Joshua became used to the constant pull, he could never quite ignore it completely, but he could live with it. He went about his life, working in customer service, taking lunch time walks, weekend hikes - he deliberately stayed away from a certain valley.
Mornings would find him jogging through city streets, and some mornings he'd swear he'd see wisps of fog form around him, and he'd hear voices or feel a hand touch him, but then the next step he'd be in full sun as he jogged his morning miles. He knew he was going crazy and yet he also knew it was all too real.
He wasn't afraid of Feryn or the bond, necessarily, more so of the pull it seemed to have on him. Feryn had said they could break the bond, but what would that do to him? And did he want it broken. Feryn was his as much as he was Feryn's, and he wasn't sure he wanted that to end.
Fucking magic, he though to himself, in fact, he shouted it out loud many times over the ensuing weeks.
It was one of those days that he found himself jogging through the streets, cursing the magic, the bond, cursing that he wasn't with Feryn, cursing the need to be - in the distance he could feel amusement and also some frustration. Lost in these thoughts, he wasn't paying attention to his surroundings and jogged into oncoming traffic. The car hit him, square on, and sent him flying across the intersection, then he was hit again by oncoming traffic, that he survived was a small miracle.
He lost consciousness but in his last fading awareness he sensed distress, fear, anger, and he felt Feryn. He felt Feryn coming. Then he felt nothing for several days.
His first awareness was Feryn. He was close, very close. He reached out, with his thoughts and felt a warm embrace, if such a thing was possible with a thought. Still, he felt it. It warmed him, relaxed him. He almost went back to sleep, held in that warmth. Then he slowly opened his eyes. Sunlight spilled through the window beside his bed. He tried to move, to sit up but found he couldn't. He couldn't move, couldn't feel his legs, his arms. He started to panic, and again he felt that warm hug in his head. He was alone in the room, but he wasn't alone, he knew it. Even though he couldn't see Feryn he knew he was here, close, maybe just a handspan away. He could feel concern there, he could feel the love, a depth of which he'd never known, and he found that he needed it, wanted it.
He didn't exactly relax then, but he wasn't panicked any longer. He couldn't move, he tried to be logical, to explore his body with his mind, what could he feel, what couldn't he feel? After a few minutes he gave up. A nurse came in then, to check up on him. She noticed he was awake and aware. At the same time, Joshua noticed that Feryn receded, he was less present.
"Good afternoon, Joshua, how are you feeling?"
"What happened?" he asked.
"You were in an accident, you were hit by a car, several cars actually."
"Why can't I move?"
"You're in traction," she replied, "Let me get the doctor and he can update you on your condition."
She left then, after checking the machines and making some notes on the patient chart clipped to his bed. A few minutes later the nurse returned with a doctor in tow.
"Welcome back, Joshua," she opened, "How are you feeling?"
"Confused, scared a little, trapped," Joshua spilled out. "What's wrong with me?" he finished.
"Well, the good news is that there is no permanent damage, both your legs were broken and you have fractures in both arms - you're immobilized as we had to set everything and you need to remain still to let the bones heal." The doctor checked her own notes then looked up, "Once they're set, you'll have to undergo some physiotherapy to restore your range of motion, but you should make a full recovery. You're a lucky man, Joshua."
"If I was a lucky man, doc, I wouldn't be strapped to a bed." He tried to laugh it came out a little sad.
"Well, nevertheless the prognosis is good, it'll just take some time. I'll check back later. Let the nurse know if you need anything." And with that she sailed out the door. After that, he was a life-size doll for the nurses to play with, a male nurse gave him a sponge bath, another helped him with the bed pan, another still fed him, brought him drinks to sip via a straw, meds were offered and taken.
And through it all, Feryn was there, just a step away, a step Joshua couldn't take.
He dozed and dreamed of hugging Feryn, kissing his long lean body, being kissed in turn, he new if he could take a step, that step would bring him back to that brook in the valley. He fantasized about it, wished for it but he was not able to take that step. The pills kicked in and he slept.
When he woke it was the middle of the night and a figure loomed over him. A figure he knew, one he'd know anywhere.
"How are you here?" he asked.
"You needed me beloved; I could not stay away." Feryn replied.
"Still, you're here? In the human world? I didn't think you could do that."
"It's not something we do often but we do when required." Feryn looked into his eyes.
"This bond between us, it's strong, Feryn," Joshua offered, "It's distracting, and it scares me. The last thing I remember is jogging and feeling you there in my head and heart and the next thing I know I'm here."
"Do you regret the bond, beloved?" Feryn asked.
"Sometimes, yes, sometimes I do," Joshua closed his eyes and tried to roll his head away but couldn't move much due to the traction.
"If you do not want the bond, beloved, we can sever it. It will hurt us both a great deal and in your present state, I don't know that you would survive the truncation."
"Truncation?" Joshua asked.