If Only

Chapter 10- My Brother Has Returned

I shift. My face feels numb yet somehow still oddly painful. My back aches, stiff from whatever I'm laying on. I groan and open my eyes. I gasp and fly up when I see who's in the chair. Darion.

"What are you doing?" I ask, my body tensed.

"Relax. I'm just trying to make sure you're okay." he says dully. I look around and realize I'm in the nurse's office lying on the highly uncomfortable bed. I notice there are four other people in other beds. I apparently, unannounced to me, look confused because Darion explains.

"You did that. In a fight. They said some things and you got into a fight." he motions towards their faces. I realize that the other people are the three girls and Aiden. Upon seeing Aiden's bruised face and the deep marks in Ayasha's, it all floods back to me in a flash. I did that.

"Me. Me? That was me?" I ask in a whisper.

"Yep. Nurse said that if I hadn't pulled the fight appart sooner it would've been way worse. Told me that the scratch wounds on Ayasha's face were brutal and had drawn blood, that they were likely to scar. Faintly of course." Darion's voice fades. I want to say something but I flinch as soon as I open my mouth.

"Ow." I reach up and lightly touch my face. My hand instantly retracts right when it makes contact and tears spring to my eyes.

"Hey. Don't touch your face dingbat." Darion scolds with a smile, swatting my hand away.

"It hurts." I complain.

"Duh! You just got the sh-"

"Language."

"Whatever." he laughs. I want to see my face. I stand on wobbly legs, taking into account that my feet are bare and my ankles are wrapped up, and try to make my way to the mirror but collapse halfway there.

"Ugh." I groan and wince.

"Careful. They messed up your ankles." Darion warns as he picks me up and walks with me to the mirror. I put most of my weight on him as we got there. I gasp and wince when I see my face. It's bad. My forehead is banged up. The corner of my right eye is bruised lightly, in a blue-ish yellow color. My left eye however is significantly worse, the bruise, purple and yellow and red and some spots so dark they look almost black, covering the entirety of it. I have multiple cuts and scrapes that are covered with bandages, three of them with butterfly closure strips so they are slightly visible. My nose is covered with gauze that's being held down by medical tape. I turn and see gauze on my cheek over the corner of my mouth. I look down at my hands, littered with scraps and bruises. I have to lean my upper body to the left because if I stand straight, the right side of me feels like a knife is going through it. Darion was right about my ankles too. They're both bandaged and ache. I feel tears welling up in my eyes and wipe them away. I sniffle and try to make my way to the bed on my own, only to collapse again.

"Hey, I said be careful. And are you crying?" Darion rushes over to me and drops to his knees. He reaches for my shoulders and holds me there.

"No just...no." I sniffle.

"Fleur..." his voice is tender and soft.

"No! I can't cry. No! I'm not! Just go..." I try to get out the rest of my sentence but I can't. Instead of saying something like I expect him to, he just wraps me in his arms. I try to fight against it, using what little strength I have but it does no good. I push and groan but he just holds on tighter, pushing my head into his chest. I stop fighting when I finally process his warmth, the smell of comforting cologne flooding my senses. I want to break away. My mind wants to break away. Fight, it says. Fight. As if he were dangerous. But my body doesn't compute. It falters and then just...stops. I don't fight. I just tear up and weigh into his chest. He runs his fingers through my hair and uses his other hand and arm to hold me in place, lightly running his fingers over my arm. I shudder and choke on my breath but he just shushes me calmly. It takes about five minutes until my breath is fairly normal, my heart rate slowed. We rise together and he helps me over to the chair where I sit quietly.