Work Text:
In hindsight, doing manual labour on the hottest day of the year isn’t the smartest idea. But they need to get this float finished before this year’s pride parade in the city (after Charline came out, Ilmo immediately had an idea to bring the Kalevala Knights to pride to support her during her first pride parade, which soon spun into them making an entire float for the occasion, which Jaakko supported) so they need to work through the heat. Jaakko and Ilmo try to dress for the weather, make sure to bring water bottles with them and wear enough sunscreen, but the heat still wears on them, especially as the sun gets higher in the sky.
Not long after a brief lunch break, Jaakko’s cell phone begins to ring.
“Who is it?” Ilmo asks.
“It’s Charlie,” Jaakko says, squinting through the glare to study the caller ID. What does his son want with him? Shouldn’t he be getting ready for his shift at the Oh Deer Diner by now? Answering the call, he says, “Hi, Charlie.”
“Hey, Dad,” Charlie says. “I know you’re busy and I didn’t want to bother you, but my bike has a flat tire or some shit.”
“Didn’t I teach you how to fix flat tires?”
“Probably, yeah, but… I guess I forgot.” Charlie laughs awkwardly, making the line crackle. “My bad.”
Jaakko lets out a fond sigh. “Okay, should I give you instructions, or would you rather me come help you?”
“Um… the latter, if that’s okay,” Charlie says.
Having fully expected that answer (Charlie, like Jaakko himself, always does better if someone shows him how to do something in person), Jaakko just says, “Okay, then. Give me five minutes and I’ll be there.”
“Thanks, Dad! You’re a lifesaver.”
Jaakko chuckles. “Think you’re exaggerating a bit there, Charlie. See you soon.”
“See you!”
As he hangs up, Ilmo stares at him. “So, you’re off to fix Charlie’s bike?”
“Yeah. Sorry about that,” Jaakko says.
“No worries. I can handle things here by myself,” Ilmo says, grinning.
Smiling at his brother, Jaakko rushes to his motorcycle, grimacing at how disgustingly sweaty the helmet makes his head, and rides to Charlie’s place.
---
In Charlie’s defence, fixing the bike turns out to be a lot more difficult than Jaakko expected. Well, not difficult so much as time consuming. It turns out that both the tire and the inner tube are damaged beyond repair, but Charlie doesn’t have any spares. So, like the good dad he is, Jaakko takes a ride into Bright Falls and finds the items Charlie needs, and when he returns, he immediately begins to repair the damage that his son somehow caused to his bike.
Once he finally fixes Charlie’s bike, Jaakko is about to rush back to the workshop when his son says, “Dad, it’s boiling hot. You need a drink.”
Finally, Jaakko realises how sweaty he is. The back of his neck aches, probably sunburned (he knew he forgot to put sunscreen somewhere), and his clothes feel disgustingly damp and restrictive. Oh, right… hottest day of the year. He really needs to remember that detail.
So, he follows Charlie into the apartment shared by the twins, relieved to be out of the burning sun. He collapses into a chair in their tiny kitchen, gratefully taking a glass of water from Charlie and chugging it down. Water has never tasted so fucking good.
“Thanks for helping me out, Dad,” Charlie says, “I know you’re busy.”
“It’s fine,” Jaakko says, giving his son a quick smile.
“How’s Uncle Ilmo?”
“He’s okay,” Jaakko nearly says, before it occurs to him that he actually doesn’t know that. When he last saw Ilmo, his brother was hot and sweaty and miserable just like him, but Jaakko has taken a break from the heavy work and come into the shade to drink. And he knows how forgetful Ilmo can be. He bets that Ilmo hasn’t drunk enough water or taken a break. He’s probably still working on the float in the burning heat, without Jaakko there to keep an eye on him. And, as his stomach twists with sudden worry, Jaakko pulls out his phone and says, “Let me check on him.”
As Charlie watches curiously, Jaakko dials his brother’s number on his cell phone. It takes over ten seconds for Ilmo to pick up, which would be justified if he were, for example, using power tools at the time. But otherwise, that feels too slow for Ilmo to answer a call. Eventually, though, Ilmo picks up.
And the first thing Jaakko hears is Ilmo panting, his breaths rapid and shallow. That’s not right. Even if Ilmo were out of breath, he never breathes like this. Something is wrong.
“Ilmo?” Jaakko says. “Are you okay?”
“I… I’m not sure…” Ilmo says, speaking very slowly, like a man who drank too much booze or just took a hard blow to the head. “Kinda dizzy…”
“Have you been drinking enough water?”
“Can’t remember…” Ilmo mumbles.
Jaakko sighs. “Ilmo, get yourself indoors right now. You need to drink and rest.”
He expects some sort of witty retort from his twin, but he doesn’t get one. Instead, in between his shallow pants for breath, Ilmo simply says, “Okay…”
And that is a bigger red flag than anything else he’s heard so far. His brother loves to joke around, so hearing Ilmo sound so passive is kind of scary. Jaakko needs to get back to him. Just to check that something isn’t seriously wrong.
