Title: Overwatch
Author: Harper Kingsley
World: Kanon-verse
Character: Warrick Reidenger Tobias, Caspian Dukes
Genre: superhero, angst, friendship, major illness
Warrick Reidenger Tobias was packing for a business trip to Chicago when it felt as though the world suddenly whirled around him. He staggered against the bed, dropping the navy silk tie he held as his hand lost all strength. Multicolor lights flared behind his eyes.
He didn’t realize he’d dropped until his knees hit the floor. His head bounced against the carpet. His body twitched and shivered uncontrollably.
It was his first seizure.
It wasn’t his last.
*
The doctors didn’t know what was wrong with him. Dozens of specialists and days spent in drafty paper gowns having his blood sucked out by needles and his brain scanned by machines. He felt like a lab experiment.
And at the end of it all, there were still no answers, just speculation.
He hated feeling helpless. But there was nothing he could do.
So he continued with his life and pretended that everything was all right. As though faking normal would *make* everything normal.
He did such a good job at pretending that he started believing it after awhile. As though the past few weeks had been a dream and he was finally awake.
He was free to go about his regularly scheduled life of superheroing and presiding over a large and powerful company.
And then there was another seizure and another one and another one, so rapid and close together that he didn’t recognize what was happening until after the third one, the BIG one. The one where he finally had to admit there was a problem because Caspian had seen and just wouldn’t let it go.
*
SCENE: Caspian talking to him, telling him to go get checked out. Warrick insisting that he’s fine.
*
Finally alone, Warrick lounged on the couch with a water glass full of honey-brewed scotch dangling from between his fingers. The bottle was pressed between his knee and the cushion. He wasn’t really drinking. He just thought that he should be. Still, it was soothing to have the scotch there.[1]
He stared blankly at the TV. "Archer" was playing, but he couldn’t really see it. Everything was a blur of motion and color. The sound was an oddly muffled "Wah-wa wha-wa-wa-wa-WAH" that he didn’t bother focusing on
*I’m going to die,* he thought bleakly. That was the only thing he could foresee happening if things went on as they were.
The doctors hadn’t outright said that he was dying, but he could tell. As they kept repeating that they didn’t know what was causing the seizures and prescribed him larger and larger dosages of useless medication, he watched their faces. He could see the hope dimming and the dread building.
None of them wanted to anger someone as rich as him. He was waiting for one of them to grow a pair and come give him the news. Until then he listened to the increasingly medical jargon filled theories and took his medicine like a good boy.
He was willing to wait until someone else said the words out loud.
"*I’m sorry, Mr. Tobias. There’s not a whole lot we can do. You’re going to die.*"
TBC…
[Side-note 1: the honey used to make the scotch is nectar honey. If Warrick had gotten rip-roaring drunk here — like a two week bender — could he ingest enough manna from the nectar honey to kickstart a healing process?
He wouldn't be 100% as he can't heal what's not there, but he could halt the cascade effect.]
Thanks for the story!