Deadly

Blood.

My body feels like lead as I open my eyes. I'm lucky I'm still alive, honestly. I thought Ash would have slit my throat with the shards from the broken wineglass. I tilt my head to look at my body and survey the damage, and I'm surprised to see Ash sitting at the foot of my bed, wrapping a bandage around my right leg.

"Ash?" I mutter, still a little bit groggy.

He looks at me, and his eyes seem clearer now, yet more muddled than ever. His fear and rage have been replaced with regret and embarrassment. "I'm really sorry about earlier..." Ash's voice is soft and calmer now.

"Ash, I..." I don't know what to say. I look over the rest of my body. The other wounds have been taken care of as well. I reach up a hand to my face to feel loads of bandages on my cheeks and forehead, covering up the scratches and cuts from the vase and the wineglass.

He leans over and puts a hand on my forehead, very gently so as not to irritate the wounds. "Quiet. You've got a fever. I went pretty wild this time... I might have to take you to a hospital."

"A hospital?" I croak. My voice is hoarse, probably from crying out in pain.

Ash nods solemnly. "The stab wound in your abdomen looks really nasty, and I think you might have a pretty bad concussion... your pupils are all weird, and you've got some awful bruising." He rubs his thumb over my forehead lightly before pulling back.

"I don't want to go to a hospital..." I groan, shutting my eyes and leaning back into the pillow.

"I know you don't, but my medical expertise only goes so far. I can't treat you if I accidentally did something serious." His words are full of sincere concern, so why do I still feel sick to my stomach? Aside from getting stabbed, of course.

I furrow my brow and struggle to meet his gray eyes with my own green ones. "I'm... Listen, about what I said, about me being a parasite and you being a host and all that... I didn't mean it."

"Yes you did. It's fine, I understand. You and I are bound by something deeper than just being raised in the same home. Neither of us can live without the other." Ash shrugs nonchalantly. "Just the way it is, man."

I don't know why, but his words don't comfort me in the least. "Ash. That's not true."

"I can't survive without you healing my wounds, both physical and mental. And you can't live without someone to care for. I give you something to live for, and you keep me alive. It's not a parasitic relationship, it's more of a symbiotic one. Both of us benefit." He smiles weakly, and I start to understand.

"Does this mean I don't have to put up with anymore abuse?" I say, cracking a feeble grin of my own.

He chuckles good-naturedly and smiles a bit more comfortably. "Don't get used to it. But yeah, I'm gonna try to take a break from hurting you for a bit."

"Thanks, Ash. Really, I mean it."

"I'm really sorry about going overboard this time, Tenn... I went too far. I could have killed you. I would have killed you." His smile fades and he breaks eye contact, taking a sudden interest in a loose corner of one of the bandages around my ankle.

I puff out a quiet sigh. "We both went a little too far last night. You nearly killed me, and I lost my temper. Consider it even."

"Tenn, you losing your temper doesn't make up for the fact that I was about to murder you." He looks at me again, this time with a stern expression.

"It does to me. I think you're forgetting the fact that I'd do anything for you." I would tilt my head if it wasn't on a pillow.

Ash makes a weird face. It almost looks like... he's about to cry? "T-Tenn..."

"Shoot. Ash, I'm sorry, was it something I s-" And all of a sudden, I'm interrupted by a hug.

Ash usually never hugs, and so for a moment I think he's trying to strangle me. In reality, he's all but pounced on me to wrap his arms around my shoulders and smash my face against his chest. He's not the best hugger, but I'll take it.

"Hey, man. Be gentle, you're gonna make me bleed all over again." It takes most of my energy, but I toss an arm around him, returning the hug.

We only stay in contact for a moment before he sits back down. I can see a few tears in his eyes. "S-Sorry." He sniffs and swipes away the tears with the heel of his hand.

I chuckle softly. "What was that for, did I touch a nerve?"

"I just..." He bites his lip for a beat as he ponders what to say. "No matter what I do, no matter how many mistakes I make, you always come back. I've hurt you over and over, but you never leave me." He looks me directly in the eyes, and I see a few more defiant tears pooling up in the corners of his eyes. "Why?"

My heart pangs. Doesn't he understand? "After all this time, and you still don't understand what my love is. Ash, I care about you too much to leave you. You could kill me time and time again and I'd still come back to protect you." I smile warmly. "You're so dense sometimes, honestly."

"But why do you care so much? Why do you love me in the first place?"

"We've been together since we were kids. It was just me and Steph, and then Mom adopted you into our family, too. Family doesn't abandon family, not now, not ever." I shrug casually. "Just the way it is."

He sniffs and rubs his eyes, chuckling dryly. "You're insane, you know that? Any normal person would have run the opposite direction long ago."

I scoff playfully at his comment, rolling my eyes and glaring at him lightheartedly. "Oh, sure, I'm the insane one."

He stands up and stretches his arms above his head. "Yeah. Weirdo."

My eyes follow Ash as he starts towards the door. "Dweeb."

"Freak," he responds as he walks into the hallway. "I'm gonna make us both something for lunch. You slept for a really long time, ya know. I was beginning to think you weren't gonna wake up."

"Don't bother trying to make anything, you'll just ruin it. I'll get up and make us some sandwiches." I start to use my forearms to try and push myself into an upright position, but a sudden gut-wrenching pain in my abdomen causes me to cry out in agony as I fall backwards again.

"Tenn?!" Ash runs back into the room, to find me clutching at the sheets, teeth clenched. "Tenn, what were you thinking?"

"I didn't think... the w-wound was tha—augh!" The pain's almost too much. I feel like something's trying to escape from the inside, tearing me apart.

Ash darts over to my side, analyzing the damage done. The bandages wrapped around my abdomen and torso are slowly turning a menacingly dark red. "Oh jeez... No, this can't be happening."

"N-Not exactly a word of encouragement," I growl at him, gritting my teeth.

"You idiot, you reopened a ton of wounds! Especially that nasty deep one... Just hang in there, I'll refresh your bandages." He pulls over his supplies and starts to unwrap the bandages around my abdomen and torso. I have to shut my eyes so I don't see any of my injuries.

"I wish I had anesthetic to give you, buddy," Ash mutters under his breath as he starts to try and redo the weak stitching that he had done before. "This is going to hurt something awful."