Chapter Text
“I called Tin,” Pete says with a heavy sigh. “He’s on his way.”
Ae fights the urge to roll his eyes. He fully expects Tin to saunter in and argue with the nurses, complain that the hospital is shoddy at best, demand to transfer Can to a private hospital- anything to show off how rich he is and how much better than everyone he thinks he is.
“Do you think he’ll be okay?” Techno asks quietly. “I mean, do you think he has a disease or something?”
“Wouldn’t he…” Good replies, “know if… he had… a disease…?” Type nods.
“Yeah, don’t diseases like epilepsy usually show up in childhood?” he asks. “Can is eighteen. It must have been caused by something else.”
The “it” they’re referring to is the seizure. The seizure Can had right in the middle of football practice. Ae can’t help remembering it yet again.
Can is standing more still than Ae has ever seen him. He was dribbling the ball until he just… stopped. Right in the middle of the field. Ae wishes he could say it came out of nowhere, but his friend’s been acting strangely all day. Unlike his normal “alert” behavior, Can has been quiet and distracted since he arrived. Ae assumes he and Tin had a fight or something.
Until Can’s knees buckle below him and he collapses onto the grass. Techno and Type rush over, ready to carry Can off the field and under some shade to rest and drink some water. Normal procedure for heat exhaustion. Except… Ae’s never seen someone with heat exhaustion shake like that. Actually, shaking isn’t the right word. It’s more like convulsing.
“Oh my God,” Type whispers. “Someone call 191! He’s having a seizure!” Ae glances up at the stands, where Pete already has his phone to his ear. Finally, Ae ventures closer to his teammate, dreading what he’s about to see.
Can’s eyes are rolled so far back into his head that Ae thinks he must be in pain. If not from the seizure, then his eyes at least. Techno is holding his head, making sure he doesn’t crack it open with the convulsions. Type has rolled Can onto his side, and is now timing the seizure. Ae looks down, seeing a growing wet spot on Can’s shorts. He’s wet himself.
“Sh-shouldn’t we put something in his mouth?” Ae asks, feeling increasingly helpless as he watches his friend suffer. “To make sure he doesn’t choke on his tongue?”
“No!” exclaims Pete. When did he get down here? “He’s not going to choke on his tongue, but you could break his jaw trying to get his mouth open. Just keep him on his side and wait for the seizure to be over. The paramedics are on the way.”
Can jerks a few more times before his body goes completely limp, unconscious.
“Ae?” Ae jumps slightly. Pete has a worried look on his face. “Are you okay? I’ve been trying to get your attention for a while now.” Ae sighs.
“I just…” he trails off. “I didn’t even know what to do. When Can… I couldn’t help him. I just stood there.”
“Ae-” Pete is interrupted by the bang of the emergency room door being slammed open. Standing there is Tin- chest heaving, fringe falling into his frantic eyes, and generally looking more panicked than Ae has ever seen him. Where’s Mr. “I’m Better Than You and I Want You to Know It”? It’s certainly not the boy rushing over with fear in his eyes.
“What happened?” he asks breathlessly. “Do the doctors know anything yet? Where’s Ley? What about Can’s ma, has somebody called her?”
“Calm down,” says Techno, standing up. “And sit. It’s not going to do any good to run around like a chicken with its head cut off.” Tin nods and sits in one of the hard plastic chairs, going almost boneless. “Breathe. The paramedics said Can had a grand mal seizure on the field. He woke up in the ambulance and the doctors are talking to him now. Ley is still at school and Can’s ma is on her way to pick her up. Now all we have to do is wait.”
And wait they do.