Heyo! I've decided to sign up for Bad Things Happen Bingo, where I will be filling out a bunch of prompts to complete a bingo card!

First prompt: Gordon + Hypothermia

Gordon shoved his hands into the pockets of his coat, regretting that he couldn't find his gloves that morning before school. What he didn't regret was deciding to dry his hair off before he made his way home. Even with a hat on, he did not like to think how much colder he'd be feeling if he was walking home with wet hair.

He was on his way home from swim practice after school. He and his brothers would normally take the bus to and from school, but after practice he usually got picked up. His dad had to work late that day, though, and the only one of his brothers who could drive was Scott. However, his car was at the garage getting fixed. Gordon didn't know what was wrong with it, all he did know was that it meant he had to make his own way home.

He didn't mind it. There was a bus that ran later for all those who stayed behind for afterschool activities. The only problem with that one was that it didn't take Gordon as far as his usual one did, so he had to walk the rest of the way home. It wasn't far, though, and he enjoyed the quiet country roads that made up the final stretch of his journey.

However, the snow had picked up as soon as he'd stepped off the bus, and even though he had a thick coat on, he could already feel the chill reach him through it.

He pulled his scarf over his mouth and nose to warm his face up, but as he did so, he noticed something out of the corner of his eye. Gordon squinted through the snow and saw that on the field next to him, there was a pond.

It was frozen over, and standing in the middle of that pond, was a dog.

The dog was standing still, clearly too scared to move. Gordon didn't even think about it before he was making his way through the snow and towards the pond.

He stood at the edge and tried to call the dog over to him. When the dog noticed Gordon, it went to move, but it slipped as it took a step and that was enough for it to stop making any more attempts at moving.

A long whine echoed across the pond as the dog looked at Gordon sadly, and that was enough to kick Gordon into gear.

He dropped his backpack onto the snowy bank and hesitantly stepped closer to the ice. He tested the strength of the ice at the edge of the pond with one foot. It didn't seem to crack as he slowly applied his weight to it, but it couldn't have been that thick as it only started snowing a few days ago.

Although, he was little and light, so he hoped that the ice would hold up for a short while.

He crouched down towards the ice to spread his weight out. He couldn't remember where he'd learnt that technique from, but he was thankful for it now.

He was really regretting not bring gloves as his hands touched the ice and sent a burning chill through his fingers, but he pushed through it and crawled towards the dog who still had yet to move.

It was slow progress as Gordon was worried that if he went too fast, that would cause the ice to crack, but eventually he made it to the dog.

"Come here," he tried to encourage the dog closer to him, but it just continued to stare down at him curiously.

Gordon pushed himself up so he could reach out towards the dog, but as soon as his fingers brushed against the fur, the dog was shocked out of whatever fearful trance it was in. It suddenly bolted across the lake in the opposite direction, making it clear of the pond in just a few seconds and then it was out of sight.

However, under the weight of the dog and its quick movements, the ice beneath Gordon began to crack. He tried to turn around and head back to the bank, but he wasn't fast enough.

Gordon felt himself hit the icy water and the breath was knocked out of him. He scrambled to find purchase on the ice, and fortunately managed to grip onto one of the thicker pieces of ice before his upper body hit the water as well.

He pulled himself back up on the ice. It was difficult as the water kept trying to pull him back under and his wet clothes were dragging him down, but he eventually managed to get free of the water. He quickly crawled across the remaining pieces of ice and made it back to the bank before he fell in again.

He fell onto the snow and pulled his knees to his chest as the shivers started to set in. Even though only his lower half got wet, his whole body was freezing. Gordon knew he needed to get back home before he froze to death out there, so he pushed himself up on aching legs and grabbed his backpack from where he left it.

He ran home, trying to both get home as fast as possible and keep his body heat up for longer. He didn't have far to go, but it wasn't long before his limbs felt stiff with the cold and he couldn't move faster than a slow walk. It didn't help that the snow hadn't let up yet.

The only thing that kept Gordon going was the house that he could see in the distance. The lights were on and Gordon could practically feel the warmth that he knew would be inside.

He staggered the rest of the way up the long drive. He stumbled up the steps of the porch and rapped his knuckles against the door. His keys were in his bag, but he felt like he didn't have the energy to rummage through it. His fingers were probably too frozen to use a key anyway.

His knock was quiet, and he was worried that no one would have heard it, but after a long moment, the door opened, and he practically fell into the arms of the person who was on the other side.

"Gordon? You're freezing, what happened?" It was Scott, and Gordon gazed up at the worried look on his face.

"Th-there was a f-fro-frozen pond. I f-fell," he got out through chattering teeth. Scott had closed the door behind him, and Gordon could feel the warmth of the house around him, but it did barely anything to fight the cold that had settled into his bones.

"Who's at the door?"

Gordon heard the voice from down the hallway, and he peered around Scott to find Virgil emerging from the living room.

