TW: shock/ dissociation/ being really out of it, minor amnesia, broken bone, concussion, worry, being lost, mentions of Tubbo v. Tommy fight
—————
What felt like hours (but was really only minutes) later, Tommy woke up to light burning against his eyelids. He peeled his eyes open to find two flashlight beams shining his way. He raised a trembling hand to block the light.
Tommy smiled weakly at the two figures, his mouth pulling into more of a grimace than a grin.
One of the figures rushed to him, dropped to their knees by his side, and began to search his body for injuries. "Primes, are you okay?" they asked, worry flooding their tone.
Tommy moved out of their grasp, wincing as he did so. "I'm okay," he said, nodding.
Why wouldn't he be? And where was he?
The person's eyes lingered on Tommy's shoulder; Tommy followed their gaze, frowning at the appearance of his shoulder. A rip through both his poncho- why was he wearing a poncho?- and his shirt displayed horrible swelling and a rainbow of bruises across his shoulder. He poked it with his other hand, crying out in pain.
What the hell happened?
The other figure paced circles a little ways away. They had to duck to keep their head from hitting the rocky roof. They were mumbling to themself and running shaking hands through their hair. Every so often, they'd pause and look at Tommy as if they wanted to help but didn't know what to do.
"I think your collarbone's broken, bossman," the short brunette examining him diagnosed, sucking in a breath through their teeth. Tommy blinked up at them a few times, the words not quite making sense to his jumbled brain.
The pacing person stopped, their head turning from Tommy to the brunette as they tried just as hard as Tommy to process what it meant. A lightbulb went off in their head, and they covered their mouth with their hand, drawing in a shaky breath. They finally stopped pacing, sitting down next to Tommy with their face pinched up in worry. Tommy stared at both of them blankly as they waited for him to understand.
"Wait, I'm bossman?" Tommy asked, his words slurring together slightly. "That's a stupid fucking name. Who are you guys?"
"You're kidding, right?" the brunette asked, eyes locking onto Tommy as if they were looking for some sign that this was a joke. When they didn't find one, they turned to the other person, panic clear on their face. They had a silent conversation with a lot of staring and nodding and shaking their heads. Tommy tuned it out.
Tommy yawned two- three times in a row, wondering why he was so tired all of a sudden. His limbs felt like lead, and his eyelids felt even heavier, impossible to keep open. He let them close as the people continued their conversation.
"No, no, no. Don't fall asleep, Tommy!"
Tommy opened his eyes halfway, squinting up at the brunette and yawning again. Their hands stalled inches from Tommy's chest, like they were about to shake him awake before they stopped themself.
"Who are you again?" he asked.
"I'm Ranboo, remember? We're roommates?" the taller person said. Right, Ranboo. He remembered something about the enby, but it was fuzzy, and it involved- Uno cards?
"That's cool, 'Boo. What's with the fucken- the Uno cards, though?" The question was aimed towards himself, but by the way Ranboo's eyebrows shot up, he'd worried them even more. "We're roommates? This is a shitty ass apartment." Tommy turned his attention towards 'Boo'. "Hehe, I have an online friend named Boo. I text them a lot. Maybe you're related? Oh, wait, fuck, that's not how it works. You should meet them- I should text them. Where is my phone?" Tommy mumbled, patting his pockets. He frowned when he didn't find it, and he looked to the brunette for an answer. "Who are you? Did you take my phone?"
"I'm Tubbo-" The name rang some bells; he mostly remembered a lot of glares and tension. He shifted a little further away from Tubbo, biting back a wince. "-and no, I didn't take your phone. Listen, Tommy, do you remember what happened?" Tubbo glanced at him with concern in his eyes.
Not taking his eyes off of him, he began to dig around in his backpack for something. Tommy watched him, eyebrows quirked in confusion.
"Did I get in a fight?" He blinked up at Tubbo slowly. He remembered being knocked flat on his ass at one point. Maybe that was why his body hurt so much. Tubbo pinched his lips together and nodded. "Did you fight me?"
