AN ODE TO VICES — EPILOGUE TWO
EMERGENCY
September 17th, 2021
NO ONE WANTS TO GET A CALL FROM THE HOSPITAL AT TWO IN THE MORNING, even less so when you've just gone to sleep an hour before.
But this was the situation Will Gold found himself in on September 14th, 2021.
He groaned, blindly reaching for his phone as it rang. He picked it up, answered the call, and groggily snapped, "What?" through gritted teeth, having been in the middle of a nice dream. A woman's voice greeted him on the other end, and it took him a moment to realize she'd introduced herself a nurse from the hospital closest to Rory's new apartment.
Will blinked, sitting up straighter. "—your name Will Gold, sir?" the woman questioned.
Will nodded, then remembered she couldn't see him. "Ye—yeah." He cleared his throat. "That's me. What's going on?" he asked, stumbling out of bed to get dressed.
"I'm calling to inform you that your brother Rowan is undergoing emergency surgery due to a ruptured appendix—"
Will's heart stuttered. He pulled on his coat, promised the nurse he'd be there shortly, and locked the door to his apartment behind him.
He was calling Techno before he even got to the car.
The first call went to voicemail. The second call was picked up immediately. "Will, why the hell— it's— it's two in the morning for you," Techno greeted him. Will swallowed, getting into the driver's seat of his car.
"Rory's in the hospital."
Techno was quiet for a moment. ". . . What?"
"Emergency surgery, I don't know. I just— I thought you should know, I have to go, I have to drive, I'll call you with an update later," Will rushed out, hanging up before Techno could get another word in. He started the drive to the hospital.
Rory's surgery took an hour. Will sat in the waiting room, bouncing his leg. Cellphones didn't work in the hospital — they never did, so Will couldn't even call Techno or Phil, he couldn't send a message to Niki, he couldn't tell the Discord server for the SMP about what was happening. He was alone in the waiting room, mind racing, perking up whenever he saw a doctor or nurse only to get sad when he wasn't acknowledged, because that meant Rory was still in surgery.
Finally, nearing four in the morning, a nurse came over to escort him to Rory's room.
Rory was asleep when Will stumbled into the room, collapsing in a chair on the right side of the bed. He stared at his brother for a moment, not liking how pale Rory looked, or how his face scrunched in pain even while sleeping. He hadn't had time to contact their parents or anyone else, but he didn't want to leave the hospital for a good signal when Rory might wake up.
He was able to play some offline games on his phone, which only helped to distract him a little; every five minutes he would look at Rory, whose status hadn't changed (and wouldn't, for another hour) before he went back to his phone, worriedly chewing on his bottom lip.
Eventually he stood to go outside, stretching. He glanced at Rory, who remained still, before heading out of the room and outside the hospital.
Niki picked up the call despite it being nearly five in the morning.
"Will?" she asked tiredly. "What's going on?"
"Rory's at the hospital," Will told her softly. She gasped. "He's— he's okay, it wan an emergency surgery, but I doubt he's going to be able to go home today and Newt usually gets fed around eight, can you— can you please stop by and make sure he eats? I'll pick him up tonight and take him to my place, I—"
"Will," she cut in gently. Will took a deep breath. "It's okay. I'll stop by and give him breakfast. Does he eat at any other times? Is there a certain amount to feed him?"
Will quickly gave her Newt's feeding times and food amount, telling her where to find the food and treats before he thanked her and hung up. He wanted to rush back to Rory's room on the off-chance his brother was awake, but he refrained. He had other calls to make.
Phil was grumpy about being woken up, but he was quick to wake when Will told him Rory's condition; Will assured him it was fine, and Phil said he and Kristin would be down soon. Tommy was even more pissed about being woken up, but he quickly got over it and said he'd ask his parents if he could visit when they woke up; Tubbo didn't wake up for the call, so Will texted him the details and told Tubbo to get some rest; he sent out a message to the SMP Discord, letting them know what was happening, and received many supportive messages back.
Techno didn't answer the call, or the second. Or the third.
Will gave up and went back to Rory's room.
He held Rory's hand as the TV played an episode of Friends soundlessly, his mind racing despite not having gotten much sleep and having been awake for longer than he needed to be, since he could have taken a nap while Rory was sleeping. He just doesn't want to miss Rory waking up.
Eventually, Rory finally, finally, began to wake. He shifted, groaning softly, and Will immediately looked at him, taking his hand once more and putting down his phone. "Rory?" he asked softly, just in case Rory wasn't actually waking up. As much was Will wanted to talk to him, he didn't want Rory to wake up sooner than he had to.
Rory blinked at him, eyes unfocused. Will smiled. "Hey." he greeted quietly, almost whispering. "Can you understand me?"
". . . 'S bright," Rory muttered, closing his eyes again. Will nodded, letting go of Rory's hand to stand up and close the blinds in the room. He pulled the curtain across them for good meassure, then returned to his seat. Rory stared at him, relaxed but still clearly confused. ". . . Time?"
Will glanced at his phone. "8:34 a.m.," he informed. Rory sighed, closing his eyes. "You had to get surgury. Do you remember that?" Rory nodded. "Okay, good. Next time you think about going to the hospital, give me a call, yeah?"
Rory chuckled, then winced. "Ah, fuck, that hurts," he muttered. "I can't even sit up, this sucks."
Will smiled faintly. "Last I head, Phil and Kristin are on their way. Niki's taking care of Newt." Rory's brows furrowed at the mention of his dog. He nodded. "Tommy said he's going to ask his parents about visiting and Tubbo didn't answer my call but I texted him the details. I didn't tell mum and dad, I didn't want to worry them since they can't drive down here."
