Brothers - 20. Chapter 20

DEVYN

The thumps echoed through his head, rank fear pouring through his nose. Devyn raced out of his room, his ears low, his entire body ready for a fight. There was so much blood in the air, Jason’s scent mixing with the metallic tang, and Devyn’s heart plummeted faster than he could leap down the stairs.

Letting out a loud whimper, the wolf barked frantically, crouching over his brother. His tongue licked at the neko’s mouth, trying to clean the gash in Jason’s lip.

“Fuck! Jason!”

Richard was kneeling beside them a moment later, his hands pulling at Devyn.

“Devyn, stop, you aren’t helping! Go get my phone!”

Tail tucked, the wolf slinked away, his head turning to watch his father.

“Now Devyn! Hurry!”

He ran away toward the study, sneezing as he cleared his nose of Jason’s smell. Plastic… covered with his father’s scent… there, on the desk. The wolf grabbed the device in his mouth gingerly, racing back to his father with a whine. Richard took the phone from his son, not bothering to wipe it off before dialing a number.

“Hello Richard,” Lysander’s voice said cheerfully on the other side of the phone.

“Lysander, Jason fell down the stairs. He’s… he’s bleeding really bad-”

“Okay,” the elf interrupted. “Richard, I need you to take a deep breath, okay? Let it out slowly. You’re no help to him if you panic. I’ll be there in five minutes; until then, just listen.”

The man sucked in a breath, Devyn licking at the bloody lip again with a loud whine.

“Devyn, if you can hear me, get some towels,” Lysander said over the sound of a cabinet slamming. “Richard, is Jason awake?”

Devyn leapt back up the stairs, past his mother who seemed frozen in place. He could smell the fear pouring off her, and part of him was happy she finally seemed to feel something beside anger. The other part was focused on towels towels he couldn’t forget towels he needed towels…

He pulled a full body towel off the rack in the bathroom, racing back down the stairs with the rough fabric streaming behind him. Richard was shaking Jason gently, the neko’s eyes cracking open as his body clenched in pain. Dropping the towel over Jason’s face, the wolf hunched over worriedly, looking between his father and his brother.

“No Devyn, a smaller… a rag,” Richard explained, taking the towel away from the neko.

He pressed a corner against the inside of Jason’s lip, the neko looking up with a dazed expression as Devyn backed away.

Rags… where the fuck was a rag? He couldn’t sniff one out, it would just smell like any other clothing. Maybe there was one in Jason’s room? No, they kept one in the kitchen for spills, but that was dirty… where did it come from?

He raced off to the laundry room, skidding around the kitchen door in his haste. Sliding through another door, the wolf nosed through a drawer, grabbing a small cloth before sprinting back to Richard, prize in mouth.

Richard took the rag, replacing the towel with it as Lysander’s voice continued through the phone, the elf speaking with a calmness that made Devyn angry. How could he be so calm when Jason was hurting?

“Devyn, I’m at the door. Can you let me in so Richard doesn’t have to leave Jason?” Lysander said, not giving the wolf any time to check on his brother, beyond acknowledging he was awake.

The wolf scrabbled to the door, his body shifting as he stood up to grab the doorknob. Opening the door, he let Lysander inside, the elf not commenting on his nudity.

“Okay, let’s take a look Jason,” Lysander said, kneeling beside the neko.

His hands took the rag from Richard, pulling it away from Jason’s lip gently.

“Don’t try to move, okay? Just lay there,” he said, his voice a soothing balm to their nerves.

Even Devyn was feeling a little less frantic just having the elf there.

“Devyn, we need some ice please,” Lysander added.

The wolf nodded, falling to his knees as he crawled through to the kitchen. His cane was still upstairs, and there was no way he could walk to the kitchen fast enough without it.

