Wake Up
pairing: Sal Fisher/Larry Johnson
rating: T
words: 3,224
summary: Sal rambles to Larry while the brunet’s in a coma.
a/n: Hi, my Sally Face discord server has monthly art/writing challenges. July’s theme was “Hospital,” so this is my submission. Here’s the link to the server: https://discord.gg/kYtz72e
Sal stood awkward, one hand clasped around the bouquet of peonies he had spray painted black while the other hand tightly gripped a “Get Well Soon!” card, no doubt creasing it. His mind felt numb as he stood and stared at his best friend who laid unconscious in the hospital bed that dominated the tiny room. Larry had definitely seen his better days. His hair was unkempt, sticking up every which way, and the dark circles underneath his eyes only seemed to worsen as his stay at the hospital progressed, having lasted two weeks already. Despite the doctors and nurses reassuring a stressed Lisa and Sal that Larry was in stable condition and would most likely make a swell recovery, the bluenet was still worried. Every day that passed that Johnson didn’t wake up, his stress only skyrocketed.
What if Larry had severe brain damage that the doctors didn't notice? What if he woke up in a vegetative state? What if he didn’t wake up?
Sal tried to shake the thoughts and padded over to the small nightstand beside Larry’s bed. An array of wilted flowers and still-enveloped cards littered the desk. Sal tried not to think about how most of the bouquets would be dead by the time Larry woke up as he set his own down. The falsely black flowers stood out against the pink ones everyone else had left, and Sal felt a sort of sick satisfaction. Larry had told him about how someone needed to genetically engineer a solid black flower. He couldn’t remember the context of the conversation, but he remembered how much they had laughed about it. A smile threatened to tug at his lips from beneath his prosthetic, but the urge was quickly destroyed. He shouldn’t have left Larry alone that night.
Sal laid on his stomach on the treehouse’s splintered floor, a lit cigarette between his lips and his prosthetic at his side. Larry laid on his back beside him, shirt pushed up, exposing his stomach, as he stretched. The sun outside was quickly setting, but that didn’t mean Sal couldn’t still make out a trail of soft brown hair that disappeared beneath the waistband of the other’s jeans in the treehouse’s dimness. The sight made him itch, curiosity lighting him ablaze. He smushed the notion quickly forming in his head down and took the cigarette from his lips, blowing a trail of smoke. Larry looked at him, a dopey grin on his face. Something had piqued the brunet’s interest, and he rolled onto his side, facing Sal.
“We should shotgun, baby blue,” Larry laughed, voice airy and light. Sal rolled his good eye at him.
“No one shotguns cigarette smoke,” Sal stated. His fingers brought the stick back up to his mouth. Over the years, he had become a master at hiding his reactions from Larry’s random quips. The brunet had the worst habit of cracking jokes that made Sal’s heart pitter-patter pathetically in his chest. Still, at the thought of Larry’s lips on his, he could feel the tips of his ears growing warm. Before the brunet could notice the pink tint, Sal turned his head and blew smoke into the other’s face. The bluenet let out a snort as Larry wrinkled his nose in slight disgust. “You act like you don’t smoke a pack a day.”
“Doesn’t mean the smell has grown on me,” Larry rebuffed, rubbing the back of his hand across his nose. Sal shook his head, bangs bouncing against his forehead.
“Are you trying to tell me I stink?” Larry laughed again, and the sound rumbled through Sal’s chest. He had always been especially fond of his friend’s voice, and Larry’s laughter always caused a weird sense of nostalgia to fall over him, like he was returning home after exploring the world for years. The brunet took the cigarette from Sal while he was lost in thought.
“Don’t worry, we can stink together,” Larry assured, a wolfish grin on his face. Sal watched silently as Larry placed the cigarette between his lips before sucking gently. The bluenet should’ve seen the next action coming, but he really hadn’t.
“Oh, c’mon dude,” Sal groaned as Larry blew the smoke into his face. He waved a hand around dramatically, trying to clear the vapor. “You’re such a… such a rat!”
“Your vernacular never ceases to astound me, bluebird,” Larry mocked, passing the cigarette back to Sal. Sal took it in hand, watching in slight interest as Larry sat up before standing and walked over to the mini fridge he had hooked up. The shorter male’s interest turned to dread as his lanky friend pulled out a bottle, caramel liquid sloshing inside of it.
