23.
January 23rd 2006
“Brian? Can I ask you something?” I try to ignore the heated stare Leighanne is giving me as I watch Brian blink at me.
“Howie…” she warns, fear lacing through her voice. I swallow nervously, but feel a pang of anticipation as Brian slowly nods.
“Do you… do you remember anything from… from what happened?” I ask, tripping over my words as I speak them out as fast as I can.
“Damn you, Howard!” she explodes, but neither me nor Brian pay attention to her. I see him shrug slightly and I sigh, disappointed. My next step is something I will regret the rest of my life.
“Just… just tell me this,” I say, licking my lips as I take a deep breath, “Was it Peter?”
“Damn it! We’re not supposed to ask him those questions!
You know that!” Leighanne exclaims, frustrated. I keep ignoring her, frozen in shock. I cannot explain what happens next. With an agonized scream, Brian grabs his head, his chest heaving as he gasps for air. Leighanne hovers over him, screams his name to get him to focus, but it doesn’t work. Not in the slightest.
I only know the extent of my mistake when Brian’s entire body stiffens, rigid as a wooden board. He lets out a smothered groan as his back arches. I watch his eyes roll back and know exactly what’s coming next.
“No!” I yell, “no, no, no, don’t do this!” Finally springing into action, I grab his hand, hoping there’s still some way of stopping the imminent disaster. A painful expression crosses over his face, and he squeezes my hand almost to a pulp as he starts thrashing in earnest on the bed.
“Fuck!” Screaming, I try to wrench my hand out of his grip, but he’s too strong. I can feel the bones snap inside my hand and a white hot pain travels up and down my entire arm. It hurts like a bitch, but I guess that’s what I get for doing something so completely stupid.
Leighanne doesn’t pay attention to my predicament, as she tries to get through to her husband. The convulsions don’t lessen and I know one of us needs to get a doctor, but honestly, I can’t leave, having Brian crushing my right hand, and Leighanne would rather throw him in front of the lions than to leave him alone with me right now.
“What’s…?” In the chaos, I haven’t heard Nick coming in and he stares in utter shock at the scene we’ve got ourselves engaged in.
Nick, you’re right on time.
“Nick! Thank God!” I exclaim in a haze of pain and fear, “Go call a nurse! Or… or a doctor! Or both!”
Resolutely, Nick spins on his heels and sets out running across the hallways. This is all my fault, I realize that, and in a way, the pain in my crushed hand feels entirely justified. “Brian,” I call out, “Brian, can you hear me?”
It’s useless, I know that. I try not to think of how this could turn out as a major setback in his recovery and bite my lip until I draw blood. I barely notice it, as a nurse appears right beside me. “You need to move, sir!” She says urgently.
“I can’t!” I shriek, “He’s breaking my hand!”
She frowns, but doesn’t say anything else about it. “How long has he been like this?”
“I don’t know!” I snarl, having a hard time keeping the tears of pain out of my eyes.
“About three minutes, almost four!” Leighanne adds, glaring two holes into my forehead. She doesn’t say anything, but I know what she’s thinking. It’s the same thing I’m thinking. I watch with wide eyes as the nurse takes out a syringe, plunging it into Brian’s arm without much further ado. Only two seconds later, Brian’s grip goes limp and I jerk my hand back, hugging it to my chest.
“What was that?” I question, astonished.
“Muscle relaxer,” the dark-skinned nurse grumbles. “It doesn’t mean the seizure is over, but it does keep him from mutilating your hand further. Now if you will excuse me, we need to help him now.”
It doesn’t take long before she and another nurse has ushered us out of the room and I’m left with a fuming Leighanne and a clueless Nick Carter. After a few seconds of silence, he has figured out Leighanne is staring furiously at me though.
“Howie,” He comments slowly, “What did you do?”
“I didn’t mean to… I wasn’t gonna…” I stammer, looking from Nick to Leighanne and back, “Come one, you know I didn’t…”
Leighanne seems too angry to get a word past her lips and Nick’s eyes grow wide in shock. “What did you do?” He questions again, a little more urgent this time.
“I didn’t think it could hurt, I didn’t think he’d be like this!” I’m panicking now.
“Damn it, Howard, I’m not asking again!” Nick roars and I actually take a step back, shocked by his tone. I’ve never heard him so authoritative, so God damn angry. He sounds like my father.
I hang my head, “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry,” I whisper, looking at Leighanne with helpless eyes, silently pleading for her forgiveness.
“I want you to leave,” she finally speaks, her voice unwavering, her eyes cold.
“No, please,” I stammer, “please, I just needed to know. I didn’t think this would happen. I didn’t think…”
“No, Howie. You didn’t think!” she growls, and I’m actually scared of her.
“I can… we could…”
“You’ve done enough,” she mutters, “Just… please… just leave. I know you mean well, I know you’re only trying to find out what happened, but please… I don’t want you near him again.”
I nod in understanding, knowing she has every right to send me away. They had told us that seizures wouldn’t be uncommon in patients like Brian. That he’d probably have some sort of epilepsy for the rest of his life.
But that didn’t mean we had to go and trigger it.
Aimlessly, I wander through the hospital’s halls. My hand is throbbing in earnest, letting me know it’s definitely broken. Somehow, I don’t think I deserve to get it fixed.
But I know what I have to do now. Brian’s reaction to Peter’s name was all that I needed. I’m sure of it now.
And I will find the bastard that did this to my friend, and to us. I’ll make him pay.
Chapter End Notes:
hmmm, that might not be your best idea, Howard XD
seriously, can you see a short Puerto Rican guy beat up a giant Canadian?
seriously, can you see a short Puerto Rican guy beat up a giant Canadian?
