IMPORTANT NOTE: This now includes Black Friday. I decided to edit it to add black Friday after a line break, re-read the summary for more information. There is also some cussing in this
AN: A Thanks Giving story that popped into my head
Summary: Charlie hosts Thanks Giving dinner at the Craftsman. He makes everyone's life a little more interesting. The next day, against Dons better judgement, the brother's go out for Black Friday and run into trouble.
The normally picturesque Craftsman kitchen is in a state of extreme disarray. Alan Eppes, the oldest Eppes and former owner of the home, ran a tight ship and always made sure the house as a whole was clean. His youngest, Charlie, runs a decidedly less tight ship. Between the mathematician's classes, office hours, consulting, and personal math work, the Craftsman isn't as neat as it was previously. Not that the house is a disaster. The extent of Charlie's mess is usually just a few things lying around the house until he has time to clean. This is definitely the worst the kitchen has every looked.
In the Craftsman kitchen there are large bowls, pots, pans and plates on nearly ever surface. The sink is filled with dirty utensils, mainly spatulas and big spoons. A fine layer of flour and sugar complete the disaster. If Alan were to walk through the kitchen door he would have a hear attack. In the midst of the whole situation, the culprits are clear. The two Eppes sons, Don and Charlie stand in the middle of the mess, covered in various baking necessities, with satisfied grins on their faces.
"Well, Don we did it. You could tell Dad didn't have that much faith in us recreating the breads and pies."
"Forget Dad, we did a pretty nice job Chuck. We used mom's old recipes so it should turn out good, right. "
"Right" The younger answers confidently despite it not being a question. Don moves towards the store to set the kitchen timer and Charlie surveys the mess they made. He grimaces.
"Wow, dad's not going to be happy about this."
"No he won't but I mean we have two hours until he comes back. We'll get it done."
The brother's wordlessly set the about their task. Cleaning the entire is not easy and takes them nearly an hour. The oven timer goes off shortly after Don washes the last thing and Charlie dries and puts it away. They grin at each other before moving to the oven.
Opening the oven revealed the aromatic smell of freshly baked bread. The pleasurable smells of apple and pumpkin pie also fill the air. All in all the entire Craftsman smells as if Alan went to Yankee Candle and brought several food scented candles. With their mother's recipes,it should taste as good as it smells.
Charlie grabs the pot holders next to the stove and removes the tray of bread. The loaf of bread and rolls are placed on the freshly cleaned counter while Don grabs the pumpkin pie. The youngest goes back for the apple pie, sets it on the counter and let's out a contented sigh.
"These smell incredible."
"Absolutely. We did a good job."
They open the cabinets to grab plates, bowls and wine glasses. Don turns to his brother with a serious expression.
"You know Meredith is actually coming, right? I still don't get why you invited her. I mean she's dad's girlfriend but you hate her."
The mathematician rolls his eyes, "I don't hate her. I'm just not a fan and I had to invite her she's dad's girlfriend. Whenever she comes over she finds something wrong even if I take the time to straighten up and know it's fine. Then she drops 'subtle' hints of what I need to change, it's my house. I brought it from dad, I can do whatever I want with it. First time we met she told me she isn't tying to replace mom. I'm nearly 30, I know she isn't going to replace mom, no one can and I don't appreciate her acting as if I'm some child who can't cope with change."
They've finish setting the table, Charlie dropping the plates to the table top with a bit too much force.
"Don't worry about it, I'm sure she didn't mean anything by it. And you did buy the house, that's not exactly a billboard saying how much you love change," the eldest ducks to avoid a spoon thrown his way. "Hey, I'm not too fond of her either but dad seems to like her right. So let's give her a chance."
"...fine."
The table is set without any more conversation and they begin moving some of the food into the room. A spot in the center of the table is empty for the turkey Megan, who didn't go home for Thanks Giving like David, insisted on bringing. The few extra chairs make the table seem a bit smaller, especially when filled with silverware,plates and food, but no one will mind a bit of closeness during Thanks Giving. With three o'clock fast approching, Charlie and Don bring out the rest of the food and head upstairs to change for dinner.
