Vin admired the x-ray tech’s professionalism. She guided and supported his aching body into the correct positions for the x-rays without one word, comment, or even a gasp at the devastation running rampant across his chest, back and shoulders. He didn’t mind her touching him. Her warm hands were a nice contrast to the chilly room, and she was gentle enough that she didn’t cause him any more pain.The pain he was already in wore him out fast though. Amanda told him they were done, and that he could put his shirt back on, while she developed his x-rays. But even the simple movement of lifting his arm into the sleeve proved too much, and he stood for a while, just holding the two shirts in front of himself, trying to summon the energy to get dressed. He didn’t want anybody to know how bad he was feeling just now.
“Hey –.” The door popped open and Chris looked in. He took in Vin’s state, half-dressed, and must’ve thought he’d interrupted him. “Sorry. I’ll give you a minute.”
“No Chris – wait.” Vin called him back. “You have to …” He stopped. Did Chris really have to do anything? And anyway, Vin hadn’t needed help getting dressed since before his Mom died. And did he really want Chris getting an up close look at his wounds? But did he really want to stand here all day, get dressed by inches? He held out the shirts that were almost too heavy in his hands. “Would you help me?”
“Yeah.” Chris’ answer was immediate and definite. He came in and let the door shut behind. “You okay?” He took the shirts from Vin, and shook them out to separate them.
“Hurts so bad I can hardly move.”
“Nathan say anything worthwhile?” Chris draped a shirt over his arm, the one he’d loaned Vin. The other shirt he held open and low enough that Vin could get his arms in without raising them.
“Couldn’t tell – too much yelling in the hallway to hear him…” He tried to sound annoyed, but had to add, “Thanks for sticking up for me with her. Don’t think I woulda had the strength to stick up for myself.” Vin let Chris ease the first shirt over his shoulders then he tried to get his shaking hands to work the buttons. Without being asked, Chris came around the front of him and took over the task.
“I don’t know – you seemed to do pretty well with Nathan. He said you let him look at your back, how come you didn’t want him to look at the cut on your head?”
Vin tried to shrug, but it hurt too much. “Just being ornery.”
“Ha! Well I’d say he deserved that.” Chris finished the buttons and held out the next shirt, his shirt, for Vin to slide his arms into. “In between the yelling, did he say anything?”
“Just that he had to check the x-rays first. Didn’t even say he was sorry for making me fall.” The second shirt didn’t get buttoned, so after it was on, Vin took a few steps away from Chris. “I just want to take a handful of painkillers and go to sleep. I can’t do this anymore.”
“Maybe it was too much coming back to work so soon.” Chris walked past Vin, to a small desk and a plastic institutional chair. He nudged the chair toward Vin, who set himself into it with a sigh.
“Maybe.”
“We’ll figure out something different for tomorrow. If all you’re doing is exchanging emails, you can do that from home.” Chris leaned back against the x-ray table set in the middle of the floor and folded his arm. “And Nathan better hope he never puts you into a wall again.”
+ + + + + + +
Nettie spent most of her day unable to concentrate on even the simplest household tasks. Her mind would trail off to thinking about Vin for long moments, and when she came back to the present, she’d find herself standing with a dust cloth in her hand, or the vacuum cleaner roaring unattended, or the teakettle boiling itself dry. Finally she gave up all attempts at housekeeping. She made herself some tea and sat in one of the upholstered rocking chairs in front of the bay window in her dining room.
On the small table between the two chairs, in a worn frame she’d inherited from her grandmother, stood her favorite photograph of Vin. He didn’t even know she was taking it, back in early summer on his birthday. They’d celebrated at her house, Vin and all his friends. He and Chris were sitting on the top step of the porch, talking about something, and Nettie’d come around the side of the house with her camera, and snapped it without him even knowing. A little enlarging, a little cropping, and she had a close up three quarter profile of his face. Whatever he and Chris were talking about, Vin was smiling, almost laughing, with a soft crease of laugh lines at his eyes.
Of course, Vin didn’t like the picture, and whenever he came over, he pushed the fake fern in front of it. At first Nettie would move the fern out of the way again, but after awhile, she let him get away with hiding the picture, and when he was gone again, she’d move the fern and take a long long look at the photograph. It amazed her how fast that boy had become so important to her, how quickly he’d become an indispensable part of her life.
Now he’d been brutally attacked, and she was worried about propriety.