“I’m on my way back. Just stay indoors and wait for me, okay?”
As Ilmo murmurs a reply, Jaakko hangs up. He gulps the last of his water, not bothering to wipe his face when water dribbles out of the corners of his mouth and into his beard.
“Is everything okay, Dad?” Charlie asks as Jaakko gets to his feet.
“I’m not sure your uncle’s doing so well in the sun,” Jaakko says. “I need to check up on him.”
Charlie nods, stepping out of the way and letting Jaakko squeeze out of the tiny kitchen. As Jaakko hurtles out of the front door, he hears his son call, “Thanks again for fixing my bike, Dad!”
Jaakko runs back outside, the heat hitting him like a punch to the face, but he doesn’t focus on it. All he thinks about is checking up on his twin brother.
---
He drives recklessly on the way back to Watery, replaying his conversation with Ilmo in his head. Jaakko isn’t the best at first aid, but he wonders if his brother might have heatstroke. That would certainly make sense on the hottest day of the year. Plus, Ilmo always forgets to take breaks and drink enough, which just increases the chance of the sun making him sick. Jaakko hopes he’s wrong, but he doubts that is the case.
To his relief, when he gets off his motorcycle, he doesn’t find Ilmo outside working on the float. At least Ilmo followed his advice and went indoors. Jaakko hurries into the workshop, skirting past the other float that takes up all the space inside, wiping sweat off his face with the back of his hand. It’s so much cooler in here, even without air conditioning.
“Ilmo!”
“Back… here…” Ilmo calls, and Jaakko follows his weak voice into the office.
He finds his brother slumped in the chair at the desk, his chin resting on his chest like he doesn’t have the strength to hold his head up anymore.
“Perkele, you look awful,” Jaakko says, not sure what else to say.
And, again, he expects some sort of snarky comment from Ilmo, accompanied by a cheeky grin… but all he gets is a weak chuckle as Ilmo mumbles, “I feel it…”
Just like Jaakko, Ilmo wears sensible clothes for a heatwave, just a T-shirt and shorts, but unlike Jaakko, his clothes aren’t sweaty. Well, Jaakko notices fading sweat stains on his T-shirt, but his clothes aren’t sodden with sweat like Jaakko’s. Which is when Jaakko notices that Ilmo’s skin is dry, somehow not sweating despite the burning heat.
Suddenly, his first thought of heatstroke doesn’t seem like an exaggeration. That might be exactly what is wrong with his brother.
“Keep drinking,” he says to Ilmo, who obediently picks up his water bottle and takes another sip, as Jaakko pulls out his cell phone.
He types heatstroke into the search bar and finds an article about first aid for people suffering from heatstroke. Sure enough, he checks off many of the symptoms just by looking at Ilmo, the lack of sweating being the most concerning one. After all, a lack of sweating means Ilmo’s body can’t control his temperature anymore. The article informs Jaakko that his brother needs medical attention, and something good to do in the meantime is to cover the person in a cool, damp piece of fabric, like a bedsheet.
Shoving his phone back into his pocket, Jaakko hurtles out of the room for something to cool his brother down. The suggestion of a bedsheet might be a challenge around here, but Jaakko gets an idea for a suitable replacement: one of the pride flags they bought to put on the float. He grabs one of the flags hanging from their half-finished float and races to turn on the hose (fuck the hosepipe ban). Jaakko drenches the flag in water and then wrings it out until the fabric is just damp, rather than sodden, before dragging it back inside.
Back in the office, he helps Ilmo remove his T-shirt, and then wraps the wet fabric around his brother’s body. Immediately, Ilmo begins to shiver, but Jaakko doesn’t let him remove it. And, once he has Ilmo covered in the cool, wet flag, Jaakko follows the next step on the online guide, and calls 911.
---
When the ambulance arrives, Jaakko gets out of their way as the paramedics rush to help his brother. He watches them take Ilmo’s temperature (which must be way too high, judging by their reactions), press a stethoscope to his chest, and ask Ilmo a few questions about his condition. Ilmo struggles to think of his answers, his brain not working properly, so Jaakko jumps in to offer help, such as telling the paramedics that Ilmo recently started Adderall for his ADHD, and reminding Ilmo that his date of birth is also Jaakko’s date of birth, because they’re twins (“Oh yeah,” Ilmo mumbles, snorting).
“It’s almost certainly heatstroke,” one of the paramedics, a younger woman, says. “Your temperature is 104 degrees, Mr Koskela, which is dangerously high. We need to get it down as soon as possible, so you’re gonna need to come to hospital with us.”
Ilmo nods his head. “You gonna come too?” he asks Jaakko.
“Of course I am,” Jaakko says. Like he’d ever leave Ilmo to ride in the ambulance alone.
The paramedics help Ilmo into a wheelchair, and Jaakko hurries along with them as they wheel him to the ambulance. Once Ilmo is in the back of the ambulance, a paramedic helping him lay down on the bed, Jaakko hops in after them, taking a seat on the small fold-down chair and trying to keep out of the way.