Megan is the first one to arrive,early of course to make sure the turkey is set. To say it smells amazing is an understatement. Their father arrives next, he knew the kitchen would be occupied and borrowed a friend's kitchen to cook a few sides. Larry and Amita arrive together straight from CalSci . The two both have cold side dishes that were easily stored at the college while they graded some late papers and completed paperwork. The group of friends and family chat until Meredith arrives. She greats Charlie with a surprised and confused smile. The brunette plays the role of a great-full host and accepts the delicious smelling ham she cooked while ignoring the dig about her surprise at his Thanks Giving dinner starting on time.
He grins and bears it. The ham is put in the last available spot on the table. Alan sits at the head of the table with Megan on his right and Meredith on his left. Don sits next to Megan with Charlie on his right. Amita drew the short straw and sits next to Meredith while Charlie and Larry share the end of the table. Conversation resume for a few minutes before they decide to eat. Charlie stands to say a few words, it is his house and dinner party after-all, but gives Megan the honor of carving the turkey.
Meredith smiles pleasantly as Megan carves the turkey. She looks at Charles knowing they aren't on the best of terms, it isn't her fault the poor young man is so underdeveloped and over dramatic, and tries to think of a conversation opener while they all begin grabbing food.
"Good job Charles and Donald these rolls smell delicious."
"Thank you Meredith."
They cease conversation to take their first bite of the feast. There are a few apericative moans and thumbs up but not speaking for a minute or two.
"Lovely recipe Charles."
"Thank you. We got it fro-"
"Oh, I have an excellent one you can use. It would come out perfectly, it calls for a tad more salt and spice. It would really bring your bread and rolls to the next level."
Megan raises and eyebrow at the woman's obtuseness and takes a peek at Alan who sighs but refrains from speaking. Larry brings his hand up to rub his forehead, all the while shooting Charlie and Don, who looks a bit miffed, sympathetic glances. Amita simply tried to hide the displeasure on her face with a glass of wine. A sour look passes over the youngest Eppes face. He tries to plaster on a polite smile but between getting cut off and having his mom's recipes insulted, it comes off a little forced.
"It was our mothers recipe and I have no intention on using a different one."
A few covert glances are shot in his direction but are ignored. The curly head young man takes a knife and begins to carve the ham to save himself from having to participate in the conversation. He silently curses his father's girlfriend, but grudgingly admits that the ham smells amazing.
A generous piece of ham is placed on everyone's plate while each person grabs more. The mathematician immediately sets about shoving more food in his mouth, who knows when Meredith will start speaking again. He may not be able to control himself.
The meal resumes with some conversation. Amita, Larry and Charlie begin to speak of an equation that flies over everyone else heads. In the mean time, Don, Megan, Alan and Meredith talk about swapping recipes for future holidays. Only Don notices when the conversation suddenly ends next to him but the other three don't miss Larry and Amita frantic calls of "Charlie" and "Charles".
The genius young man in question is leaning on the dining table, arms braced against it to hold himself up, and has a very red complexion. He removes his left hand from the table to bring up to his throat. His mouth opens as if to cough but no noise comes out creating panic and sparking everyone into motion.
Don stands quickly and moves Charlie out of the chair and onto the floor. Only a few seconds pass but the mathematician looks significantly worse. Parts of his face start to swell and his skin becomes even redder. Alan and Megan, who have long since crossed the table, hold Charlie up and try to keep him lucid and breathing. Larry steps away from the excitement with Amita, who keeps and eye on Charlie to inform the EMTs of his condition, to call 911.
Thankfully, Don's overprotective streak shows it's usefulness. After years of living with Charlie he knows the signs of most medical emergencies well, the younger is always getting into some sort of trouble now being no coincidence. The sweating, swelling, and braying trouble all mean anaphylaxis. There are very few things the mathematician is allergic to and of course three out of the four require epi pens. As if to capitalize how just unlucky the brunette is they all need slightly different epi pens. Don immediately sets out to find the source of Charlies troubles.
The half finished plate of food is the first thing to catch the FBI agent's eye. There is a bitten roll, mused collard greens, the remnants of mac and cheese, some yams, and a cut piece of ham. The smoking gun is the bitten piece of ham on the end of Charlie's fork. Without a second thought, Don shoves the fork into his mouth and chews slowly. Pineapples. His younger brother is deathly allergic to pineapples, a fruit found in most fruit juices and commonly used in flavoring for meat sauces.