She leaned forward to pick up the photograph. Vin could be a puzzling man, especially the first few months she knew him. Just when she decided he was outgoing and assertive because he was forever jumping in to help someone else, he became shy and quiet at being praised or if he needed help himself. Just when she decided he was shy and quiet and eminently polite, he’d walk up to her on her porch and announce, “Hey Nettie, I just figured out – you’re old enough to be Josiah’s mother!” Just when she decided he was a smart aleck who liked to rib his friends at every opportunity, he’d move quickly and unobtrusively to diffuse a situation that was proving embarrassing to someone else.
Just when she thought that she thought he’d be better off dead, she missed him so much it almost hurt. qqq
+ + + + + + +
Physician and friend bridled in each other’s presence, Chris and Rain eyeing each other like porcupines planning offensive strategy. Vin tried to ignore them and concentrate on Nathan giving him the results of the x-rays. He tried to ignore the shrinking supply of oxygen in the tiny exam room that everybody claimed the chance to stand in.
“So I’m adding a muscle relaxant too…” Nathan was saying. “In case you get the spasms again. And I want you to take it easy. No coming to work tomorrow, you understand me?”
“I’ll take it under advisement.” Vin said, and stood up from the exam table. “We done?”
“I mean it Vin.” Nathan’s voice was stern. “No need to go pushing yourself before you’re ready. After – after what happened to you, it’d be only normal to want to take some time for yourself. There’s nothing so almighty important on this campus that you have to be out in public before you’re ready.”
“ ‘Out in public’?” Vin snapped. “Hell Nathan, I’m not a deformed baby y’gotta hide away from folks. Just gimme the damn pills and let me get outta here.” But Nathan persisted.
“Vin, what happened to you -.” He started to say. Vin had started to leave the room, but he turned at Nathan’s words.
“What happened to me - happened to me. Not to anybody else. I decide what I need and where I’ll go and what I’ll do. The both of you…” He included Rain in his anger. “You get paid for your advice, not your opinions, so you mise well keep ‘em outta my way. If I come into work tomorrow, it’s because I want to come into work tomorrow. If I wanna hide, then I’ll hide. If I’m scared, then I’m scared. If I get angry, then I’ll get angry. I don’t need to be worrying about what anybody else thinks about what happened to me. You got that?” Without waiting for an answer, he left the exam room, and he left the clinic.
He knew Chris would be following pretty soon after, so he waited near the front door. Sure enough, in a few minutes, Chris was there, carrying a medicine bottle.
“You know Chris…” he said as he took the bottle from his friend. “I think I’m getting the hang of this. I’m fine until I get scared, then I’m a basket case. Then I get over it and I’m fine until I have a flashback, then I get physically sick. Then I get better and I’m fine until somebody pisses me off, and then I’m enraged. Sound like a good system to you?”
Chris nodded. “Sounds like a plan.”
FIFTY-THREE
Well, the day had started out abysmally for Ezra and as of late afternoon, it had yet to improve. Not only did Mr. Dunne insist on dogging his steps back to his office, but once he attained said office – there sat Judge Travis, behind Ezra’s desk, waiting for him. The look on his face was not that of a happy man.“Mr. Standish.” The Judge intoned over his bifocals. “Perhaps you could enlighten me as to why one seventh of my Board members felt the need to suddenly bolt from today’s proceedings?” Ezra sensed JD turn a startled look at him, but he didn’t take his eyes from the Judge. He was in no mood to defend his actions at the moment; he was also in no mood to be further reprimanded by his boss. He decided to quilt a little truth into a little prevarication.
“This past Friday afternoon, Mr. Tanner was involved in an altercation. He sustained serious injuries and yet –.” Ezra gestured to the patched wall and bucket of tools still remaining. “ – he returned to work today. Apparently, unfortunately, his injuries overtook him while he was seeing to the repairs of my wall, and he collapsed on the Green on the way to the Clinic. Hence Mr. Dunne’s precipitous summons of Mr. Larabee from the Board Meeting.”
“And your ‘precipitous’ departure from the meeting occurred because…?” The Judge’s question hung a moment while Ezra struggled to define the answer for himself. Finally, he offered the best answer he could.
“It is Mr. Tanner’s habit to hasten to the assistance of his friends and colleagues, no matter the circumstance, without thought or hesitation.” Ezra said. “I found I could do no less on his behalf.”