"Yeah," Tubbo admitted, only a little regret in his tone.
"Did I win?"
"Sure," Ranboo said. They didn't sound convincing, though. Tommy frowned. He didn't remember losing a fight; losing wasn't like him.
"You were being a prick. But that's not important. You fell down that cliff." Tubbo pointed to the supposed drop, and Tommy stared at it for a minute. Yeah, that sounded right- not the prick part; he was a big man and not an asshole- but he did fall down something. He thought. Maybe.
Tubbo pulled a small box out of his backpack, and Tommy realized it was a first aid kit only after a few seconds.
Primes, he was smart.
He tried to sit up, but Tubbo made a concerned noise, akin to a mother hen, a comparison that made Tommy laugh, and pushed him back down onto the ground gingerly.
Ranboo gently started running their hands through Tommy's hair, matted with mud and tangled horribly, but neither of them cared. Tommy sighed and leaned into the touch, growing more and more tired by the second.
He drifted in and out of consciousness for the next few minutes. He caught snippets of a conversation, something about a concussion, bandages, and searchers? Every time he was about to fall into a deeper sleep, someone called his name and tapped him on the forehead lightly.
The next time he woke up, it was to something being wrapped around his shoulder. He whimpered and tried to move away from the rough fabric. His eyelids were too heavy to open, but with the fabric constricting his arm, he couldn't fall asleep.
"Stay still," Tubbo muttered.
Tommy whined, a high, nasally sound that seemed to echo in the cave. A moment later, his arm was tied up, so he couldn't move it. He groaned and tried to wrestle out of the sling, shifting his arm back and forth in an attempt to break free. Even though it hurt like hell, he wanted to be free.
"Stop," someone- Tubbo?- ordered, placing a hand on his free arm. Tommy whimpered again.
"Toms, you're going to be okay," another person promised.
It sounded like Techno, but what was he doing here? Tommy had only seen two people earlier. When had he gotten here? Er, had he only seen two people? He didn't know anymore.
He turned his head towards the voice and squinted. Light burned against his eyes, and he snapped them closed.
"Techno?" Tommy asked, confusion in his tone. "Tech, what happened? Why does everything hurt?" His words were slurred and quiet, and it took all his strength just to say them aloud. He whimpered again, tears prickling in his eyes.
"You're going to be okay," Techno promised once more, pulling Tommy's head into his lap gingerly and carding his hands through Tommy's hair. With one hand, he wiped away the tears running down Tommy's cheeks.
"Tec-Techno," Tommy mumbled, a soft sob escaping his lips. He reached up with his good arm, wincing as pain flared through his torso, and placed his hand on Techno's arm, confirming to himself he was there.
Once he knew it was really Techno, he started crying harder. He hadn't seen Techno in a while, and he'd been worried he'd never see him again.
At least, he was pretty sure that was why he was crying.
"You're okay, Tommy." Tommy nodded, hiccuping. Vaguely, he could hear someone- Tubbo? No, Wilbur, it had to be Wilbur- talking, but the words felt slippery, sliding in one ear and out the other before he could figure out what they meant. He groaned, the noise sounding far away to even his own ears.
His eyelids began to grow heavy for the thousandth time that day, and before long, he had fallen asleep, some part of his brain- or maybe Tubbo or Wilbur, he couldn't tell- begging him to stay awake.
—————
(1409 words)
—————
AN: Disclaimer, I've never broken a bone or gotten a concussion before, so my descriptions might not be a hundred percent accurate.
Also, if you're confused on the ending, Tommy is so out of it that he mistakes Ranboo for Techno solely because their voices sound similar. Ranboo is nice enough to play along.
I hope you all are having a good break and, to those that celebrate it, that you guys had a good Christmas. I love you all, and I'm proud of you! Thanks so much for reading, my lovelies!
<3<3<3