"Amita! In the kitchen drawer next to the sink there's three episodes pens, grab the yellow one. Larry, tell the EMTs it's an anaphlatic reaction to pineapples and that he's been given an epi pen. "
Amita returns to the dinning room as fast as she can and hands off the epi pen to Don. He wastes no time, every second is precious during a reaction this bad, to remove the cap and plunge the syringe into Charlie's thy. The effects are far from immediate.
Alan, with the help of Megan, slowly lower Charlie to the floor. They keep a close eye on the young man with Don hovering nearby hoping the EMTs arrive soon. During the next two minutes all three watch as the brunette's breathing evens out and his color slowly returns. A few seconds pass silently before Larry announces the arrival of the EMTs.
They grudgingly, very grudgingly in Don's case, move out of the way to give the technicians room to work on Charlie. There are murmurs of medical jargon but their tone, plus the few words Don can hear, sound positive. As they load the youngest Eppes on the stretcher, Don "asks" the EMTs if he can ride along. Besides being unconscious and just having an allergic reaction, there's no real danger. They inform Alan and Don that the brunette simply needs to stay over night to ensure the allergen is out of his system, it is actually an attempt to avoid the clearly overprotective brother. Their statement falls on death ears and the eldest Eppes son informs his father and friends that he'll ride along and they can meet him at the ride to the hospital is short even without the siren.
Don waits impatiently in the waiting room with his father, Larry, Amita, Megan and Meredith. He told Larry and Amita to go home when they were still at the house but knew they would say no wanting to be with their friend when he wakes up. Since arriving to the hospital Don has completely ignored Meredith. The eldest Eppes son isn't even glancing in her direction. Amita keeps shooting her looks and even Larry looks miffed. Just as Amita stands to go speak to Meredith about nearly killing Charlie a doctor comes to speak with them. He tells them Charlie is awake and can have visitors, a chance they immediately jump on. As they walk to his room the doctor fills them in, after being assured non family can hear his diagnosis.
"Charles is doing fine. The epinephrine was given in time and did it's job. We gave him a bit more, pineapples are listed as a high allergen for him, and want to keep him over night for observation. We'll probably release him in the morning."
They stop outside of his room. Charlie is eagerly scrapping the inside of a jello container, probably cursing the fact that he will be maxing dessert. They watch him finish the jello before stepping inside the room.
"Charles-"
"Charlie please."
"Yes of course. Your friends and family wanted to visit. Only a few minutes, he needs rest." The doctor leaves with a word to ask him any questions regarding his patient's health. He also makes it a point to remind Charlie to avoid his allergens at all cost.
"Hey guys" He stops abruptly upon seeing Meredith lurking in the back of the group. "Why did you put pineapple on the ham? I know we don't get along but why did you try to kill me?"
His father looks astonished "Charlie?! I highly doubt Meredith was trying to kill you. Why would you say something like that?"
The other four step aside to watch the argument from the sidelines.
"No dad you don't understand. I told her I was allergic to pineapple, extremely I might add and she cooks with it anyway. She didn't even tell me."
"Now wait a minute Charles-"
"That's another thing Mer. Stop calling me Charles! I only let friends and family call me that and you're neither."
"Now listen to me Charlie. How as is supposed to know you were really allergic? You are such a dramatic child, and you live with your head in the clouds too much, I thought you were mistaken."
Don steps forward furiously. He had to learn the hard way, but Charlie is Charlie and he tends to walk to the beat of a different gun. Calling him a child then nearly killing him because you thought he was being dramatic, which let's be honest the mathematician is quite dramatic at times , is a sure way to get on Charlies bad side. Another thing Don learned the hard way, bad side of someone on a first name basis with the director of the NSA isn't a good thing. It took some mistakes and forgiveness but over the years Charlie has started to make more sense to Don.
"Now just hold on alright. Who do you think you are?! You put something he told you he was extremely allergic to on food you knew he was going to eat because you though he was being dramatic?! You could have killed him! And he's not a child. Charlie's almost thirty and yeah his head is in the clouds a lot. That's what make him Charlie, you know. Don't try to change him because you don't understand."
