//------------------------------//
// Can You Hear Me? 
// Story: Wake Me Up 
// by NumberFour 
//------------------------------//


“It is during our darkest moments that we must focus to see the light.”
-Aristotle



The show was spectacular. Everything was going perfectly, not a single member of the flight group was off. Soarin couldn't help but feel the usual satisfaction that he felt during a show. His wings spread, feeling the cool air rushing across him as he propelled forward through the sky with his teammates at his side. A slight grin tugged at his face as he noticed a particular cowpony out in the crowd cheering him on. Exhaling softly, he knew it was time. This was a move he'd practiced and mastered for the past several weeks, spent hours upon hours testrunning so he'd get it right. Now was the time to show it off for the crowd for the first time. With a soft breath, he picked up his speed.

What happened next hadn't happened during any practice. At no point during the practices did he make any mistakes. However, he'd never really had to deal with a sudden change in wind speeds during the practices. Not once had the wind suddenly pushed back on him this hard, hard enough to throw him off balance. Using everything he had after losing himself, he fought to right what had been wronged. It was no use though, he was off track and moving too fast to stop himself. He could just barely hear the shouts and loud shuffling as ponies moved out of the way. After this, he managed to stop himself in the worst way possible. There was a horrible sound of crashing, there was white-hot pain and there was a gut-churningly wretched copper scent. Then there was black.

For a moment, there was nothing. No one made a sound. No one made a move. All eyes were on the horribly injured and unconscious Wonderbolt lying in a sticky pool of red. His teammates were hovering in air, unable to move from shock. There had been accidents previously, but none as bad as what they had just bore witness to. Then, one voice was heard. It was tiny, almost inaudible.

“S-Soarin..” The yellow stallion managed to get out. His eyes were wide as he stared at the fallen pegasus. He managed to stumble forward, the harsh reality having not quite hit him yet. He felt weak, too weak to move but he just kept moving forward. The closer he got to the scene, the farther down his heart sank as he was slowly forced to accept what had happened. Braeburn broke into a run, heading straight for the one he loved. As he felt his world slipping, the meek voice became a shrill and anguished cry that echoed across the entire stadium. 

“SOARIN!”


***


What he noticed first was that he was unable to open his eyes. There was a dull pain in his head, but for the life of him he couldn't understand why. Why was there such a horrid pain? He could feel the rest of his body ached. A brief flash of worry panged through him. He only ever felt that ache after shows or when he was being exceptionally lazy during the month break periods. So why did he feel it now? He was certain that they weren't on break, the only thing he could think of was that maybe he'd forgotten about a show or something.

Oh.

It was coming back now. He had been in a show recently. After countless practices, the new stunt the team had developed was ready for use. Soarin was the lucky one who was to perform it. He was the unlucky one to have been caught off guard by some rather powerful changes in wind speed. He was the unlucky one to crash into the stands. He could remember a strong scent of blood and then blacking out. Now he was even more worried. What had happened next? His thoughts focused on one particular thought next, one that destroyed him. What could possibly be going through his poor Brae's head?

He couldn't exactly describe the absolute blankness he was at right now. It was sort of like an absence of everything but his thoughts. Soarin didn't want to even think about what that meant, at no point did he want to dwell on the chance that the crash had killed him and left Brae all alone. Just imagining it made him feel so emotionally weak. The light blue pegasus instead focused on the chance that he was still alive, just comatose. As if in response to this, one particular sense returned to him. His sense of hearing.

It was rather quiet for him, but he could hear the soft beep of what he presumed to be a heart rate monitor. Oh, thank Celestia for him not being dead. Focusing as hard as he could, he listened to the best of his ability to his surrounding. There was the occasional sound of hoofsteps out in the hallways, muffled conversations that he couldn't make out. Yeah, he was most certainly in a hospital room. Around then was the moment he decided to focus on the sounds in his room. There was a faint breathing that he understood as his own but he could also make out the sound of a slightly louder volume of breathing. A soft groan sounded next, one he recognized from every morning he woke up next to an apple-scented stallion who despised getting out of bed.

“Mnngh..” Another groan sounded. Having an extensive knowledge of the pony in question, Soarin could immediately identify how tired Braeburn sounded. He felt absolutely horrible that his accident was affecting the one he loved. He heard a rustling of bedsheets that sounded like they were probably his own. It seemed to him that his cowpony always had to sleep at his side, even if it was in a hospital bed. Just knowing that he was that close immediately brought the conscious, yet comatose pegasus some relief. “Mornin', Soar.”

There was a pause.

“Y'know, every time ah wake up, ah keep hopin' that you'll eventually say it back.” There was a soft, sad laugh that tugged at Soarin's heartstrings. “Hell, ah've been hopin' that you'd even do somethin' as simple as move a hoof for the past eight days.”

Eight days? A sharp pang of unease rushed through him as he registered just how long he'd been unconscious. Even now that he was conscious, it wasn't like he could do anything. He was utterly useless to the world right now. He could think properly and he could hear his surroundings. He could breathe and take in the scents, but he couldn't speak. He couldn't move. His eyes refused to open. He wanted more than anything to be able to soothe the stallion who was now mumbling to him.

“A-Ah can't give up on you. Yer the first ah've ever felt comfortable lettin' mahself love. I know what those doctors said. They told me you only had a small chance of waking up. They told me not to get mah hopes up. T-They even told me that ah should consider pullin' the plug on you if you went too long without wakin' up.” Soarin could hear a soft sniffle. “Ah could never do somethin' like that! Ah've got faith in you. All you need is some time and you'll come back to me. Ah know it...”

