[LANDON] could you see yourself with somebody else

[nathan conor stellan]

'Where's the other one?' A nurse asked one of the other nurses. Everyone knew the two of them came in pairs. It was odd to find one without the other. But it was also odd to find a nineteen year old in cardiac arrest. Seventeen minutes the record said he'd been actually dead. Not that Nathan would ever know that. How do you tell someone they really died? No one on the medical team wanted to be the one to say 'oh, and by the way, your heart completely stopped. We were about to let Deacon visit you'. That'd be a mood ruiner.

Things could only get worse from here. Irreversible brain damage, nerve damage, blood clots. If they even got him back. It wasn't long before they'd finally managed the faintest pulse they could. And then he was into a tub of ice water. If they couldn't reverse it, they'd stop it while it wasn't too bad. They hoped. It seemed like forever before a nurse finally came back and said they'd found the second half of the duo. And by then Nathan had been in the water so long he didn't even have a color. A team of wet nurses helped to pick the thin boy up and wrap him in blankets, carrying him to his bed so his best friend at least didn't have to see too much of what looked like a corpse of Nathan.

[Landon Morgan Jones]

click

If they weren't together it usually meant one or the other was sleeping. Even then, sometimes one would be sitting on the floor of the room, siting on the foot of the bed... just being close to each other. The pair was something else, raising hell and making life difficult for everyone else.

The pair makes life brilliant for each other. For the rest of the world... not so much.

Landon had been sleeping when there had been a knock at his door. He'd seen Nate just hours before, clowning around like usual. Nothing had been unusual. A little time apart didn't do them well... hell, he'd sent the man a text right before falling asleep-- Shut the fuck up, I'm going to bed before I need to come over there and kill you. XO love you. Nothing less than typical from the boys.

But one of the nurses had woken him up. A knock at his door, a grim expression... something had to be wrong. He hadn't bothered to stand around and listen to what the woman had to say about what happened. Literally the only person that mattered to him was here, and that was what lit a fire under his ass.

Thank fucking god he was a runner. The young man took off like a shot, running down to the ICU. His chest heaves, head spinning, heart thundering as he bursts through the door. The bed is empty as of yet, someone coming in not much later to lay Nate in the bed. The man was pale, devoid of all color, and Landon feels sick. The sight of his best friend not moving... cold... hell, he can't see a breath in the man's chest. He's driven to his knees at Nate's bedside, trying to fight back everything he's feeling.

His chest aches. The man's eyes flick to the attendant, burning. "What the FUCK did you do to him?" Nate's face is too calm. He's too still. The creature that's filled with ire and wit and brightness... isn't. Landon's hand rests over the cold one that belongs to his best friend, and he's shaking. Everything is shaking.

[nathan conor stellan]

To say the room wasn't a sight would have been a lie. Where Nathan was frozen and wet, he didn't move a bit. The faint rise and fall of his chest was so subtle, it almost couldn't be seen. The nurses, however, were cold and wet all the same. But they were shivering, their teeth clattering, their breath heavy. There was something really wrong with this picture. One nurse was slowly working the IVs into his cold arm, then tucking it in under the blankets so he'd get warm. Another nurse was busy putting an oxygen tube down his nose. If Nathan were awake, he'd probably be joking his way through the entire affair. He wasn't a terribly serious person. They managed to work around Landon and get him on his side so the blood wouldn't pool. A nurse was tediously tucking him into the blankets.

'The doctor said he had a heart attack and went into cardiac arrest. We had to put him in an ice bath to prevent any damage. But there's no telling when he'll wake up, or what he'll do.' The nurse explained to him. There was no telling if he even would wake up. Or be Nathan when he did. Everything from here on out was anyone's guess. 'Feel free to take a seat over there. And talk to him. They say talking to patients helps to wake them up.' She offered him a gentle smile before she left Landon alone with Nathan.

[Landon Morgan Jones]

They looked so much like best friends... lines had been blurred a long time ago. Landon had fallen in love a long damn time ago. Things could be pushed aside-- they were dudes, after all. Stuff like that just didn't happen where they came from. They were the perfect pair, the best double threat you ever did see. Everything that had built between them... Landon's chest ached. He hurt everywhere.