"So let's get this straight, you talk down to me, disrespect me and my mother, then nearly kill me. Guess what Mer? You can date my dad all you want but you're never allowed at the Craftsman again." Charlie levels her with a dark look. "If I see you again I'll have Megan or Don arrest you for trespassing." Both feds in the room nod their heads.
Meredith purses her lips in the awful snobby manor she's so fond of. "Fine. Goodbye Charles, Donald... I'll see you later Alan."
Alan Eppes, who finally breaks out of his state of shock calls out to Meredith. He follows her out of the room into the hall. Don glares at the door, trying to will his gather to break up with the woman who nearly killed his little brother. The FBI agent is broken out if his thoughts by Megan, Larry and Amita moving to Charlies bedside.
"Wow Charlie, this has been an interesting Thanks Giving."
"I am so sorry Megan. You probably thought this was going to be a nice,quiet dinner."
"Don't worry about it Charlie, I'm sure she just means life's more exiting around you, even the life of an FBI agent."
"You know Amita, I feel like I should be insulted."
"Come now Charles. She's just teasing,but life is much more colorful when you're friends with someone as trouble and accident prone as yourself."
Don approaches the other side of Charlies bed. He pats his younger brother on the shoulder.
"How are you felling Chuck?"
"Better than I was at the was at the house that's for sure. " The mathematician beams at his older brother. The memories of their old relationship are more raw than either would care to admit, making Don's words to Meredith mean more than the others in the room know. "Thanks for what you said Don."
"It's no problem buddy, it's true. We've had some rocky times but I know you know. I have to say though Chuck, I didn't know you had it in you. Telling her off like that, nice." He ruffles the younger's hair. "Get some rest. I'll be back in an hour to sneak you some dessert." The sentence earns him another beaming smile.
"Thanks Don"
Don stands, arms crossed, at the door to Charlie's hospital room. He watches as his younger brother pulls on his clothes in preparation to leave. Much to the older's dismay, the younger is currently trying to convince him to stop by the store.
"Come on Donnie." There's an evident wine to Charlie's voice and the 'Donnie' makes it clear how far the younger is willing to beg for this. "It'll be a quick trip. I just want to go to a few stores to observe how the sales effect the masses' shopping patterns and attitudes."
"You know you just got released from the hospital, right? You haven't even actually left yet and you're trying to convince me to make a detour."
"I swear I'll be fine, and right after I'll go home and take a nap or something."
The agent shakes his head. It wouldn't really hurt anything, Charlie is being released with orders to rest but walking around the store observing people ins't exactly exhausting. Their father may be pissed but it's a quick trip to the store. What's the worst that could happen?
"Alright fine. Just swear you'll take a quick look and then we leave."
"Deal. Let's go now. It's nearly 7:30 and stores only opened a few hours ago. It should be the perfect time to watch without getting caught up in the craziness."
The brothers leave the hospital room, stopping by the nurse's station to fill out paperwork, and walk to Don's car. He tunes out Charlie's rambling about the equation he was working on to model how sales effect people's shopping habits. It's pretty clear to him. When a huge sale hits, like black friday, people become crazy and do almost anything to save money. There's been more than a few cases about pre-, current, and post- black friday rage issues. Don sighs, wondering why he gave in so easily, but smiles fondly at Charlie.
"Alright, get in and buckle up. What store do you want to go to?"
"I can only pick one?" At the look his other brother shoots him Charlie continues on hurriedly. "Okay, um Best Buy definitely."
"Ugh, you know Best Buy is at a four way intersection right? Even a few hours after the main excitement it's going to be a mess over there. Why Best Buy?"
"Statistically electronics are the most sought item during sales in general. I was asked by a friend to consult on the changes in spending during the holiday. They want me to make an equation to find out when people are most likely to donate money over spending it on a good deal. Did you know the amount of money spent on electronics during black friday alone is enough to..."
Don tunes his brother out again but nods in the appropriate spots. It's admirable how the younger spends his own time and money, the charities he donates to without telling and the good causes he's consulted for. The older, however, is more concerned with maneuvering the overly congested roads and terrible drivers rushing to the store than the gross amount of money people manage to spend on one day of the year.