"Gordon! What happened?" Virgil voiced the same question as Scott as he laid eyes on him.

"He fell in a pond," Scott provided so Gordon didn't have to reply again. He was already helping Gordon out of his wet coat. "Can you go find some spare blankets?"

Virgil gave Scott a nod and then hurried off to where they kept the spare blankets. The commotion had drawn John and Alan out of wherever they had been in the house.

"I don't like how cold you are. We should probably go to the hospital." Scott was frowning down at Gordon.

"How, though?" Virgil had re-emerged with armfuls of blankets. He draped them over Gordon's shoulders, and Gordon happily snuggled into them. "Your car is at the garage."

"There's the old one out in the barn?" John suggested from where he stood halfway down the stairs, leaning over the banister.

"That one hasn't worked in a year."

"Weren't you and dad working on it, though? I thought you said it was fixed."

"We haven't gotten around to testing it out yet," Scott replied, although he seemed to be considering it. Scott turned back to look at Gordon, who was still shaking even though he was bundled in blankets. That glance seemed to be enough to make up his mind. "I guess now is as good a time as any to test it out. Alright, get ready to leave. I'll bring the car out front."

Scott grabbed his coat and a set of keys, and then opened the front door and stepped outside. The door closed behind him, but Gordon could still feel the cold that the wind had blown inside.

Gordon had been tiredly staring at where Scott once stood, so he didn't notice his brother come up next to him until the blankets were being moved from his shoulders.

He went to protest the removal of his only source of warmth, but when he looked up, he saw the coat that was in Virgil's hands.

Gordon let Virgil move the blankets so he could slip Gordon's arms into the new, dry coat. He recognised it as one of Scott's, and he smiled at the long sleeves that hung over his frozen hands. Virgil draped the blankets back over Gordon's shoulders, and then bent down so Gordon could climb on his back and he could carry him out the door.

Gordon was surprised that his brother could still carry him without a problem, but he was thankful for it as he didn't think he could walk out to the car.

Scott had just pulled up at the end of the porch when they exited the house, and Gordon was glad to see that the car appeared to be working just fine.

He sat in the back of the car, sandwiched between Virgil and Alan. He ended up leaning heavily on Virgil, but he didn't think his brother minded as he had wrapped an arm around Gordon's shoulder.

The heating was on in the car and Gordon was beginning to feel tired. His eyes started to slip shut, but he was woken up by his brother jostling him.

"Don't fall asleep," Virgil commanded gently. Gordon tried to obey and keep his eyes open as long as he could, but it was hard and despite his efforts, he could feel the fatigue take over.

Gordon was sat on the hospital bed, buried under more blankets than he could count. He was tired, but he couldn't sleep anymore. Their dad was meant to be there any minute now, and Gordon was dreading how he was going to react.

As if on cue, there was a knock at the door, and the door opened to reveal his father.

"Gordon, I'm surprised to see you awake." He stepped into the room. "How're you feeling?" He brushed the hair out of Gordon's face and gave him a soft smile.

"Fine," Gordon mumbled.

"Doctor says that if all keeps going well, you can come home soon." He perched on the chair next to the bed that Scott had been on, before he went to go join his brothers out in the hall once they'd heard their dad would be there soon. "That's good."

"I guess." Gordon wasn't looking at his dad, instead he was looking down at where he was fiddling with the edge of one of the blankets.

"What's wrong?" His dad sounded worried, and that made Gordon feel worse.

"I'm sorry," he finally said.

Jeff sat back in shock. "What? Why are you sorry?"

"I didn't mean to get hurt and drag everybody here. I was an idiot; I should have just gone straight home."

Gordon felt a hand settle on the blankets, right above his knee.

"Gordon."

Gordon looked up at his dad, who was watching him with a small smile and an understanding look on his face.

"Your brothers told me what you'd told them, about the dog? You did the right thing. You saved that dog, don't feel sorry for that." He smiled at Gordon, but then chuckled. "You know, when I was your age, I did a very similar thing with a cat in a tree. Ended up in the hospital with a broken arm, but your grandma wasn't mad at me because I still managed to get that cat down. Just like I'm not mad at you. I'm just glad you're okay."

Gordon watched him for a moment, before he laughed.

"You really fell out of a tree to save a cat?"

"Yep." Jeff stood up from the chair he was on to sit on the edge of the bed. He fished out one of Gordon's hand from beneath the blankets. His hand was warm and fought away the chill that still lingered around. "But I don't feel bad about it, just like you shouldn't. Rescuing people, even if they're just animals, isn't a thing to feel sorry for."

His dad always knew just what to say to make him feel better. He uncovered his other hand from the blanket it was under and reached out to his dad. He drew Gordon into a hug that was warm and secure and much comfier than the blankets were.

Gordon closed his eyes as his dad settled against the bed and Gordon rested his head against his chest. He thought about what his dad had said, and as he drifted off into a warm and peaceful sleep, he decided that maybe it was worth it after all.