+ + + + + + +
It didn’t take much persuasion on either side for Vin to decide he wanted to go home, and for Chris to decide he’d take him. They closed up shop in Chris’ office and walked back through the long corridor of Chase Hall, to the exit that opened closest to the parking lot. Vin had decided to wait until he was practically lying down already before he took more painkillers or the muscle relaxant; otherwise he knew Chris would have to carry him into the house.
The truck – and escape – were both within sight when Judge Travis appeared from around the corner of the building. Any hope that he might just be passing by disintegrated as he walked directly up to the two men.
“Mr. Tanner…” he looked Vin up and down. “You’ve been brawling?”
Tired of lying and exhausted by the truth, and wanting to just go away, Vin answered him, “I got in the way of some creeps who were trying to molest a little girl neighbor a’mine. They didn’t take kindly to the interference.”
“I can imagine. Would that be the reason behind that email you sent out earlier?” The Judge asked Chris. Vin shot Larabee a sharp look.
“Yeah.” Chris said. “JD said he saw a couple guys matching their description on campus the other day. With classes starting up, and a new crop of freshman girls coming in, can’t take any chances.”
“I agree.” Judge Travis turned his attention back to Vin. “Well Mr. Tanner…” he sounded stern at first, then his voice became unexpectedly gentle as he peered at Vin over his glasses. “Are you all right?”
“No.” Vin surprised even himself with that response. “Got a concussion, cracked ribs, a cracked vertebrae, got my head laid open for me, and more bruises than I can count.” He didn’t mean to sound bitter. “So no – I’m not all right.” Vin didn’t wait for whatever else the Judge might say. He turned and walked toward Chris’ truck, but he heard Chris say:
“I’m taking him home Orrin. I shouldn’t have let him come to work at all. I’m not sorry I cut out of the Board meeting though. Marian Stephens is the most pompous harpy I’ve ever wanted to throttle.” The Judge didn’t answer that.
“Will you be back tomorrow?” he asked.
“I don’t know. He’s not too steady on his own yet. I won’t leave him alone if I don’t think he’s up to it.”
“I understand…take care of him Chris.” That apparently ended the conversation as Chris walked to the truck. He unlocked the passenger door while muttering something about tulips and harpies.
“Were they really on campus?” Vin had to know. “It wasn’t just somebody talking? It was them? Are you sure?”
“From what JD said they were talking about, it seemed like it was them…” Chris said. Vin closed his eyes and sagged against the truck. “I shouldn’t have brought you to work today Vin. I shouldn’t have let you out of my sight. When JD called me out of the meeting I thought –.”
“You didn’t say anything about me did you?” Vin asked. “In the email?”
“No, I didn’t mention you at all…”
Vin nodded, and they got into the truck. As they drove off the campus, he said, “I don’t think I can come back tomorrow.”
“It’s OK Vin. We’ll work something out.”
+ + + + + + +
“So, what were you and Chris arguing about?” Nathan asked Rain, as they stocked the supply room at the end of their day. She made a gesture of exasperation.
“That man can be the most provoking, irritating, overbearing…”
“You’re not telling me anything I don’t know already Sweetheart…” Nathan prodded
“He insisted he was going to stay with Vin, in the room, while I examined him. He refused to take no for an answer.”
“Rain – ‘no’ is a language Chris doesn’t speak.”
“What did he think he’d be accomplishing? Why did he think he needed to hover as though Vin needed to be protected? The man is impossible.” She turned to a cupboard and started putting away folded exam gowns.
“Well Vin isn’t too strong yet. I can understand Chris wanting to stick close.” He stood beside Rain and handed the gowns to her. “He’s been like Vin’s big brother since the day they met.”
“Vin is fine. It’s been five days, and he was at work today. Vin’s not a stupid man, he knows what happened, and he’s dealing with it. You know we don’t live in the Victorian Age anymore, where being raped is the crime. ”
“Things might have changed for women – and I’m not sure they have – but it’s a hundred times worse for a man.” They finished with the gowns and started on boxes of alcohol wipes.
“Spare me the macho posturing and pride, Nathan. Rape is just one more crime, like being mugged or burglarized. I worked in New York City, I’ve been mugged. It’s not a big deal.”
Nathan really didn’t like it when Rain spoke in that ‘of course my experience counts for the whole world’ tone of voice, as though no other possibility existed but her own opinion. “It is a big deal Rain," he said. “That man’s life will never be the same again. They didn’t just invade his home and his space, they invaded his body, against his will. You can’t lose your pride and your privacy any more completely than that.” Rain shook her head, but didn’t answer; her way of saying that particular conversation was over.
