Chapter Text
The waking world is not where Dominik expects to be. He doesn't understand why it feels like someone shoved cotton balls into his brain, why his eyes feel like they've been crusted shut, or why his body feels like it weighs a ton. It was as if he had been floating through the blissful nothingness but someone had flicked on a switch, forcing him back to earth. Dominik wants this awareness to go away immediately.
The last thing he remembers before he had blacked out in the bar bathroom was thinking that he was hallucinating from the pain. Now, he was here, wherever here is; he still can't get his eyelids to open.
"Dominik, are you awake?" A voice asks him through the haze of his awakening. Dominik groans in response, too preoccupied with trying to get his eyelids to open to form a coherent sentence.
Finally, his brain seems to click into place and he brings his hands to his eyes, scraping away copious amounts of crusted crap. Light floods his senses. "Fuck." He says lowly, squinting to let his eyes adjust. Once he's able to make sense of where he is, a hospital considering the dreary walls, bland furniture, and beeping monitors attached to him by wires, he recalls that there is someone else in the room with him (although he can't fathom why).
He turns to his right, and there he is. Aleks. What is he doing here? Dominik wonders before quickly putting his curiosity into words, "What do you want?" He's pleased that the words came out of his mouth, not betraying the overwhelming sense of confusion he's currently feeling. "Is this hell?" He asks quickly.
"No." Aleks replies, clearly in awe. "I'll go get a nurse." He pushes himself out of the chair and disappears through a door.
Dominik wants him to answer his first question. What was Aleks doing here? It didn't make any sense but Dominik is quick to realize he doesn't really care. He knows he hates Aleks for all the things he had done to torment him, but he just can't bring himself to be angry at him at this moment in time. It's like an apathetic blanket has settled upon him, and right now, it feels nice. Sure, he isn't dead, but not feeling anything was good enough for now. He knows that if he could feel any emotion, he would have been screaming and crying. Yet, in this state, screaming crying just seems utterly pointless. Everything seems pointless.
A nurse strides into the room, Aleks files in behind her, quietly slipping back into the chair at Dominik's bedside.
"Welcome back to the waking world Mr. Santorski." The nurse smiles as she checks the monitors, scribbling things down on Dominik's chart as she goes. "You've been in a coma for a little over a week now. You should consider yourself very lucky." She excuses herself to retrieve his doctor.
Lucky? Dominik thinks. Lucky is a strange way to put it. A failure is more like it.
An awkward cough pulls Dominik from his thoughts, reminding him he still isn't alone in the room. His head rolls to face Aleks, who is chewing at his fingernails. Aleks doesn't normally chew his fingernails, but it's a habit he had quickly picked up over the past week Dominik would learn.
"How do you feel?" Aleks asks, breaking the silence. He sounds genuinely concerned, which Dominik finds odd because why would he care? He doesn't bother to voice these thoughts, it would have been a waste of precious air, he figures. Instead of speaking he turns his gaze to the vases of flowers that sit on the table at the foot of his bed (no doubt from his parent's colleagues), deciding to actively ignore Aleks.
Aleks frowns when Dominik doesn't answer him. He isn't sure what else to say. Feeling out of place and a little scared, he sighs, running a nervous hand through his hair and turns his attention to a loose thread at the hem of his shirt. He hopes that the nurse will return soon. His prayers are answered shortly after, the doctor knocks on the door and enters swiftly, the same nurse trailing hot on his heels.
"Good afternoon Dominik." The doctor greets with a cheerfulness that clearly isn't as natural as the nurse's.
Dominik tries to listen to what the good doctor is saying at first, knowing that whatever he has to say is probably pertinent to his current health, but he just can't bring himself to give a damn.
He stares out the windows as the doctor drags on and he briefly wonders if the windows open; he feels like going for a fly. Eventually, both the doctor and nurse leave, and he and Aleks are alone again.
"Your parents will probably be here soon to see you." Aleks says. "I bet they'll be relieved."
"Yea, relieved that I'll be released soon. Hospitals are expensive." Dominik doesn't mean it to be a joke, but Aleks laughs anyways, mostly out of discomfort. It wasn't that the Santorski's couldn't afford the finest of healthcare, but paying for unnecessary things was irksome and Dominik knows it. "He is a normal, healthy boy." He recalls his mother saying. A normal, healthy boy doesn't need to be in the hospital.
The sound of Aleks shifting in his chair sends Dominik's thoughts about his parents drifting just out of his reach and his attention reels in a different direction as his eyes fall on the other boy in the room again. Aleks clearly hasn't slept properly in days as evidence of his tousled hair, the dark circles under his eyes, disheveled manner of dress, and the cheap paper cup filled with coffee that appears on the verge of spilling out of his hand. Aleks fidgets under the scrutiny of Dominik's eyes. Dominik has never seen Aleks look so out of place somewhere as he does now. It almost makes him feel slightly less like shit.
"What do you want?" Dominik asks again.
Aleks' eyes fall to the wayside as he contemplates his answer. He isn't entirely sure himself. "I don't--" He shakes his head, "I wanted to see you awake. I want to know you’re going to be okay."
Dominik figures he should yell at his former friend for being the reason he became so miserable with life that he decided to stop living, but he can't. "To wash your hands clean of me, Aleks?" He chooses to ask instead. Dominik notices the way the other boy stiffens when he says his name, as if he’s been dunked in ice cold water.
Aleks' body relaxes after a moment, and his eyebrows knit together in confusion. "No. I mean, I feel awful for everything that's happened. I never meant for things to get so out of hand but--"
"Save me your half-assed apologies Aleks. We both know things happened exactly the way you wanted." The words come out as a drawn out sigh. Arguing is tiresome, and Dominik can feel the need to rest reverberating throughout his body.
"I didn't want you to kill yourself!" Aleks is one octave short of yelling, hands gripping tight to the arm rests of his chair.
Dominik scoffs, "No, you just wanted to ostracize and isolate me from my friends, everyone at school…from you. Well, Congratulations Aleks, you succeeded with flying colors. You must be so proud." His voice is monotonous but he still manages to convey the sarcasm. He's almost pleased that he's getting under the other boy's skin. Almost.
Aleks' begins to refute what's been said, but Dominik quickly interjects, "Just leave. I don't want to listen to you try to justify what you did. It's pointless." He pretends he can't see the sadness in Aleks' eyes. "Leave." He repeats, sleep screaming at the forefront of his mind.
"Fine." Aleks sighs, admitting defeat. "If you ever need something, anything, ever, just call." He says as he stands, grabbing his coat and bag to leave. "Good bye Dominik." He says as he crosses the room.
Dominik is asleep before Aleks even reaches the door. He's tempted to stay and wait for Dominik wake up again; worried that he might not wake up again. But, he mentally slaps himself and rushes through the door and out of the hospital, undoubtedly scaring a few unsuspecting passersby on his way, before he convinces himself to stay.