Please read the note at the end when you're done. :)
"You have value and you deserve better." – Unknown.
"Please, he needs help!"
"You're safe now."
"…anyway, they want to interview us. I'll be back soon. I promise."
"Yeah, bro, Mike is out of surgery now. He's gonna be all right. We all are. At least… I really hope you are…"
"Hey, so, the others say you went loony up there or something, and you may have, but you still saved my life, so thanks for that…"
"I really am sorry about stabbing you… Please get well?"
"I'm still here for you, you know? Even after everything… I still think we have a connection."
Beep.
Beep.
Beep.
The first thing Josh realized was that his eyelids felt crusted shut, like he hadn't opened them in a thousand years and dust had settled all around them, gluing them shut. His lips parted as he tried to draw a deeper breath, but his lips felt even worse than his eyes – chapped and bloodied.
He cracked his eyes just a little and then blinked several times, opening them a bit more each time. Bright. Very bright.
He used his dry tongue to pry his lips apart and took as deep of a breath as he could. The simple movement of his chest set off a chain reaction to the rest of his body.
Everything. Hurt.
His calves were sore, his arm was burning, his back was aching, his cheek was throbbing, and he didn't even know where to start when it came to counting the smaller wounds littering his entire body. A groan found its way out of his shredded lips.
A chair creaked to his right. "Josh?"
He'd know that voice anywhere. "Chris?" His voice came out horse and raspy.
"Umm, oh! Do you want some water?"
Josh gave a single, faint nod. He still couldn't see very well, but his pupils were slowly adjusting to the hospital lighting.
There were a few seconds of shuffling around and some clicking, and then Chris' face appeared in front of him. "Here you are, bro."
He lifted his head as a straw was pushed into his mouth. It took a couple of seconds, but Josh managed to shape his mouth in the right way to use it. Even if it hurt his swollen cheek like hell, it was worth it when the refreshing, tasteless liquid soothed his throat. He reached up with his uninjured – well, less injured – arm and grabbed the cup, balancing it on his chest. "Thanks," he murmured, clearing his throat a few times.
He finally identified the source of the clacking noise as a crutch Chris was using, and that led him to spot the brace around Chris' ankle. "You okay, man?"
Chris' eyebrows shot up. "Me? Are you kidding? Bro, I'm lucky. I mean, compared to you and Jess and Mike?"
Josh sighed. "Jess and Mike and Matt made it out okay, then?"
"Yeah." Chris nodded eagerly. "Mike had to have some minor surgery, but he came out okay. Jess was a little bashed up, but she's looking better now. Emily just needed a bandage for her shoulder, even if she's still pissed as hell at Mike – long story there. Ash is doing great. I mean, her only real injury was her…" Chris cleared his throat awkwardly. "Well, her eye…"
Josh winced. He hadn't meant to punch her. He really hadn't. Punching just… apparently, it was a reflex when someone stabbed him with scissors.
"Anyway, she's fine," Chris plowed on. "And obviously, I'm good. Just my ankle. It's not even broken. Matt's super fine– okay that came out wrong…"
Josh chuckled slightly, rolling his eyes.
"I mean… he really wasn't even hurt. Like, at all. And Sam–"
"Mmm, now she is super fine." Too perfect of an opening there. He couldn't ignore it.
Chris spluttered. "Yeah, okay, nice one. Sam's fi– good. Just a couple of scratches, even after all the running and climbing and crap she had to do. No clue how she pulled that off."
Josh snorted. "She's resourceful." Something he'd definitely learned the hard way. When he'd been planning his prank, he'd expected a certain amount of trouble – maybe from Mike or Matt when he got around to them since they were the 'macho men' of the group. What he hadn't counted on was Sam lobbing a vase at him and smacking him in the head with his old baseball bat. Maybe it wasn't as painful as Ashley and her scissors, but it had sure been effective. "Pacifist my ass…"
Chris shook his head. "I don't even want to know, man."
"Hm," he grunted. "Where is she?"
