Story:Speed Bump
Speed Bump
Written by Betsie and Articus
Barnaby had just wanted a few quiet beers before he headed for bed that night. Nothing more, nothing less. Just a few good beers. He’d slipped away to a local sports bar in Sturgis, one that he’d quite come to enjoy on the nights he didn’t feel like getting dressed up, when he just wasn’t in the mood for the flirting and grinding and effort involved in going to his favourite gay club. Settling in at the bar, he smiled at the bartender, one that recognized him and smiled back.
“The regular, big fish?”
“Bonzeh mate.” He’d replied with a grin and a nod; most of the people here knew him in passing, and those that followed the FBA knew that he was the team’s rookie pick of the season and were always more than happy to get to rub elbows with a sports celebrity. Receiving his beer, Barnaby slid a couple bills across the counter to cover his current beer, a couple more, and a large tip for the smiling feline that was working the bar.
Barnaby was just starting his second beer when he spied a small group of men making their way across the bar towards him; there was a drunken swagger in their steps, but anger in their eyes as they decided to approach the relaxed shark.
“Hey! You! You’re that Jazz fellow ain’t ya?” Barnaby didn’t even spare them a second glance, focusing quietly on his beer. He was used to handling drunk idiots, so he hoped this would go over as well as it usually did.
“I dunno. Do y’know any other seven-foot-six sharks that live around here?” He asked, still looking at the bottles of liquor that were lined up behind the bar, pondering, as he sipped calmly from his beer. But his attitude didn’t seem to be pleasing the drunken fans that had come across the bar to say hi. The “leader” of the group, a rather large canine, gave a growl at being ignored, reaching out and grabbing the shark’s shoulder to jerk him around to look at them.
“Hey! I’m talkin’ t’ya ya fucking faggot!” Barnaby’s face turned into a deep frown, tension showing in his jaw as he glared at the canine from his seat in the bar.
“I don’t speak ta drunken seppos that insult me, s’rack off!” He snapped with a growl before turning back to his beer. Needless to say, it’d been a bad idea. His angry words merely incensed the group of drunken men, and Barnaby soon found himself knocked to the floor by a rough blow to his head.
Despite being outnumbered, the shark made it back to his feet and returned the blow to the responsible canine without hesitation, snarling viciously as he bared his rows of sharp teeth. That seemed to trigger the others into action, and before long, it was three-against-one in an all-out bar brawl. Security rushed in to do their job, but not before Barnaby crashed to the ground from a harsh elbow to the nose, the giant shark left dazed as his nose trickled blood.
Even when the bar bouncers helped him to his feet, he stumbled and ended up leaning on the bar for balance as his head spun. The bartender decided it’d be best to call an ambulance.
Less than an hour later, Barnaby was in a sterile hospital room; he was banged up and bruised, but his head was the concern. The doctors looked at his symptoms and figured severe concussion, insisting he stay at least overnight for further observation. Diagnosing a broken nose, they fitted Barnaby with a clear plastic nose cone to support it as it healed. The shark tried to protest, but the doctor’s insisted. Once they had their patient settled, they called Barnaby’s contact, Dan.
The polar bear reached the hospital and hurried to his teammate’s room, a little shocked to see the big shark felled by a simple bar brawl, but as he checked Twitter he knew he had to run some control. FMZ was already on this apparently, tweeting “RUMOUR: More trouble in Sturgis?! Barnaby Jazz (@BiterBarbie) supposedly hospitalized after bar brawl late last night!” for all to see. Nobody believed them, but for once, FMZ was telling the truth.
Dan quickly posted a few Tweets of his own to clarify the situation.
Barnaby was left to rest for the evening; although the doctors did not want him to sleep, the shark might as well have, so out of it from the blows he’d received that he didn’t even realize Dan was there in the room with him.
After Dan went home, Barnaby hovered near the edge of consciousness, his head still spinning; he knew what was wrong with himself, but none of these damn doctors would listen to him. managing to clear his vision for a moment, the shark reached for his phone that sat on the nightstand near him, trying hard to read what was going on on Twitter but a fresh wave of dizziness made him put the phone down promptly as his tail thrashed, knocking over his IV cart with a resounding clatter. Even laying down it felt like he couldn’t get his balance, and it was clearly unsettling him. The doctors were reluctant, fearing a concussion, they wanted Barnaby to stay awake, but for the safety of himself and the staff; restraining him became necessary.