With all the late comers to this year's black friday, the trip to Best Buy is nearly tripled in time. The mathematician is glancing at the roads and ridiculous amount of cars turning into certain parking lots and continuously jots down numbers. Don is convinced Charlie's somehow counting all the cars in his head and running micro equations. He spares a few glaces at his younger brother to ensure, while highly improbable, the doctors didn't release him too early and the pineapple doesn't decide to make a comeback. All of his attention turns to the road as he turns into their destination.
As Don pulls to a stop, the mathematician tires to stealthily take off his seat belt.
"Where do you think you're going Chuck?"
"Uh, outside. It'll be quick I swear. I just want to get a good look at the line. The ages and races of the people here are just as important as how many people showed up."
"Ugh, alright you've got one minute, starting now, then we're going home."
"Thanks Donnie."
Charlie rushes out of the car, pad and paper in hand, to the barriers set up around the store. The agent sits in the car and watches the chaos around him. What's wrong with people? There are large groups of people entering and exiting the store in droves. Some happy, with that one item they clearly stayed out all night to get. Some not so happy, thought if the state of their clothes is anything to go by they also stayed out all night. Just from a glance at the crowd, Don knows his brother is going to get a lot of valuable data from this one store alone. Everyone is here, either in line or just arriving or leaving, from the poor college student who needs the deal to the rich kid who just wants to be out in the chaos to the parent who promised their child that one thing to the old couple who needs to save money. He whistles lightly thinking about what a treasure trove of data this must be for Charlie. Then he checks the clock. Minutes up, time to go retrieve the resident genius.
Before Don can get out of the car the mathematician returns, with a split lip. Charlie winces as he puts on his seat-belt, knowing the stunned silence from Don won't last long.
"Charlie! What the hell?!"
"It's not as bad as it looks."
"The hell it isn't-"
"These guys thought I was cutting the line, essentially robbing everyone behind me. Needless to say they didn't like the idea to much."
"I can't believe I let you talk me into this. We're leaving and you're staying at the Craftsman until CalSci starts back up."
Charlie bites back a retort about being too old to be grounded by his older brother while Don pulls out of their spot. The older's head is on a swivel, the parking lot is definitely over capacity as it is and more people at the intersection are trying to enter. They ease their way out of the parking lot and begin to turn left, heading back to the Craftsman, when an SUV blows through the red light at the busy intersection, clips the car turning right, from in front street of them, and smashes into the passenger side door of Don's car.
A loud horn pierces the air along with screams of fear. The screams are replaced, more like covered, with shouts and Don feels someone banging on the window. The agent comes to slumped over the steering wheel of his car. There's confusion at first as he tries to remember what just happened. His head is killing him and the pounding on the window isn't helping. Dark eyes blink sluggishly as Don turns his head to the window on the left. A man with blood dripping down his face bangs the window with a pipe. Soon there is glass everywhere and the man reaches his hand through the hole to open the door.
"Hey man, you're going to be alright. My name's Dave and I'm going to get you out just hang."
The sentence reminds Don of what just happened. A car crash. Some idiot ran a red light, clipped a car, then smashed into theirs. He looks at the windshield, there's a car directly in front of them. The front end is mangled and the driver side door is open.
"Hey, I'm going to need you to try the seat belt."
Don blinks his attention back at the guy with the head wound, Dave is mind slowly supplies. He notices the car behind the man, it's so close Don's driver side door is barley open.
Dave waves someone over from a row of stopped cars. "Ask someone for a knife, he's dazed and we need to get him out of the car. Are the EMTs on the way?" The second man nods. "Good. Get a few more guys over here. As soon as he's out we need to grab the other one."
The other one? Charlie! Don tries to turn his head to the right, a shock wave of pain passes through him. Great a neck injury. It doesn't stop him though. Determined, Don turns his had again and blocks out the pain as best as he can. The first noticeable thing he sees is a wrecked car resting against the entire driver side front end first. Then he sees Charlie. His younger brother's head is lolled to the side making it possible to just make out the large gash on the right side of his head. His naturally curly brown hair is matted down with blood. Add the already split lip and various cuts on his face from the blown out window and Charlie makes for quite a sight.
The older brother slowly turns back to Dave.
"Char-" He frowns slowly at his voice, it's gravelly and a tad sore. Dave waits patiently as he clears his throat a few times. "Charlie. You need to get Charlie."
"Don't worry, we're going to get you and Charlie out."