“I thought you were stopping that,” Sal complained, the words pushing out automatically. His eyes narrowed as Larry used the end of his shirt to help pop the cap off the bottle. Immediately, the sickening cat-pee smell of beer assaulted Sal’s senses.
“I said I’d try to stop, and I did try,” Larry corrected before bringing the bottle to his lips. Sal cringed as he watched the other’s adam’s apple bob, swallowing the drink down. The shorter male grimaced and reached for his prosthetic. The brunet watched as Sal stubbed the cigarette out against the floor, leaving a burn mark. Larry had chastised him about it multiple times before, but Sal didn’t care at the moment. “Where are you going?”
Sal stared at Larry as he clasped his straps into place at the back of his head. “You know how I feel about your drinking problem,” he chastised, moving to his feet.
The bluenet had never been a fan of alcohol. Before his mom had passed, both of his grandparents on his dad’s side had been raging alcoholics. His mom wouldn’t let them see their grandkid unless they tried to recover. They chose the bottle. And then, after his mom’s death, his father had fallen into the same state. He drank his days away until Sal found him passed out on the floor from alcohol poisoning. After a few days in the hospital, his dad sobered up. As soon as they got back home, they both equipped themselves with plastic trash bags and threw out all the alcohol. Sal thought that would be the last he’d ever have to see of alcoholism, but now Larry was running down the same reckless path. The bluenet didn’t know why, and the other refused to open up to him.
“It’s not a problem-”
“Yes it is, Larry! How do you not see that?” Sal was fuming, his hands balled into fists at his sides. The brunet stood stiff, surprised by the emotional outburst. “There’s a difference between responsible drinking and alcoholism. And you, my friend, crossed that boundary months ago.” Sal’s voice came out quieter now, a tremble in his tone. He didn’t know if he was angry or despairful, but he knew the tears would start flowing either way if he didn’t leave.
By god, he had hoped Larry would stop him on the way out, but the brunet hadn’t, and the next morning Sal got a phone call from Lisa, explaining that her son had gone into an alcohol poisoning induced coma.
Larry’s chest rose and fell with his breaths, and Sal wished the brunet would crack his eyes open and offer a coy smile, saying this was some prank all along. Of course, nothing of the sort happened. Sal’s gaze traveled to the plastic chair sitting at the bed’s side. Lisa had been sitting there before Sal came in, talking to the unresponsive male. Apparently the nurses had told her that stimulating Larry’s main senses could help rouse him, so the woman had done everything in the book. She rambled to him about her day every time she visited after work, constantly held his hand and kissed his cheek every time she left, and she had even brought and lit candles in the room from their apartment. Before she had given Sal privacy with Larry, she urged him to talk to the brunet. Sal had denied the notion, saying he wouldn’t stay that long, but now he felt himself sitting down in the uncomfortable chair.
For a moment, he just sat, not knowing what to say. But soon enough, the words flowed smoothly. “You’re such an idiot,” Sal whispered, feeling uncomfortable breaking the silence. He glanced around, half expecting a nurse to come in and chastise him for being loud. When that didn’t happen, he continued. “I hate to say ‘I told you so,’ but I told you so. I read you an online article of this exact thing happening. My dad’s binge drinking wasn't even this bad. God, I can’t believe you cut off the oxygen flow to your brain, and still, somehow, survived getting severe brain damage. Lisa thought you were dead when she found you!”
Sal felt his cheeks wetten as he continued to rant, everything surging up at once. His eyes glanced warily around the room. The only window was a small one in the door. Taking a chance, Sal took off his prosthetic and set it in his lap. He hated how the material would cling to his skin when he was sweating or crying. “I don’t know what happened to you. You were obviously using it as some sort of coping mechanism, but I have no idea what for. You became so closed off, and you scared me. I thought you would eventually discard me. I guess you’re still going to disappear from my life for at least a month or two. You’re going to a rehabilitation center after you wake up,” Sal paused, voice growing meek, “God, please wake up.”
Once more, silence invaded the room. Sal blinked, trying to clear his vision from where it had grown blurry from tears. He could still feel a few wet trails rolling down his face, but he felt better. Most of the torrent had been released.
When he could see again, his gaze trailed to Larry’s hand. It laid at the brunet’s side, black nail polish mostly chipped off. Sal took in into his hand without thinking. He guided Larry’s fingers to interlock with his own. “Let’s make a deal. I’ll tell you a secret right now, and you'll wake up and tell me why you were so committed to destroying your life.” Sal paused. Despite Larry not being able to hear him, he still felt like he was putting his heart on the line. Both of his hands clasped at Larry’s hand, grounding himself.
