The Switch (open)

[Dale McCall]

“No! No, I'm no' going – I'm no'!” A voice cried. This voice belonged to a man, but from the high-pitched tone you’d be forgiven for thinking it was a girl. The accect was distinctly cockney. A much lower voice with a Northern twang bellowed in response.

“Dale. Dale, please calm down. You're going to hyperventilate.”

"No!"

“Dale, this move is for the best, for you an' your mother. It's no' safe for either of you to stay here.”

“But – Howard! I don' wanna leave, I wanna stay 'ere! Howard, please!”

The larger, middle-aged Northerner pulled his little raven haired nephew to him and tried to ease his agitation. “Dale, 'M so sorry. I didn' want it to come to this; but you have to go. I won't have your life put in danger by staying here.” He hugged Dale tightly as the smaller man began to sob in fright.

Dale was a petite little man, of only nineteen years of age. His hair was raven-black in color; a basic back-comb structure, slightly root-boosted framed by a cheeky fringe. His hair was a bit of a theme in itself, it sort of looked like a woman’s wig, worn backwards. His facial features could easily be described as 'visually noisy'; a long, slightly pointed nose and chin, with large powder blue eyes only just hidden behind his long black bangs.

Dale loved to dress up; always been quite fascinated by his own image and what he can do with it. Dale had a non-masculine aspect to his attire. Probably due to his androgynous, danyesque dress sense; Dale liked to adapt a whole group of sub-cultures, to fit his own strange style. He loved to dress up like Mick Jagger and David Bowie; stylish, effeminate men, really. At that moment, Dale was clad in a red and black striped long-sleeve with a dark brown leather jacket opened up on top of that. He loved this jacket too - it had these really cool silver studs around the collar and sleeves. Navy skinny-leg jeans clung to his short, thin legs, held up by a black belt with a pacman print. Red leather boot’s completed the ensemble, with a small stacked heel, to help give him a little height. Being 5’6” wasn’t fun.

"I don't wanna go!” He cried.

“I know.” Dale clung to the older, Northern man, like a child as he led him into a small bedroom. “I promise I won' let anything happen to you.”

“Howard, please,” Dale begged through his tears once Howard had closed the door, Dale's wet face pressed against Howard's shoulder. Howard rubbed his back, his other hand on the back of Dale's neck.

“I'm sorry,” he whispered, as Dale shook in his arms. He eventually managed to coax Dale into packing a few things, even though the tears and the begging continued as he did so.

Howard was sure his heart was seconds from breaking again, but he wouldn't give into him – couldn't give into him. It was a risk he most definitely was not willing to take. Getting Dale down the stairs a few minutes later was no easy task either. Dale's panic attack was in full swing and he'd stopped half way down, gripping Howard's hand and shaking violently. The fact that he wouldn't even step outside the house showed Howard just how much in shock Dale still was.

As they descended the stairs, and stepped outside, Dale seemed to finally snap. “Y’can’ make me go!” He turned on his uncle, causing a look of absolute shock to spread across the Northerner’s face.

“Stop behavin’ so childish, Dale.” Howard sighed, not wanting to fight. “Look, there’s no disputin’ this. We’ve gotta go.”

“No! I’m nineteen! You cant tell me wha’ to do anymore! I aint a kid!”

“Well stop behaving like one!”

“Piss off!” With raven feather-like hair flowing behind him, Dale turned and stormed off.

“Dale! Dale, wait!”

“Fuck off, Howard!”

“Come on Dale, this is exactly what I’m talking about.” Howard grabbed his arm and Dale flinched. “Please don’t act like this, you’re causing a scene.”

“You’re the one causing the scene, I’m just trying to get leave.” he jerked his arm out of Howard’s grip. “Get off me!” he yelled, and turned and ran from Howard.

Into the road.

He did not notice the speeding car coming towards him... He might just have avoided it if he was bouncing along in his normal, happy state, but as he stormed across the road, he heard a screech of tyres and finally looked to the side, just in time to see the driver's horrified face as his small, thin body made impact with the windscreen. Glass smashed, and a shuddering crack flooded through Dale’s head as he made impact.

