Cripes. I have no idea where this came from. *Death fic warning*.
Rated R. It ain't pretty.
Title is from Psalm 103:15-16; "As for man, his days are as grass: as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth. For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone; and the place thereof shall know it no more."
Days as Grass
by: M-A
Fraser coughed weakly, splattering his chin and cheeks with blood.
Ray rubbed at the crimson stains with a blood soaked cloth, making the mess worse.
"I..." Fraser wheezed. He raised his head slightly and tried again. "I..."
Ray stroked his forehead. "Ssh, Fraser.... Don't talk. Keep your strength."
Fraser moved his head a little to the left, the closest he could come to shaking it. "I... I'm afraid."
Ray squeezed his eyes shut, willing this nightmare away. When he opened them a few seconds later, Fraser was still lying there with his head in his lap and that god awful blood splattered all over him. "What are you afraid of?" he asked finally.
"Death... my death," Fraser rasped out. "Not ready. Not now..."
"You're not going to die," Ray said firmly, knowing he was lying. There was no way out of this nightmare. This is where it would end.
Fraser managed to produce a sound that was almost a laugh. "Yeah, right." He coughed again, the sound painful. When the fit had subsided, Ray could hear a gurgle in his friend's throat.
"You can't die here, Fraser. We haven't found Franklin's hand yet."
"Can... can you find your way home?"
"Fraser!"
"No!" Fraser said softly, but forcefully. "I... have to know. Will you be okay?"
Tears welled up in Ray's eyes. He remembered suddenly something Fraser had once said to him. "Find the peace, Fraser. You know, the peace in knowing that there's something greater than ourselves..."
"I can't find it. I--" Fraser coughed again, his body wracked with agonizing spasms. The blood was coming faster now and there was nothing Ray could do about it. Fraser's final words were almost inaudible. "You... didn't... my... quest..."
"I'll be okay, Fraser, I promise," Ray assured him. "Close your eyes, Fraser. Ssh... I bet that what you see when you close your eyes is just like what's around us, only a thousand times more beautiful. Go on..."
The haunting silence of the tundra remained broken by rasping breaths for only a moment longer.
The silence that came then could not drown out the sobs that followed.
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