The young man listened to the nurse, but his eyes never left Nathan's face. His hand rested on that of the man, stroking the skin. It's as soon as the woman leaves that he crawls in beside the man, tugging the man to his chest. "You can't fucking leave me... Nathan, I swear to god I'll never forgive you if you leave me in this place. You know you're my best friend. My only fucking friend, ever." His breath shakes as he speaks, clinging to the freezing body. Landon's head is spinning. "You can't let go. You can't let go... I couldn't stand it without you here. I never could stand being really anywhere without you... come on Nate. Wake up, stupid bastard..." The man's voice drops, whispering, more to himself than to anyone else. "Lovely, stupid fucking adorable, amazing bastard..."

[nathan conor stellan]

Nathan remained silent for awhile before he finally whimpered and wrinkled his nose. He pushed at the blankets, now hot with all of them on him. He moved closer to Landon, resting his head on the other's collarbone. He didn't know who was there, but he knew he didn't want to be alone. There was a certain fear lingering with him. He didn't know what was wrong. It was the beeping of the machines that finally annoyed him enough to open his eyes. "Shut up.." He grumbled, pulling the pillow over his head. He turned over onto his back, closing his eyes once again. But the machines wouldn't stop making that annoying beeping noise. He picked up his pillow and threw it at the wall, looking over at the nurse who came in. He looked back at Landon, drawing his eyebrows together. Who was this boy in his bed?

"Who /are/ you?" He asked, his dark eyes looking over the now unfamiliar face. He didn't know him from Adam. But then again.. who did he know? "Better yet, who am I?" He turned his arm over, pulling it up to his face to read the tag on it. But all it had was his hospital number on it, no name whatsoever.

[Landon Morgan Jones]

The young man couldn't help but feel Nate as he came to. Instead of being limp, the strong body was back to holding itself up. Landon's breathing evened out, his chest ached a little less. Then there was Nate telling him to shut up... always. It wasn't that he thought something was wrong... not right away.

And then there was. The man was on his feet, tensing and freaking out. He'd been dead, the nurse had said. He'd been dead and now he was alive. That was what would matter right now, was it not? And then the man was asking... imploring... what? "Nate, bro, cut the shit. Just come fucking hug me, I almost fucking lost you." Landon pushes a hand through his hair, staring at the man blankly. What the hell just happened?

[nathan conor stellan]

So he thought this was some sort of joke? "If there were shit to be cut, you could consider it cut. But I'm not playing." Nathan said, watching the nurse come over and start pulling back the sheets. He watched as she started to feel over his chest, not sure what it was she was doing. Maybe she knew something he didn't. "What's this?" He asked, trying to pull out the breathing tube. The nurse gently pushed his hand away, explaining he needed it to breathe. "I'm fine. I don't know who I am, but I'm fine." He said, hoping he wouldn't have to sit here any longer. But then the nurse was gone, leaving Nathan in his boxers with the boy next to him.

"Seriously. Who are you?" He asked, looking over at him again. "Are you supposed to be in my bed? Isn't that a little weird?"

[Landon Morgan Jones]

Landon was already worrying about this day. The man had no idea where it was going and what was going on... his best friend was royally fucked up. As the man moved to swat at the tube keeping air in his lungs, Landon reached out to swat at his hands. It's something that he does without a hell of a lot of thinking. He needed to know that the stupid bastard that happened to mean the world to him was going to be okay.

He didn't look it. The man's color hadn't quite come back, looking a little.... a little strange. "Seems your attitude hasn't changed a bit..." Landon sat there and thought for a minute. Hell, he could tell the man everything right here and right now while he didn't know better. He could explain away that last bit by the simple fact that he'd never adored anyone more than he did Nathan... but he wouldn't. He couldn't. "I'm your best friend... hell, I'm the only fucking one that can put up with your shit."

[nathan conor stellan]

If he was his best friend, it made sense why he was there. Not why they were in the same bed. But why he was there. Nathan looked at the wires coming out of his arms, almost saddened by them. They didn't do this unless something was bad, right? He didn't know what had happened to him, why he was here in this bed but still. It couldn't have been too awful good.

