As Your Voice Fades | Part 1
#2 of As Your Voice Fades
"I thought you looked absolutely adorable Nick" the cougar said as he changed gears.
"Are you kidding me Ryan? I looked like an idiot." the dalmatian answered.
"Come on, I can see you blushing," Ryan chuckled putting his arm around Nick in the passenger seat. "I think that pink button up shirt makes you look really sexy."
"Sexy?" Nick asked leaning into Ryan's arm and trying to stop blushing, "Mom's been getting me a bunch of pink things ever since I came out to her. I hate pink."
"You know she's trying to help you out, even if her ways are a little off."
"Yeah, I should be thankful for that" Nick said fiddling with his medal that had a big '#1' on it from their high school's annual talent show.
A moment of silence passed before Ryan's voice broke it "So, how's the thing with your dad going?"
Nick stopped fiddling, "I have no dad, he's just the guy that married my mom and left cause the family name mattered more than the actual family"
Ryan stopped the car at a stoplight and put both arms around Nick "I'll never leave you."
"Oh Ryan" Nick embraced his cougar and tried to wipe his tears on Ryan's shirt. "I love you so much"
They moved their heads until their muzzles were an inch apart before closing the gap and pressing their lips together. Ryan's rough tongue danced with Nick's and their paws caressed each other's backs and they were suddenly in a far away place where nothing matter except kissing the other.
A honk from the car behind them brought them back to reality. They both reluctantly pulled away and Ryan noted, "we'll continue this later."
Nick blushed again, "I love you"
"I love you too Nick, more than anything in the world." Ryan said as he started to shift into first gear and go at the green light."
They made it halfway across the intersection when suddenly everything went out of control. White lights flooded the car and Nick only had time to shout "Ryan" before they were knocked to the side. Nick's body became a ragdoll as he was forced against his seatbelt and then the window. Everything seemed to go in slow motion and he kept spinning and spinning until he felt weightless for a moment ending with a hard knock to the head.
One of his feet was covered in excruciating pain and then felt numb as Nick's vision started going black as he only had one thing on his mind.
"Ryan" was all he could muster before his mind drifted into unconsciousness.
-x-
"Caleb, could you come to the kitchen!" shouted a young fox with a squeak at the end.
Caleb padded into the kitchen to see the younger fox struggling to grab a thing of chocolate syrup from the bottom shelf. "What do you need that for?" asked Caleb.
"Well how else am I suppose to chocolate milk?" answered his brother in a sarcastic you-should-have-known way.
Caleb chuckled at his younger brother and grabbed the chocolate syrup along with the milk and two glasses. "Might as well have one for myself" he added. The two made their chocolate milk making sure that lack of chocolate would not be a problem. Once the mixing was done, Caleb's brother chugged his down in seconds. Caleb casually sipped his savoring the flavor and laughing at his brother's milk mustache. Once they both were done, Caleb put both glasses in the dishwasher was walked into the living room where his father was watching the news.
He took a seat in one of the recliners and sat back as the main news anchor came on screen. "We've just gotten reports of a deadly car accident at the intersection of Maple and Main Street involving a drunk driver. We go to our reporter for the latest."
The television then showed a mouse with way too much lipstick on standing in front of a police car and some caution tape. She immediately started speaking "I'm standing at the intersection where the accident took place involving a drunk driver and two high school boys. According to witnesses the drunk driver ran a red light and struck the drivers side of the car with the two boys in it. They then both went off the road and fell the 20 feet from the side. According to police the drunk driver had a BAC of .27 and has been taken to the hospital. The identities of the two boys were not given to us but we do know that one of them died at the scene and the other is currently in critical condition."
The television then cut back to the anchor where he started talking about some city hall debate.
"Man that always pisses me off" Caleb's father said over the sound of the news, "When people drink and then think they can drive, putting other people's lives at risk and as we just saw killing them. Especially a boy at such a young age, I'd hate to be that boy's parents finding out their child was just killed because someone else was an idiot."
Caleb just nodded at his father's words. It also got him thinking just a little bit about death and that accident, but only for a moment because just like the news anchors, he wasn't attached to it so he just moved on to the next thing.
-x-
The dream was too long; he was in an unfamiliar place where the sand engulfed his feet. Nick really wanted something to drink but couldn't find any water. He dropped to his knees and started digging cause that was the only thing he could think to do. He dug and dug as the sand felt cooler and moist but his claws made a scratching noise as they came in contact with cool metal. He was devastated for reasons he didn't know. Ryan's voice came out of nowhere as he drove up next to him beckoning as he shouted "come on, I'll get you some water" Nick ran over there and hopped in the car before they sped over the sand. Nick suddenly felt happy and wanted to tell Nick that before the familiar bright lights came and a bang from collision of cars echoed in his ears as they spun and spun and spun...
Nick blinked his eyes a few times trying to get rid of the crud that built up over his eyes. He was still thirsty, more than he was in the dream. He saw a lot of white and for a split second he thought he was in heaven or some sort of afterlife, but that thought went away soon as he saw the bland ceiling and mundane walls. He reached his paws to his head to rub his eyes but what met him was a plastic heartbeat monitor on his paw and an IV tube on his arm.
The equipment around him and the bed he was lying in gave away his setting. He then looked at a chair seated at the foot of his bed where another dalmation sat with red bags under the eyes and a ruffled fur all over.
"Mom?" Nick croaked realizing just how thirsty he really was.
His mother's ears perked up immediately, "Oh Nick!" The feeling of her embrace gave a lot of comfort to Nick. "How're you feeling?" his mother asked right after she let go.
"I guess I'm okay, my head's killing me though"
"I can imagine, you suffered a pretty bad concussion" came an unfamiliar voice from a lion in a white coat. He took a look at the monitor next to my bed and scribbled down some things on a clipboard. "We'll keep you here for a few more days before we send you home and refer you to a physical therapist so you can get use to walking again."
"Walking again?" Nick asked confused, "I don't think I'll need that much help walking again." The lion had a quizzical look for a moment and then the expression in his eyes told Nick that there was something that he was unaware of. "What's going on?" Nick asked while the butterflies in his stomach grew.
The lion sighed and lowered himself to around Nick's height. "During your accident, the other vehicle fell onto your left foot and crushed it and in order for us to keep you alive, we had to," he paused, "amputate it just below you knee."
The work 'amputate' shocked Nick where he immediately pulled the covers off of himself and saw his left leg stop shorter than his right leg. A gentle squeeze on the paw from his mother comforted him for a short moment as he tried to wrap his head around what his life would be like. Well at least he knew he had Ryan to help, then the visions from his dream came, "wait, where's Ryan? Is he okay?"
"Nick," his mother's voice shook with a little bit of a squeak, "I'm so sorry hon, but Ryan didn't make it. The doctors did all they could but he didn't make it."
Nick didn't hear anything else past that, emptiness filled his heart as the thought of the boy he loved was no longer going to be there to comfort him, to kiss him, hold him. "No" was all that escaped his lips. "He can't be dead, HE JUST CAN'T!" He let everything loose as he hugged his mother tightly and cried harder than he ever did before for his lost boyfriend. "Why mom? Why must this happen?!"
Nick's mother held on tighter. "I don't know son, I just don't know."