7. Twist
and Shadowrun đź‘€
“Shit,” is all Blitz can say. Over and over, hissing through his teeth.
The timer in the corner of his eyes counts steadily up. He watches and tries to keep a grip on Dietrich, arms wrapped around him, hands clasped together. He doesn't fight him anymore, but Blitz can feel the pent-up energy in him, just waiting, waiting. Magic surging, waiting to do something. Anything.
"We have to wait it out," Blitz repeats, more to himself than to the shaman.
Focus on the timer. It's at thirty-two seconds.
Thirty-two seconds into Hide's seizure.
He can't look. All he can do is wait it out. Focus on the timer. Dietrich doesn't even buck against his grip anymore, but he still holds him tight, kneeling on the ground in their dark kitchen.
Hide's cry echoes in his mind. Something sharp and sudden. Jerking Dietrich out of his sleep, pulling Blitz from his late-night slumber at his desk in the front. Sprinting and skidding into the room, barely enough time to process the scene, to grab Dietrich from rushing to him, to pull the timer up in his vision.
The room smells like ozone and plastic. Like burning. Like something's been cooked.
He's seen biofeedback before, but this...
Fifty-five seconds. Fifty-six. What did they use to say? It's bad if a seizure is... two minutes? Is that too long? His stomach twists in knots.
This is too long.
“Shit,” he says again, and Dietrich bucks against him.
A minute twelve.
Is this what happened to Monika? But how could…
It stops. Thank God. He's barely relaxed his grip before Dietrich launches out of his arms, scooping Hide up, hands dancing across his face, cradling his head, resting on his cheek.
Smoke fizzles up from Hide’s deck. Blitz grabs it, running a check of everything he can, looking for answers. It used to be so pristine. Like it just came off the shelves. The port is melted, blue smoke still fizzling up from the burnt components.
What could he have even been doing this late? To have something like this happen? Blitz bragged about being a wiz decker, but Hide...
"Gabriel," Dietrich keeps repeating. It's still weird to hear his name. "Gabby. C'mon boss. Stay together."
He dares a glance. Dietrich has him in his arms, resting against his knees. He thinks he sees the rise and fall of his chest, the flutter of his eyes. He'll be fine. He has to be fine. If he's living, breathing...
A cough comes first, and then a horrible retching sound, but it might as well be the sweetest sounds Blitz has ever heard, because it means he's alive. The smile in Dietrich's voice is audible.
"Hey, boss. Take it easy."
Hide mumbles something inaudible, Dietrich leaning in closer. Blitz hears the door fly open in the front, and brings the deck with him, running to meet Eiger.
"Hey!" His feet pound across the floor. "You got the doc? He's awake!"
one word prompts