The world turned slowly white, and reality fell away from Dale. Didn’t everyone always say that it went black? Or was it there was a white tunnel? To be honest, he wasn’t actually sure anymore. He was walking forward, moving as if in a dream towards the only sound he could hear - the sound of a child's giggling. He stepped purposefully forward, and the sight became clearer - a speck at first, but growing as he walked, until he neared it. Sure that this wasn’t real, and the rational part of his mind telling him he was already dead... but then he saw something through all of the white - was this the bright light that you weren’t supposed to walk into? A delicate figure danced in the white light, a figure with white hair and a slim slender body. A little girl, not too much shorter than himself. Dale reached a hand out, thinking that he could touch the girl; but all that he grabbed was the air. The girl giggled, and began skipping towards him.

She was only metres away then, as she pranced up to Dale and drew her tiny fingers over his pointed face. For some reason, tears slid down Dale face, blue eyes filled with confusion.

“What are you?” Dale whispered. The thought of who she was didn't seem like the correct question. He wanted to know what she was, instead. In reply, the little girl kissed him lightly on the lips, leaving Dale thinking of sunshine and sweets, music and dancing. He heard her giggle again, her voice like a bells chime, And she was gone. Everything was gone, the bright lights, Dale; gone.

"Hhhhh!" Dale sat up, heaving a tremendous breath as his eyes opened and he felt the ground below him, mentally giving a huge thank you to whoever was up there. Blurrily, he gazed upwards, looking into bright light, which could be either sunlight or an electrical light. All he could really see was this light, which was getting slightly dimmer as his eyes got used to it. He tried to open his eyes more widely, sure that at the moment they were just small slits, afraid of seeing where he was. He gazed upwards, at tall trees, looming down at him. However, he looked around, extremely puzzled. What was this? This was not where he was hit. He had been hit by a car outside of his mother's flat in London, but now - now he looked to be in some kind of forrest. Looking around, Dale could at least see, through the dense growth of leaves and twisted branches above him that it was dusk. Hadn't it been closer to mid-day a couple of seconds ago?

With some effort, Dale managed to stand up and stumble a couple of paces, still quite woozy from the crash. He sped up his pace as he walked forwards, mud splashing up his legs and leaves falling from above and catching in his hair. Perhaps if he walked far enough, he'd clear the trees? As he glanced around him, with his large eyes, bright with fear, Dale looked up at the imposing trees, gasped, and sped up his pace, shoulders hunched slightly with anxiety, as his heart thumped against his ribcage at a rapid rate.

The wind was blowing through the trees, making the whole forest seem to creak eerily, the shadows looking grotesque as he crept along, and Dale jumped every time he heard a twig break, or the faint sounds of animal's creeping around in the darkness. All of a sudden, he heard a sound, louder than before. Crying out, he stumbled backwards, and let out as a terrified whisper. “Who's there?!” He squeaked and his face went into the ultimate defence mode; eyes big, face innocent, looking for all the world like butter wouldn’t melt in his mouth. In an almost instinctual manner, he reached up to touch his hair, fiddling with the limp strands obsessively. "Y'know I know judo! I'd stay back if I were you. Judon't know who you're messin' with here." Okay, you did one lesson, he reprimanded himself. He stood, waiting for a couple of seconds, before he nodded sharply, and spoke once more, into the darkness. “Good. Now, if you don’ mind, I think I’m jus’ gonna go.” Grey orbs darted side to side once, before he spun on his heel and quickened his pace in the other direction. He tripped through the soil on unseen roots, slipping on the mud and nearly falling flat on his face. His heart was hammering painfully against his chest.

Another sound, and Dale spun around again, backing up slowly, unwilling to take his eyes off of the place where he'd heard the sound. "Wha' ya doin? Y'know, it's no' polite t' follow people around. 'Specially 'round in dark creepy forests. You migh' wanna go think tha' through... elsewhere. 'Cause I go'a be somewhere. Y'know, places to go, people to see... there's go'a be a phonebooth 'round 'ere someplace." Dale was babbling, as he was prone to do when nervous. It was safe to say that, in this situation, he was nervous. He felt his back hit something behind him - a tree, and swore, realizing he was now well and truly trapped. In that moment, he let out a pathetic choked whimper, closing his eyes tightly in sick anticipation.