"No! Get him now."
"Look man, we can't get him out now. That assholes car is rammed into his door, the entire right side of your car is completely wrecked. We have to get you out first then pull him out that way."
Upon hearing the situation, Don painfully turns his neck back to the right and down. If he could just get out of the car they could get to Charlie. He moves his right arm stiffly down to the seat belt button. Don pushes his thumb into it but the thing is jammed. He tires multiple times, not willing to let a measly jammed seat belt get in the way of his brother getting medical attention. His head begins to pound more than ever at the increase in his heart rate.
"Hey working yourself up isn't going to help your brother. Don't give me that look. I'm a fire fighter, have been for over a decade, I know what I'm talking about. I just sent a guy to find a knife he should be coming back soon. Someone in this crowd must have one."
No sooner than he finishes speaking, the man comes back holding a combat knife, with three other men and a woman, one of which is on the phone, following behind him.
"Here's the knife. And I found these guys in the crowd eager to help."
"Alright thanks."
The knife is handed to Dave who quickly wedges himself in the slight opening of the car door. The fire fighter takes the knife and saws back and forth for nearly half a minute before finally breaking through both straps of the seat belt. Throwing the seat belt to the ground, Don tires to shift to get out of the car.
"Shit. Augh, shit! My leg is stuck and definitely broken."
Dave turns to the woman who is on the phone. "How long 'till the EMTs get here?"
"Five to eight more minutes because of traffic."
The fire fighter cusses lowly. The younger of the two men in the car looks to be in terrible shape and may not last that long without someone stemming the blood-flow. He looks at the group of five volunteers, eyes singling out the smallest of the five. One was a young blonde woman and the other a male brunette teen.
"You two, you really wan to help?" They both nod assuredly. "Good. I'm going to need you to both squeeze in the back seat. Kid I'm going to need you to take you're hoodie off and hold it to the passenger's head. Press as hard as you can, it's extremely important to stop the blood-flow. I'm going to need you to get behind the driver and tell me what you see."
Both the woman and teen squeeze through the door after Dave moves out of the way. They take turns climbing partially over Don to get to the back seat. The brunette goes first because he needs to sit behind the passenger. Like the rest of the car, the back seat is ruined. The normally spacious rear of the car is reduced to a very tight fight for the young man and woman. During the collision the brothers must have been severely rear ended by the car turning behind them.
They yell to Dave when they're in position. The teen sets about his task, making sure Charlie doesn't bleed to death while waiting for the EMTs, and the woman checks Don's legs. She reports that the front end of the car is bent inward and a portion is pinning Don's leg down. After a careful inspection with a flashlight, there appears to be no metal pieces sticking out to cause further injury to the FBI agent.
"Alright, we're going to get you out but you're going to have to help. It's going to hurt...a lot."
"Fine. The sooner we do this the sooner he get's medical treatment."
"You're going to turn you're back towards me so two of us can start to pull you out."
"Pull me out? What about the door? If I can get my leg out I can walk out myself."
"You don't feel it now, but as soon as we get you're leg out it's going to hurt a whole lot more than it currently is. Best method is to close the door and pull you out through the window."
"Alright, let's do it."
Dave shuts the car door and uses a pipe to knock the reaming glass out of the window. There's only about a foot and a half of space between the two cars and it's filled up with Dave and another volunteer. With a grunt, Don manages to twist his body to the right. He faces Charlie, with the teen in the backseat holding a hoodie to his head, and it steels his resolve. The agent very carefully leans back and puts his arms out of the window. It takes a minute but, with careful tugs and Don pushing off the ground with his good leg, they manage to get leg unstuck. Dave was absolutely right. A white hot pain envelops Don's leg causing him to cry out against his will. The volunteers drop his arms, the agent's body laying nearly halfway out of the window, to give him a break. The distant call of sirens lull Don out of the flashes of pain in his mind. He yells at them to keep going, they have to save his brother. A few final tugs from the two guys and pushes from the blonde woman find Don outside of the car. There's no room and no where else to go so they lay him on top of the other wrecked car. The remaining two volunteers drag Don out of the way and try to wrestle him to the side lines.
