right. His family had waited but he hadn’t awoken for them.

He’d done it for him.

His heart was crying.

“H-hey man,” Charlie gripped the hospital bed’s guard so tightly his knuckles were already turning white. “Some sleep in huh?”

Pim groaned softly and smacked his lips together. He began to shift, and clearly instantly regretted it. Thankfully the nurses had done their job and kept his body fit as best they could, they’d do physio with the sleeping critter on the day. They rotated him, rolled him, so no bed sores or deflating muscles.

But he was still clearly stiff.

Charlie knelt by the bed, nose resting on the bed and watched Pim intently. “What do you remember?”

Pim mused for a moment, clearly his memory was fogged over by a haze of a coma. “...your voice.” Pim said after a longer moment. “I... just remember your voice. I heard everything.”

Heard everything? Charlie felt his gut open up like a trap door but he didn’t act. He stayed. Pim was still groggy. It would take hours to ease out of this.

He got up from the ground and grabbed a paper cup and poured some water into it. But instead of giving him the water he dipped the corner of a face washer and held it by Pim’s lips. “Suck on this. Your lips are so dry man I could strike a match.”

Pim licked his own lips before doing just that and oh gods Charlie hadn’t anticipated watching Pim suck on a rag.

Oh no he had it bad.

But what followed was several hours of the two very gently talking. They talked about nothing. They talked about everything. They talked about the accident. About Pim’s family. About that Charlie was going to be looking after him.

“You don’t have to do that.” Pim had said.

“But I am. You can’t be alone. I ain’t letting you be alone. Let me do this. Please.” Had he begged? Yes. Without shame.

“Oh Charlie...”

They had turned the television on at some point. The news, for Pim to see what was happening but he didn’t last too long. The news was just so depressing so Charlie changed it to some kids show that had some blue square dog on it.

Pim shared their accents. He liked that.

“...I want to go home.” Pim said suddenly.

“Dude you can’t go home yet.”

“Yes I can.” the other replied. “I’m an adult. They’ve already arranged for you to take me home. Taking me somewhere safe. I want... I want all of these things out of me and I want to go home. Charlie, please help me.”

“...okay.”

And he did.

The doctors and nurses were not impressed. Pim though, was persistent. He’d had enough of a hospital bed, and wanted his own. The best place to heal now was home. So they gave him his drugs, his prescriptions, and dressed him in a dressing gown.

Charlie collected all the flowers and gave them to Pim to hold onto tightly, as well as the cards, as he pushed him out of the hospital room in a wheelchair. He’d called an Uber, naturally.

“Oh my gosh I’ll have to thank everyone...” Pim was beginning to cry as the car pulled up in front of the hospital. “I have-have so many cards, a-and flowers...”

“Dude. People love you.”

I love you.

Pim looked up at him and looked like he was going to burst into tears. “Dude don’t you’re dehydrated as all Hell. Let’s get more water in you before you start crying.”

He helped Pim into the back of the car and climbed in beside him.

Charlie’s eyes were glued to Pim as he stared outside at the world dashing past. He pointed out recognizable places like he was a little kid. The school. The library. The ice cream parlour. The super mart. The corner where DJ Spit assaulted them with a gun. Spaghetti Disco. It was clearly all flooding back.

Reaching Pim’s place, Charlie once again helped Pim out, and he gathered the wheelchair they'd managed to fit into the back of the Uber. He helped Pim into it, who still held all those flowers tightly as if they were life support.

Charlie and Pim made it up to his apartment and made their way inside. It was as Pim left it.

On the table was a note.

“Pim. Cleaned out your cupboards and fridge of food. Did not want anything rotting for you. Feel better. Allan.”

Pim again looked like he was going to cry.

“Alright well, let’s get you into some pyjamas, yeah?”

“I can do that--”

“No you can’t. Doctor said,” Charlie set a bag of prescription drugs on the table. “You’re gonna need help for a lot and I ain’t supposed to let you do that stuff alone less you fall over and do some damage.”

“Charlie.”

“Pim.”

Pim lowered his head, flushed. “F-fine.”

After a slight awkward dressing of Pim into some pyjamas, Charlie helped him into his familiar bed. He supported him with pillows, made sure drink was within range, as well as his laptop which had sat abandoned for all this time.

Pim eased back into the bed, which was far more comfortable than that hospital one. His eyes slipped shut for a moment, and he smiled.

“Charlie?”

“Yeah?”

“Thank you. You’re my... my best friend in the whole world...”

Charlie smiled a painful, thin smile, but reached down and took hold of his hand and gave it a squeeze. The warm, soft, living hand of Pim squeezed back as strongly as he could yet it was as weak as a newborn kitten.

“I love you.” Pim whispered, clearly losing his battle with staying awake. Leaving the hospital had taken its toll on him, clearly.

“I love you too.” Charlie replied gently, knowing all too well that Pim was either so beyond the point of waking he was practically asleep. But he still said it.

He had to.

He tucked Pim in more, before making his way from the room to sit on the couch in the lounge. There he sat in silence, hands pressing together, and staring at the floor. So he was here, now. In Pim’s home. Where he was going to take care of him, he said he was. He was qualified. He had experience caring for someone like that.

He could do this.

He just didn’t know if, or when, he could talk to Pim about truly loving him. That was too scary. It would destroy everything. And he’d only just got him back after being sealed away for all that time.

Charlie wasn’t going to lose his best friend ever again.