[Piffle]

Exhaustion plagued me, it was getting close to dusk and I knew I was needed up in the trails. You see I had been woken in the night by one of the dreams that I knew my mum used to have when she was alive. The island spirit Celeste sends them, showing who she has chosen to be brought to the island. Mum used to be the only one who got them she used to tell me what it was like; I remember her telling me one time that it was important to pay attention to the dreams. For the dreams didn’t just tell us where to be and when, she used to say that Celeste always showed her the last moments that person was going to have in their old life, before telling you where to be and when.

I remember I had asked why, I had been about 10 and I had been sitting in her lap as she told me about what one day when she was old and frail would be my job. She had laughed and hugged me too her before telling me that it was a way of preparing us, giving us a tiny piece of insight into what the people we were supposed to welcome to the island were like. She said that knowing this gave us insight into the best way to deal with them when they got here so we could adjust our behaviour to them to make this strange change a little easier.

Only last week it would still have been her job, but now with her and my step father gone, not only was I suddenly in charge of a 2 yr old, I was also supposed to be in charge of the island. As far as I can see life couldn’t blow any worse right now. I remembered last nights dream about the raven haired pixy sized man that was arriving at Dusk, I had awoken with tears streaming down my face, not even because I had just seen the man be hit by a car, but because that had been the first of the dreams I had and only a week after she died.

I had cursed Celeste in the early hours of the morning as I lay in my bed, I was pissed off, how could she expect me to pick up where my mother had left off right after she had been murdered and my step father had topped himself, was she insane! These were the types of things running through my mind as I fought my way through the trails, which in the direction I had to go were overgrown to a point that was ridicules.

Finally I fought my way through and put a smile on my face as I stepped through to the clearing where he should have been. Instantly my smile dropped and I groaned slightly he was already here that I knew for sure. The problem? He wasn’t where he was supposed to be which meant he had damn well gone wandering off. Though it didn’t take me long to locate which direction he had taken, turns out he wasn’t to used to the noises of a forest from what I could tell. As he was startling at every little sound around him calling out with a cockney lilt.

I headed off toward the sound of his voice and I didn’t have to worry about losing where he was from him falling silent he pretty much kept up a constant sting of rambling. Even in the mindset I was in, in other words totally depressed and not wanting to do this, I found his ramblings funny.

“That’s ok I don’t mind thinking it over right here, besides, you don’t know it yet but I fall under the people to see section of your ramblings, now if your finished crappin’ ya pants can we get on with this?”

I spoke as I stepped out of the forest and in front of him, he was up against a tree and looking very much like a rabbit caught in the headlights of an oncoming car.

“Geesh Dale take a chill pill would ya, I’m not going to hurt ya, I’m just here to explain whats going on, and all that other crap I’m supposed to mention, now come on I have to get back and look after my baby sister”

I said and turned from him walking back into the forest again, I know I was supposed to take more time with this I had seen my mum do it many times but I just couldn’t find the patience to do it I was still angry that I was the one who had to do this right after my mothers death how was that fair!

“Unless of course you want to stay and be dinner for a bear, I hear they love people in designer clothes”

I said only pausing slightly in my decent through the trails to look back and see that he hadn’t jumped right up and come running after me.

[Free]

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Night had fallen through the cold winter day. The air was fresh, captivating and cold, just her type of night. Checking around her rather cautiously, the young female tip toed downstairs, not making a sound to wake up her older brother. She would be dead if he knew what her thoughts were about. Putting on a thick jacket, a purple scarf and her hat she got her thick riding boots and unlocked the door. Young female slipped out of the house, making as little sound as she could and checked for any light, none. She smirked to herself, and went straight down the path towards the forest, to the barn, which she loved so dearly. You see, no one really gets her, at least that is what people tell her, not that she cared. Giving a glance to her clock she cursed lightly to herself. Shit, ‘m so late! Dun want ‘o miss the fun. Opening the barn door Roselyn stepped inside and turned on the light- She felt the hot air and smelled the horses inside, she was home once again. She walked past several horses paints, grey’s and bays, the usual colored horses that were owned by the farmers and people, all boarded at the large barn. But she didn’t stop, until she found what she was looking for and smiled so ever brightly.