Climbing up to the ice maker, the wolf grabbed a plastic bowl, shoving it under the machine as it rumbled. Ice dropped loudly into the bowl, Devyn trying to figure out just how he was supposed to get the bowl from the fridge to the floor so he could slide it to Lysander. Finally he just grabbed it in his mouth, carrying it like he would in his wolf form as he crawled back to his brother.

“Thank you Devyn.” Lysander said, filling a fresh rag with the ice. “Go get dressed. You need to come to the hospital with us.”

“Lysander… he doesn’t need to go to the hospital, right? I mean, it was an accident,” Richard said uncertainly.

“Richard, you and I both know that’s shit.”

“If you report this, we’ll lose him.”

Devyn growled quietly, Lysander looking at him sternly.

“Devyn, get dressed now,” the elf said firmly, pointing toward the stairs. “At this point Richard, things are out of my control. I’ll pull some strings, arrange for them to have an extended sleepover at my place, but ultimately it’s up to you. You need to choose between your mate or your children.”

Devyn crawled up the stairs to his room, pulling on his kilt with trembling hands. He couldn’t lose Jason. The wolf was near frantic, trying to find a way to save his brother.

His cane tapped down the staircase, every step a rapid staccato as he hurried back to his brother. He could hear a large vehicle pulling up to the house, Lysander opening the front door as a pair of elves rushed inside. It was weird, he hadn’t heard sirens. Why wouldn’t they use sirens?

Jason was set on a gurney, the elves wheeling them out of the house. Devyn hurried after them, only to be stopped by Lysander’s arm.

“It’s better for you to go with me Devyn,” the elf said gently. “You’ll only crowd the ambulance.”

“He’s scared of cars. I need to be with him,” Devyn argued.

The elf thought for a moment, before taking the werewolf out to the ambulance. Helping him into the back, Lysander looked at him firmly.

“You need to listen to the medics. Whatever they say you do, no questions asked. Understood?”

Devyn nodded quickly, sitting next to his brother. His hand touched Jason’s arm, the neko relaxing slightly with the wolf beside him. Devyn already knew this ride was going to be hard on Jason. He would do anything he could to make it easier.

JASON

Every bump jarred the neko, his body tense despite the constant pressure on his arm. He hurt, but more than that, he was confused.

How did it come to this? Why had Margaret pushed him down the stairs? He hadn’t done anything wrong, he’d only looked at Devyn. Jason was grateful Lysander understood what happened, but he was terrified over what it meant. Richard wouldn’t go against Margaret; Jason had no confidence in him. He and Devyn would be taken away, shoved somewhere else, and Jason could only pray they would be together.

There was another option, but he couldn’t think about that. It was impossible. He had no income; he couldn’t live on his own.

The ambulance turned a corner sharply, Jason wincing as his body resisted the sudden change. It sucked, he couldn’t even claim to have fought a werewolf. At best the werewolf had fought him. But he was alive, so that was good. As long as no one ran the ambulance off the road.

“How are you feeling Jason?” one of the medics asked.

“Ann, he can’t talk,” the other elf scolded. “Just hang on, okay? We’ll get you to the hospital and have Jerric take a look at you. He’ll have you good as new in no time.”

A healer? He didn’t need a healer. It wasn’t like he was dying. Jason frowned, staring up at the ceiling. He felt Devyn’s hand on his leg, the wolf’s presence calming him slightly, or was that whatever they had poked him with at the house? There had been a poke, right? Maybe he was just losing it.

The ambulance came to a stop, the neko letting out a relieved breath as the back doors opened. He felt Devyn’s hand moved from his leg, instantly missing the connection as the gurney was rolled out of the back.

“Make sure no one moves him too much. Sander said he couldn’t move his legs, probably a spinal fracture,” someone said, and Jason panicked.

He could move his legs… there was no way they were paralyzed. The neko couldn’t lose that too. But try as he might, his legs wouldn’t budge. It was like they weren’t even there at all.

