Caught In The Fire - Karlnap

20 - I won't say goodbye (Karl POV)

TW - hospital

KARL POV -

All I remembered was the burning flames, the way they smelt, the heat that emanated off of them and the loud noise that consumed my ears. I remembered pressing my head into Quackity's shoulder as we cowered in the corner of the room, watching the fire creep closer. Then I blacked out.

I woke up lying on soft grass. I started coughing and I realised that I was sitting outside of the dorms which were still on fire. Quackity lay next to me with a dozen medics around him, looking for injuries. I looked around, confused.
"How did we get out?" I croaked, each syllable hurting my throat. I caught the eye of Mr Minecraft who was standing nearby.

He looked over to me and he looked incredibly sad, he mouthed,
'I'm sorry'
I struggled to my feet, pushing away the medics who were trying to inspect me for injuries. I stumbled over to Mr Minecraft.
"Why are you sorry?" I demanded, ignoring as the words scratched painfully against my throat. He sighed and placed his hand on my shoulder.

"Karl, Sapnap ran into the fire to save you. He told Quackity to run and he carried you through the fire but the roof collapsed so he threw you outside and he was trapped. Karl I'm so sorry mate, the whole thing caved in, there's no way he could have survived that,"

No. No it couldn't be true. I refused to let it be true.

"No, he's not dead, he's alive," I said, tears beginning to spill down my cheeks, forcing their way through the ash and soot that had collected on my face. I turned to run to the building but Mr Minecraft pulled me back, wrapping his arms around me in a half hug - half restraint.

I screamed and yelled and cried for Sapnap until I couldn't anymore. I watched desperately as fire fighters entered the building. I them heard yelling.

"He's here!"

"Sapnap can you hear me?"

"I need help! The boy is here!"

Then I watched as a tall, muscular guy walked out of the smoke, holding Sapnap in his arms. Mr Minecraft finally let me go and I ran over to Sapnap. The fireman lay him down on the grass and called over some medics. I knelt next to the love of my life, cupping his face in both my hands.

He was covered in ash but he was still gorgeous, his eyes were closed and his lips were slightly parted. I pushed his hair gently out of his face,
"Please don't go Sap, please, don't go," I sobbed, my tears falling fast and steady. He just lay there, unmoving, lifeless.

The medics pulled me away from him and I was pulled into an ambulance, screaming and protesting, trying to get back to Sapnap. After a few minutes of me shrieking and punching every doctor who tried to come near me, they lead me over to Sapnap's ambulance and let me lie down on the bed next to him, my head on his chest, my hand holding his.

As we drove away, I pressed my ear to his chest and heard a heartbeat. It was incredibly weak but at least it was there.

✨Time Skip✨

I passed out on the way to the hospital. When I woke up again I was in a sterile white room. There there was a tube connecting me to a heart monitor and a large bandaid on my throat. I sat up and my heart picked up as I recalled the events of the fire. The heart monitor next to me began to beep faster.

Sapnap had run into the fire to save me.

Was he alive?

I ripped off the tube, jumped out of bed and ran over to the door, just as a nurse came running in, looking worried.
"Oh thank god!" She cried when she saw me, "Your heart monitor picked up and then stopped, we thought you'd died," She breathed, placing a hand over her heart.

I tried to tell her I was fine and that I needed to see Sapnap but when I opened my mouth, no sound came out. I tried again and she noticed what I was trying to do.

"Oh honey, you won't be able to talk for a while, you have to give your vocal chords time to heal. The smoke damaged them, it seems as though you'd already suffered from smoke inhalation at an earlier time but this time you were screaming and shouting for at least thirty minutes after you got out, you've really damaged your throat," She gave me a sympathetic smile and tried to guide me back to my bed but I shook my head violently.

I didn't know how to communicate what I wanted, I felt so helpless. It was a similar feeling to the one I felt when I was trapped in the fire, and to the one I felt when I knew Sapnap was dying in the burning building.

The nurse seemed to realise how much I was struggling and she handed me a pen and paper. I nodded gratefully and scribbled down my request.

Can I see Sapnap? Is he okay?

I handed her the note and she read it quickly, her smile immediately faltered.
"Sweetheart, your friend was trapped in that fire for almost an hour, it's a miracle that the collapsed roof didn't crush him," She said, still trying to get me back into my bed, I shook my head impatiently and she sighed. "You can see him but he isn't awake, we don't know if he'll live yet," She warned as she began to lead me out into the corridor.

I followed her through the hospital, ignoring the curious stares that people threw at me. Eventually we reached a room with the door closed and the curtain on the door down. The nurse gave me one last quick warning before she let me in, closing the door behind me.

Sapnap was laying motionless on the bed. He had different wires connecting him to different machines and he was covered in bandages.

I felt my eyes fill with tears as I rushed over to him, I pulled the visitor's chair close to the bed and held Sapnap's hand in both of my own. He looked so peaceful, almost like he was sleeping. The only problem was that no one knew if he would wake up or not.

But he had to wake up.

I had to apologise and make things right between us.

He couldn't die.

I wasn't ready - I would never be ready - to say goodbye to him.

Word count - 1114

A/N -
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