A large black head tucked out, sniffing the air while forelocks was in the way of the horse’s view. The blonde haired twenty years old smiled to the horse. Hey boy, let’s get outta here, we’re late. She felt how he nodded and giggled lightly at the action, such a silly goose. Taking time to look at him once before she kissed his muzzle and went for the tack, he was already brushed clean and the beautiful black color was hidden underneath his purple blanket. Not the manliest color, but he felt proud in it, which made her feel happy. Finding the Spanish bridle set her father had given her before he left she tacked the stallion with ease while humming a tune just for fun. She couldn’t be too late; if she was Rayne would have already had all the fun, which was a killer bug. She usually knew when Rayne went out, didn’t know why, she just did. Opening the stall door fully open, the fully tacked Andalusian walked out, his head up high and proud like there were no tomorrow, he was the boss of this place and people knew that oh so well. She opened the exit of the barn, the cold air hit them in the face and Streamer snorted, breathing out fog, it was really cold today.

She clicked the tongue lightly, led the horse out before closing the door and mounting him easily. The snow had just covered the once brown and bare ground, the soft blanket made the stallion sniff it, his tail held high, excited of the new surroundings, he loved the snow, they both did. Female smirked and let him freely towards the forest, they were already late but she would not risk loosing this horse, never in a million years. As she felt how secure he was on his feet Rose let the Andalusian extend his walk to a trot and escaped the Islands hollow beg, she never listened to the Island, it didn’t deserve it. You already took my mother, you won’t get me. Shit I’m really late! She clicked her tongue and nudged him into the soft canter, they had to hurry it up, or else Rayne would get all the fun. Letting the stallion slide down the forestry road until she heard some voices and giggled, she could still crash this party. “Geesh Dale take a chill pill would ya, I’m not going to hurt ya, I’m just here to explain whats going on, and all that other crap I’m supposed to mention, now come on I have to get back and look after my baby sister” Roselyn rolled her eyes, not that again.

Coming to the end of the road Roselyn let the ebonite stallion walk forth and into the little light, letting themselves be revealed and just about the right time to hear Rayne speak up, annoying right now. “Unless of course you want to stay and be dinner for a bear, I hear they love people in designer clothes” She couldn’t help but giggle at it and clicked her tongue getting right beside Rayne. Streamer snorted and laid his ears back but got a fair warning from her helpers, there would be no nibbling at Rayne tonight. Geez Rayne, you should take one yourself. What did that little twerp do to yah? She smiled devilishly before looking towards Dale and raised and eyebrow. This wuss is the new guy? You’re joking right? Well, I won’t take him in, Dan would kill me if I take in any “pets” She laid pressure on the pets words and glanced towards him again, seriously, she would never get why wimps were coming to their land, they didn’t deserve it. Dismounting the horse she held the reins, and was only about the same height as Rayne, which was quite ironic, same age and same height, totally different personalities, sometimes at least.

She looked from the cold front to Dale and Rayne before speaking again, this time being just a tad nicer. Anyway, I’m Roselyn and seeing as Rayne hasn’t told you the deal yet I won’t either. But you two got to get to the barn, do you know how cold it is? Geez, what time of day to warp from the ‘big mean world’ to safety. She rolled her eyes just for a minute and looked towards Rayne with the usual “I’m bored, amuse me mate” look, but smiled brightly as a joke, she just knew one person who could handle her and that was Rayne, didn’t know how she did it, but that girl did. When she wasn’t pissed off because her little sister wasn’t behaving when she should be, but you got to love those children right?