“Jason- Jason, we need you to calm down, okay? Jerric’s going to fix you up,” an elf said, placing a hand on the neko’s chest. “Just relax. It’s not as bad as you think.”

That was easy for her to say. She wasn’t the one who seemed to be paralyzed from the waist down.

“Jason, I know this is scary, but I’m not going to leave.”

His head turned slightly, Devyn limping beside the gurney as they passed into the hospital. The neko’s hand reached for the wolf’s, Devyn giving him a tiny smile. He felt a little better, a little less panicked… maybe he had been sedated then. But it was nowhere near strong enough to knock him out.

He was wheeled into a white room and carefully set on a bed. The elves hurried from the room, one of them pausing to look at Devyn.

“Jerric will be here in a couple moments.”

The door closed, leaving the two in the room together, and Devyn set a hand over Jason’s.

“I’m not leaving you,” he said again. “Lysander said he’s taking us… I’m not going to let him split us up, okay? I need you.”

Tears welled up in Jason’s eyes, the neko sniffling quietly. His fingers closed around the wolf’s hand painfully, his eyes squeezing shut.

“Hey, no sleeping on me, okay? Lysander said sleep is bad,” Devyn said dubiously.

Jason nodded, flinching as a door opened suddenly. His eyes swivelled toward a dark skinned man in a white coat, a concerned look on the man’s face as he stared at a sheet of paper.

“I’m going to need some horsetail and chamomile in here,” he called. “Hey there Jason. I’m Healer Jerric. I’m here to make sure you get on your feet by nightfall, okay?”

He set the paper aside, glancing at Devyn.

“You’re the werewolf, right?”

Devyn nodded tightly, frowning at the healer.

“Cool, my brother joined you guys a year ago. I need to touch Jason to help him, okay? Don’t bite me.”

Devyn huffed quietly, shrugging.

“I’ll try.”

“Okay, now, I need to remove your shirt. I can cut it off, or we can go the more painful route and pull it off,” Jerric said. “Blink once for the scissors, twice for pulling.”

Jason blinked rapidly, not ready to lose his shirt. He didn’t have many of them to start with.

“Okay. Let’s get started then.”

Jerric took ahold of the shirt, carefully rolling it up Jason’s torso. The neko squeezed his eyes shut, trying to fight the wave of agony that cut through the medicine he’d been given. The fabric slid over his face and then down his arms, Jason flinching as it tugged on a bruised finger. He heard a low growl, Devyn limping toward him.

“Hey Mr Werewolf, can you help me roll Jason over please? I need his back to be up,” Jerric said, Devyn frowning as he was directed toward Jason’s feet.

Jason let out a whimpering chuckle, realizing what Jerric was doing. Redirect Devyn’s concern into constructive action, keeping everything peaceful. Hadn’t Lysander done the same thing?

“Hey now, laughter is the best medicine, but maybe save it after the main event, okay?” Jerric said, setting his hands under Jason’s back. “Are you ready? We’re going to do this nice and slow. His legs shouldn’t resist right now, so don’t roll too hard. One… two… three.”

Suddenly the neko was falling again, a quick drop that found him lying on his face. His head turned painfully, Jason taking a deep breath. This entire process was going to be painful, he just knew it.

DEVYN

The door opened again, another elf entering with a bundle of plants. He looked at Jason with a frown, a low growl from Devyn causing the elf to jump slightly. The wolf didn’t like the smell coming from him, a smell of anger.

“I have your plants Jerric.”

“Wonderful. Go ahead and leave them on the counter,” Jerric said, his hands prodding gently at various points on Jason’s back. “Okay, we have two spots, but neither seems very big. I should be able to heal them most of the way, but they’ll still be sore for a couple weeks.”

“Don’t you need an xray to see fractures?” Devyn frowned.

“Normally, yes. But if I send a pulse of energy through Jason’s back, it should knit together any problem areas in general. It will take two waves, one for the bone and one for any torn muscles in his back.”

