Chapter Text
~~~
Pudding.
That's what his head, his brain, really his whole body feels like.
He has become sentient pudding.
Who knew pudding could feel pain?
He feels a little bad and breathes out an apology to every flan he's ever shot.
He picks himself up off the ground slowly from the foot of the boulder he was just hurled into. His mind flails for that interdimensional storage space and latches on just enough to get the smallest, most basic of potions to appear in his hand – sorry to waste it, Noct – , wincing as he crushes it against the back of his head. There's an uncomfortable itching feeling and he suddenly remembers that Iggy is always telling them to wash the wound first. Oops, should probably do that now if it's not too late.
He reaches for the armiger again and dumps a bottle of water over his head, gasping as the cold liquid slides down his neck and under his vest. His fingers scrub lightly through his hair and come away bloody. Maybe that was just from before? He dumps another bottle, and this time his fingers look sort of cleanish. Should be good enough. He doesn't want to make a mess in the car, Iggy would be upset.
A deafening roar draws his attention back. Oh shit, that's right, behemoth, focus, do your job! But it's a moot point as the massive beast falls to almost-simultaneous strikes from Noct and Gladio's blades and takes a final shuddering breath, still on fire from the firaga flask Iggy nailed it with. The three men burst into whoops of victory (well, two of them do, that's way too undignified for Iggy) as he sags sideways against the boulder, knees suddenly weak in both relief and exhaustion. He thinks he managed to land a few good shots earlier. Hopefully it was something helpful, maybe at least slowed it down a bit before he was stupid enough to get sent flying and –
“-mpto! Yo, we're done, let's go!” Huh? Gladio already got their proof of kill? The others were headed for the car.
“Sorry, m'coming!” He staggers down the hill after them and fumbles along the side of the Regalia until he finally finds the handle, barely managing to curl up in his unofficial seat up front before his eyes fall shut.
A jostle to his shoulder wakes him an instant later.
“Wake up, Prompto, we're here.” What the –? Iggy's telling the truth, they're at the haven, and it's nearly dark. He thought it was supposed to be a two hour drive though? Six, he must have been super tired, and it doesn't seem like the nap did him any good, he still feels like shit. And kinda like he needs to puke. Maybe he's car sick? That would just be the cherry on top of this road trip, if he suddenly developed car sickness and became even more of a burden than he already is. He wouldn't blame the others if they just dumped him at Hammerhead next time they passed through, made him Cid and Cindy's problem.
He helps carry their gear up to the haven and manages to set their camping chairs up around the fire Gladio builds, but he's not much use after that, aimlessly picking things up and setting them back down in a slightly different spot. It's just hard to follow a thought through to completion for some reason. The others work around him mostly seamlessly, grumbling occasionally as he clumsily bumps into them, but the camp is finished being set up fairly quickly and Ignis starts working on dinner.
He goes to sit down in his chair and suddenly finds himself sprawled in the dirt, blinking in confusion, chair patiently waiting for him a foot further to the right. Noctis and Gladio burst out laughing, with a suspicious cough even sounding from the cooking station.
“Oh my god, Prom,” Noct snorts as he steps over and offers a hand to pull him back up. “How the hell are you so damn smooth in a fight, and then in normal life –” the tease dies in his throat as he reaches for his hand and misses – twice. The prince frowns and drops to one knee. “Prom, you okay, buddy?”
“Ya take a hit in that fight, blondie?” Gladio sounds equally concerned.
His brow scrunches in confusion, trying to focus on the pale face swimming in front of him. “Don'mmmember. M-maybe hit a rock?” He blinks as a bright light shines in his eyes.
“Fuck, guys, look at his pupils!”
“Let's get you sitting down and give you a once over, kid.” Gladio pulls him to his feet and the world spins nauseatingly. He crashes back to his knees, vomiting up everything he's eaten that day. Freckled hands dig into the earth trying to stabilize himself; he'd be mortified at puking in front of Noctis if he wasn't concentrating so hard on staying upright and not faceplanting into said pile of puke. He attempts a few deep breaths, tuning out the steadily rising voices wafting around him until they finally become too loud to ignore.
“-on't know, I didn't see him get hit, but maybe?”
“Shit, there's dried blood in his hair, look!”
Gentle fingers prod the back of his head and he can't stop from crying out and shrinking away. It hurts. Iggy sucks in a breath sharply.
“Gladio, get him into the backseat now, we're leaving.”
“I'll start packing up the -”
“Now means now, we don't have time!” Ignis snaps. “Leave it all!”
“Iggy?” There's fear in Noct's voice.