“It is a big deal.” Nathan repeated.
FIFTY-FOUR
Chris pulled into his driveway next to his mother-in-law’s Mercedes. He opened his door, and turned to see if Vin needed any help. But, sunk down lower than normal in the passenger seat, Vin wasn’t making a move to get out.“What d’you suppose Rain’s problem is?” Vin asked, and Chris shut his door again. “Maybe I am making too much of this? Maybe I should be over it by now?” Chris could tell from the tone of his voice that Vin wanted somebody to dispute that. Which was just as well, because Chris was going to dispute it.
“Buck said it’s like getting hit by a truck, by a monster truck. You think you’d be over that by now?” Chris kept his voice conversational; what he really wanted was to give Rain a good shake.
“No…but this isn’t like getting hit by a truck. This is – less external…” Vin’s face went crimson at the remark. Chris wondered if he was referring to the emotional or the physical, but he wasn’t about to ask. He settled himself back against his own seat and sighed.
“Vin – sometimes life drives a monster truck.”
“Well, I wish life would keep on driving and not stick around revvin’ its motor…JD really saw ‘em? They were really on campus?” Chris nodded.
“Seems like.”
“Hmm…” Vin fiddled with his seatbelt but still didn’t get out. “You think Rain never got hit by a truck? Not necessarily my truck, I mean. But – I used to appreciate that she was never a ‘warm fuzzy’ person, y’know? If I get hurt, give me a bandage and let me go, don’t need any TLC. But this – man, you think she’d have a little more compassion. Being a doctor. Being a woman. I really hate that she thinks it’s all over and done.”
“I don’t know Rain all that well.” Chris said. “From talking to her, from what Nathan says, her father was a military doctor. Might be where she gets it from. You know, patch ‘em up and send ‘em back to battle.” He shrugged. “I don’t know. I hope she gets a clue before I add her to the list of people I want to run over with the bulldozer…” Vin turned to him then.
“What would you do – if you caught up with one of them? What would you do to them?” Chris didn’t answer him. “Don’t – y’know, don’t –.”
“I won’t get caught.” Chris assured him. But Vin shook his head.
“Don’t get hurt.”
+ + + + + + +
Vin went up to his room as soon as they walked into the house. He could hear Chris talking to Billy and Evie, but he didn’t want to have to see anybody else. There were more clean clothes at the foot of his bed. He decided to take a shower – then reminded himself he wouldn’t feel clean anyway. But he knew he would’ve taken a shower after a day like today, before the attack, so what was different about now? The clothes were there, the hot water was there. He could take his painkillers and muscle relaxers, and by the time he was done with the shower they would’ve started working and he could lay down and sleep.
Before he could argue with himself any more, Vin grabbed the clean clothes and went to take a shower.
+ + + + + + +
“Vin?”
“Mhmhm?”
“Vin?”
“Hmhmhmm.”
“You in there?”
“Mrhmrrhmhr.”
Chris wondered if he should make Vin wake up for dinner – or leave him face down in his pillow to get the sleep he really needed. He’d taken a shower, but Chris didn’t know immediately if that was a good or bad thing. Vin was still wearing Chris’ shirt over his own. It was Chris’ favorite shirt, but he kind of appreciated that it made Vin feel safer or better to be wearing it. He’d let him keep it as long as he needed to.
“Vin – dinner?”
“Nhnhnngnnhry.”
Well, Chris decided to take that for a no. He turned to leave and his foot nudged something under the bed. He bent down to pick it up - it was the bottle of Vin’s painkillers, better than half empty. Chris didn’t think Vin should’ve gone through that much from Saturday to Tuesday.
“Vin – how many painkillers did you take?”
“Buha.” Vin’s answer into the pillow wasn’t good enough for Chris. He gave Vin’s shoulder a rough shake and raised his voice.
“How many painkillers did you take?” Vin pushed himself onto his side with a very tired motion and blinked up at Chris.
“What?” That about put Chris as the end of his patience. He demanded again.
“How many painkillers did you take?”
“One – took one of each.” Vin mumbled his words. “Whadya shoutin’ for?”
“Each? You took a painkiller with a muscle relaxant?”
“Yeah. Hell yeah. Didn’t want…any more pain…” Vin’s eyes shut as he was answering. “Whadya shoutin’ for? Not deaf.”
“You just – you gotta be careful is all…” Chris changed his tone. “Wouldn’t want you to – stop breathing or anything.” Vin lifted a weary hand, but didn’t open his eyes.