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•tags• Dale & Rayne !
•status• done!
•comments• hope you don’t mind =) !
•lyrics• Crush by Paramore !
•credit• angelbymistake from Caution 2.0 ![/center]

[Dale McCall]

Dale wanted to run, but he suddenly felt quite sick to his stomach, and had to grab onto the tree beside him in order to remain vertical. Time suddenly sped up to real time, but he continued to stare at the two girls with two large scared blue eyes and a blank expression, not awfully sure what was happening as he tried ot work out what the hell was going on, and he could barely register what on Earth they were both saying to him. Dale was extremely scared by now, and still desperately worried about Howard, "Hang on a minu'e." His voice came out rather high-pitched and squeaky - certainly not the sort of pitch he wanted to speak in whiler in the presence of two ladies - and he tried to figure out what to say next without heaving the entire content's of his stomach up.

It was an odd sensation. What was happening?

Surely this couldn't be real? But that didn't explain the fact that he distinctly remembered being hit by a car. He stood rather rigidly, not daring to move, not daring to breathe. "I cant be mad righ'?" Dale said, partly to himself and partly to the girls. He sighed, "I was hi' by a car. I know I was, an' now I've woken up here. Now, I'm either dead, or a...a time-traveller, or-or a lunatic, or...I'm in a hospital in a..coma or summing and none of this is real." The fear was evident in his face as a thought dawned on him. "Coma. Howard." He could only imagine seeing Howard left there, trying to get Dale to wake up, and Dale, knowing that he had no idea how to. What if he never got back home? He couldn't just leave his uncle there alone. Not with...

At this, Dale gave an odd moan and began to slowly slide from his leaning possition on the tree, towards the ground. A wave of nausia swept upon him, and, although he hated himself for it, couldn't help but surrender to the darkness as he felt his leg's give out, and just let his body crumple onto the floor, as his blue orbs rolled back and he lay still.

[Piffle]

Ok so maybe I wasn’t handling this whole thing too well but come on seriously everyone I loved was dead except for my baby sister who I was supposed to be looking after, and she was at home while I was out here playing babysitter to the newbie. I was pulled up short in my rant and attempt at walking off by the sound of approaching hooves and a small moan of displeasure escaped my lips. I knew who that would be she always found me when I wanted her there the least, how did she do it? I didn’t have long to ponder before Roselyn burst through the tree line instantly throwing her smart assed comment at me. Trust her to have heard my little rant, I couldn’t help feeling a wave of guilt at the fact that my mother would be disappointed with the way I was handling things. She taught me better then this and in that moment I knew that I needed to do this properly to make sure she was remembered in the hearts of the citizens.

With my thoughts turned inward I barely heard what Roselyn was going on about but I did recognise that she was making fun of the newbie and although I had done very similar not 2 minutes before her it struck a nerve. Though her last comment had merit it was cold, and she should get Dale somewhere warm.

“Enough Roselyn, I think I screwed with his head enough for one night, he don’t need you takin’ the piss out of him too. Now Dale …”

I said turning back to Dale, but my words were stopped when I saw him, I had kind of heard him rambling on in the background as I semi scolded Roselyn. He had gone pale, I could see him slipping sideways from where he was leaning against the tree, and didn’t get to his side in time before he crumpled on the ground.

“Aww crap, trust me to cause my first charge to faint!”

I exclaimed in frustration, this was exactly what mum would have been able to avoid she was way better at this, how could Celeste really think I could handle this responsibility.

“Looks like you being here isn’t turning out to be the pain in my butt experience I was expecting, your going to help me get him back to my place.”

I said as I walked up to the man on the ground where he lay passed out, turning on Roselyn as I got to his side, her horse would make getting him back into the town a crap load easier to manage, so for once my original annoyance at seeing her was gone. Honestly she was mostly an alright person but sometimes I got sick of keeping her in line, for some strange reason I was the only one that could, go figure.

“Come on if we can get him up on to Streamer, then we wont have to lug him down the mountain”

I said voicing my thoughts as I knelt down next to the collapsed man, I had every intention of making this right and making up for my crap start to my first newcomer.

[Dale McCall]

Let's Dance to Joy Devision
and celebrate the irony...[/b][/color][/size]

All he could feel was this pain! It was like hot spikes in his skull having turned into red hot daggers and acid burning away his insides. "Dale? DALE!"

