Barely Alive - Josh Washington x Reader

Chapter 35

Josh awoke to the sound of beeping. It was silent at first, but the more his vision began to clear, the louder the beeping had become. There was a daze in his mind he couldn't recall experiencing before, and he wasn't sure if it was a good thing he felt like this or if things had gotten worse yet again. At this moment things barely fazed him. Nothing could compare to all he had experienced, so the pain he felt in his chest wasn't something unbearable.

At one point he opened his eyes. It was bright, too bright to not wince at the pain and too vague to see where he could be. It took a while for him to focus his vision, and as he blinked a few times, things began to get much clearer. The ceiling was white, just like the rest of the room. There were empty seats in the corner, and a small coffee table with two empty cups placed on top. Someone must have been sitting there at some point. Or they had never thought of cleaning up after themselves.

Josh wanted to see more, so he tried to move so he could see his surroundings. There was a terrible pain aching in his chest, and with each tiny movement, a shot of pain shot up his spine and forced him to groan at the sensation. But while this pain continued to ache, he moved through the feeling and used his forearms to pull himself up against the pillows. 

It wasn't until he was sitting up he noticed the mask that covered his mouth. His fingertips caressed over the object, before pulling it away from his mouth. His lips felt dry and cracked, and his stomach didn't feel like he ate very much.

Even though he felt exhausted, for some reason he knew he must have slept a lot, because there wasn't any burning sensation behind his eyes.

 Vague memories filled his mind, replaying as if he had dreamed them. And as he laid in the hospital bed, he wondered if it actually had been a dream after all. Many times he had hoped to wake up from this nightmare, to clear his mind of all the aggressive, instinctive thoughts and return to the old Josh. 

"J-Josh?"

His head snapped towards the sound, slightly jumping as he hadn't realized someone had walked in. His eyes met yours, and he couldn't help but smile at the familiar face.  He lifted his arm and waved quickly.

You were speechless. His antlers were gone, and he had shrunk in size and returned to almost his old form. He was just a tad bit taller than you remembered and his eyes had turned back to normal as well. He completely transformed within the blink of an eye, and whichever reason you could come up with, it didn't make any sense.

"___, you're here." He wasn't sure why you were gawking at him, tears threatening to spill from your eyes as you approached him. Josh wanted to question you about what he was doing here. But he was interrupted by you pulling him into your arms, and burrowing your face into the crook of his neck. Your shoulders shook under the pressure of your sobs, and Josh was confused as to why you had begun crying all of a sudden. Nonetheless he chuckled, throat hoarse and coughing a little as he did. His hand patted the top of your head, and you were just as confused as he was.

"Why are you crying? How long was I asleep?" He questioned, and you tensed as you heard him talk, just now realizing he spoke normally, not a single weird sound affecting his vocal cords. It was also when you noticed the tear in his cheek was still there, but he seemed to have no trouble talking with it whatsoever. You pulled away from him and glanced him up and down with wide eyes.

"Josh... you were confirmed dead by the doctors a few hours ago..."

There was silence after your words, and you could see Josh tense as your words hit him. The color drained from his face, and he awkwardly chuckled at the scenario.

"W-What... haha... what do you mean?"

It was as if the old Josh had returned, and you asked yourself if this wasn't all just a dream. If you weren't just imagining Josh speaking properly and acting like he had never been turned into a wendigo. But the feeling of Josh' fingertips against your skin couldn't be something imagenary.