"Oh, she's been running from room to room to check on everyone ever since we got here. Should be back around here pretty soon."
Of course she was. That was so Sam. But that brought up another question. "How long was I...?"
Chris glanced at the clock on the wall. "Little over a day?"
An entire day? Damn. He must have been pretty out of it after–
"Who knocked me out?"
Chris froze.
What? "You're kidding…"
Chris scratched the back of his neck. "You were freaking out… I didn't know what else to do."
Well, he'd only been freaking out because–
His breath hitched, memories flooding back. "Hannah…"
Chris tensed instantly, giving the heart monitor a nervous glance as it picked up speed. He looked like he was about call for a nurse or a doctor or something.
Josh grabbed his arm. "That thing, Chris. The-the Wendigo. It was Hannah."
Chris shook is head vigorously. "No, n-n-no, man. That thing… no way. It was just your head playing tricks on you–"
Josh gripped his arm tighter. "I saw her tattoo on its arm! Don't you dare tell me that wasn't real!" Tears were clouding his vision again. "A-and Mike saw it too! Ask him if you don't believe me!" That was why Mike had spoken her name in the mines, wasn't it? He'd seen it before she'd thrown him aside.
Chris just stared at him, his mouth hanging partially open.
Friends since Third Grade? Yeah, Josh knew how to read Chris' face by now. "What? What aren't you telling me?"
"I… um…"
"You know something, don't you? Tell. Me."
Chris expression cracked. "I… I really don't think that's such a good idea, man."
"Chris…" Josh's grip gave a bit. He was too exhausted to keep this up. It was all he could do to keep blinking back his tears. "I need to know. Please…"
After what had happened on the mountain, after a whole year of his mind concocting one dark scenario after another… Josh thought he'd be prepared for anything.
He was wrong.
He couldn't bring himself to speak a single word while Chris laid out the nightmare in full, stuttering detail. And now that it was over, the only word he was able to utter was a garbled, barely intelligible, "Trashcan."
The moment it clicked in Chris' head, he moved faster than any limping man should have been able to.
The trashcan had barely hit his hands when Josh started retching into it, knocking his hospital water mug onto the floor in the process. There wasn't really much in his system to throw up, but what little there had been was gone after a few heaves.
Chris stood by, awkwardly setting a hand on his shoulder until Josh was done and collapsed back against the firm pillow behind him. Chris quickly moved the trashcan back to the floor. The silence between them was thick for a few moments.
"Are you okay?" Chris asked quietly, pulling a chair over to the edge of the bed and sitting in it.
Josh closed his eyes, the moisture in them finally leaking out. "No. And I haven't been for a long time." His eyes opened again, staring at the ceiling – anywhere but at his friend. "I-I need help, Cochise…"
"Yeah… I kinda figured that one out…"
Josh choke-laughed, blindly thwacking him. "Asshat." From anyone else, that would have been hurtful, but from Chris… Somehow, he always knew how his jokes would come across to Josh.
The beeping of the heart monitor had returned to normal now, somehow making the silence between them even more uncomfortable.
"Wellll, you can always look at things this way: Mike will do whatever you tell him for the rest of his life."
Josh scowled. "Huh?"
"Bro, you saved his life and Jessica's. He's practically worshiping the ground you walk on right now."
He had wha– Oh, he had saved their lives. He hadn't even thought about that until now. Damn. "Think I could get him to get me a burger?"
Chris snickered. "Hmm, maybe later. Doctors here would have a fit if he even tried to stand up, no matter how much he's been whining at them."
Now there was an amusing mental image. Josh let a faint smile slip over his face, his gaze trailing down from the ceiling, past the open door–
Oh, hell. Why couldn't he just be left alone?
Josh did nothing to suppress the very loud groan that came out of his mouth. He pressed his palms to his eyes. "I thought you'd left."
"Well, I can come back later if this is a bad time, Joshua."
"Yeah, how about never?"