A voice cut through the foggy mess that was Dale's mind, but it wasn't female this time, it was male, and it was familiar...

Dale opened the eyes that he didn't even realise were shut. Everything was not just bigger but on it’s side as well. Had someone tipped the earth up? No. He was on the floor. On his side with his legs tangled uncomfortably beneath him and his arms numb and floppy like a rag doll. He couldn’t see much. Lots of little ink blots seemed to dance about in front of his eyes. When he tried to reach out to grab them his hands wouldn’t respond to what his brain told them to do. He was helpless. So much for his fucking independence. Dale half laughed, half growled, half whimpered to himself. Howard was right.
Howard…

“Dale? Dale, speak to me. Dale, please get up!”

One minute Dale was standing in some dark forest and two bird's were telling him that he was on some weird Island or something, the next he was lying on his back in the snow. He frowned, trying to work out why the world had turned upside down. Surely he didn’t always see the sky when he looked straight ahead?

“Dale!” he saw Howard falling to his knees beside him. Wait, he did just collapse in a forest just moment ago didn't he? Then again he'd been hit by a car just a few moment's before that. Dale tried to open his mouth to tell Howard he was okay, but it was like he was frozen. “Oh God, Dale, please tell me you’re okay! I’m sorry little man, I’m so sorry, just please be okay.” The brunette Northerner turned to the group that had formed. “Somebody phone for an ambulance!”

“I’ve already done it, love.” an unfamiliar female voice said soothingly. Howard nodded in thanks, then turned his attention back to Dale.

“I’m here, Dale. I’m here.”

Dale suddenly noticed that the snow on the ground near his face was red. Wasn’t snow normally white? Or at worst slushy brown. Dale didn’t think he’d ever seen red snow before. Then it came to him; the snow wasn’t red, that was blood! Was someone hurt? He tried to tell Howard, tried to make him look for the injured person. Why was he just sat next to Dale when someone was potentially bleeding to death?

Someone’s hurt! He tried to make someone see. How come none of them had noticed the blood? Someone’s hurt, someone’s dying…

…and why are you all staring at me?

With almost superhuman effort, Dale forced his eyes to look down (for some reason he couldn’t move his head), and saw his right leg bent and twisted into an angle he was sure it couldn’t normally do…

Oh. It’s me. I’m the one who’s injured. Howard…

The pain was tremendous. His eyes went fuzzy then blurry, fuzzy then blurry. Like they were in sync with a heart rate monitor. Could he hear a heart monitor? Or was he just passing out?

"Jesus Dale, come on, you can do it, just breathe, come on. God Dale, come on, hold on, ambulance'll be coming soon. You can hold on, just stay awake okay? No, open your eyes, I..." Dale had the sensation of Howard holding him, cradling him, tears running down his face as he slipped slowly from conciousness, back and forth. He could hear other people muttering in the background, a woman crying between gasp's, [/b]"...I didn't.... I didn't...m..m-mean...t-t-to h-hit him."[/b]. "That's it Dale, you're doing it, nice deep breath, ignore the blood it's... it looks worse than it is, I swear. Come on Dale, open your eyes!" Howard's voice was stronger.

Dale could hear his voice. His soft, warm, smooth voice, slightly scratched and hitched with panic. Why couldn’t Dale see him right? Or maybe that was his outline in his distorted vision. He was sat down in front of him. He hadn’t left him. After everything Dale had said to him, after everything he'd done to him, he was still here. Dale partly hoped that he really was dying in that moment.

Before he felt, somewhere through his smoggy haze, a hand reach out to stroke through Dale's hair. Then another, this time lightly rapping it’s fingers against his cheek. Howard’s hands. Holding Dale's face. Trying to wake him up. His voice continuing to suspend his my mind at some distance. Trying to hook Dale's slipping conscious and keep him with him.

No. No, he didn’t wanna die. Not when Howard had so much to give…

From the corner of his peripheral vision, Dale could see red and blue lights flashing not too far away from them while he still lay sprawled on the snow, the exploding pain now becoming a disturbingly comfortable numbness.

