Septiplier One-Shots

Awake

Gah, I'm sure you all already know this, but this girl is fantastic! author144 has written another chapter, and it's amazing (as always)! I hope you all enjoy it as much as I do, and send all your love to incredible author ;)

Mark had been a nurse for several years. He was trained well in the medical field, and despite his job and the scary things he saw and encountered, he loved what he did and he enjoyed working. He cared for his patients, and the people who came in and out of the hospital were greatly affected by his kindness and willingness to go to any lengths for the needs of a patient. He even went as far as paying the medical bills for a young boy’s cancer treatment, something that people spoke of even to the current day.
Mark’s job now was to take care of a man who was in a coma. He’d been this way for several years, and Mark had been taking care of him ever since he entered the hospital, watching as he remained motionless and changed only to the environment around him. His hair was once green now faded back into a dark brown, almost silvery. His eyes were blue, or so Mark was told, as he’d never seen them since the man had been asleep. His name was Jack, and as far as Mark knew about him he was a man nearly as kind. A stunning personality that shone through the darkest of times, and people often mentioned that he and Mark would be good friends. With a feeling of respect and a desire to meet him, as well as a natural attraction to the man’s features, Mark found himself more than willing to take care of him and enjoyed doing it. He found himself having conversations with Jack, talking to the man and telling him about his day and what the outside world looked like. He spoke to Jack as if he was there and awake, and realized that he made a friend out of the man who couldn’t even respond to him.
“Mark, how have you been?” Mark was dragged back to the present as his supervisor mentioned his name. He’d been standing in her office as she spoke to him, a nice older lady in her mid forties that had always been considerate towards others. She had been typing away at her computer, talking of something that had happened in the emergency room earlier in the day when Mark had spaced out. He turned to her now, smiling.
“I’ve been fine, just busy.”
“And how is the patient under comatose doing?”
“Still under, nothing super exciting or new happening. Actually,” Mark paused, thinking to himself before smiling and pointing aimlessly in thought. “Now that I think about it, we did have a change in heart rate a little while ago whilst I was reading him a story.” His supervisor smiled, her red lipstick showing off her white teeth perfectly, and she looked pleased with this.
“Mark, that’s amazing. If anyone can pull him from his current condition, I know that it's you,” she said, her brown hair pulled back into a ponytail to show her large earrings, and they swung as she nodded her head. Mark blushed, embarrassed as he turned his attention to his feet where the scuffed softly against the linoleum floor.
“That’s flattering,” he said, kicking at the floor and trying to let the heat in his cheeks die down. His supervisor only laughed, and then she abruptly paused. Mark looked up, and then realized she was staring at the doorway behind him. He turned to look and find three men standing down the hallway in suits, looking far more than official and their eyes and intentions hidden behind a pair of sunglasses each. Mark frowned, both confused and curious beyond any means he would ask aloud, and as they made their way to the room Mark stood in, he turned to his supervisor.
“Mark, could you excuse us for just a moment?” she asked, just as confused as he was. Her ruby red lips turned into an unattractive frown, and her eyebrows bent close together as the men gathered outside her door, peering in and waiting for Mark to leave. Mark didn’t like the menacing vibe that he received from these men, but he himself was more of a pacifist and wasn’t interesting in arguing or fighting with anyone. Giving a nod to his supervisor, he backed out of the room and made his way down to Jack’s room again. He left the door open and wandered over to the IV stand that kept Jack’s water levels stable and found his water supply running low, brushing off the thoughts he was having about the situation behind him and focusing on his work.
“A little thirsty today, huh?” Mark asked, smiling to himself as he retrieved another bag filled with fresh water. “You’ve almost run yourself dry.” As Mark was rigging the bag onto the stand that held it next to Jack’s bed, replacing the old one and setting that on the counter, the bed moved next to him. Suddenly, a hand slapped onto Mark’s arm and surprised the man. Mark looked over and found Jack wide awake, sitting up and looking fully alert. His blue eyes were large and staring into Mark’s chocolate gaze, entrancing the man. Mark swallowed nervously in surprise, and Jack cleared his throat.
“Listen to me, quickly, we don’t have much time,” he said, and Mark stared at him incredulously. Jack hopped off his hospital bed and shut the door, locking it and pulling up a nearby chair to barricade the handle by resting it on its hind legs underneath. He went to the other wall, peering out the window and shutting the blinds before turning to Mark who was still gaping at the man.
“You’ve been asleep for almost ten years.” Mark stammered out, and Jack looked over at him. Mark’s gaze traveled the length of the man, still dumbfounded that he was not only awake but uninjured and fully capable of human functions. “And you just quite literally jumped out of bed.”
“Mark, listen to me. We don’t have much time.” Jack repeated, coming around to Mark’s side of the bed, who sat down with a pale face and closed eyes.
“You know my name?”
“Yes, I’ve been listening to everything you’ve ever said to me.” Jack said, and Mark looked at him, almost horrified and disgusted with himself. “There’s so many things I’ve been dying to tell you, but this is not the place nor the time. We have to go.” There was a sudden shaking of the door handle followed by knocking.
“Mark, is everything okay in there? These men need to get in, they’d like to talk to you.” Mark’s supervisor spoke through the door, and Jack stood Mark up, staring at him and nodding towards the door.
“Uh, y-yeah! Everything’s fine.” Mark called through his cracking voice, and Jack moved back around the bed over to the window.
“Shit,” he muttered, and he grabbed at the blinds, pulling them up once more and opening the window. He looked out and around the parking lot as Mark’s supervisor tried the door again, the other men with her shuffling their feet and pressing closer to the door.
“Mark, would you like to let us in then?” she called, and Mark opened his mouth to reply, but Jack snapped his fingers. Mark looked at him, quickly making his way over to the man, and staring at him as he sat on the windowsill of the second story, his feet dangling over another part of the roof that jutted out below him. He held out a hand to Mark who stared at it.
“What are you doing?” Mark asked.
“We can’t stay here, and you have to come with me.” Jack said, and Mark only stared at him. “Look, okay, those guys out there aren’t good ones, and the least that they’ll do is interrogate you. I’m not taking any risks.” Jack held out his hand again, his gesture a little more firm this time, and Mark curled his hands close to his chest.
“Jack, I hardly know you. I can’t just run away from the government and jump out windows for you.” Mark said, and the knocking on the other side of the door turned to banging and the sounds of someone fiercely trying to get in. Mark looked a little more uncertain now, and Jack reached out to rest his own hand on Mark’s shoulder, looking directly into his eyes.
“Mark, you may not know me, but over these past few years I have gotten to know you. I feel like I’ve known you my whole life.” Jack said, and Mark felt embarrassment make his cheeks go red. “We clearly have a lot of catching up to do, but now is not the time. Those men will get in here in thirty seconds or less, and if we’re here when they do then we’re both screwed. If I leave you’ll probably be okay, but I’m not taking my chances.” Jack held out his hand again. “Mark, please.” Mark looked back at the door where the men were now all pounding away at it, and he looked over at Jack, a miracle in itself as a man who jumped to life from a coma lasting nearly a decade.
Swallowing roughly, Mark reached out and took Jack’s hand as he jumped from the window.