“Why is he going to be sore? Can’t you heal him completely?”

“Well, yes, but if I did that in one shot, I’d probably drop of exhaustion, and that would just make more work for everyone,” Jerric explained. “Now, I’m going to get started with the horsetail. When I switch to the chamomile, it should make his legs twitch. I need you to hold them down or he could injure himself.”

“What do the plants do? I thought you were the healer?”

“It’s hard to explain,” Jerric said, grabbing a puffy grass. “I’ll try to talk you through it though. You know how you can smell different things in wolf form? Like, emotions? It’s similar to that with me and bodies. Each part of the body has its own colour, and there are certain plants that match that colour. Like horsetail is a white colour, and it matches the colour of bones. If I draw on the colour of the horsetail, I can use it to repair and strengthen the bones in someone’s body.”

“But it’s tan,” Devyn frowned at the sweet smelling plant.

Jerric echoed his frown, glancing at the wolf.

“Interesting,” he said quietly. “You’re colourblind? That’s unusual for a werewolf, isn’t it?”

Devyn shrugged.

“Well, the plant itself is green. But it has a white aura to it. It’s like your mate bond, I can see traces of it through you both. It’s a new bond, your auras aren’t fully mixed, but it is there. If I had to guess, I’d say you haven’t mated Jason yet, but the lycanthropy in you is getting stronger, building itself to better infect Jason.”

Jason twitched under the healer’s hands, wide eyes staring at Devyn.

“But we’re not mates,” the wolf denied.

“Oh. Well by all means, you don’t have to claim him. Wait, did you not know?” Jerric frowned at the neko. “Shit, I’m sorry, I thought you knew. I’m going to shut up now…”

Pressing the sprig of grass against Jason’s back, the man took a deep breath, pushing it out slowly. Devyn could see his body tensing, beads of sweat forming on his face as he worked. It was underwhelming compared to Blake’s telekinesis, but Devyn didn’t care as long as Jerric helped Jason.

“Go ahead and hold his feet now,” Jerric said suddenly, tossing the horsetail toward a can.

He picked up a different plant, the sweet scent intensifying as Jerric set the new herb on Jason’s back. Devyn reached for the neko’s legs, trying to ignore the stirring in his groin as he touched his brother.

Jerric closed his eyes again, Devyn grunting quietly as Jason kicked suddenly. He pressed harder, pinning his brother down as the neko twitched. It was a good sign, he hoped. At least Jason’s legs were moving again. The wolf couldn’t imagine never being able to run again. He was grateful the neko wouldn’t have to experience that.

“Okay…” Jerric said finally, letting out a large breath. “How are you feeling Jason? Can you feel Mr. Wolf?”

Jason nodded, his legs tensing slightly before relaxing. The neko’s body shook in silent laughter, tears streaming down his face.

“Excellent. Now, I noticed your throat is a little messy. I can try to fix that if you’d like, at a later time. I’m not as good with delicate procedures like that, but it probably could give you back some use of your vocal cords.”

“Wait… you can give him back his voice?” Devyn demanded as his brother sat up slowly.

“Probably. There is a chance that the scar tissue present would prevent any healing,” Jerric warned. “Healers are relatively rare; I’m not surprised you didn’t know. Go ahead and think about it, okay? If you decide you want to do it, just make an appointment. It would only take a few sessions.”

Jason nodded slowly, the neko’s tail twitching nervously.

“I’m going to let Lysander come back and see you now, if that is okay with you?”

“Yeah,” Devyn said quietly, watching Jason.

His brother seemed to be in shock, and Devyn honestly wasn’t surprised. He wondered what Jason’s voice sounded like. Would the neko even want to talk after ten years of silence? The wolf couldn’t see why not. It would be worse if Jerric couldn’t heal his brother now, like offering a bone and then pulling it away at the last second. Devyn wasn’t sure he could ever forgive the healer if that happened.