"Dale? Dale, mate can you hear me?" A voice; a paramedic maybe broke through the haze that was clouding Dale's mind calling to him but his voice was too distant, everyone was too far away and everything was so hazy, his head thumped with pain and he couldn't open his eyes, it was like he was asleep but he knew inside he wasn't.

"Dale, can you hear me?" He didn't know the voice at all but it sounded kind and helpful. Almost strong. But it echoed around his skull, he wanted to call out "Yes, yeah I can hear you" but he couldn't, he felt exhausted and a little shakey, he felt a sudden light in his eyes as they were forced open but it passed and it was dark again.

"No pupil dialation"

"No, no breath Dale! Breath for me. Big deep breath's." Howard was still holding him. Cradling him, tears running down his face as he slipped slowly from conciousness, back and forth. He couldn't sense anyone else, only Howard. "Please Dale!"

And suddenly pain exploded throughout Dale’s entire body, wiping out every thought apart from one.

Howard…

I’mma have a sleepy for a li'l bit, Dale thought. Nigh' Howard.

Dale could hear the distant sound of Howard’s voice yelling at him.

“Don’t do this Dale! Come on little man! Stay with me…”
One more minute Howard... Dale thought to himself but then the loud noises started to fade away into a distant nothingness.

------------------------

“Don’t do this Dale! Come on little man! Stay with me…” was all Howard could manage, before a paramedic had him by the hand, guiding him away from where Dale was sprawled out in the snow. No breath escaping those cold bloodless lips.

“He will be fine sir,” The paramedic said simply, sitting down next to him near the ambulance. Howard hadn't even realised he had. “He’s with Tracy. She works miracles. She hasn’t lost one yet and she isn’t going to loose him either." Howard wished he could be so positive.

Hen wanted to run to Dale and scream at him to wake up. What would his mother think if she saw him like this? She would probably do the same, but Howard sat by the ambulance nervously, knowing that the best thing for Dale right now was to let the doctors fix him and get him breathing again. Howard’s head throbbed and it wasn’t because he had a headache. A doctor was knelt right down toward Dale now, leaning towards his face and Howard realised that he was giving his nephew CPR. Trying to pump the life back into the little man's un-responsive heart. He glanced at the paramedic, still sitting beside him. Her eyes looked sad and it was at that moment Howard realised Dale wasn’t waking up. Howard's world crashed.

Howard looked on. They had stopped. Why had they stopped? He could see Dale lying there, looking so broken, so fragile, but he couldn’t hear what the doctors were murmuring. It was bad. Surprisingly he didn’t cry he didn’t even flinch at the sight of his dead nephew, lying on the ground looking like he was sleeping. He just stood there watching, expressionless. Everything, even time itself stood still.

Howard felt weak at the knees, but he didn’t fall, he just stood there. But then something clicked in him, a brotherly instinct overtook him and he charged towards the doctors, and Dale.

"Time of death -" He heard one of the doctor's speak but before the man could finish the sentance... "Don't stop! Please!" Was all Howard could wail between the sobs. Grief had finally gotten through his emotions.

Ignoring the protests coming from the other paramedic's, Howard flung himself down towards Dale. Feeling himself begin to tremble, he felt for Dale’s pulse. Feel the neck, feel the wrists. Don’t check for a pulse with your thumb, always use your forefingers. He knew that. He knew how to do it.

No pulse.

Check again. Check three times. Four.

Still nothing.

There was something… CPR. Yes. He knew that too. Breathe into Dale’s mouth, pump his chest three times. Breathe, pump three times. Keep going. Maybe he keep doing this forever, and Dale would never really be…

He felt someone's hand again on his shoulder, and voices speaking to him, but he couldn’t hear what they were saying. Breathe, pump three times. Breathe… fuck, Dale, just breathe, it’s not difficult, just open your mouth and breathe…

He wasn’t trembling anymore, he was shaking violently. Shaking so hard that he could hardly keep up with CPR. There were more hands on his shoulders now, pulling him back. He wrestled out of their grasp, pumping Dale’s chest again.

