@tsyu said: i’m going to come back for you , do you hear me ?
his heartbeat is in his ears, and adam's voice sounds far off. jake is anchored by threads to consciousness, he imagines, only by following adam's eyes. the pig had done something new with her blade, he thought, distantly; there was something poisonous and numbing at the tip— when it had sunk into his back again and again.
he hadn't known they were all here to help, hidden in trees and rubble when he finally went down; kate had shone a flashlight from the other side of the crumbling wall, distracting the killer long enough for adam to get to his side—just before he hit the ground. he still buckles at the knees, still feels his world dizzy and spinning. he parses adam's words; there's no time. most other times—with adam's quick hands. his expertise with a medkit— there would be, but—
this was the pig. this was all his own fault, that she didn't want anyone else. there's a knot in his chest that makes him selfish—makes him hang onto adam like a lifeline, instead of pushing him back, away, anything—just get out of here before she looks back—as his palms find the splintery floor, it strikes him that he's afraid. like a pit had opened in the placid winter of his chest.
❝ i-i know. i know. she's coming back— just, play it smart. i'll be fine. ❞ you'll be fine, you have to be. you have to tell him you'll be, or he won't go. he won't fucking leave you but he has to—
with bloodied, razor bitten hand, jake clutches at the lapel of his trenchcoat, tries not to choke on his own voice; ❝ —hey, just. be careful, please. ❞ jake knows he doesn't have to tell him this. if one of them was using their head, it was usually adam. he gives a strained laugh, grip sliding from the fabric that he's badly dirtied with his blood— to steady himself on hands and knees. he looks up, with just a flicker of warmth; ❝ don't... do anything i would, right? ❞ in that moment, he wanted to beg him; don't look back, because my life will cost you. because that's worse. that's worse than this. it felt pointless to ask someone like adam not to try, but jake hopes he hears him under his words.
❝ fucking. run, before she sees you. adam, promise me you won't—❞ it's only a beat, one last look at him, for them to hesitate, for his words to fail, before time's up—and adam is gone.
there are dark edges crowding on his vision as he watches that flash of beige coat disappearing behind the asylum rubble. a sense of dread, and cold relief dulls his mind; as footsteps approach from behind, as he catches the sound of shifting rusted metal, as her knee digs between his shoulders to pin him to the shack floor—jake hopes he had heard him.