Wren

Part 12

Wren was sleeping fitfully, seeming to be having a nightmare. Leo was woken by his whimpers, and sat up in the armchair he'd been sleeping in. He grabbed his phone to check the time. 2:34 AM. This was the third time Wren had stirred and needed attention. Leo sighed and stood, going to Wren's side.

"Hey, shh. . . It's okay, Wren. I'm right here." He brushed the hair from Wren's damp face. It was time to give another round of morphine for the pain. He got everything dosed and delivered it through the IV he'd put in wren's arm earlier, which was just some fluids and nutrients, since the kid hadn't eaten anything other than some applesauce and a piece of toast here and there. 

He flipped off the light and settled back into the chair, squirming around until he was as comfortable as he was going to get. This was proving to be a long night.

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Dace did his best to help distract Matteo, but the man was deep in the throes of guilt. He didn't want to leave the room, and was zoned out when Dace turned on the TV. 

"Do you want to get some food?" He glanced at the watch on his wrist. "It's 2:30 in the morning and we missed dinner. Come on, it'll be good for you to get out of this room." 

He grabbed Matteo and hauled him to his feet, pulling him towards the door. He was like a zombie, stumbling around with unfocused eyes.

"Look, man. I know you think it was your fault, but you need to get it together. What you need to do is focus on helping the kid. Moping around isn't going to help. Now, let's get some food and some rest. We'll ask Leo if we can visit in the morning, okay?"

Matteo slowly nodded as he allowed himself to be pulled from the burnt room. Wren was going to need a lot of care for his injuries, on top of the trauma from the hell he'd been put through. This was not the time to wish he could change the past, but time to make sure the future was different. He knew he couldn't help Wren if he himself was a mess. 

He pulled himself together and stood straight as he walked. He was tired of playing this game. He didn't want to be a monster anymore. He liked Wren. But the fear of opening up and having his heart crushed again had been too much for him, and he'd shut himself off from his emotions. Now was the time to fix it. Wren was such a gentle and loving person, how could he have ever hurt him so bad?

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After eating what they could find in the kitchen, they'd crashed in the guard's quarters, in Leo and Dace's room. Early morning sunlight drifted in through a crack in the curtains, casting a soft glow into Matteo's eyes. He sat up, anxious to talk to Leo. How was Wren? Had he slept okay? Was the pain being managed? Had he been fed? He yanked on his jeans and shook Dace awake.

"I'm up, I'm up. . ." Dace grumbled and sat up, his red-streaked hair a fluffy mess. Matteo threw a pair of jeans at him and urged him to get up. 

"Geez, you're acting like your wife's going into labor," He grumbled again as he stood and pulled on the pants. 

"Grab a shirt and come on," Matteo was halfway out the door already, in jeans and socks with shirt in hand. 

Matteo rushed through the huge mansion, towing a groggy Dace behind him. They reached the infirmary doors, and Matteo paused. What if Wren was awake? Wouldn't he be scared? Would he hate Matteo for everything he'd done to him?

He took a deep breath and cracked the door open, peeking in. Leo was awake and sitting in the armchair with a cup of coffee in hand. Wren lay unmoving on the bed, so Matteo slowly entered. Leo looked up.

"Shh," He whispered. "He's had a rough night, and finally seems to be resting a little. so be quiet."  

The two men tiptoed over, and Matteo moved to Wren's side. The boy was damp, feverish, and trembling slightly, pale as a ghost. Matteo brushed the hair from the boy's forehead, wishing this had never happened. Dace brought over two chairs, lifting them so they didn't make noise. He sat in one, and began whispering to Leo. 

"How's the kid?" 

"Not great, by any means, but doing better than last night. His breathing's been steady, but the pain seems to bother him a lot. So I'm keeping him on morphine, and a low dose of dexmedetomidine to keep him calm. It's a sedative, so he's super relaxed but still conscious. Well, when he's not actually asleep, that is." 

"Is the pain. . . Bad, then?" Matteo had listened to their conversation.

"Of course. it's burns, and burns are always extremely painful. He's got second degree burns on his feet and the bottom half of both legs, third degree where the chain was and the metal scorched him, and second degree on his palms but it's not so bad there and will heal quickly. So yeah, it hurts. It bothered him all night, until I upped the morphine dose to what seemed to be a good amount. Plus, he seemed to be having nightmares. But that could've just been the fever."

Matteo kept his back turned to them so they wouldn't see the tears in his eyes. He stood over Wren, cursing himself. He'd never hurt him again. And he'd never let anyone else hurt him, either. He'd protect him with his life. Not just because he felt guilty, but because he actually had cared about Wren the whole time, but had shoved those feelings down and denied them by hurting him. He hated himself for those stupid choices.

They spent the next two days there, eating, sleeping, taking turns to leave to shower and change clothes. Wren didn't wake up, and they fed him through a feeding tube, hoping to get some weight on the emaciated boy. 

Matteo wished he'd wake up soon.

                    Part Thirteen Coming Soon

(sorry this one ended a little weird)