"Let's get Charlie now. Kid has he woken up. No? Good. This is all up to you two. Kid tie the hoodie around his head. Yes, like that. Now I need you, the blonde, to move into the front seat. Sit so you're facing Charlie. Good. Okay, kid as slowly as you can turn Charlie to his side and make his back face the woman. Nice, that's right. Okay, a broken arm is expected, try to rest it on his stomach without moving it too much. Good. Now, I'm going to stand to the side and open the door. I want you to slowly move as if to get out. Good, now stop. Kid grab his feet. Now you, lady, move your legs so they're hanging out of the car. Squeeze out, it's going to be tight. Now rotate your upper body so you can pass him out of the window. Okay, good. Keep it going, we've got him on this side. Great, he's out. Now the three of you, help me carry him over to his brother."
The four volunteers slowly move Charlie off the car and over to Don. They lower the mathematician to the ground directly next to his brother, who has been valiantly struggling against the volunteers to help all this time. Don leans over to examine his brother. The thin hoodie is nearly soaked through with blood on one side. There's a myriad of bruises and cuts all over the younger's face and, judging from the angle of his right arm, he broke it during the crash. Just as Don is about to curse the hospital system, the sound of sirens get closer. The agent finally looks up from his brother to see cars trying to move out of the way for the ambulances to get through. Don and the volunteers wait with baited breath for the EMTs to get to them.
Four EMTs, two from each ambulance, run to them. They immediately separate to treat the more serious victims of the car crash. The EMTs working on Charlie begin to yell medical jargon, didn't Don hear enough of that yesterday, at each other. The elder brother grudgingly allows himself to be treated by the two working on him but absolutely refuses to move from the spot next to Charlie. He keeps one eye on Charlie and the other on the two trying to treat him. All of Don's attention switches back to Charlie, however, when the tone and pitch of the EMTs voices change. They've only been here a minute, what could have happened? Shouts of we need to go now, he's lost too much blood and what sounds like shock answer the agent's question.
The youngest Eppes is quickly prepped for transport and placed on a stretcher. The two working on Don send covert glances to each other while the older one reaches into the bag and pulls out a sedative.
"Hey, where are you going?"
"Are you related to this man Sir?"
"Yes, he's my brother. Where are you going?"
"We need to get him to the hospital as soon as possible. No, don't try to get up. The best thing you can do for him now is to get treated yourself."
Don ignores the younger man's logic and tries to stand up. He bites back a yell, as he stands on his broken leg, making it sound more like a grunt. They've already started wheeling Charlie away to the ambulance and he needs to get there. Hands reach out and start pulling him back.
"Let go of me! I need to go with him!"
"Sir, you have a broken leg and were just in a car accident. You need medical attention."
"And I'll get it! Right after I get to the hospital. If you care so much you can treat me in his ambulance on the way."
Don pulls away but a strong hand grabs his bicep. With the remainder of his strength, Don lashes out, knocks the younger EMT over and starts to hobble as fast as he can to catch up to Charlie.
"I'm going with him! It's my fault he's hurt and he's going to need me when he wakes up!"
The older EMT watches sadly as his patient tries to hobble over to his brother. The younger brother is already near his ambulance and is being loaded into to it now. The older man shakes is head as he sneaks up behind Don. It's sad. He has a brother too and is often told he's too 'overprotective' but in this case his patient is trying to turn down immediate medical attention to follow the younger one. Like any other overprotective brother, the EMT knows Don won't get help unless the other is treated first. If the younger brother's case was less serious then maybe the older could ride along. Now though, a protective older sibling would be doing much more harm than good. He sighs to himself as he plunges the syringe into the man's neck. He would hate if someone drugged him to keep him away from his little brother but it's important to remember that at a certain point protecting turns into harming.
FBI Agent Don Eppes comes to in what he assumes is the hospital. If the stark white ceiling and very irritating beeping is anything to go by, his assumption is correct. Don moves his hands around the bed searching for the control to change the bed's position. Judging from the ache and stiffness of his neck, they must have him in some sort of neck brace, not that turning his head after the pain he felt in the car is the first thing on his list.
The oldest Eppes son sees a large cast covering nearly his entire right leg. There's also the neck brace and a bandage around his head but other than a few bandages covering scrapes, and a splitting headache, Don's relatively okay. He tilts his head to the left and right, as much as he can, to take in his surroundings. The let reveals an empty hospital bed and the entrance to the room. On the right there's an enormous window and Alan sleeping in a stiff hospital chair next to the bed. He calls out softy to wake his father.
