Brothers - 7. Chapter 7

JASON

The sound of quiet beeps greeted Jason when he woke up. His body ached as though he had just gone toe to toe with a werewolf. A soft, almost questioning whimper breached his ear, and his head turned painfully to find Devyn at his side.
The wolf was wearing a strange white coat, one that covered every inch of his body. A biohazard symbol sat on the side, and Jason gulped.
He was sick… really sick… Slowly, the neko realized his arms were covered in tubes, fluid slowly seeping into his body. It was unnerving. He hadn't been in a hospital since the accident. Jason's heart sped up, the beeps starting to run faster and louder in his ears.
Beside him, Devyn whimpered, resting his covered head on his brother's stomach.
"Jason? Jason, calm down," someone said. A dark-skinned elf walked through the door, filling the room with confidence no one else seemed to feel. "You're okay, you're safe. Just a little sick."
Jason stared at the covered elf, his mind racing. What was he doing in the hospital? He had only been a little dizzy.
"Sander, I got him," another elf said, squeezing past the first.
She slipped a needle into his arm, Jason hissing in pain and fear. He blinked, fatigue washing over him.
"There we go. You're just going through the neko plague. It will pass," the second elf said. "We're giving you some antiviral medicine; you'll pull through, barring any problems, after about a week of rest."
Jason's ears flicked, the neko letting out a mute protest. He couldn't be stuck in the hospital for a week. He'd miss far too much. School was starting… and his track practice… the coach already didn't like him.
"Devyn has already volunteered to bring your homework from school," the doctor continued. "You'll be released from the hospital in three days once we are sure the plague is gone."
"Jason, Dylan wanted to tell you he's sorry. He didn't realise he was carrying the plague. None of us did," Lysander said.
Jason shrugged. It wasn't Dylan's fault he was sick. He hadn't even known he could get sick just from another neko.
He moved his arms to sign, wincing as he felt the needles under his skin.
"Yeah, try not to move too much," the doctor said apologetically.
"Phone?" the neko mouthed, praying that she would understand.
The doctor frowned.
"Lunch is almost ready," she said. "I can get you a sandwich if you can't wait though."
"No, phone."
Wincing, the neko motioned toward his ear, the doctor's eyes widening in understanding.
"Oh, sorry. We don't allow phones to be used in the hospital. It is a privacy issue. Do you need to call someone?"
Jason shook his head with a quiet sigh. It looked like the next few days would be extremely boring.
The neko yawned, his eyes blinking slowly. Beside him, Devyn rested his head on his brother, closing his own eyes as Jason fell into a deep sleep.

DEVYN

The wolf lay in the waiting room, Dylan sitting beside him. It was a stupid rule, only one person in the hospital room at a time. He wasn't even a person. Margaret was taking her time visiting Jason, and that meant Devyn was stuck here, with a masked neko.
He had no idea why Dylan was masked. Jason was already infected. But then, they wanted Devyn to wear that stupid suit, even though the disease was supposed to affect only nekos. It made no sense to the wolf. But then, a lot of things two legs did made no sense.
"Devyn? Oh, thank the gods!"
Devyn looked up, picking up Brienne's scent. The human scratched the wolf's head, Devyn letting out a quiet huff.
"So Jason is here, then? How is he doing? I've been looking all over north Astara for him."
"Um… they say he should be okay," Dylan said. "Why were you…? You don't know him."
The near-suffocating scent of nerves accompanied his words, and something else Devyn had only smelled around his parents. Instantly, the wolf's hackles rose at the smell, at the memories it brought. Not bad memories, though any memory of his mother was admittedly pretty bad.
"Calm down Devyn. He'll be okay, I'm sure of it," Brienne said, running a hand down the wolf's back.
Grumbling quietly, Devyn lay back down, staring across the clean floor. Too clean. The smell of chemicals was starting to hurt his nose, but he was not about to go outside. Jason needed him, even if the doctors couldn't see that. The wolf was not abandoning his brother.
Looking between Dylan and Brienne, Devyn remembered something Dylan had told him, a confession that he liked Brienne. Lust… that was the smell… he still didn't like it though.
The waiting room was a myriad of mixing scents. Happy and sad, the chemicals coursing through everyone's bodies were a clear map to the wolf's nose. Devyn let out a quiet whimper, climbing to his feet. The wolf padded over to a couple, setting his muzzle in the woman's lap.
She let out a sudden cry, shaking as tears flowed from her eyes. Stroking Devyn's head as her husband held her, the woman wiped at her face.
"Thank you…"
"Devyn! What are… oh…"
He didn't bother looking at his mother, pouring his attention on this woman. She needed him, and he was going to help however he could, and screw what his mother thought.
Soon though, his head was being pushed away, Devyn moving to give them some space.
"That was nice of you, Devyn," Margaret muttered as the wolf walked away.
Devyn huffed quietly. He had only done his job. Still, the wolf's tail lifted slightly, wagging a little. Maybe, just maybe, he was a good boy.

JASON

The neko was alone again, his arms finally free from needles. Wires still tied him down. Some kind of machine measured his breathing. The neko wasn't really sure what the thing was, and he wasn't calling in a nurse just to ask for specifics.
The neko bit into a dry sandwich, not really hungry. But eating was better than just laying motionless in a hospital bed.
Fuck… was that how it started? He was bored so he just… ate? The neko shuddered at the thought of getting bigger. Then again, there was still a chance this could kill him. Not that Jason knew anything about it. They wouldn't let him have his phone to look anything up.
He was still rather groggy. Research could probably wait for later. These antiviral drugs made him sleep all day already, and he was almost ready to pass out again.
A woman stepped into the room, a warm smile on her face.
"Good evening Jake, just checking on you before bed. How's your head?"
Jake? Head? Jason frowned, confusion apparent on his face.
"Jake, I'm going to need you to talk," the woman said comfortingly. “We can’t know how you’re feeling unless you tell us-”
An elf stepped up behind her, a mask hiding his expression, though his eyes didn't exactly look kind.
"Niya, you aren't supposed to enter this room without PPE," he hissed.
"Wait… you aren't Jake?"
Jason shook his head, a silent laugh escaping him.
"Oh… uh… my apologies…"
The woman hurried from the room. The elf nodded his head at Jason.
"Is everything good?"
The neko nodded, still giggling.
"Keep laughing," the elf said, his voice finally gaining some warmth. "It will help you heal faster. I'm sorry, but we are short of healers. And they aren't that good with viral diseases anyway, more for trauma."
Jason shrugged, understanding. He hadn't expected to see a mage, anyway.
"I'll be back in two hours with your medicine," the elf added, before leaving Jason to himself.
Letting out a tired yawn, Jason pondered whether he should even try to sleep. They’d wake him up again in a few hours. Besides, he had slept plenty the day before.
Finishing his sandwich, Jason sighed, laying back in the thin bed they had given him. Setting the machine connected to him to the side, the neko rolled onto his side, suddenly missing Elroy desperately. Or was it the red wolf who had comforted him through the night that he was pining for?