Line of Time

Argument

The next morning came the news from the nurse about the name that Tino had given her, there was a boy on the floor with the same name and today he was going home. Tino couldn't believe it, could it really be him, the man that everyone said didn't exist. So as the morning was busy in the hospital below them, this floor wasn't very much. A few patients leaving a few new ones taking their places. Tino was being what most would call a rascal as he found a way out of his bed and into a wheelchair, he pushed himself out into the hallway and rolled around. Talking with the kind nurses at the front desk for a while and before he knew it he looked over his shoulder in an absent minded glance and saw him, he saw Gunner and his heart skipped a beat. 

Memories flashed before his eyes in a shocking amount of time. A little to fast for him as he was faced with a flood of information coming back to him, about the night that landed him here and what he had been able to hear after the impact. 

Gunner had seen Tino as well and even in his withered state of being he knew it was him, his mother tried to pull him away so that they could go home but the tall young man held his feet in place. Tino did a double take and he paused and stared up at the blond in front of him, he smiled a sweet innocent smile. Gunner's mother looked and saw him, she was taken back by the fact that he was awake and alive. 

"Hi." He said his voice small and in awe at the moment. Gunner fell to his knees and wrapped his arms around his small shoulders. He buried his face in the crook of his neck and Tino could feel his tears streaming down his collar bone. He wrapped his arms around him in turn and buried his face in his jean jacket. 

"You're awake, I can't believe you're awake." Gunner said as nurses crowded around the scene. 

"I missed you, they told me you weren't real... You are real aren't you, I'm still asleep?..." Tino said as he was now shaking from the nerve of it all, tears streaming down his face. 

"You aren't dreaming, I promise." Gunner said as he hugged him tighter. After a moment they looked up and saw a group of nurses with teary eyes, one of them holding out a box of tissues. 

"Thanks..." Gunner said as he and Tino took a few. 

"I have to go and I'm sorry, I'm really sorry..." Gunner said as he stood and walked away, he didn't answer Tino's plea for a reason to why he was sorry. The nurses took him back to his room and that was the last time that Tino saw Gunner for the whole rest of the time that he was in the hospital and going through therapy. 

During the break he had to recover, he caught up on schoolwork and finally he was able to join his brothers in collage. Gunner went to the same one but Tino didn't know that fact, Mathias brought him to each class and then one day he heard news from classmates. Mathias was in a fight outside in the courtyard. Tino heard this and without warning rushed out of the classroom with his things, he hurriedly put them in his bag and ran outside. The air was crisp and harsh with winter coming fast to be early this year. 

He saw him, his older brother , he pushed past a gathering mob of on lookers and saw who he was fighting, his heart dropped and then something snapped. Tino pushed past some of the bigger jocks in his way and pushed his brother to the side. The crowd thought he was breaking up the fight but then something no one in the crowd saw coming. The little five foot three half pint of a freshmen socked the towering six foot two man square in the jaw. Sending him jerking back and onto the floor. He held his jaw and looked up at the person who had delivered it. 

"You jerk! You're an asshole, you saw me once when I was in the hospital and then you disappear for god knows how long. Then I find you fighting with my brother, I never want to see you again! And take this stupid thing back!" Tino yelled as he was sobbing by the end of it, he pulled a gold band from his finger and throwing the rig to the ground. The gem in the high school ring broke and there was a gasp fallowed by a silence by the crowd, they then booed Gunner as Mathias ran after his brother. 

"Wait, Tino wait. How the heck did you know I was out here?" Mathias said as his brother looked up at him, his eyes were wide for a minute before reaching into his bag. 

"Word travels fast, you're the most popular guy on this campus, everyone knows what you're doing... Your nose is bleeding, he got you good." Tino said as he let him take a few before he took one to blow his own nose. Mathias let out a chuckle as he held the wad of tissues to his face. 

"Not as good as you got him, he's twice you're size and you landed him on his ass..." Mathias said as there was a silence between them, he put a hand on his shoulder. 

"I'm sorry about all that, but there's something I need to tell you... We haven't been honest with you." Mathias said as Tino shrugged away from his touch. 

"I know you haven't been honest with me, none of you have. Only one who showed me sympathy was Grandma, I'm not stupid I remember what happened. Do yourself a favor Mathias, save your breath and leave me alone." Tino said as he walked away leaving his brother standing all alone, a few girls came over and gushed over him with attention and love. Normally he would have loved it and encouraged it but after that he said nothing and walked on his own way, heartbreak on his face, his fan-girls left him be for the day. 

That night the dinner table was a quiet place, Kelly tried to break the ice between them all. 

"So how was your day?" She asked as Emil and Lukas responded but Mathias and Tino didn't.

"Boys?..." She asked as Tino picked up his plate and pushed his chair back. He walked over to the fridge and put it away.

"...I'm not hungry, I'm going to bed." He said as he left the room and went upstairs. An awkward moment pasted before Mathias got up too, he picked up his jacket and went for the door. 

"And where do you think you're going?" She asked as she was greeted with a cold tone. 

"Out." He said as he slammed the door. They watched him walk down the street until he rounded the corner that lead into town. Kelly sighed and rested her head in her palm. A moment past before someone spoke. 

"He's not wearing the ring anymore." Emil stated as Lukas looked over at him with a lazy interested gaze.

"What ring?" He said as Kelly looked up at her boy. 

"The high school ring that Gunner gave him for their year anniversary, Tino's not wearing it... Kind of hard to miss it, he has the tan line and he's grumpy. Something tells me that he saw him and it went south." Emil said as he wasn't aware that Kelly was hanging on every word with a awe stricken face. 

"You think it has something to do with the fight at school, it was between Mathias and Gunner, I heard Tino broke them up just so he could yell at Gunner." Lukas offered as he put a fork full of chicken in his mouth. 

"Could be, think something happened between Tino and Mathias too, they aren't talking and their usually thick as thieves." Emil said as Grandma walked in from outside. 

"I don't know where that boy is going but he's mad as ever." She said as they looked up at her from the table. Kelly put her face in her hands.

"I'm the worse mother in the world..." She said as the two boys looked over at her and Grandma came over and placed a hand on her shoulder after she set the paper bag on the counter.