In The Sight of These Hills (Dolan Twins)

Dead Ends

Chapter 20: Dead Ends

"Baxter's fertilizer, and everyone's standing there just... staring. Why don't they just catch that thing? How hard could it be in a place full of dead ends?"

-Brigitte from Ginger Snaps

On Monday morning they sent Ethan home with a prescription for extra strength pain medication. Sean and Grayson were sitting at the edge of his hospital bed as he slept.

"Well," the doctor said Monday when the morning's sunlight streamed in through the parted curtains, her hand stilled on her patient's bruised side, "Nothing is broken. See the bruising here? This is from the blood vessels under the skin bursting."

She placed her hand at the back of Ethan's head and he glanced towards Grayson who was looking intently, tense. He could feel Sean's hard eyes on him.

"This is going to be okay. The head trauma was very minimal. You're lucky you don't have a concussion," she continued and released her hand. Grayson visibly relaxed his shoulders.

"So, he is going to be alright?" Asked Sean, and the doctor smiled, a flash of her small, white teeth, "Yes, he should be just fine. I'm going to prescribe him Vicodin for about two weeks. You need to take it easy, okay?" She said turning to Ethan, "No heavy lifting or anything like that. Do you play sports?"

"No," he answered, and she had smiled at him.

~

It was Monday night and Grayson was making tomato soup at the stove for Ethan. The smell, which had once made his mouth water, had no temptation on him at all. That wasn't what he was hungry for. He shook his head and clenched the wooden spoon hard in his palm. He placed it down and went to get some shredded cheese from the refrigerator.

Sean had gone to the office to get away from the real world for awhile and "catch up" on everything he needed to. Ethan was resting. He insisted that he could make it to school tomorrow, but Grayson had said, no, he wasn't.

"I'm going, okay? You are too. I'm fine. I can walk, it's not like I am crippled or anything," he had said, and Grayson could feel something twist in him, something hot flair up. It shifted under his skin, something he could not describe. He wanted Ethan right there with him.

"I said no," he said, and his body was part way over Ethan's, his hands on either side of his head, and his brother's eyes fluttered up at him, meeting his eyes in surprise at the sudden movement. Grayson was looking down at him, his face a firmness Ethan couldn't remember him ever using with him. His eyes were unmoving, and Ethan found himself turning his away from his overpowering gaze to stare at their picture covered wall.

"Fine."

Emma, who had given her number to both of them last week during Homecoming preparations, called him as he stirred in the cheese. It was technically Ethan's phone that was laying on the kitchen table, but he picked it up.

For a moment, he did not recognize the number.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Ethan?" Said the voice and he instantly recognized it as Emma's.

"No, it's Grayson."

"Oh," he heard her laugh, "God, sorry. You'd think I would be able to tell your voices apart."

Grayson smiled lightly at that and shook the cheese into the soup. The little orange slivers spread out and melted instantly, "That's okay."