Chapter Text
Beef glances down at his comm, noticing it's a distance number, and almost doesn't pick up. At the last second he does, out of sheer curiosity. It's funny to fuck with random solicitor calls, after all.
"Hello?"
"Hello, is this player VintageBeef?" A tinny, unfamiliar voice asks. Wherever they are, it's busy and loud, making it a bit hard to hear them.
"It is. Who is this?"
"I'm Nurse Dyer from hospital code 174.56. We have you down as an emergency contact for player Ethoslab?"
Beef doesn't know how he keeps a hold of his comm, ice shooting through his veins. He stops taking in his surroundings, everything narrowing down to the voice in the speakers.
"Yes — is he okay?!" Beef can't breathe. Etho goes off-server all the time, goes to singleplayer, but nothing like this has ever —
"Yes, he's alright. We evaluated him for a concussion and he was cleared, and he did need some simple stitches. He has, however," and the nurse's voice changes here, and Beef's brief moment of relief ends and his insides take a nose-dive once more, "He was very agitated from the moment he arrived with us, so we require someone to sign him out for safety reasons."
Agitated. Fuck, that must be putting it lightly. "Yes, I'll come — I'll be there as soon as possible."
Beef starts typing wildly the moment the call is dropped.
When Beef, Bdubs, and Doc hit the worldhub, there's a strange amount of crowds, and it takes Beef a few moments to realize it's because one of the portals isn't active. It's blocked off, block shrapnel all over the scene. People are pointing and talking as travelers try to route all traffic through the others.
The pit in Beef's stomach hasn't gone anywhere. People are murmuring in the waves of movement around them — the portal got overclocked, blew out, did people get hurt? Yes, it was pretty crazy. Was it bad? Mostly just an annoyance for everyone's commute …
"Do you think…" Bdubs says aloud, not finishing the thought. He doesn't have to.
"It might explain things." Doc responds flatly.
None of them say anything about how worried they all are. No one has to speak that aloud for it to be known.
Beef has to resist the urge to run into the hospital's lobby, but he forces himself to keep a steady stride as he leads them inside. Someone has to be calm — it's his job to be the rock right now.
"Hi, I got a call — we're here for Ethoslab?"
Beef doesn't have to insist too much on being taken to see Etho immediately. She leads them down the halls, rambling about the incident, and yup, it's the portal incident — sent a good few Players to the hospital, but no one was hurt too badly, that's a relief —
As they turn a corner, the nurse is saying something about stitches and minor shrapnel injuries when a door further down the hall bursts open and a frantic shape comes rocketing through it, hitting the ground on all fours.
Beef's thoughts all immediately vacate when he recognizes that's fucking Etho.
Etho's dressed in nothing but a hospital gown, overbalancing and then barely getting back up to his feet properly, his tail properly puffed up with alarm. There are bracelets on his arms — a white one that's probably identification, but the others are duplicated on both arms, bright red loops around his thin wrists: ALLERGY and SEIZURE RISK the lower ones read, but the other ones make Beef's heart twist: BITE RISK and FLIGHT RISK.
A person comes charging out of the room at Etho and tackles him to the floor before any of them can move, setting Beef, Doc, and Bdubs off to immediately start shouting. Beef turns to the nurse as Etho's head gets bounced off the wall and ground, and it takes a moment to realize that the muffled sound is Etho screaming wildly through the bite guard shoved between his teeth.
Beef abandons any idea of negotiation and starts to move, but the nurse grabs his arm before he can shove past. Bdubs, however, gets by, and skids to the floor at Etho's side even as more nurses and aides appear, trying to restrain Etho. Someone turns to Bdubs, trying to push him back.
"LET HIM GO!" Bdubs is screaming. "Get off him — don't fucking touch him!"
