Vices and Maces

Chapter 72: Virgil Has Never Learned to Rest

CW: mentions of both blood and not being allowed to rest while hurt

Virgil felt heavy when he woke up. He really didn't want to open his eyes, he was comfortable laying on his side. But his side was wet, and when he moved to see what it was, his side burned with pain.

Was it blood? Why would there be blood? Stitches, he has stitches, did they tear? No, it wasn't as thick as blood, and it was cold. There was something hard pressing into his side too, when he grabbed it, he saw that it was a now melted ice pack wrapped in a wet rag. The condensation probably soaked through.

He sighed and set it down, laying on his back. It hurt to move his side, but he needed to get up. He really didn't want to though... But he can't lay down forever. There's gotta be something he has to do.

But... there's nothing he can do. He doesn't have a job anymore, and he had a sneaking suspicion that no one would let him do anything so he can rest. But he didn't want to rest. He wanted to help in some way, any way.

He heard talking and small clinks coming from downstairs. The others must be up already, probably getting something to eat. He should get up too.

Carefully he went back onto his side and propped himself up on his elbows. He tried to take a deep breath to help with the flare of pain that took him over as he pushed himself up. Virgil blinked back small tears but he finally sat up, throwing his legs over the edge of the bed.

He waited for a moment for some of the pain to ease away before standing up. That took way too much effort than it needed, but now that he's up he's not going to sit back down. Carefully, Virgil made his way to the door, holding his side steady to ease the pain.

He had to lean against the wall as he made his way down the hall, only to stop at the top of the stairs. This was going to hurt.

Virgil held onto the railing with his left hand, holding his chest with his right. It was his right side that was hurt, but leaning his elbow on that side seemed to help keep it steady. He took one step at a time, focusing on the smell of syrup and bacon.

"I don't know yet," Roman spoke from the kitchen. "But I want to go in today, I've been out of the office for too long."

"I can go in too, I'm sure there's something for me to do," an unfamiliar voice said, though when Virgil reached the bottom of the stairs and turned, he saw that the voice belonged to a teenager. Who was he?

"Remus, can you stay here to help with Virgil?" Roman asked. He was already dressed for the day, his hair combed back.

"Sure, but I'll keep my phone on me if you need anything," Remus said, flipping a pancake. He was only wearing pajama pants.

"I'll stay here too, to make sure Remus doesn't burn the house down," Janus joked.

Roman smiled in amusement. "Thank you."

"Oh, speak of the devil, hey Vee," Remus greeted.

Everyone turned to him, making him tense up. "Morning," he awkwardly replied.

"What are you doing up? You should be resting," Janus told him. "We would have brought you some food."

"I didn't want to lay in bed all day."

"It's called bed rest for a reason."

Roman stood from where he was sitting. "Here, take my seat. I can get you some food, we have pancakes, eggs, and bacon. What would you like?"

"It's fine, I can get it myself," Virgil told him, starting to get tired of this.

"Virgil, we're not working for Black anymore, we can rest when we get hurt now. Especially you."

"I don't need to rest, I'm fine." He grabbed a plate, setting some pancakes on it as he ignored Janus rolling their eyes. "Thank you for the food."

"Of course," Remus said, passing him some syrup.

"Workaholic," Janus muttered.

"Oh, Virgil, we found out where your sister is staying last night," Roman told him, catching his complete attention as he sat down. "I have some people watching over her now, we were waiting for you to wake up before deciding if we want to contact her. Do you want to?"

It felt like something heavy blocked Virgil's throat. Was he ready to tell her everything that has happened? "I... I don't know. I don't think I can face her. What would you do?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean... She deserves to know everything I've been through but... Either she'll be way too worried about me to worry about herself, or she'll hate me." Virgil squeezed the fork tight, letting it dig into his skin.

"Well... if I had joined a gang, I would probably tell my brother," Roman said, sending a glare to Remus who pretended to not notice. "But Remus would try to help me... I think I would still tell him, so I don't have to push him away and not be there to protect him. But this is your choice to make."

"Why don't we give it some time," Janus said. "Anna should be safe now that we know where she is."

Remus flip the last pancake onto the pile. "Yup, and that's thanks to this guy." He patted Kayden's head as he passed his son.

"Yeah, and you were trying to get me to go to bed right before I found her," Kayden teased.

"Like I would have known you were one hotel away from finding her!"

Virgil took a small bite from his pancake, trying not to get overwhelmed by the amount of support around them. They really were helping him... but what for? How was he going to be able to pay them back for all of this?

"Roman, do you have a factory?" Virgil asked.

The vampire frowned. "We do, but you're not going to be working there. You're way too injured, and you just escaped working at one. You don't need to work for us at all, you've already given us plenty of blueprints for weapons."

"No, I don't want to create any more weapons. I've given both you and Black everything I've come up with the last two years, now I want to create something that will defend against those weapons."

"Like, armors and shields?" Remus asked.

"Anything I can come up with," Virgil agreed, already thinking of some designs.

"Can't you do that here while you're resting?" Janus pointed out.

"I think better at a desk and with tools in my hands."

"Alright," Roman agreed.

"What?" Janus hissed.

"But you won't be working at a factory. At our office, there's a few rooms and labs. You can work there with some technicians to come up with ideas. Janus, if you would like you can be there too."

"I can't believe you're letting him do this, he needs rest."

"Do you really think he'll let himself rest here? Just make sure he's taking it easy, and takes breaks."

"Oh! Anemone!" Kayden said. "I gotta tell him about this."

"Wait, no!" Remus shouted. "Let it be a surprise."

"Let what be a surprise?" Virgil asked.

"Wait, is he your kid that is Virgil's fan?" Janus asked.

"What?"

"Shh!" Remus shushed. "Don't give it away!"

"You're basically his Einstein," Janus told Virgil.

"Oh..."

Roman smiled. "Well I have a feeling that today is going to be fun."

"I'm gonna go get dressed," Remus said, grabbing a piece of bacon before passing Roman. He noticed that his brother was paler than usual. "Ro, don't forget to eat later today."

"I already had some food."

"You know what I mean." His brother gave him a serious look before heading up stairs.

Roman rolled his eyes. Remus was talking about blood. Normal food can help satisfy the hunger, but he still needed blood in his system. That can be held off for a few days though...