Chapter Text
Ryland Grace will never forget the moment he got the call. It was a hot summer Friday afternoon in San Francisco, the kind that only came when the end of the school year was nearby. The kids had gone home a little over an hour ago, though many lingered around after class. They excitedly talked about their weekend plans, their day or their upcoming vacations. Slowly they trickled out of the classroom, leaving him to wrap up things for the week and prepare for next Monday.
He was elbows deep into the nearly undecipherable homework of his students when his phone buzzed besides him. It wasn’t out of the ordinary for him to be called when classes were over, he was a fully functional adult with a buzzing social life after all.
Well, maybe that was a bit of an overstatement.
He, however, thought nothing of it when the call came. When he turned his screen to face him, he was surprised that the number did not have a San Francisco area code. 323? Wasn’t that LA? But who would be calling him from LA?
He considered not picking up for a second, not wanting the anxiety of talking to some stranger. After a little while he did accept the call, bringing the phone to his ear.
‘Ryland Grace, how can I help you?’
‘Mr. Grace? This is Dr. Swaak calling from LA General Medical Centre, we are calling you in regards to a patient here, Colt Seavers. He is your brother, correct?’
Rylands heart drops right out of his chest, having secretly hoped this call would never come. He wasn’t stupid though, he knew Colts job was dangerous, more so than most dangerous jobs.
‘Yes, I am his brother. What happened?’
‘Mr. Grace, your brother had an accident at work, he took a fall from multiple stories and sustained multiple life threatening injuries. He arrived in critical condition as docto–’
All sound seems to start fading in the background. The doctor keeps talking, sharing details of Colt's condition with him. Details he should really be listening to, yet it all leaves his mind as soon as it enters.
A fall? Multiple stories? Critical condition? His brother?
‘Mr. Grace? Are you still there?’ ... ‘Mr. Grace?’
Ryland snaps back to reality, this wasn’t the time to panic. Colt was hurt, critically hurt. However, there was nothing Ryland could do about it just standing here like an idiot. He had to see him, he had to move, to do something.
It took him no more than an hour to get home, pack as much as he could into the best suitcase he could find and be on his way to the airport. Usually he would take public transport, his teacher salary was not enough to uber everywhere after all. This, however, was a unique circumstance, so he was now seated in the back of a cab anxiously staring at his phone.
The entire trip there was a blur of sounds, movement and anxiety. And before he knew it, he was walking through the unsettlingly sterile walls of LA General Medical Centre. It reminded him of the labs he used to work in, before he became a teacher. A chill ran through his body thinking back, it seemed like a different lifetime now.
Dr. Swaak had given him the runthrough of Colt's condition when he got to the hospital. The grocery list of injuries he had still felt surreal. His brother had always seemed invincible. Always jumping into any situation head on, no fear in sight. Ryland had always admired it, and had also been secretly envious. He didn’t get the bravery gene.
It hadn’t felt completely real until he finally entered the room Colt was in. Seeing him hooked up to all the monitors and wires made him realize that his brother wasn’t invincible. He was human, he could be hurt. He was hurt.
Ryland stayed with him for hours, only leaving to talk to his doctors. Colt was in and out of consciousness for most of it, still being on some heavy painkillers. Ryland stayed by his side for all of it.
‘Dr. Grace? We set up a bed in the other room, it would do you good to get some sleep.”
The nurses had been amazing, Ryland would forever be grateful for how they cared for his brother. He did hesitate, but eventually settled on taking the offer. It would do nobody any good if he was a sleep deprived mess when Colt woke up.
Sleep didn’t come easily, being haunted by the picture lying in the hospital bed, looking like a corpse. Eventually he did manage to fall into a light, dreamless slumber, and it would do for now.
He woke up to a small knock on the door of the small room his bed was in. A nurse was standing in the light of the doorframe.
‘Dr. Grace, good morning. I’ve come to tell you your brother is conscious and lucid, I suspected you would want to see him immediately.’
Ryland has never gotten out of bed faster in his entire life. Quickly thanking the nurse and rushing to the room, bracing himself for what he would face when he got there.
What he could not have expected was Colt just laying there, in bed, casually chatting with the doctor. Like he hadn’t just fell 12 fricking stories onto his back.
Colt’s eyes met Ryland’s as he entered the room, Ry still having a panicked and concerned look in his eyes.
‘Jeez Ry, if I knew falling a few stories would finally get you to visit I would’ve done it a lot sooner’