“I really, really like you Johnson. Don’t let that inflate your already bursting ego because you absolutely don't deserve the compliment right now. But everytime you laugh and show off that stupid ass toothgap, I want to punch you because in those moments I just want to lean over and kiss you, and I know I can’t. Maybe if you wake up, we can try shotgunning cigarette smoke before you leave even though that’s the most idiotic idea you’ve ever come up with,” Sal laughed before bringing Larry’s hand up to his mouth and pressing a kiss to the back of the brunet’s hand. “If you can’t wake up for yourself, please wake up for me and Lisa.”
It was the next day when Larry came to. Sal had been getting ready to shower when Lisa called him. He had been ready to come right away, grime and all, but Lisa stopped him. Apparently Larry was in a minimally conscious state. He’d wake up for a few minutes, confused as to where he was, and then pass out again. The grogginess would most likely wear off after a few days, and Lisa promised to call him again when her son was alert enough to carry out a conversation with someone.
The two day wait between the initial phone call and the second were absolute Hell to Sal. Even his father had picked up on his nervous energy, ordering a pizza and renting a movie the first night to help Sal calm down. The second night was when Lisa called again, and Sal made it to the hospital in record time.
When he arrived, he was delighted to find out that Larry was still in tact. There would be no outstanding injuries except for a headache. However, he couldn't barge in and tackle Larry right away because Lisa was still visiting him, so Sal sat in the waiting room, legs bouncing. He could’ve cried in relief when Lisa walked into the room, twenty minutes later. He made himself wait and speak to the woman before making a break for it.
“Sorry for taking so long, but I have the Mom Privilege to get to see my son first,” Lisa joked, a warm smile on her face. Sal stood upon the greeting, his body swaying from side to side in anticipation. “But I can assure you he’s excited to see you. Yesterday, every time he woke up, he always mentioned your name. Just try not to over excite him.”
“Yes ma’am, I’ll try my best.” Lisa’s smile broadened before she pulled Sal into a hug.
“I’ve told you, just call me Lisa,” she chastised before breaking the embrace. However, her hands still gripped Sal’s shoulders. “Oh, I almost forgot to tell you! Larry remembers what was said to him during his coma. He doesn’t remember every conversation explicitly, but he definitely remembers the gist of everything. I hope you didn’t insult him while you visited him the other day.”
Sal was too excited for Lisa’s words to sink in. He just mumbled out a quick, “oh, okay,” before taking off to Larry’s room. Lisa had left the door open upon her exit, so the blunet could just slip right in and close it behind him. As soon as the door shut, Larry perked, sitting up.
“Fisher!” Larry’s hair was an absolute bird’s nest, hair enveloping his head like a lion’s mane. His eyes were also red, an indicator that he had been crying recently. Sal supposed Lisa’s talk with him couldn't have been entirely sunshine and rainbows. He, too, was sure that he’d berate Larry later, but he was too happy to see that his friend was alive and well to do it right away.
“Larry!” Sal ignored Lisa’s desire to not over excite Larry for the time being and barreled halfway over the bed’s railing, enveloping the other in a hug. The brunet let out a surprised chuckle before wrapping his arms around Sal.
“If you pushed yourself any further onto here, you’d practically be laying on the bed with me,” Larry teased, his grip around Sal tightening.
“Shut up, I missed you, you oaf,” Sal mumbled, voice muffled by his prosthetic, and the fact that his face was pressed into Larry’s shoulder. “Don’t you ever scare us like that again!”
Larry didn’t say anything at the remark, and Sal didn't press. He was content to just hug the other for awhile. However, the cramped position wasn’t allowing him to breathe all that great through his prosthetic, so he pulled away. Larry stared hard at him as he dug his fingers beneath the prosthetic’s surface, pulling it away from his skin a little to get some fresh air. “You should just take it off,” Larry advised.
Sal looked from him and then back to the door’s window. “But someone could see,” he opposed. He had already risked it once, and he wasn't sure if he wanted to do that again.
“I highly doubt it. Your back’s to the window, and I could tell you if someone was coming in,” Larry countered, a sudden fierceness to his voice. Sal hesitated. “I mean, only if you want to. You obviously don't have to.”