Soarin heard every break in the cowpony's voice as he spoke. Something told him this wasn't the first time in the past week of him being unconscious that Brae had talked to him like this. He felt so guilty. He knew there was no reason he should feel guilty, the cause of the mistake wasn't his fault. What was to blame here was the weather. Even so, he felt incredibly guilty for letting the weather slip him up when he was a professional flier. He felt responsible for all of the heartache that Brae was feeling right now.

“O-Or maybe you won't. Ah guess it's not really up to me now.” He could feel how tense Braeburn was, even though he couldn't actually feel it. There was a soft drip. It was very clear to him what that drip was. The small and quiet splash against the bedsheet couldn't be anything other than a tear falling from his coltfriend's face. “Heh. I don't even know if you can hear me right now. Ah've always heard that ponies in comas are still aware, but ah was told that it's only in certain cases. Fer all I know, ah'm as good as talking to a vegetable right now.”

“Seein' you like this is so hard, Soar! It felt like everything shattered when ah saw you crash into the stadium. Then ah got close, and.. and ah saw all that blood. It felt like mah heart was more broken than you were. Your foreleg, your ribs, your face, Celestia almighty, you even split your head open. Ah don't think anypony moved until ah did. The doctors were nearly sure you wouldn't live through the trip to the hospital. But you pulled through.” It was getting difficult for Braeburn to speak, and it was just as difficult for Soarin to listen. “You lived through it, but you wouldn't wake up. Ah was happy not to lose you... but now ah'm not sure if ah still have you or not.”

“Ah remember the first time ah ran into you. D'you remember too? You were so nervous about the show that day because you were put in charge of it. Nervous enough to vent your woes to a complete stranger who was only there at his cousin's request. Ah didn't think playing the part of a good list'ner would get us talkin' more and more. Ah mean, it's not everyday you become a celebrity's love interest. Especially one whose a li'l too fond of teasin' me for blushin' at the littlest things you say.” He was describing happy memories, but there was an unmistakable tone of melancholy and sorrow to his voice. “Just seein' you gave mah heart the flutters. And that's not a pegasus joke, mind you. For a pony who was shunned as a dirty coltcuddler from a young age, runnin' into you that day was just a breath of fresh air for me.”

“It felt good for someone to care about me and tell me ah wasn't useless. Someone who really, truly loved me and not just someone lookin' to either beat me senseless or sneer at me until I felt like nothing. A-Ah guess ah just wanted to tell you just how much you mean to me, even if you can't hear me. Ah love you, Soarin. Even if you get to the point where they have to pull the plug, even if ah have to bury you, ah'll always love you. Ah guess it's some form of irony, now that ah think about it. Ah finally find the one pony who made me feel loved, who made mah life complete, and now ah might have him torn from me.” It utterly destroyed Soarin to hear his love breaking down like this. The earth pony was openly sobbing now, and he could hear hooves gripping tight to the sheets. “P-please wake up, Soar.. Ah can't go another day without y--”

Braeburn never did finish that sentence. He was sitting up now, eyes locked on Soarin's still frame. The pegasus in question was just as dumbfounded internally. He could have swore he just felt his rear leg twitch some. He could only imagine the look on Brae's face right now. Perhaps it was disbelief, maybe he was questioning whether it had actually happened. Several more drips audibly hit the bed. There was shaky breathing coming from the earth pony. He sounded like he desperately wanted to get something out but just couldn't find the words, a feeling that Soarin could most definitely sympathize with.

“S-Soarin?” The cowpony finally found his voice. “Did you-- no, can you hear me?”

There was serious straining coming from the pegasus at that point. Without even thinking, he'd regained the ability to move for the briefest of moments. He absolutely had to do it again. He had to let Braeburn know that he could hear him. He had to know that he was still here. If practice had ever been hard to him before, there was nothing quite as difficult as trying to move when even the most basic of motor functions refused to comply. He did everything he could, putting effort in attempting to move his limbs or his wings. He put effort into trying to make a sound or open his eyes. Just something to let his Brae know that he didn't plan on going anywhere anytime soon. He heard Braeburn slide his hoof across the bed, but what surprised him was that he could feel the hoof come to rest atop his own. His limb twitched in response to the touch and he desperately fought to hold his hoof. It took some serious concentration, but he was finally able to move his hoof. It took a lot of strength and tired him out quickly, but he held Braeburn's hoof and he didn't plan on letting go.

There was a squeak from the cowpony which was followed by more crying and whimpers. He could hear just how surprised and joyous the yellow coated stallion was. Soarin would probably have broken down himself, but his injury and being comatose for eight days had made him so weak that he was tired from just simply holding Brae's hoof. He had to fight if he even wanted to use his voice. He was suddenly very aware of how dry his throat was, and was even more surprised that he could feel an awkward hug from his coltfriend. He could understand that though, Brae just didn't want to put pressure on his injuries and cause him pain. Soarin gave it one excruciating try to voice his thoughts.

“B-Brae...” His voice came out gravelly and rough, and he felt a whip of pain. Despite this, he wasn't finished just yet. “I...wouldn't leave...you alone.”

“Good,” the earth pony choked out between ecstatic sobs. “Ah ain't ready to let you go.”

Using what strength he had remaining, he nuzzled in against Braeburn. He did his best to motion for Brae to join him on the bed, which was something the stallion was very happy to do. As he settled in against the weak pegasus, Soarin put some effort into getting his wing around his coltfriend. Exhausted from moving, Soarin breathed out and simply lay there with his muzzle pressed to Braeburn's still damp face. He knew he had work to do to return to his usual self, especially needing to regain his strength. But for now, he was content to just be close to the one he loved, saving any worries about his recovery for the days to come.