Chapter Text
It happened on the way to the Piltover Academy end-of-year party. Jayce was driving up a winding road on the way to what Heimerdinger had promised was a “lovely old house on the sea.” He was currently whining about the situation to Viktor, whose warm voice filtered through the car speakers.
“I mean, I don’t get why we couldn’t just have it at that hotel downtown again. That was nice!” Jayce complained, winding his way around a particularly sharp turn.
“What, you don’t enjoy the quaint seaside aesthetic?” Viktor retorted.
“What I don’t enjoy is having to stay sober because I’ve got to drive myself back!”
“Mel offered to drive us both. You may recall, you refused.”
“Yeah, well, I had other stuff to do.”
“Oh, yes, the incredibly busy Jayce Talis, always hard at work in his lab!” He chuckled. “Everything will still be there on Monday, you know.” Jayce smiled.
“I know.” he was suddenly very aware of the little box burning a hole in his pocket. His heart rate quickened as he took it out, flicking it open to reveal the gold ring inside. It was thin, simple, carved with their initials on the inside…perfect. Jayce swallowed, hoping he wasn’t misjudging the timing of this somehow.
“Well, I’ll try to save you some booze.”
“Sweet, but don’t bother.”
“Ah, right. Canapés?” He offered. Jayce chuckled in response.
“Sure.”
A dopey smile was still painted on Jayce’s face when the deer appeared out of nowhere. One moment the road was clear, the next a flash of brown and hoof and antler was bounding across. Jayce cursed loudly, swerving to avoid the animal. The car let out an ungodly screech as it spun and tilted off the road.
The last thing Jayce remembered clearly was Viktor’s voice over the car speakers, yelling his name. Then there was a deafening crash followed by blinding, unbelievable pain. Jayce felt something in his left leg snap as his back twisted at an impossible angle. Afterward, he felt oddly separated from his body, but he could tell he was screaming. Jayce screamed and screamed for longer than he thought possible, his scrambled brain struggling to make sense of what had happened. Some time later (seconds? days?), Jayce became aware of lights and police sirens in the distance. He wondered foggily what was going on. Then people were touching him, surrounding him and messing with his leg and back. It hurt. He screamed and begged them to stop, and after a moment they did. He felt something prick his arm.
Finally, finally, the pain and confusion faded into blissful silence.
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Moments or maybe hours later, Jayce felt the world start to return. He was on his back with something soft beneath him. A bed? A steady beeping on his left side, and on his right…a familiar voice.
“...yes I understand. But the procedure went well? He is stable now?” Viktor. Viktor was here. His voice was fading in and out like he was underwater. Jayce tried to call out to Viktor, to let him know he was awake, but there was something caught in his throat and all that came out was a strange garbled hiss. Immediately he heard an intake of breath and felt a cool hand lightly covering his own.
“Jayce? I’m here.” Thank God, he had heard him. Jayce tried to open his eyes, but they felt glued shut. He finally succeeded at widening them to slits, making him gasp at how bright the room was. Viktor was above him, blurry, and surrounded by that cold, clear light. He shut his eyes again, trying to breathe. He still couldn’t talk, couldn’t make the feeling in his throat go away. He started to panic a bit, and he distantly registered the beeping picking up on his left. He tried to kick at the blankets restraining him, but the movement sent a sharp shock of pain through his body. Every inch of him screamed wrong, wrong, wrong. The blankets were too tight. He couldn’t fucking breath, and God it hurt, everything hurt, a burning, wrenching pain that started in his left leg and twisted up his spine. He squirmed away from the sensation.
“Jayce, just breathe. Please. Look at me.” Viktor said, his voice a bit frantic now. Jayce tried to, he really did, but it was all too much with the feeling in his throat and that blinding brightness and the pain. Jayce heard a shrill alarm echo from the left side of the bed.
Quite suddenly, the room was full of voices. It made Jayce’s head hurt. Viktor was saying something else to him, rubbing small circles in the back of his hand. People were touching his left arm, fiddling with something near his elbow. He felt a brief pressure there, then the world slowly retreated into silence once again.
This pattern repeated twice more. Wake up, Viktor, pain, pressure, silence. Each time there was that feeling in his throat, which Jayce came to recognize as a breathing tube. Each time Jayce’s consciousness surfaced, Viktor was there holding his hand. And each time he slipped back into unconsciousness, he prayed that Viktor would still be there when he awoke again.
When he finally woke fully, Jayce could tell it was early morning. The light behind his eyelids was weak and gray. He peeled his eyes open to see the white expanse of the ceiling staring back at him. He swallowed, and noticed with relief that the tube was gone. Apart from the beeping and whirring of the machine to his left, the room was silent. Well, almost. Jayce heard a quiet snoring somewhere to his right. With herculean effort, he managed to turn his head to the side. And there was Viktor, dozing in a chair next to his bed. His brow was furrowed and his narrow shoulders were dappled in sunlight. Beautiful, Jayce thought, as always. A book lay open on his chest, and his crutch leaned against the windowsill behind him. Seeing him, Jayce could have cried with relief.
