Tell Me Sweet Little Lies
Warnings: explosions, crush injuries, blood, hidden injuries, rescue, mcd
Whumpee knew it was bad. Knew that the explosion Whumper had set to escape pursuit was bad. Knew it was bad as they yelled at Caretaker to run as the building came down around them. Knew it was bad as they came to buried under support beams, unable to feel their legs, and having difficulty breathing.
"C-C-Caretaker," they called breathlessly. Caretaker had to be ok. This was their fault that Caretaker was there. Caretaker had wanted to wait for back up before confronting Whumper, but Whumpee hadn't listened. Caretaker was in this because of them.
"Here," Caretaker called weakly. "Where are you?"
Dust had settled around them, coating everything in a fine grey layer. Caretaker coughed. Whumpee strained to see through the dusty gloom, crying out in pain as something pressed deeper into their abdomen.
"Whumpee!" Caretaker sounded worried.
"F-F-Fine. I'm just stuck." This was very bad. Very bad. But they couldn't worry Caretaker.
"I'll come to you. Hold on."
"Be careful," Whumpee said. This was their fault. Caretaker couldn't get hurt.
"Whumpee, there you are," Caretaker's face appeared in Whumpee's field of vision. They had a bleeding cut over their eyebrow, but other than that, they seemed relatively unharmed.
"Are you ok?" They had to be sure. Caretaker had to be ok.
"Yeah, I was really lucky. Some support beams crashed into each other and formed a little cave for me. How bad is it, Whumpee?"
"Not too bad," Whumpee lied quickly. They knew it was bad. Very bad. The fact that they were struggling to breathe told them just how bad it was. But they couldn't worry Caretaker. They had to convince Caretaker to leave them to find help.
"Help should be on the way, I heard sirens before you called for me." Caretaker sat down next to Whumpee's head and stroked Whumpee's cheek. "I can try and get you out if you want."
Whumpee shook their head. "We don't know how unstable everything is. Better to wait for help." They had to convince Caretaker to leave them. To leave to get help. To get rescued. "You could climb out and tell them how to find me."
"No chance, Whumpee. I'm not leaving you. I have my phone, I called for backup. They'll call me. I can tell them where we are." Caretaker stared into Whumpee's eyes. "How bad is it really, Whumpee?"
"I'm just a little banged up. I'm sure help will be here soon." Whumpee tried to suck in as much air as they could without drawing attention to the fact that they couldn't breathe. "Distract me while we wait."
"Tell me a fun story. From when you were a kid." Whumpee just needed to hold on until help arrived. Then they could convince Caretaker to leave them. Every breath was a struggle. Keeping their eyes open was nearly impossible. They were so cold and it was so tempting to close their eyes and drift back to sleep. But they couldn't do that. That would worry Caretaker.
"Did I ever tell you about the time I stole a golf cart and drove it into the neighbor's swimming pool?"
"No. I would love to hear about it."
Caretaker gave a weak smile and began to speak. Whumpee barely paid attention to Caretaker's words. They just held on to Caretaker's voice. That was all that mattered. Staying awake for Caretaker. Caretaker mattered. Whumpee hummed at the right moments, though even that was becoming harder and harder to do.
Caretaker's phone rang loudly, interrupting Caretaker's story. "Hello!"
"Oh thank God, Caretaker. Can you hear us?" Teammate One's voice sounded tinny and distant, though Whumpee realized that may be their hearing beginning to fail because Caretaker didn't strain to hear.
"Are you ok? Whumpee ok?"
"I'm ok. Small cut. Whumpee's pinned under a support beam. We can't get them out. But they're alert and oriented. They're not reporting any pain. I can't see any bleeding."
Whumpee blinked heavily. They realized they missed part of the conversation with that blink. Caretaker hadn't noticed. Not yet at least. This was their chance. They had to get Caretaker to climb out.
"Caretaker," Whumpee said weakly, "sorry to interrupt."
Caretaker turned their complete attention to Whumpee. "You're not interrupting. We're just trying to figure out a way to get you and me out of here."
"You could climb out. Memorize the route. Bring help to me." This had to work. This was the only way. They couldn't bear if Caretaker got hurt because of them. Help could take hours to find them. Caretaker needed to get their head checked out.
