Chapter Text
Avery’s computer simply put him on a death screen.
“Shit.. SHIT, SHIT!!!!” Avery yelped. They were too late. A sob choked in his throat as tears bellowed beneath. Was there any hint to anything from here? Were they really grieving a man he only knew for a few hours?
After a couple minutes of sitting in utter silence, he remembered something Derek had typed out. A seemingly random string of letters and numbers, they had thought it was a keyboard smash but it could connect to link!
Avery scrolled through their footage, the 12 hours stared back at him. God that was a bad time. Eventually, they found the frame. ‘1oКnSТbxE2tilсmJіGivRGxuQPX0owEZ5’ typed out in one chat. He strung the link into google, and it ended up matching to a drive file. It had footage of his side, and a single doc with a youtube link.
Avery clicked on the link, vision still blurry from crying, and saw the channel light his screen up. dhutchins333.
They watched the only video on the channel, “Goodbye from d3rlord3.” It had to be Derek. Who else would post such a video with that title?
As the video rolled, their wailing got increasingly intense. Tears flooded his eyes as he wiped them away. He had to see this through.
Whatever you do at the crossroads, keep going forward.
Or something like that.
(I was never really good with endings)
The video had ended with a breath and a thunk. This worried Avery. Were they too late to save him? They thought they might be able to do something. It felt odd, but maybe they could search his address? I mean, he had his full name, and Derek couldn’t be too far… right? This had to border stalking at a point.
Soon enough, one place came up. A small house, not too far. Honestly, thinking that Derek had been about his age, a house was a good achievement! Avery rushed from his room straight to their door, quickly grabbing his keys and putting on some random miss-matched slip ons. He rushed down the stairs of their apartment and hopped into his car.
The drive happened to only be about 10 minutes, maybe they had seen each other around town before? Some love song played for almost half the way, called something like, “Home Again”? This was no time to think about that though, dude, Derek was in danger! He was probably already on the brink of death!
He pulled up to some small, gray house, shit ton of windows. Avery leaped out their car and tried the front door, unlocked. Was Derek that much of an idiot to leave his door unlocked? Nevermind that, he had to find him.
“Derek?!” Avery called out, running through every room possible. He could hear grunts and cries coming from a room somewhere, yet he needed to find that place. They eventually opened the door to a dark bedroom, and there lay Derek. He was convulsing and crying.
Oh my god.
Avery immediately ran over to him and turned him on his side, that’s step one of a seizure, right? He hoped it was just a seizure. Avery went to pull out his phone, and they couldn’t find it.
“Shit, I must’ve left it at home..” Avery whimpered, before quickly a phone in a black case, all blending in with the dark, nearby. They rushed to get it before returning to him. He hunkered down before placing Derek’s head on their lap before opening it.
The homescreen had some image of his own Minecraft avatar, never knew it would be his death. Well hopefully not death. The time read 12:57. Not even a full hour since New Years, maybe there was some hope in this.
Avery went back to focusing on the situation that had concerned him for so long and dialled 911. They had to lie on some parts, how do you explain an all-knowing god was trying to melt his brain to mush and get into the real world from some kids game? That makes no sense!
An ambulance soon drove them towards a hospital. Derek clearly wasn’t okay yet, but Avery chattered his teeth while seated on those shit benches they sometimes have in one, looking over a half-dead man crunched onto a stretcher. They hoped he would recover.
✧*̥⋆ ~~~ ⋆*̥✧
Hours, maybe even days if he was honest, a nurse took them to visit. They explained that he would be comatose for months. Worst case, dead.
Derek laid in one of those shitty hospital beds. He had a lot of that expensive machinery you’d see in movies hooked up, it’s weirdly terrifying seeing all of it with someone you loved. Wait- Loved? He pushed them off a cliff… thingy!
Derek’s dark skin shone in the small amount of sunlight peeking through the window. He had been so malnourished from only drinking some pre-made smoothies and random snacks. His curled hair had become flat, truly what would you expect? He hadn’t been able to care for it in at least a month. It didn’t make him any less handsome. Avery didn’t care.
God was he pretty.
The nurse soon told them they’d be notified once he awoke from this coma, and was welcome for visits until then. The hospital also attempted to get hold of either of his parents with no avail. That was ever so sad in his mind, did his parents just hate him or something? Did they die? Honestly which would be worse? He wasn’t going to ask anytime soon.
Avery visited at least weekly. Mostly more. Maybe talking, maybe just sitting there. He missed Derek, even if he didn’t know anything about him. It was just worth it seeing his beauty. Parking was a nightmare every time, though.
So many visits went by, so, so many visits. A lot happened in those months. Avery got a new part time job at some aquarium, he really enjoyed teaching things to kids, even if those kids asked weird questions sometimes. Derek had a surgery or two in that time, it had been so traumatic to his body overall. They didn’t know what kind, but probably brain surgery. It made most sense.
A couple days before Avery was meant to go visit again, a call from the hospital rang. Derek woke up.