There was a second more of hesitance before Sal decided it'd be okay to shed the prosthetic. Larry looked at him like a giddy puppy as he undid the straps and set the device down on the table. The brunet held his arms out for a hug again, and Sal couldn't help the small smile that graced his features. “You’re such an idiot,” Sal quipped, holding his own arms out.
“I know,” Larry smirked as Sal leaned over the bed again. Instead of the hug the blunet was expecting, the other grabbed his forearms and pulled him down closer, planting their lips together. Sal jerked back as if electrocuted.
“What-”
“Did Mom not tell you?” Larry’s gaze was searching, hands still clasping onto Sal’s arms. Sal shook his head, confusion etched onto his face. “That I could hear you when you talked to me?”
“Oh,” Sal simply responded. Lisa had told him that, but he had been too dense to realize what exactly that entailed. As it dawned on him, he could feel a blush travelling up his neck.
“Oh,” Larry mocked, over exaggerating his facial features. Sal glared at him, and the idiot had the audacity to grin, tip of his tongue poking out from between his teeth. “I can’t believe baby blue has a crush on me! When were you going to tell me?”
“Oh, shut up,” Sal complained, the tips of his ears a vibrant red. He felt like he was back in high school, blushing every time Ash happened to look in his direction. He didn’t appreciate it.
“Make me,” Larry teased back, bushy eyebrows wagging. He looked from Larry’s eyes to his lips and then back up again. He still needed two things confirmed.
“You like me?” Larry rolled his eyes at the first inquiry, and Sal swallowed the urge to throttle him.
“I wouldn’t be offering to kiss you if I didn’t,” he answered, tone matter-of-fact. Sal couldn’t help but smile before dampening the mood with the next question.
“You’re going to actually try this time, right? You’re going to try in rehab, right? I can’t have you having another episode and actually lose you,” Sal whispered. Larry faltered, tongue dampening his chapped lips. The bluenet could see the other’s eyes dampen again, not quite shedding tears, but he needed to know.
“Yes, I promise,” Larry replied. His hands tightened around Sal’s arms, trying to prove his earnesty. “Now can I have my kiss?”
Sal nodded, leaning down again. Larry met him in the middle and gently pressed their lips together. It was just a quick peck before they pulled away, but then the brunet had Sal by the collar of his shirt, dragging him in for another kiss. The bluenet let him, his own hands coming to rest against the sides of Larry’s face. Sal had always thought that if the chance of Larry touching him- kissing him -ever came up, the sensation would be overbearing and set him alight. However, the action just sent a welcome warmth through his body, much like the same feeling he got when listening to Larry laugh.
“We have to do that more often,” Larry murmured as they pulled away, eyelashes fluttering and cheeks red. Sal thought it was cruel someone could be so beautiful. “But when are we going to shotgun cigarette smoke? You did say we could do that if I woke up.”
The mood was effectively broken. “Oh god, I hate you,” Sal whined, causing Larry to chuckle.
“I love you too, Sally Face.”
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Only Lovers Left Alive
This is one of my favourite movies of all time and has inspired three pieces of work. One is still in my head, one is in the processes of being written and more importantly researched and one is below. Thank you Jim Jarmusch, Tom Hiddleston and Tilda Swinton for the inspiration. Please find below Adam’s suicide note, which Eve never discovered.
My dearest darling Eve,
My lady,
Please forgive me for I can no longer stand the stench of fear that comes from the zombies. Their panic is instilled in their very souls, chasing their tails, digging a hole so big it drowns them in sludge of their own making.
Even the good stuff from the haematologist at the hospital is tainted these days. It has lost the sweetness of vegetables, replaced by the chemical sweetness from sweeteners and preservatives in their drinks and cakes. At least it is free of the drugs they consume for fun; we really knew what fun was in the old days, running through Venice, Paris and Rome, late nights routs through the streets, sharing our works with Byron and Schubert, revelling in their successes because they were ours. Remember that night in Paris when we got the old priest out of bed in the early hours of the morning of our third wedding day, 23rd June 1868, I think he thought he was dreaming. That memory always makes me smile, how I wish we could go back and stay there.
Did you know they have been poisoning the bees and butterflies? The zombies spray their crops with insecticides to kill aphids and other crop eating insects but forget there are beautiful creatures that eat them. They think they know better than nature, what idiots they are. I remember the days before you turned me when I used to bring you beautiful butterflies and drawings of the birds I saw. There was a lady bird in the house the other day, it had seven shiny black spots on its crimson back, it kept climbing up the window, so I couldn’t do anything about it until dusk. It now lives on the red roses you planted when you were here last, the aphids are no longer safe. I keep meaning to get Ian to buy a few bee hives, it might help some of the plants. In some parts they rent swarms of bees to pollinate their crops because they have wiped out the insect population.