"I'm not leaving you," Caretaker replied quickly.
"You can. I'll be ok," Whumpee lied. They were anything but ok. "It'll take them so much longer to find us if you don't lead them here. Besides, you should get your head checked out soon. Just in case."
"You have a head injury?" Teammate One said urgently.
"It's nothing. Whumpee's pinned. We need to get them out first."
"I agree with Whumpee's plan. Climb out. Draw us a map. We'll get you checked out and while you're doing that, the rest of us can get to Whumpee."
Caretaker's mouth was a thin line as they considered Teammate One's words. "Please, Caretaker," Whumpee said. Whumpee couldn't live with themself if Caretaker had a serious injury.
"Fine. But if the medics clear me, I'm coming back down with the team." Caretaker cupped Whumpee's cheek. Whumpee leaned into their warmth. "I'll be right back, Whumpee. You'll be ok. Help is here."
Whumpee smiled as Caretaker crawled away from them. Smiled until Caretaker was out of sight. Caretaker was getting help. Caretaker would be safe. Caretaker was going to be ok. The immense relief Whumpee felt had them closing their eyes and sighing. Caretaker's safety was all that mattered.
"They're just through here," Caretaker said as they crawled forward. The medics had taped a wad of gauze to the wound above their eyebrow and determined that Caretaker needed imaging to determine the extent of their head injury. Caretaker decided that could wait. Whumpee needed their help. Whumpee was very hurt.
"Whumpee!" Caretaker called. "Whumpee, we're back!"
Silence answered Caretaker.
"Whumpee!" Caretaker shouted louder as bile crept up the back of their throat.
Still, there was no reply. "Hurry," Caretaker said as they picked up the pace. Their heart was thundering in their chest as they rounded the last corner to where they had left Whumpee.
"Whumpee, we're here!" Caretaker said as they could see Whumpee hadn't moved from their spot.
Their eyes were closed and they were terribly still. "Whumpee?"
"Let us work, Caretaker. We'll get them out. Just hold on. You promised you wouldn't do any heavy lifting." Teammate One shouldered forward, the rest of the team following along behind them.
Caretaker watched with growing dread as the team got to work. One of them had checked Whumpee's cheek very quickly and whispered something to Teammate One. Teammate One nodded. "Let's do this quickly and carefully. The four of you will lift the beam while I pull Whumpee out. Got it?"
The team murmured their agreement. Caretaker breathed a sigh of relief. They wouldn't be working so quickly if Whumpee wasn't ok. Whumpee was just resting. Conserving energy. Perhaps they had fainted. But they were going to be ok. As soon as Teammate One pulled Whumpee free they could hurry forward.
"Ready? On three. One. Two. Three." The team strained and lifted the beam and Teammate One hooked their arms under Whumpee and pulled. "Clear!" Teammate One said and the team carefully set the beam down.
"Whumpee!" Caretaker said as they hurried over. Their brain refused to make sense of what their eyes were seeing. This couldn't be real. Whumpee's chest was covered in blood. Three deep wounds seemed to be the source of most of the bleeding. Whumpee was completely limp in Teammate One's arms, their head lolling on their neck with each movement.
"I'm sorry, Caretaker," Teammate One said as they sat back on their heels.
"No," Caretaker shook their head. "No."
"They're gone, Caretaker. I'm so sorry."
"No," Caretaker sobbed as they reached Whumpee's side. "No, they said they were fine. They're fine. They're just unconscious."
"I think they didn't want you to worry, Caretaker. Whumpee always worried about your well being more than their own."
Caretaker pulled Whumpee into their arms. They had to be sure. Had to be completely sure. Whumpee's limbs flopped with the movement and Whumpee was a complete deadweight in Caretaker's arms. Caretaker didn't care that they were getting coated in Whumpee's blood. They pressed two fingers to the pulse in Whumpee's neck. "Please, please, please," they begged as tears streamed down their face.
But as no beat came, Caretaker realized that Teammate One wasn't wrong. Whumpee had lied to them. Had lied to them to get them to get help. For themself. "Please, Whumpee, no. Please! Come back, Whumpee, please!" Caretaker screamed as they rocked with Whumpee in their arms. Though Caretaker begged and screamed and cried, Whumpee did not come back.