Doc is all but berating the nurse to end this in a furious voice as Beef catches sight of blood on the inside of Etho's arm where an IV must have been — a tipped IV pole is laying halfway in the hall, and another nurse trips on it on her way through the door. A needle gleams in her hand, and as Beef rushes forward, she puts it into Etho's arm, twisted behind his back.
"STOP!" Beef bellows as loudly as he possibly can, but the damage is done. All eyes go to him — except Etho's, whose eyes roll back and then close, slumping unconscious on the tile. "We are his family, and everyone will get the fuck off him and you will get me whatever paperwork you need signed for us to take him home before I bring a lawyer, an admin, and a domain god down on your goddamn heads."
Silence briefly reigns. "Now!" Beef barks, and the threat does not have to hang there much longer.
In ten minutes the hospital room is vacated besides the four of them. Etho is unconscious on the bed with Bdubs laid next to him, clinging like Etho is going to vanish. Doc has been pacing up and down the room nonstop, making endless calls. Beef sits sentinel at the side of the bed (a bed with fucking restraints) and tries not to stare at the mess of bruises on Etho's inner arm. He does not succeed.
Beef is not an angry man, but he does not know how to keep himself together right now. They need Xisuma, or Joe, or Keralis, or anyone, anyone who can do this better than Beef can. He demanded the paperwork because it was the right thing to do, but all Beef wants in the world is to sweep Etho into his arms and take them out of here. There is still a large part of Beef that wants to do it, damn all the consequences. Doc and Bdubs won't let anyone touch them — Xisuma will tell Beef he did the right thing and sort out all the stupid legalese afterwards no matter how long it takes.
They had said they had evaluated Etho for a concussion before but recommended observation. Beef is more worried about that now. The sound of Etho's head bouncing off the floor is playing on repeat in Beef's mind.
They got Etho haphazardly dressed, tossing the horrible hospital gown and demanding Etho's belongings. With his mask and socks and joggers and Bdubs' hoodie on, he looks more like himself, even out for the count and pale as he is. Beef has the bundle in his own inventory, all Etho's random belongings and his enderchest key stowed there safely.
Beef hears a sniff, and his eyes focus. He can't see Bdubs' face, only his shoulderblades as he's curled towards Etho, but they shudder again. Beef reaches out and puts his hand on Bdubs' back.
"We should just go," Bdubs says, voice shaking with anger. "Fuck them. Fuck all of them."
"I know. I know." Beef's head turns as the door opens, and Doc immediately moves to obstruct it. Beef can barely see the unfamiliar nurse beyond him, who is saying somethin about checking vitals, but Doc shakes his head.
"We want the discharge paperwork." Doc repeats for what feels like the tenth time.
"That usually takes several hours, sir," The nurse says anxiously.
"The papers." Doc growls. "And no one else in here."
"The doctor will have to come by before the discharge can be put through, or you have to sign the AMA papers,"
"Goodbye." Doc closes the door in her face, turning back around to face the room, his expression grim. "X said he doesn't care about the paperwork mess. He said to do what's best for Etho."
Beef can't possibly fucking fathom sitting here for hours, or stomach the idea of letting another goddamn doctor get anywhere near Etho. Beef knows Etho, he knows what they have to do. "Then let's go."
Etho's head rests on Beef's shoulder as Beef cradles them, Doc and Bdubs making space in the hall, not letting anyone stop them. A nurse is trailing behind Beef, rambling about how they need to let her get a wheelchair, that's hospital policy, and they really do need a signature, but Beef ignores it. Etho in his arms is the only thing that matters now, and Beef is determined that Etho will wake up safe, at home, and never see these horrible walls again.
When they step out into sunlight, a weight is instantly taken off Beef's shoulders. It's not complete relief — no, Beef will only feel truly safe when they're back on Hermitcraft, safe behind its wards, but with every step that comes closer.
Upon stepping through the portal and emerging beneath Hermitcraft's familiar sky, all Beef can do is hug Etho close and whisper, "It's gonna be okay, kit, we're home."