Again, again.

Nothing.

He leant over to breathe oxygen into Dale’s mouth once more, and as he moved in, he realized that Dale’s eyes had opened, just a tiny fraction. His heart skipped a beat. “Dale? Dale!”

But still, somehow, nothing.

Shuddering all over, he moved a trembling hand towards Dale’s face, clenching his jaw together so tightly that his teeth threatened to crack. He could taste blood in his mouth.

He felt an eyelid.

He opened it.

Dale stared straight ahead. He stared at no one. There was no light in his eyes. They weren’t Dale’s eyes anymore. Dale was…
Gone.

Howard let out a howl from deep within himself, a howl which had been threatening to rip him apart since he'd watched his small nephew's body made contact with the windscreen of that car. He buried his face in Dale’s chest, pawing at him. No tears, just an awful howl.

A paramedic tried to pull him aside, but Howard clung to Dale’s body, to what was left of everything he cared about. His howl changed in pitch, twisting into a high, hollow keening, eyes closed, desperately taking in Dale’s scent. The faintest trace of strawberries floated around him.

Time stopped having any meaning. Eventually, the paramedic's stood back, some keeping a small crowd back to give the grieving man some space, but Howard didn’t even notice. He pressed his face against Dale’s cheeks, his hair, his hands. He uttered mournful sounds that seemed to come from outside of himself. He couldn’t form words – words no longer had any meaning either. He and Dale were the whole world, and the whole world was screaming.

He might have been lying there for hours, before time started trickling back in. Howard opened his eyes, and gently closed Dale’s, pressing his lips to his nephew's forehead once again. Shivering, his voice hoarse and broken, he whispered into Dale’s ear.

“I’m sorry Dale... if I’d only…” His breath hitched in his throat. “Please come back to me… I can’t… oh, little man..."
Tears were flowing freely now, his voice so faint that he could hardly hear himself speak. “You deserved better. It’s not right… it wasn’t meant to be like this, and I..."

He felt for Dale’s hand, gripping it tightly, trying to warm it up. “I should've listened.” His voice cracked, and his words became meaningless, indiscernible, just tears and aching and wanting and Dale, Dale, Dale.

------------------------

Dale heaved a tremendous breath and slowly, his eyes blinked open. Blurrily, he gazed upwards, looking into bright light, which could be either sunlight or an electrical light. All he could really see was this light, which was getting slightly dimmer as his eyes got used to it. He tried to open his eyes more widely, sure that at the moment they were just small slits, afraid of seeing where he was.

White.

White blinding light.

Humming.

White.

Close my eyes again...

Blackness.

Try to open...

Slits of blinding white...

Close.

Safer closed.

"Hhh." He groaned. Was that his voice? It sounded more like a razor blade had just being slid across his vocal cords. As his eyes adjusted, Dale blinked and blearily looked around him. Everything had grown dimmer again, this time not because he was loosing consiousness, but because he was actually lying in a rather dark place. A place that smelt of pine, and damp soil. Speaking of which, he now realised that he was lying on. And there was a presence beside him, not Howard this time, but someone who smelt distinctly feminine.

He didn't bother moving - he wasn't even sure he was able to - his legs were still tangled uncomfortably beneath him and his arms numb and floppy like a rag doll, lying exactly how he had been when he was lying in the snow. And Howard...Howard. He wasn't even sure if the other person had realised that he was awake now, but Dale found he couldn't really care. This, all of this had to be a dream. It had to have been a dream. But he was awake now. Those voices he could hear talking, they weren't Howard they were two women. But that would be crazy.

Dale cautiously opened his eyes and looked around, heart sinking when he realised nothing had changed. Then he felt them, the hot warm liquid prickling at his tear ducts, and the vice like grip around his chest. Then in an instictual manner, he brought his knees up to his chest and wrapped his arms around his leg's, sobbing openly.[/size]

Everything is going wrong
but we're so happy!

STATUS ;; COMPLETED\
TAGS ;; DALE, ROSELYN, RAYNE