He could hear Chris shuffling uncomfortably off to the side. "Umm, should I go and leave you two to talk–"
"Wait." Two? Josh dropped his hands, looking between Chris and Dr. Hill several times. "You can see him?"
"Um, yeah?"
Oh. Oh, man… Josh gave his therapist an apologetic look. "Sorry… thought you were…" He gestured to his head.
Dr. Hill nodded understandingly. "It's quite all right, Josh."
He'd almost forgotten how remarkably less creepy his real therapist was compared to his mind's rendering. Dr. Hill greeted Chris with a smile. "You must be Christopher."
"Yessss, I am." Chris was regarding him warily. "And you are?"
Josh cleared his throat. "Chris, hey, um, can you give us a minute?"
Surprise flickered across Chris' face. "Um, suuuuuure. Okay. I'll go… check and see what Sam's up to."
"Thanks, bro."
Dr. Hill waited for Chris to hobble out of the room before taking his chair. "So… I take it your plan didn't play out the way you wanted?"
"Understatement of the decade," Josh mumbled. "You were right. As usual." How different would things be now if he had just listened?
"Hmm."
Josh supposed 'I told you so' was a little un-therapist like. He frowned as a thought crossed his mind. "How'd you get here? Aren't we still in Alberta?"
Dr. Hill leaned back in the chair, settling his elbows on the armrest and steepling his fingers. "Your parents had me booked for the first flight up after they heard the news. They're on their way themselves, but I'm afraid their flight was delayed."
His parents… were actually coming? Actually making an effort to see him? Well, that was a first in a year…
"Joshua… do you want to talk?"
"Yeah… But I don't know what to say…" Look at him. Telling the truth. That was progress, right?
"Well, why don't you start from the beginning of the trip? Tell me what happened, perhaps?"
Tell him what happened. That sounded great. Get it all off his chest. Except he'd never believe him. Dr. Hill would think the Wendigos were just another case of him losing it… but there was someone he knew would believe him.
"I… I don't think it's… you I need to talk to."
"Ah." Instead of sounding offended, Dr. Hill actually seemed to have a smile in his voice. He knew already. Probably had since he walked into the room. "Samantha?"
Josh nodded shakily.
"I'll see what I can do about that." Dr. Hill rose from his chair, heading for the door. "And I'll be here for a while, should you need my help."
Of course he would. His parents had probably paid him more than his annual salary to be here.
Despite the promise of seeing Sam again, his eyelids were just too heavy to keep open. He dozed off only a couple minutes after Dr. Hill left the room. It must have been some high-powered medication they had him on, because he hadn't been able to do that so easily in months.
It was peaceful, actually. Especially the calming sensation of fingers trailing through his hair.
Wait…
He pulled open his eyes, blinking sleepily.
Gentle green irises stared back at him.
"Hey." Sam smiled warmly. "You wanted to talk?"
Thank you all for your support and kind words! But before you go…
Okay, ladies and germs, I have three upcoming projects in the works that you might be interested in:
1. Settlers of Dawn - CONTINUATION OF PLAYING HERO! This story is a little more light-hearted, focusing on what shenanigans Josh and the others can get up to when they're stuck in a hospital. (But you really can't have Josh without some angst, so there's a bit of that too.) Will be posted in a few days.
2. Monsters After Dusk – Sequel to Playing Hero and Settlers of Dawn. Less on the humor side than Settlers. More Vegan Psycho.
3. Separate universe (This one may take a while). You get one hint: JS-2187. Take what you will from that. ;) There will be further info at the end of Settlers of Dawn.
ALSO, I HAVE ENTERED PLAYING HERO INTO A WRITING CONTEST. If you enjoyed it enough, please go vote for it! :)
(in) (ki) (tt).c (o) m / stories / 54341 / chapters / 1 (Obviously, just take out the spaces and parenthesis)
Btw, those interested in seeing the Josh tribute video I mentioned, just go to my profile and click the link to my Youtube account. (Since this site is AWFUL about links.)