His tail was strapped down securely, and the nurse administered a mild sedative, just enough to help him relax. Dizzy and now groggy, Barnaby tried Twitter again; he could hardly type, but he managed to assure those that were concerned that he was fine, injury was minor, no concussion. But he was sleepy. Oh so sleepy.
The last thing he read before he dozed off was that Daryl was coming to see him.
Daryl had never been one to be brash. Being as shy as he was, it lent itself to being very careful in thinking out what you do, the pros, the cons and all that.
Not this time.
Upon hearing that that Barnaby had somehow landed himself in the hospital, he couldn’t just sit still and think things out. He couldn’t say why, but just the mere idea had sank into his stomach like an anchor, and the twitter comments he was seeing only helped to sink that further. So, with record speed he had gotten his jacket, made a hurried explanation to Darrius; the stallion roommate barely able to catch what Daryl said before he was out the door. He started at a moderate pace at first, but with moment he thought about it, his pace quickened. By the time he was getting to the bus station, he was fairly out of breath. He walked in, asked for a bus ticket to Sturgis, and fifteen minutes later, he was on a bus.
As he sat in the 80’s styled plush seat, he let out a long sigh and looked out the window. Now that the intense shock of learning about Barbie’s situation had faded, he stopped to think on why he was quite this worried. As lights flashed by, sprinkling the the view in the window as they sped between states, he let his mind wander and really think about everything. After all, he’d only met the shark a few weeks ago and while they had gotten very close very fast; they were just friends…
Right?
Closing his eyes, he laid his head against the window and let himself rest for now. Right now, he just had to be there for the shark in his time of need. Soon enough, he had drifted off into sleep.
A few hours later, after jolting up from a particularly rough hit of the bus’ brakes, he arrived in Dakota, glancing around for indication of where the hospital might be. One map and some directions later, and he was winding his way to the hospital. He pushed all the complicated thoughts aside; which helped with the sudden onset of being in a strange city for only the second time in his life. Luckily, the hospital was rather obvious once he got on the right street and he was able to slip into the lobby without any incidence.
He started to approach the desk, stopped as he saw the visiting hours, which were way past being done. He stood for a moment, tempted to listen to the sign. However, the need to see Barbie outweighed the desire to follow the rules, so he went up to the desk and said, “Excuse me, I know the visiting hours are done, but I forgot my wallet in my friend’s room and desperately need to get it back.” The otter behind the desk looked up, looking like she was just about to leave herself, giving Daryl the once over before saying, “Sure thing dear, just try not to stay too long okay?” Daryl, making like he was gonna, stopping quick before saying, “Oh um, I kinda forgot which room it was. Its Barnaby Jazz’s room.” The otter looked over a sheet on her desk, saying, “That’d be room 216.” The canine smile, giving a slightly rushed, “Thank you.” to the woman before walking down the hall.
Once out of earshot, he let out a sigh of relief, glad that his timid nature made it rather easy to appear like he were honest, even in those few times that he wasn’t. He kept his gaze forward as he passed the occasional janitor. It seemed that most everyone was gone except for those who absolutely had to be there. It only took him a few minutes to find the door marked 216, glancing about before slipping in.
He closed the door gently behind him, not wanting to disturb the shark who seemed to be asleep. The dog walked slow, glad his feet were padded so to reduce the noise even more. Pulling up a chair, he sat next to the shark, not sure quite what to do. After a moment, he stood up, resting a hand on the shark arm, saying softly, “Hey, Barbie, its Daryl. I’m here and it looks like you’re gonna be okay. Then again, that should have been obvious. You’re a tough one alright…”
He stood there, a weird sensation washing over him as he saw the shark, who was always so full of youthful energy, so still and silent. He reached up, patting his shoulder gently, whispering, “You’ll be just fine…”
Suddenly the thoughts of their relationship sprung up again, the retriever mix’s brow furrowing a bit as they swirled around his mind. He let out a soft sigh, looking at the floor as he said, “Ugh, what am I doing…” Looking over the shark again, he thought back to the last “friend” he had, the way he felt all those years ago in middle school. He’d been cautious ever since that day, focusing on work over relationships. It was easier than trying, than thinking about what had happened…Yet, here he was again, not listening to his head again and letting his heart take control. He rubbed his nose a bit, saying in a slightly strained voice, “Please, be okay.” before leaning up and gently kissing the shark’s cheek.
After a moment, he sat back down in his chair, and rested his head on the shark’s arm. He told himself he’d just stay for a few more moments, but the late hour had other plans. Just like the first time the pair had met, the canine’s eyes began to droop, weariness quickly taking the goldmation off into a deep sleep.