Rory nodded. After a moment, he cleared his throat. "And, uh, and Techno?"
Will rolled his eyes. "Simp," he muttered. Rory scoffed. "I called him and told him you were in the hospital before I drove here. I tried to call him earlier but he didn't respond." Rory nodded, looking a little sad. "I'm sure he has a reason," Will said gently.
Rory shrugged. "Yeah, yeah, I know. I just wanna talk to him."
"You can soon," Will assured. "Are you in pain? I can go get the doctor. I probably should since you're awake now," he mused.
Rory thought for a moment before nodding. "Please," he said softly. Will reached out to ruffle his hair as he stood. Rory wrinkled his nose, watching Will leave the room. He sighed, looking up at the cieling. His eyes hurt from the lights.
Will came back with the doctor and a nurse; as the nurse took his vitals, the doctor explained that Rory would be kept until tomorrow afternoon in order to make sure there were no complications with the surgury — because, as Will had informed the doctor, their mother had had complications with her own appendix surgury when the two were teenagers. It was just a precaution.
It didn't make the boredom any easier.
And since cellphones didn't work in the hospital, Rory was going out of his mind.
"I can go home," he complained. "I'll just, like, sit in bed! With an internet connection!"
Will shook his head. Rory had did well, sittting in bed for four hours without much complaint, but now it was noon and he was irritated, exhausted, and not wanting to sleep. He wanted to go home and talk with his friends, he wanted to pet Newt, he wanted to call Techno and actually assure him that he was alive.
And yet he couldn't.
Will only left the room to use the bathroom despite Rory insisting he go get something to eat. Will always returned empty handed, not wanting to leave Rory's side for too long. To be frank, it was starting to get annoying.
Finally, Will left to check in with everyone. Phil and Kristin had gotten stuck a city over due to traffic, and likely wouldn't be able to get around it until the next morning; Will offered to get them a hotel room, but they refused, insisting they could do it; Tommy and Tubbo would be visiting tomorrow as well, since Tommy would be arriving at Tubbo's house very late that night; Dream and Sapnap had sent multiple messages asking for an update and both were very happy to hear that Rory was okay now.
Once again, Techno didn't answer Will's calls. Will was starting to get very irriated with him.
"The least he could do—"
"Stop it," Rory warned. Will huffed, sitting down. The sky outside was growing darker, so Will opened the curtain and blinds, giving the room a view of the sky during sunset. "He's probably busy."
"Too busy for you?" Rory looked away. Will frowned. "Sorry, that's not what I meant." He sighed, sitting down again. He rubbed at his eyes tiredly, yawning. "Are you alright?"
"I'm okay," Rory promised. "Are you? You haven't eaten all day, you've barely slept — Will, I'll survive without you here for a while. It's okay."
"But—"
"Can you please go eat something?" Rory pleaded. "You look like shit."
Will chuckled softly, running a hand through his hair. "I— yeah, fine. Do you want anything?" Rory shook his head. "Alright. Give me twenty minutes, I'll be back soon," he assured, ruffling Rory's hair as he stood. Rory watched him go, sitting back against the pillows.
He went to reach for his phone, forgetting for a moment that it would hurt; he hissed, going back to his previous position. "Fuck," he muttered, closing his eyes.
"Rowan?"
Rory turned his head, eyes widening. Techno stood at the door, looking like a mess — bags under his eyes, glasses smudged, hair lazily styled. He looked like he'd been crying, too, and Rory's heart broke at the thought of Techno crying.
But he was there. He was physically there. It had been nearly a month. Rory was set to visit him next week, but now he was here, standing at the entrance to the hospital room.
"Tech?" Rory asked hesitantly. Techno walked closer, glancing at the chair beside the hospital bed. He hesitantly sat down, nearly collapsing. Rory frowned. "Love, when was the last time you slept?" he fretted.
Techno shrugged, lost. "As soon as Will called I was on the next flight over. I— he said you were in the hospital for emergency surgery? And then I got on the plane, like, less than an hour later and then I— I got here and I had eight missed calls and I— fuck— I was so scared," he whispered, voice horse. "I thought— I thought I lost you." Rory rested his hand on the side of the bed, palm facing the ceiling, a silent offer. Techno took it, lacing their hands together.
"Remember when I was complaining about being in pain, the last time we called?" Rory asked. Techno nodded. "I was resting like you told me to and then felt really sick. It got really bad so I figured it was a good time to go to the emergancy room and I forgot to call Will, but cellphones don't work here, I don't know why— anyway, not the point, I got here, got checked out, and then they said I needed emergency surgery because my appendix ruptured," he explained.
Techno ran his free hand over his face. "Where's Will now?" he asked.
"Cafeteria. He hasn't eaten since he go the call, I forced him to go," Rory said, not wanting Techno to think Will had so easily abandoned him. ". . . Thank you for coming," Rory said softly. "I was really scared no one would be here when I woke up."
Techno frowned. "Oh, Rowan," he said softly, leaning forward to wipe Rory's tears away. Rory sniffled, not even realizing that he had started crying. "I wish I could've been here sooner." He sighed, letting his hand fall. "I— I'm not leaving until you're better," he promised. "I'll stay in a hotel if you need me to, but I'm not leaving."
Rory smiled at him. "Good. I don't like when you leave."
". . . Are you gonna make me stay in a hotel?"
Rory laughed, trying to ignore how much it hurt to do so.
A/N
I HAVE A DISCORD SERVER NOW!!
https://discord.gg/JPhQs7Qcrm