They really need to turn back to nature, surely their zombie alarms are ringing by now, no insects and farmers in bio-hazard suits. The population is rising and instead of looking at modifying their methods, encouraging nature and nurturing the ground. It is overworked and dead, like dust. Sometimes it is best to look backwards not forwards, but as much as I would love to I cannot turn the clock back.
Ian bought me some new guitars yesterday, one was a so well made so perfect I named it after Will, the one big regret of my entire existence. I tried so hard to get to him that night, to save him, to turn him but I was too late. The thing a vampire has on his side is eternity, but what use is that when the innocents you need to save, and preserve, are taken by something as futile as war. Back then it was guns, swords and arrows but today they have invented weapons that can devastate whole areas for decades if not centuries. Chemicals that pollute the environment, biological weapons and Oppenheimer’s pet project who’s deadly fall out is still happening. These zombies really know how to heighten their fears turning their fearful childhood fantasies that had been fed to them by the politicians into a terrible reality.
Amongst the guitars Ian bought me was a plastic and wood affair, at least they recycled the plastic in a unique way, it usually ends up floating the oceans choking birds, fish and killing like the weapons of mass destruction they love inflicting on each other. These silent weapons have ended up in their own food chain and yet they continue to produce and discard their little invention. There are vast areas of floating garbage arriving onto beaches where there is normally no plastic. The seas we used to travel are long gone now my love, all those nights watching the stars and wondering which ones had life circulating around them, wondering what the sound of the cosmos was like. All the sounds of nature, the lapping waves, the call of the gulls, the wind when it whipped up the seas into a frenzy, the lashing waves in a storm tilting the ship to perilous angles, the laughter tinged with fear as we fought not to be swept away! Oh God I miss those days when we had the world ahead of us unencumbered by mankind’s follies and I miss you even more my darling Eve.
I cannot stand the suffocating stale air of the city, yet I cannot leave it. I long for the soil beneath my feet, the leaves brushing my skin, the moonlight peeping through the canopy of forests. The night insects, the earthy scent of the ground, moths float by and the owls call out while hunting for the rustling mice scurrying around trying to avoid them. I long for the mysterious sounds of the rain forests we visited in South America, how full of energy it was as the trees introduced new oxygen into the world. Can you believe they are chopping down the lungs of this planet and their potential medicine cabinet. Not to mention the species they are bringing to extinction before they have even discovered them.
I cannot live in a world governed by them any longer! Their cruelty towards each other gets worse each day, they step on those they consider below them to get higher up the ladder. When the water starts to run out they will ration and build technology that destroys the planet even more quickly. Even now when the charities come and find fresh water for the poorest, the greed of others steals the technology and rations it. Promises of better housing, of schools and medical facilities are broken and the villagers forced to pay for the rations they are given. They kill and maim those of different ideologies, pollute the air with their chemical bombs and superior fire power, forcing their innocents into leaving their homes just to escape the violence. Not only do they terrorise their poorest and most innocent, they destroy cultures, history and art along with society, the things that bring out the best in them. Instead of building and growing they deny their souls for no other reason than because they can!
They attack new ideas, new thinkers, especially the scientists. They are still teaching creationism rather than the science put forward by Darwin in some American schools! They have abandoned the beautiful ideas of Tesla and destroy their most brilliant simply because they do not conform to their idea of what is normal, just like they did to Turing and Galileo. At least they still remember the talent of Lawes and Marlowe, even if he did have to give Shakespeare to pay him back when you helped him fake his own death and Shakespeare hid him for a while. That was quite a game of cat and mouse the three of you played, I am amazed you got away with it. Then again you were and always will be brilliant.
I so wish you were here, how I crave your phone calls, you can always lift my soul, take the bad feelings away. I say I have no heroes, but we both that is not true! Out of all the people I admire the most in this life, you are the biggest of all, for the love you have for dancing, the love you give me and most of all for the way you just know what to do. You have the calmest of souls, gentlest of touch when giving me comfort and you always have the right words. I love you my darling and long to dance with you one last time, feel your touch, your caress…
Please forgive me my eternal love
Adam
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