“Still…breathing…gimme the bottle…”
“I’ll leave it on the desk here…” Though Chris didn’t want to leave it anywhere Vin could get to it unsupervised. “Just – don’t take so many. OK? OK?” he repeated when Vin didn’t answer.
“Oooo…kayyyyy…” Vin drawled out. He dropped his hand back onto the mattress. “Lemme sleep.”
“Aren’t you gonna eat dinner?” Chris tried one more time.
“Later…tomorrow…wanna sleep.”
“OK…I’ll check on you later…” He got no answer, and didn’t push for one this time.
+ + + + + + +
Buck was surprised - very surprised – to find JD waiting for him when he left work. He thought about ignoring him, even though he was standing next to Buck’s truck, but he decided it might be an interesting conversation. He stopped in front of JD, but didn’t say anything.
“Hey Buck…” JD almost sounded a little scared. “Buy you dinner? I uh – I wanted to talk to you about – something.”
“Something?” Buck wasn’t going to let him off easy.
“Yeah, y’know. I just – something happened at work today and I just… I know you think I’m a jerk and I just –.”
“What happened at work?” Buck managed to keep his voice casual, though it worried him.
“I don’t know, not really. Vin and Nathan were talking or arguing or something. Vin fell and hit his back. Chris took him home. I just – thought maybe we could talk?” Buck let out a long, audible breath as he considered ‘talking’ when the urge he was feeling was closer to ‘throttling’.
“I gotta stop by Vin’s place first, pick up his mail, make sure everything is OK in his apartment. We can hit Inez’s after that, you wanna talk.”
+ + + + + + +
JD didn’t feel right going into Vin’s apartment when he wasn’t there, even with Buck leading the way. He could feel Buck’s irritation with him like waves, still he didn’t stray too far from Buck’s side.
“You wanna see where it happened?” Buck asked.
“No!” It came out too fast and too anxious. Then he realized, “I didn’t know it happened in here.”
“In there…” Buck pointed him to the bathroom, while he checked the caller ID. “We had to replace all the wallpaper, the shower curtain, and the medicine chest.”
“Why?”
“All the blood.” Buck told him casually. “From that crack they put in his head. Whole wall was covered with it, shower curtain was sprayed with it. Floor was thick with it. Mirror was shattered where they slammed his head against it…” As he spoke, he jotted some numbers down from the caller ID. “I tell you, it was pretty gruesome.”
“I – I – I didn’t know.” JD stammered. Buck gave him a hard look.
“No, I guess you didn’t know.”
FIFTY-FIVE
On the way from Vin’s apartment to Inez’s restaurant, Buck called Mary on his cell phone to let her know he wouldn’t be there for dinner. Then he pondered what direction he wanted this little “conversation” with JD to take. He figured Chris was right - hollering at JD or getting him riled wouldn’t do Vin any good. He decided to take the scarier route – he’d be nice to JD.+ + + + + + +
“So, how are things going at work?” Buck asked as they set themselves into a booth. He kept a slight edge in his voice, not wanting JD to catch on to his plan.
“Okay. Things always get a little crazy just before classes start up again.” JD sounded nervous and a little wary. “Plus I guess Chris is finding out a lot of stuff that James never got around to taking care of…Chris and Vin I mean.”
“I bet. Seems like that fella retired and forget to let anybody else know.”
The waitress took their orders and brought them each a beer. Buck sat back in his seat, with one long arm draped along the top of the bench, and watched JD, who nervously picked at the label on his beer bottle and stammered out a lot of words before getting to the point.
“So – I guess I don’t really understand what happened. To Vin.”
“I guess not.” Buck said. “You and Ezra got so tied up in what you supposed happened that you didn’t waste any time trying to figure out what didn’t happen.” That seemed to pinch JD a little.
“Don’t put me in with Ezra. I mean – Ezra thinks that Vin – well, you know what Ezra thinks. I don’t think that - not really. I don’t think I do.”
“What do you think happened, JD?” Buck made sure to keep his voice down – and casual. “I know you think Vin let them attack him. But what exactly does that mean to you?”
“Well – you know how Vin is, he doesn’t even like people standing too close to him sometimes. If he let - that - happen to him…”
“You think he didn’t put up a fight? Or enough of a fight?” When JD kind of shrugged, kind of nodded, Buck told him. “I tell you what JD. Next time you see Vin, take a look at his hands. You don’t get bruised fingers and raw knuckles from “letting” anything happen. Take a look at his face, take a look at the way his stands, and how he protects his ribs. Watch him walk. You don’t let somebody beat you so bad you can’t stand up straight.”
