Just Perfect

chapter 1

Let me just be perfectly clear that this was not my fault. I would never purposely endanger some one that I cared about, but as stood by his hospital bed I couldn't help but wonder if it was because of my recklessness that he lay so still.

The quietness in the room was unsettling, the only sounds to be heard, coming from the machines he was connected to and the pain I felt in my chest throbbed with every passing second.

The same words kept flashing through my mind, I should have been there, I should have stopped him. He was, after all, my little brother.

"Miss?" someone spoke from behind me. I was so out of it I didn't even realize the doctor had walked in.

He was a short middle aged man with a moustache that was very well kept and spoke with kindness but I couldn't tell if it was genuine or not.

"Yes?" my voice was not as confident as I would have hoped.

"From the tests we have carried out, the young man seems to be doing fine; it will just take a while for his foot to recover since it took the most damage."

"But why isn't he awake yet, it's been like 4 hours." I was starting to tear up again, the doctor noticed and gave me a small smile.

"Don't worry, his body is resting, and the medication from the surgery hasn't left his system yet, he will be fine." With those words, he nodded and left the room leaving me to the mercy of my thoughts.

I cupped my brother's cheek and spoke slowly "I wish you hadn't tried to go there Paul."

Paul was as brotherly as they come, always trying to protect me and it clearly brought him no good. I should have known ranting about what new thing my horrible ex had done would have him rushing out of my apartment trying to protect my honor; the thought brought a painful smile to my lips. He had gotten into this mess because of it, but I wouldn't ever let it happen again.

"Stop playing with your IV!" I scolded Paul, swatting his hand away from the tiny tubes that run around him.
He ignored me, tugging at the tubes again; I simply rolled my eyes at him.

"When am I getting out of this place?" he asked looking at me with hope in his eyes. I gapped at him as he continued to speak "the food here sucks and the mattress is thin."

"You woke up two hours ago and you can barely stand, calm down! Besides, we have to wait for the doctor to make sure we can check you out first, okay?"
I narrowed my eyes at him waiting for an answer, he nodded and I smiled.

He had woken up in a panic, and it had taken everything in me not to cry as I calmed him down. He couldn't remember much about how he ended up in hospital but he knew where he had been heading. I didn't dive into that conversation because this was not the right place to talk about the topic for it would only stir up an argument for us.

After waiting a good 45 minutes, the doctor let us leave, not before taking us through his rehabilitation schedule, which I was grateful for. At the very least there would be someone other than myself to help him get better.

Driving us home, I silently prayed that he wouldn't speak to me about the issue at hand but he wasn't the type to let things go. "Abi, can we talk about this ... please?"

"Can we not!" I came out more hostile than I intended and I immediately felt bad but I continued "you rushed into something without thinking then you got yourself hurt, what more is there to talk about?"

"I was trying to protect you-"

"Enough, I'm over it" I lied. "Just, please don't ever scare me like that ever again"

"I won't." He said as a heavy silence enveloped us.

I hated being mad at my brother but what he did was a little selfish, running around looking for trouble over a guy that didn't even matter to me was incredibly crazy.
It only made the matter worse that he got injured on the way to start a fight, and not at the fight.
Talk about reckless.

After everything we've been through I wish he could have been more careful. I just hoped that Paul would understand that while he took the time to heal.