The ambulance must be air conditioned, because it’s actually cool in here, which Jaakko appreciates after being bombarded by the heat all day. He watches a paramedic slip ice packs under Ilmo’s armpits and between his thighs, before putting a needle into the back of his hand and giving him some fluids into his vein. Presumably because Ilmo is incredibly dehydrated. Because of course his brother forgot to drink enough water.
When the ambulance begins to drive, Ilmo lets out a groan, reaching up with his free hand to rub his eyes.
“How are you feeling?” Jaakko asks.
“Feel sick,” Ilmo mumbles.
“That’s a common symptom of heatstroke,” the paramedic explains. “Do you feel like you’re going to be sick?”
Ilmo shakes his head. “Don’t think so. Just feel like shit.”
“That’s understandable,” she says. “Once we get your temperature under control and some fluids in you, you should start feeling a bit better.”
“Just don’t get it…” Ilmo says, groaning again as the ambulance dips suddenly when driving over one of the many potholes that plague Watery’s roads.
“What d’you mean?” Jaakko asks.
“I… we work out in the sun all the time. But I’ve never gotten heatstroke before.”
“Bad luck, maybe?” Jaakko suggests, at a loss for what else to say.
At least that gets a brief snort out of his twin.
But the paramedic has another theory. “You said he’s taking Adderall?” she asks Jaakko.
He nods his head. “Yeah. Why?”
“Some medication can increase your chance of getting heatstroke, and stimulants for ADHD are one of those.”
“Really?” Ilmo asks, lifting his head off the bed.
“Yeah. It’s not, like, dangerous to take them. But people on some meds need to take extra care in the heat.”
“I wish I’d learned that earlier,” Ilmo mutters, flopping his head back down.
“Well, at least we know now,” Jaakko says, trying to act like his brother usually does by looking on the bright side.
Ilmo rolls his eyes at Jaakko, but he smiles weakly.
---
Most of Ilmo’s time in the hospital passes in a haze, just like everything since he spent too long in the sun and began to feel sick and dizzy and fucking dreadful. He has vague memories of the waiting room in the ER, grateful when Jaakko gives them Ilmo’s details because his brain won’t cooperate. And then a nurse checks him over just like the paramedics did, confirming what they all knew (that it’s fucking heatstroke), before Ilmo is ushered into a room and helped into a cold tub of water. The water probably isn’t much below room temperature, but to Ilmo, whose body is frying, it feels like someone submerged him in icy water and he yelps.
Thankfully, once he adjusts to how fucking cold it is, sitting in the water does help. They keep taking his temperature, giving Ilmo some pills when he begins to shiver to stop him doing that (“We don’t want the shivers to warm you up again,” a nurse explains as the pills make his muscles a little weak and wobbly), whilst an IV pumps fluids into his vein again.
Once the doctors are satisfied that Ilmo’s body can regulate his temperature properly again, they let him out of the bath. But they decide to keep him in the hospital for a few more hours under observation, which also gives them a chance to get more fluids into Ilmo’s system. Wearing nothing but a hospital gown, he rests in a bed, sipping a disgusting salty and sweet abomination of a drink to help hydrate him faster. His head still pounds and the nausea and dizziness haven’t quite left, but it’s amazing how much better Ilmo feels already.
Back when Jaakko found him in the office, part of Ilmo thought he was dying. And to be fair, as the doctors explained, if they didn’t get his temperature under control in time, he would have died. His body would have eventually fried itself to death. Which is a horrifying thought. Luckily, that won’t happen to Ilmo. Because Jaakko found him in time and called an ambulance and the paramedics and doctors and nurses worked hard to save him. Because of all these people, he’s alive.
So, when Jaakko is allowed into his room to visit him, Ilmo wastes no time in telling Jaakko this.
“Thank you so fucking much, Jaakko,” he says, reaching out a shaky hand to grasp his brother’s wrist.
“Whoa, where’s this coming from?” Jaakko says, startled.
“If you hadn’t called me and told me to go indoors, I might’ve fucking died,” Ilmo says, swallowing hard when a lump tries to lodge in his throat. “So, thank you, brother. Kiitos.”
Jaakko lets out an awkward chuckle, glancing away from Ilmo as he fiddles bashfully with the baseball cap he wears instead of his usual beanie hat. “What the hell am I meant to say to that?” he mumbles, overwhelmed. Clearing his throat, Jaakko says, “Um… y-you’re welcome, Ilmo. I wasn’t gonna let my twin brother die.” And then a cheeky smile crosses his face, and Ilmo knows what is coming even before Jaakko adds, “And I know you’d haunt the hell out of me. So, really, I was just doing it for me,” he says, smirking.
“You fucking dick,” Ilmo says, bursting into hysterical laughter. And he can’t help but smile at his brother, so fucking grateful for what Jaakko did for him.