The conversation stopped as the waitress delivered their food, chili for JD and pizza for Buck. When the waitress left again, Buck let out a sigh.
“JD – I can tell you exactly what happened to Vin if you want.”
“No – oh no Buck. I wouldn’t want to…uh – you don’t have to –.”
“Relax, I don’t mean the explicit details. But if you’re so all fired sure that Vin let it happen, I think you need to know exactly what it was that he let happen.”
“Uhh. Oh – okay. Sure.” But JD didn’t sound too sure, as he destroyed his crackers into his food. Watching him stir the chili, Buck’s plan came a little more into focus.
“You know they attacked him because he stopped them from molesting a little girl in his apartment building?” This was JD’s first surprise.
“No. I didn’t know that.”
“After he scared ‘em away from the little girl and got her back to her apartment, they came back after him. Figured out what apartment he lives in and broke in on him while he was taking a shower.” Buck saw JD flush a little at the image, and decided to jump straight to the point. “He fought ‘em JD. He fought ‘em hard. If he had ‘let them’, they coulda done what they wanted and hardly left a mark on him. Instead they had to kick him and beat him to the point where he couldn’t fight back. They broke his ribs and slammed his face into the towel bar. That’s how he got the black eyes.”
The flush retreated as JD’s face grew pale.
“They cracked his spine y’know. A fella at the precinct told me that to do that, they pretty much had to jump on top of him.”
A spoonful of chili stopped midway between the bowl and JD.
“There was blood and vomit and piss everywhere in that bathroom. Hand marks on the wall where you could see Vin tried to drag himself away but they just kept pulling him back.”
The spoon dropped into the bowl as JD covered his mouth with his hand. He’d gone stark white. Buck pressed the advantage.
“And his head – they pounded his head into the mirror on his medicine cabinet so hard it shattered the glass. Left chunks of skin and hair and blood stuck in the -.”
JD fled the booth, heading for the restroom. Inez saw him rushing away, and walked over to Buck.
“Is JD all right?”
“Oh yeah, don’t worry about him.” Buck said. “He’s just finding out that reality don’t taste as good as he thought it did.”
+ + + + + + +
Chris went upstairs periodically just to make sure Vin still was breathing. Each time, he found him in the exact same position he’d left him – dead asleep, face down in the pillows, with his arms wrapped around a tangle of blankets. He had the pictures of his parents pressed close again. At dusk, after dinner, Chris stopped a minute, and sat in the chair at the desk next to the bunk bed. He’d been so busy these past four or five days just making sure that Vin stayed safe and sane, he hadn’t stopped to be thankful that Vin was safe and sane.
He sure hadn’t spent a lot of time dwelling on what Vin had been through to put his safety and sanity into doubt.
Even now, sitting here watching Vin sleep, Chris couldn’t form a distinct image of the brutal attack. Of course, he wasn’t trying too hard. He knew what fear felt like, he knew what it tasted like, and he could well imagine that any fear he’d ever suffered, Vin had experienced a thousand times worse.
Buck once kiddingly referred to Vin as Chris’ ‘little brother’. Not in Vin’s hearing of course – and really, not kidding so much either. Chris hadn’t even thought about it then. Buck had no close blood family and it was just part of his nature to absorb all of his friends into his circle of ‘family’. But Chris thought about it now. It was possible, he supposed. Vin sure didn’t have any close blood family either, though he was more likely to keep people at arm’s length. Even friends. Chris might not refer to him out loud as kin, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t feel it.
It didn’t mean that he didn’t feel it already.
On the bed, Vin twisted a little, and seemed to be pulling away from something. He turned his face out of the pillow, gasping don’t in a weak voice. Chris reached out to touch Vin’s arm and pull him from the nightmare before it got worse. Vin opened his eyes, but Chris couldn’t be too sure he was focusing on anything in particular. Then he moved his other hand to hold Chris’ fingers in a weak grip.
“Chhrriiiisssssss?” slurred out of him, still caught in the wake of one too many painkillers.
“I’m here.” Chris said. Vin looked up at him once and then closed his eyes. He didn’t let go of Chris’ hand.
“Lemme sleep.”
Chris smiled at his ‘little brother’s’ complaint. “Yeah Vin. You bet I’ll let you sleep.”
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