"Donnie? Oh, good you're awake. Here take a few sips of water. I need to get the doctor."
"Dad wait. Where's Charlie?"
A pained look crosses his father's features. "In surgery, has been since you both arrived a few hours ago."
"What's wrong with him, is it bad?"
"A severely broken arm that's going to need surgery later, various cuts and bruises, a nasty gash on his head, and a concussion. The doctors says that stuff isn't too bad and he'll heal eventually. The kicker is the broken ribs, nearly his whole right side, and one punctured his lung. They seem cautiously optimistic...but it's been a while Donnie."
There's a few seconds of tense sorrow heavy silence. Don stares at the blank tv screen in front of the bed and Alan stares at Don.
"It's not your fault Donnie."
"It is. No stop, it is. I should have taken him straight home this morning he begged me to take him to the store. And for what some stupid equation he's working on. I should have never let him convince me. I'm his older brother he's supposed to listen to me but I took him anyway. Now Charlie's fighting for his life because I let go to some stupid store. God dad, I'm so sorry."
There's another few seconds of silence as Don sits there with tears in his eyes. Before anything else could be said, Alan rushes to be as close to his oldest as possible and hugs him. Don may not realize it but while he and Charlie didn't always get along, the older was always extremely protective. Even as their relationship evolved, some things never change.
"No Don it isn't your fault. It's that asshole who hit you's fault and if I know Charlie, which I do, he started to whine a little and called you Donnie."
"Yeah, how did you know?"
"He always does that when he really wants something. Neither of you two notice it but you always cave because of it. It's neither of your faults."
"What happened?"
"You were turning out of best buy to go home. When you were in the middle of the intersection this guy decides to run a red light. He clipped the car turning right a and then rammed straight into your car. The car he clipped swerved and caused the car turning left behind you to speed up. The car behind you hit your car, pushing you more to the left. By the end of the cars sliding, you came to a stop in the straight and turn lanes on the left side of the intersection. You had hit two more cars, on on the left and one on the front. If it wasn't for the volunteers..."
"But why? Why did he run the light?"
"...he was late to a sale."
A fury like none Alan has ever seen enter's Don's eyes.
"Get my phone. Call Megan."
"They already know. She saw it on the news and rounded up David and Colby. That asshole is already handcuffed to his hospital bed."
"Good."
"Go back to sleep Donnie. I'll get the doctor later."
A sleep-slurred 'sounds good' can be heard before Don drifts back to sleep.
Don sleeps for a few more hours, the sedative the EMTs gave him making its way out of his system. A firm hand on his shoulder wakes him along with calls of his name.
"Dad? What is it?"
"Look to your left."
Dark eyes slowly move from right to left. There's a small gasp in surprise at the sight, it's Charlie. The younger has a thick cast around his arm, bandages on his face, and another thick set of bandages around his head. Don can only assume there's more bandages hiding under the hospital gown.
"Hey, Donnie."
"Charlie, are you okay? Are you in pain? Why are you awake? Shouldn't you be asleep?"
"I'm okay, I've already been to recovery they just moved me here. A little, I wanted to talk to you first, to make sure you're okay, so I refused medicine."
"Charlie! That's ridiculous, I'm fine alright. Dad get nurse to-"
"It's fine they rigged up a button so I can regulate my own meds."
"Well use it. You just had surgery, you need to sleep Charlie an-"
"I'm really sorry Don."
"What?"
"I'm sorry. If I hadn't convinced you to take me to Best Buy we wouldn't have gotten in that wreck."
"It's not your fault Charlie."
"It isn't yours either."
"I know. It's the guy who ran the red light's fault. Don't worry about it either, Megan already arrested him. Dad says he chained to his hospital bed right now."
"That's good."
"Yeah it is. Now would you take some medicine. You need to get some sleep buddy."
"Yeah...okay."
Charlie presses the medicine button tied to his bed. With a low whirl of machinery, the medicine is distributed to his blood stream and he's out cold shortly after. Alan and Don wait a minute or two before speaking again.
"The doctors say he's going to be fine."
"Good. You know dad I'm surprised. