⚉ characters: intak x reader
⚉ genre: angst, slight romance(?), drama, hurt/no comfort, tragedy
⚉ theme: boyfriend!intak, partner!reader
⚉ warnings: grief, character injury, coma, death briefly mentioned, heavy topics
⚉ a/n: welcome or welcome back! For this story I used some of the lyrics from a Nightwish song called Sleeping Sun (yes, I even named the story after it <3). If you can find the lyrics, you are amazing! Also thank you so much for reading, leaving a heart or even reblogging - it means a lot to me! If you see any mistakes, please feel free to kindly correct me ♡
You slowly opened the door and quietly stepped into a small hospital room. You carefully closed the door behind you and moved closer to the bed, still trying not to make any sound. "Hi, honey," you whispered and gently brushed some hair from his forehead, noticing that it was a little smoother than it was yesterday.
There wasn’t any reason for you to be this cautious about making a sound or talking too loudly because Intak had a room all to himself, so you weren’t bothering anyone by your visit. Yet, it felt like you had to be quiet. It was a hospital, after all, and it was nighttime too—many patients were already asleep, and hospital walls aren't exactly soundproof.
"I see they washed your hair today," you smiled softly and looked around the room to spot a chair. One was right behind you, so you pulled it closer to the bed and sat down on it. Your first thought was to sit on the edge of the bed, to be closer to him, but you didn’t want to disturb him, and that’s why a chair was a better option. "I need to thank them on my way out. I really couldn’t do it myself this time. I had a lot of things to take care of." A small sigh escaped your lips.
You had no idea why you were explaining yourself to him when he wasn’t even aware of your presence. Intak had been in a coma for several weeks and still hadn’t shown any signs of improvement. The doctor told you it could—and would—take a lot of time to see any changes, positive or negative, but it was still hard to see him like this. His body was just lifelessly lying on the hospital bed, with different machines attached to his body to keep him alive, and all the bandages around his body and head—it really wasn’t the easiest sight.
And all of this was happening because of some drunk idiot.
Intak is (or was, depending on how you look at it) a rally driver. He started when he was sixteen years old and immediately caught the public’s eye. Sure, he wasn’t the first to start this early—some start even at a much younger age—but there was just something about him that people liked. And not just the public; people in the industry also saw how talented he was. Thanks to that, he got opportunities and, when he finally got to compete as a driver, he soon became a very well-known and popular rally driver who was always on the winners’ podium. It didn’t matter what place—gold, silver, or bronze—he was still among those who won the race.
You met him after one of his races in a restaurant, where he was celebrating his second-place win alone. He wasn’t of legal age at that time, so he couldn’t go to a bar with others for a proper celebration, but he didn’t seem to mind when he had you as his waitress. At that time, you didn’t know who he was—you were never really interested in rallying or cars in general—but of course, you had to ask about the trophy he had on full display on the table. Intak gladly told you, and after some small talk, you two exchanged contacts to stay in touch.
Long story short, you two got close, and even while knowing the difficulties you would face, he became your boyfriend. It was hard at first, with him traveling constantly and your parents insisting you not throw your life away for a boy—which was understandable. Luckily, you and Intak made it work without too many obstacles, and when you were out of school and finally of legal age, you decided to take a year off from everything and travel with Intak for his competitions. To be there for him and support him.
Everything was great, perfect even, until it wasn’t. At one of his races, a drunk man decided it would be fun to run onto the track while a car was coming at him. What he didn’t take into account was that he tripped over his legs and fell in the middle of the track. People in the crowd tried to stop him but to no avail; the damage was done, and there was nothing to do. The man tried to get up again, but he was too drunk to do so.
Intak noticed the man in time and moved the car to the side, but because of how fast he was driving, he crashed into a tree at full speed. The loud noise it made silenced everyone in the crowd. All that could be heard were sudden gasps from the witnesses who were slowly realizing what had happened.
The drunk man survived, and so did Intak’s navigator, who had a broken leg and some scratches, but Intak... Intak suffered several head injuries that caused him to fall into a coma. Of course, there were broken bones, scratches, and bruising too, but most of those injuries were already almost healed. You also couldn’t understand how such a reckless person could walk from that scene on his own two feet while Intak, who didn’t do anything wrong in his life, had to suffer all the consequences.
"I will probably sound crazy right now, but..." you paused for a second, taking his hand gently into yours. "I wish for this nighttime to last for a lifetime." You chuckled at how absurd you actually sounded to yourself when you said it out loud, but you truly felt like this.
You didn’t want to think negatively, to let the bad thoughts win, but you just wanted this night to never end because you were scared of what the future held. Yes, it would mean Intak would never wake up, but he also wouldn’t get worse, which was the thing that truly terrified you. It had been so long since the accident, and the doctor hadn’t said anything new either. So, in your head, having this peaceful night with Intak "just sleeping" on repeat did not sound so bad after all.
"I know," you looked at him. "You would’ve told me that losing faith makes a crime." You smiled and squeezed his hand lightly while trying to hold back tears. "Oh, how I wish to hear you say that again. You have no idea how much I miss those cringy words." You chuckled once again but had to bite your lip afterwards to suppress a sob.
You moved one of your hands to his face and carefully, not wanting to hurt him more, placed your palm against his cheek. You moved your thumb over his cheekbone while smiling sadly at him. He still looked so handsome, even in a hospital bed after a horrible car crash.
You had to swallow in order to continue. "When will you come back to me?" you took a deep breath. "Will you ever come back to me, Intak?” Tears streamed down your face. You clutched his hand a little tighter, holding onto a small hope for a miracle to happen while the sun was still sleeping quietly leaving you consumed by the night.