“V-Viktor?” he breathed, his voice scratchy and weak. Viktor jolted awake, his eyes landing on Jayce’s open ones immediately. He launched out of the chair, grabbing his crutch and arriving at Jayce’s bedside with shocking speed. His hand enveloped Jayce’s once again and he cleared his throat.
“Jayce. You’re awake. How are you…how do you feel?” His voice dripped with affection and concern. Jayce sighed, bringing his hand to his face and feeling a slight stubble there. I must look like shit.
“Been better.” His voice was still scratchy, and he became achingly aware of how thirsty he was.
“Water?” Viktor asked.
God, it was like he read his mind. Jayce nodded. “Please.”
Viktor picked up a styrofoam cup with a straw and held it to his lips. Jayce drank greedily, savoring the lukewarm water. All too soon, the cup was empty and Viktor was pulling his hand away from Jayce’s. Jayce groaned, but Viktor just tutted.
“I need to get the nurse. They told me to get them if you needed…when you woke up again.” Jayce nodded, begrudgingly allowing Viktor to separate their intertwined hands. Viktor left the room and came back with a nurse, a young woman. She took his vitals and changed his IV, asking rapid-fire questions the whole time. After so long not talking, Jayce found it more than a bit overwhelming. He focused on the feeling of Viktor’s cold hand on his own and tried to answer the nurse’s many questions. Yes, he knew what year it was. No, he wasn’t feeling nauseated. Yes, he was still in pain. The nurse pushed more painkillers through his new IV and finally, finally left the room. They were alone again. Jayce scooted over on the bed, silently inviting Viktor to join him. Viktor climbed up with some difficulty and placed his head on Jayce’s shoulder with a sigh. As Jayce nuzzled into his hair, a single, gut-wrenching question became lodged in his mind.
“Vik…what happened to me?” He had to know. Viktor sighed.
“How much do you remember?”
“I was driving. There was a…” He trailed off and swallowed. “There was a deer, and I — I swerved. My leg —” He swallowed. “How bad is it? Viktor hummed
“It could be worse. The doctors think you’ll walk again. You probably won’t be running any marathons, though.” Viktor smiled weakly. He rubbed his thumb over the back of Jayce’s hand. “Honestly, I’m just. I’m just glad you’re alive, Jayce.” His voice was thick with relief. Jayce pulled him closer, planting a kiss in his hair.
“Me too. I’m glad you’re here.” He had almost died, hadn’t he? Had almost lost this forever. And all because of a stupid party. Jayce didn’t realize he was crying until he felt hot, wet tears on his cheek. Viktor wiped them away, shushing him like he was a baby. That just made Jayce cry harder. “I could have lost you, V. I can’t believe I was so stupid–-” Viktor gently cut him off.
“No, Zlatíčko, none of that. It wasn’t your fault. You’re safe.”
“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry…” Jayce whispered. The tears kept coming, soaking the pillow beneath him. Viktor just shushed him, continuing to murmur gentle platitudes until the tears finally subsided. Eventually, Jayce’s breathing evened out. He swallowed. “How long have I been here?”
Viktor was quick to fill him in, clearly relieved that he felt up to talking about it. It had been two days since he was brought in and had emergency surgery done on his left leg and back. He was asleep for most of that time. His mom had caught the first plane back from Mexico, she was coming in later that day. Cait had been here while he was asleep, along with Vi. “You should have seen them, they were worried out of their minds. I’ll call them soon and let them know you’re awake.” Viktor paused, framing his next words carefully. “The doctors say you should try to eat something soon, if you can.” He looked at Jayce. Jayce just shook his head. He felt so tired and weak, any eating would likely involve someone spoon feeding him. He cringed at the thought. Viktor hummed in response. “I thought that might be the case. I’ll hold them off as long as I can.” His mouth quirked in a little smile, one Jayce tried to return. He knew that Viktor was intimately familiar with hospitals, and with how to get around the doctors’ demands. Usually it was Jayce that sat by his bedside, rubbing his hand, speaking in soft tones as he coughed through the night. He had never imagined that Viktor would ever have to return the favor.
Jayce could have stayed in that quiet little moment forever, in the way Viktor’s hair tickled his chin and his cool thumb circled the back of his hand. Within minutes, however, Jayce felt the painkillers urging him back toward unconsciousness. He tried in vain to stay awake, blinking hard against the pull. It was no use, though. Clearly, his body was done being awake for now.
“Love you,” he mumbled as the darkness enveloped him.
“I love you too,” he heard in response, then all was silent once more.