“I believe Prompto is suffering from a severe concussion, and I can feel what seems to be fracturing in his skull. We need to get him to a hospital with a neurosurgeon immediately."
“Fuck!” Gladio scoops him up and begins running down the hill towards the car. “Sorry, kid,” the man murmurs when he moans and grips his temples tightly to try to alleviate the pain from the jostling. Noctis warps past and jerks the car door open for them, Ignis sliding into the driver's seat as they finish buckling him in place.
"Gladio, in the back with Prompto, keep him awake and keep monitoring him. I believe we've missed our window of effectiveness, but get a hi-potion down him just in case, it might buy us some time. Noct, up front, I need you on lookout and navigating, quickest route to Lestallium.”
He squeezes his eyes shut as the twilight world begins whizzing past in a sickening blur.
~~~
“Nuh-uh, Prom, no laying down.” Gladio sounds tired as he pulls him back into a sitting position. He can't help but pout.
“But m'sleepy. Shouldn't we be atta haven?” It's not safe to drive at night.
“I know you're tired. Noct's keeping watch so we'll be okay, we're going to Lestallium.”
“Oh, thas’good, c’n see Iris!” Iris is happy and fun, he likes seeing her.
“Uh-huh, she likes seeing you too.”
“She's gotta crush on Noct, ya know.” Uh-oh, was that supposed to be a secret?
“I've heard.”
“I do too.” Shit, that was definitely a secret! Wow, his mouth is really just saying whatever it wants right now.
“You don't say?” Gladio's tone is dry and unsurprised. Also, his words sound rehearsed, like maybe they've had this conversation before. Also also, Gladio's sort of answering like he can hear his inside thoughts. Maybe they're actually outside thoughts?
“Mmhmm, he's real nice, ‘n he’s got pretty eyes.” And a cute butt. A strangled snort erupts from the front seat.
“Ya learn something new everyday.” There's a hard thump and a yelp. “Pretty eyes forward, princess, keep navigating.”
~~~
“Iggy, watch out!”
The air explodes from his lungs as the car slams to a stop and he hits the end of his seatbelt. Noctis’ shout is just in time as a red giant spills into being in the middle of the bridge that spans the river. Ignis curses.
“Is there another route?”
“Not without losing another couple hours to backtracking.”
“Nothing for it then. Come on, lads, fast as we can without getting injured. Not you, Prompto,” Iggy clarifies when he clumsily tries to get out of the car with them while still being buckled in. “I'm afraid you need to sit this one out, we'll be right back. Stay awake, all right?” The man pushes a switch on the door as they all climb out.
Why can't he help too? He tries to open the door again but it's locked. He somehow manages to unbuckle himself and crawls to the other side of the car. Same problem. He resigns himself to pressing his forehead to the window and staring as the darkness is occasionally broken by flashes of blue and sudden explosions of fire. He thinks he can hear shouting and once even a scream, but he's not quite sure. His eyes flutter closed; the cool glass feels nice against his face.
A sharp rap on the window startles him back to awareness. He awkwardly pushes back into his seat as they all pile back in and Ignis floors it, peeling out to the roar of the engine. Gladio is covered in black goop and blood and his clothes have some new holes, but he doesn't seem too hurt. The big man settles into his usual spot in the backseat, opposite from where he's curled up, but he still can't help but gag at the smell of hot blood nearby.
“Hanging in there, blondie?” Gladio leans over to check on him and he tries to plug his nose as his gagging turns into dry heaving, nothing left in his stomach to vomit. Even the attempt makes him squeeze his eyes shut and moan in pain, cradling his head in his arms. Gladio swears under his breath and pushes away. “Damn it, Iggy, pull over again. We need to swap, Noct, it's all this shit on me, I'm making it worse.” The car skids to a halt, throwing him against the back of the passenger seat with a yelp.
“Astrals, I'm so sorry, Prompto, I thought you were still buckled! Noctis, can you help him with that?” There's a dizzying flurry of movement as Noctis and Gladio switch places and the car immediately resumes moving. He tries to lay down against the door and close his eyes, but is quickly pulled back upright.
“Nope, no sleeping.”
He groans in protest. “Don' feel good.”
“I know, c'mere, buddy.” Noct tugs him over so he's leaning the other direction, up against him. He's warm. The middle seatbelt clicks in place around him.
“Whas’ wrong wi’me?”
“You got hurt, Prom, we're going to get you help.”
“M'tireda sittin’ up, ’urts.”
“I know, I know. Look, I'll let you lay down if you promise to stay awake and tell me everything about chocobos.” His voice sounds choked. Afraid.
“P’omise…”
Iggy drops the roof to let the gross smells escape and let the cold night air keep them alert. Noctis guides him down until he's stretched over most of the backseat and laying sort of half-facedown across his lap. He starts rubbing his back gently. Everything kinda aches and is swimming, but it's grounding, Noct’s touch. He thinks without it he might float away out the open roof, and just not find his way back again.
But he can't do that, he promised. Noct needs to know about chocobos.
“Choc’bos arra best, Noct. S’soft, even tho they smell bad, an’, an’ the babies’ar small ‘n cute ‘n-n fluffy……”
At some point he just can't help it, not even his hard-to-remember promise and Noct shaking and pinching him is enough to beat how tired he is. He drifts off to sleep to the sound of his best friend crying and begging Iggy to drive faster.
~~~
His eyes scrape open and are immediately bombarded with blinding, sterile light. He squinches them back shut with a hiss.
“Shit, lights, sorry dude!”
“I'll let Doc know he's awake.”
“Don't try to move, Prompto.”
“Wouldndreamuvit,” he mumbles, tongue thick and clumsy in his mouth. There's something beeping an annoying, consistent rhythm nearby. “Wha'appened?”
“You experienced a severe head injury and needed urgent medical attention, we're at the hospital in Lestallium.”
“R-really?” None of that sounds familiar.
“Yes, you were suffering intracranial bleeding and swelling of the brain, the pressure buildup was the cause of your symptoms. They had to operate. The surgeon was able to address most of the bleeding, but he's had to drill several holes in your skull and install drains to relieve the pressure, that's why you need to stay still, it's a slow process until the bleeding fully stops and the swelling finishes going down.”
“Oh.” Holes in his skull sounds pretty bad. There's something else bad about what Iggy said too, but he can't quite think what it is right now. He peeks an eye open cautiously. The room is darker now, it's better. There's a plastic clip on his finger and two adhesive nodes on his chest with wires sprouting out of them, all tied over to the machine beside the bed that's making that irritating beeping noise. He realizes now there's a couple IVs taped in place in his arm and hand too, one carrying blood, the other fluids.
“Your skull is also fractured badly, they've installed a metal plate subdermally to protect it while it mends. The surgeon found foreign debris sealed under the skin that they had to debride and clean out before it got infected. Did you use a potion at some point when you first got injured?”
“… Maybe? Don’even ‘member giddin’urt.” He lets his eyelids almost fall shut; they just feel so heavy. “‘Ow'd we get here?”
“Y-you don't remember the car ride?” Noctis asks hesitantly.
He starts to shake his head and then remembers he's not supposed to move. “Nope.” Why does Noct look bummed?
“What is the last thing you remember?”
He frowns. “… Leavin’ a caravan witha crappy shower?”
“That was the morning of the hunt where you were injured, it's been nearly three days since,” Iggy informs him. “We arrived here by four am that night and they took you back to surgery immediately, by that point you were unresponsive.” He sees Noctis tense out of the corner of his eye, lips pressed tightly together. “The procedure took roughly five hours, your sedation wore off last night and we've since just been waiting for you to regain consciousness.”
Gladio steps back into the room a moment later, a tall, thin woman in a white coat behind him. She comes straight to the side of the bed and gives him a smile.
“Hello, Prompto, it's great to see you awake and alert. I'm Dr. Han, I performed your surgery. How are you feeling?”
“Hi, um, heavy? S-slow?” And there's still something bad about the situation he can't quite figure out.
“That's understandable, it should wear off over the next day or so. Can you run through some quick checks with me?”
“Uh-huh.”
“All right, first I've got three words I need you to remember. Ball. House. Cat. Got it?” He nods. “Hold up your right hand and touch each fingertip to your thumb one at a time… now faster. Okay, same with the left now… very good. Can you tell me your full name and write it for me here?” He takes the pad of paper and nails it. Or so he thinks, until he hands it back and she looks at it with alarm. Ignis leans over her shoulder to check and chuckles.
“Oh, that's perfectly normal, Doctor, his handwriting is atrocious. If you look closely you can see the ‘P’ and the ‘A’ right there.” He glares at Iggy, but Dr. Han laughs in relief as she folds his blanket back from his feet.
“Thank the Six, thought I broke you. All right, then, wiggle your toes for me, Prompto, left, then right. Write the alphabet in the air with your feet… Motor control looks good, all things considered. Can you sing something?” He looks at her in confusion. “It uses a different part of the brain than speech,” she explains. He grabs the first thing that comes to mind.
“I want to ride my chocobo all day!” Gladio groans and he scowls at him too. Sure, it was a little croaky and off-key, but hey, give him a break, he's got holes in his head and apparently he hasn't used his voice in a couple days.
“And your three words?”
“Ball, h-house, and, uh, cat?”
The guys all looked immensely relieved as Dr. Han marks several things on his chart. “That's excellent, things are looking good so far. I'll be back to check on you later, please continue to minimize your movement, and get as much rest as you can.” She leaves the room, and he takes a second to take stock of himself.
“Doesn't feel like they cut m’head open?”
Gladio snorts as he flips the blanket back down to tuck his feet in. “No shit, cuz they've got you pumped full of every painkiller known to Eos.”
“And because you're doing a good job and staying still,” Ignis cuts in. “If you begin to feel pain, please tell us. They'll do one more procedure in a couple days when the drains come out to cover the holes, and they want to keep you here under observation at least until the end of the week, so we may as well get on a first name basis with the nurses.”
The Something Bad that's been tickling the back of his brain suddenly slams into place with the mention of medication and the length of stay. “Oh fuck, guys,” he groans. “We can't afford this, m’sorry!” Tears of frustration well up. “I keep making things worse.”
“Hey, cut it out,” Noctis snaps. “This could have happened to any of us, and honestly we got off light with only one of us almost dying. Two behemoths, Prom. Two!”
“Tw–?” His jaw drops in shock. “Are we stupid? Why the hell would we –”
“Oh trust us, we were equally surprised when the second one dropped in," Ignis says wryly. “I called Dave since their scout's shoddy check neglected to mention that there was a pair of the beasts prowling the area, the man will be reprimanded and the Guild is covering the hospital bill.” The older man sombers. “Regardless though, Prompto, I don't want you to give money a second thought. Nothing could ever be worth your life.” He lays a hand on his foot. “I'm so sorry it took us so long to realize you had been injured.”
Gladio looks extremely guilty. “I shoulda kept a better eye on everyone during the fight.”
He huffs out a breath and glares at the insides of his eyelids, still angry at himself. “I dunno what actually ‘appened, but I bet anything s'not y’alls fault, I prolly messed up.”
“Even if that's true, we've all screwed up before, why didn't you say anything after so we could help?” Noctis sounds small and sad. He cracks an eye open again to peer at the prince. He looks like he's about to cry.
“Really don't ‘member, but prolly thought I could just sleep it off like always.”
Ignis’ face grows even more grave. “Prompto, if you'd fallen asleep for the night you likely would never have woken up, it would have been too late to get you help by the time we realized something was wrong.”
“Oh…” He chewed his lip nervously. “… So if I think it might be bad I should use a potion? Maybe even a medium sized one?”
The sharp green eyes narrowed dangerously. “Prompto, have you been avoiding doing so?”
“W-well yeah, I didn't want to waste 'em. It tires Noct out to make ‘em, and you guys might need it more. Plus, m’supposed to be our distance guy, so if I get hit, s’kinda my own fault, isn'it?”
Noctis is staring at him incredulously. “Idiot!” he hisses, flicking him hard on the back of the hand and earning a yelp. “I'd smack you on the head if it weren't already broken! Prom, I would live in stasis if it meant making enough potions to keep you guys safe. Swear that you'll use them next time and don't hide if you take a hit. Actually, that goes for all of us.” He arches an eyebrow severely as he looks them each in the face. “No trying to play ‘tough guy’, if you get hurt you mention it, at least so the rest of us know to keep an eye out for anything off.”
“Agreed.”
“Deal.”
Blue eyes turn to him expectantly. So blue. So pretty.
“Uh, yeah, sure,” he responds weakly. “My bad?”
“Good,” Noct gives a satisfied nod. “I'm counting those as oaths, don't break ‘em. Now, do you need anything?”
“Um, m’thirsty?” His friend hands him a water bottle with a straw poking out of it. He nearly moans at the sensation of the cool liquid sliding down his parched throat; he can't remember the last time he's tasted anything so wonderful. Gladio raises an eyebrow.
“Need a room?”
Shit, did he actually moan?! Dammit! “Shut up, jerk, I almost died!” He squeezes his water bottle in his direction and somehow actually manages to squirt him.
“All right, all right,” Iggy chides when the big man reaches for another bottle with a gleam in his eye. “No water fights in the hospital, we don't want to get your bandages wet.”
His non-needled hand drifts up to his head. “C'ni see?” The prince hesitates but holds his phone up in selfie mode. He blanches.
He's deathly pale, covered in bruises, there's huge dark bags beneath his eyes, and three tubes sticking out of his heavily bandaged skull. He looks like he got run over by a – well, by a behemoth. And – oh gods.
“M-my hair?”
Noctis winces. “Buzzed to hell, sorry dude.” His arm falls back to the bed and he begins to tremble, dreams of being strapped to a table and shaved before the next round of “enhancements” floating through the back of his mind. Dreams? Or maybe memories? His friend misunderstands his silence and gives him a crooked grin. “Hey, it's always grown wicked fast, you'll be back to looking like a chocobo butt in no time.” The teasing isn't enough to distract him; panic has already started to build in his chest, and the accelerated beeping from the machine beside him confirms it. Noctis’ expression softens in concern and he takes his hand, lacing their fingers together and squeezing firmly. “Hey, hey, Prom. I dunno what's up, but you're safe now, you're okay.” He leans over to catch his eye easier. “Let's just breathe for a second, yeah?”
Locking in on those worried blue eyes is enough to keep him from going into a full-blown hysterical meltdown, but he's still shaking uncontrollably and stuck in the early stages of a panic attack. Noct talks him through one of the breathing exercises he's used since high school and after several minutes he manages to wrestle his hyperventilating down to just inhale – hold – exhale – inhale – hold – exhale – until finally his trembling eases and he's sagging exhausted against his pillows.
After a few minutes his eyes widen a little as he looks down at he and Noct’s hands. They're still entwined. His friend must not notice, because he's not letting go. He decides to not call attention to it and hopes he leaves it. He just had brain surgery; sue him if he's feeling the tiniest bit self-indulgent and in need of comfort.
Five minutes later though and he's the one to break the hold, fidgeting uncomfortably. “… G-guys, I really gotta pee.”
“You were fitted with a catheter during surgery, actually,” Ignis says calmly. “I'm told that's a common sensation due to the tube and your bladder should self-drain, though you're welcome to help it along.”
Gladio pats his knee with a grin. “Yup, piss away to your heart's content, blondie.”
He can feel a flush creeping up his neck, face, and ears. “That… feels weird with you all here. You're sure I can't just use the bathroom? ”
Noctis rolls his eyes. “Brain surgery, Prom. Brain. Surgery.”
He stares at his lap and knows his face has completed its magical girl transformation into a tomato as a faint trickling sound meets his ears and the urgent feeling passes. None of the others call attention to it though.
“Ya hungry?” Gladio asks. He has to think about it for a minute, but he finally nods. “Doc says you've gotta take it easy for a bit food-wise, how about something simple like pudding?”
He doesn't know why, but the idea makes him want to puke and he gives the tiniest frantic shakes of his head, eyes wide with horror. Noctis gives him a weird look.
“You love pudding.”
He's adamant in his refusal. “Actually, s'there just, like, orange juice or somethin’?”
Ignis pats his leg through the blanket with a fond smile as he stands. “I'm sure we can make that happen, I'll be right back.”
Five minutes later he's happily slurping his juice through a colorful curly straw Ignis commandeered from the children's ward down the hall.
“It's got pulp, Noct!” he exclaims with delight. It's always been his favorite and it's been so long since he had it.
The prince makes a disgusted face. “Yeah, look at all the nasty little bits floating around in it, hooray.”
“Shut up, it's amazing!”
By the time his glass is empty, he's feeling like less of a failure and better about the situation overall. Enough to finally realize how tired he is. He blinks slowly up at his friends, unsuccessfully trying to stifle a yawn.
“S‘okay to sleep now?” He very faintly recalls feeling like if he slept that would be the end.
“Yes, but be aware the doctor will be waking you occasionally to check your cognition.”
“Thas'fine, m’jus really sleepy.” His words are growing more slurred again, but this time just with exhaustion and painkillers, not imminent death; the two feel slightly different. Noctis resumes holding his hand and rubs it comfortingly as he begins to drift off.
“Rest up, buddy, we'll be here. And Prom?” A soft kiss on his cheek startles him back awake. The beeping of his heart monitor speeds up rapidly as he gapes up in absolute astonishment at pretty blue eyes, his own violet frozen wide with shock. The other two men are hiding smirks as pretty blue smiles back at him warmly, sparkling with amusement and something else. “Don't ever fucking scare me like that again. I need you beside me. ‘Kay?” He nods dumbly, continuing to stare in bewilderment. “Cool, now get some sleep.”
He's still tired and it's easy to melt into the pillows again, but every time he tries to close his eyes they keep creeping back open to sneak peeks at the raven-haired man sitting next to him, playing on his phone with one hand while the other traces circles on the back of his freckled knuckles. Every time he peeks, the beeping sound speeds up again and he sees Noct's lips quirk up in a tiny smirk. And even though he doesn't look up, the hand holding his gives a little squeeze.
It takes him a long time to fall asleep.