"Okay, best friend. Who am I, then?" He asked, looking back at the other boy. He still didn't have a name to the face, and the boy didn't look any more familiar than he did before. But all Nathan could do was hope he was telling he truth, that he really was his best friend. The way he talked, they seemed relaxed around each other. But it was frustrating, not knowing anything. He wanted to be okay.

[Landon Morgan Jones]

The man can't help a lot of the ahit he's done. Climbing into the bed might have been stupid but Nate was so cold...it had made sense at the time. Hell. How many times had they gone camping or slept on the same floor or the same couch or really just near each other and wound up a tangled mess of arms and legs? Cuddling was something that could come naturally.

It's with gentle fingertips that the man pushes stray bits of bangs from Nate's eyes. Theres a long sigh in his throat, through his nose. "You really don't remember, do you?" and it's that which makes Makism worry.

[nathan conor stellan]

Nathan was probably even more bothered by how taken aback the boy was by everything than what was actually happening. It was one thing to be concerned yourself. It was another entirely to watch someone else be concerned for you. People normally pretended it was okay, right? They certainly didn't sigh like that. "I don't remember anything except that you just told me you're my best friend and the nurse said this thing in my nose is to keep me breathing." Nathan said quietly.

This was slowly becoming more terrifying than it was before. He didn't know what to think. It was.. awful. To not know anything? He felt stupid. Who didn't remember anything? He had to be dumb or something. "And that you never told me your name. Unless it's 'your best friend'. Then we have that covered."

[Landon Morgan Jones]

When it comes to each other they're terribly transparent. Landon doesn't have a problem showing emotion for Nate. So what if it's frowned upon for a boy? He was going to worry about and fawn over his best friend like nothing else mattered. Nothing else did. Not this much.

He tries to think for a moment, Landon does. He thinks long for that last moment before saying anything. His head spins. This is goes. Before he can stop to think the speaks. Always the impulsive one after all. "Name's Landon. We've been inseparable since seventh grade. You gave me this scar a week--" he rolls up his sleeve to share a gnarly, gashed line, "after we met. You've got one too. We haven't been apart since." the thought is done, a grin still on his lips.

[nathan conor stellan]

Nathan listened to the boy speak. The name Landon was vaguely familiar, gave him an odd feeling in his gut. But it wasn't near enough for him to remember anything. It made him wonder where the feeling came from, what it meant. Maybe it was just happiness that the boy was there with him when he needed someone.

He reached over to Landon's arm, gently running his finger over the mark. He turned his own arms over, searching them carefully. On one was a skeleton in a skeleton costume with a jack-o-lantern trick-or-treat basket, for getting candy, he guessed. It certainly was odd. And sure enough, on the other was a mark much like Landon's. "Looks like it hurt." He said, running his hand over it.

[Landon Morgan Jones]

The pair had their fair share of odd days, odd tattoos, and odd mannerisms. What can you expect from two boys that pretty much share a brain? It had been a sort of star crossed friendship, a dangerous one for the rest of the world. To have the man that was in front of him not remember that? He ached. He burned. Landon's chest hurt at the idea that Nate didn't remember a damn thing of it.

Nathan's fingers are gentle... he's always loved them. That touch that sends a chill up his spine... it only happens when they're gentle like this. There are tingles of other things when they're being silly, when they're playing, sure. These had been the special ones... they play with everyone. They're gentle with each other. "We had fun getting them. Both of us tried to take the same tire swing at the same time into the lake." He nods softly, reveling in the memory for a moment.

[nathan conor stellan]

"We aren't very bright, are we?" He commented, looking over at him. His gaze dropped back to the scar on his arm before he turned his attention to the tattoo on his other arm. He ran his finger over the ink, looking over it. He was starting to get antsy sitting in the bed. He tried to pull his knees up to get out of bed, but he couldn't feel them. He drew his eyebrows together, pushing the blankets back again. If he was as close to the boy as the boy said they were, he guessed he wouldn't mind him being in his boxers. All the nurses saw him, that's for sure.

"I can't feel my legs." He complained, reaching down to touch one of them. He sighed and leaned back, suddenly more frustrated more than he had been before. He couldn't remember anything, couldn't even walk. He was about useless.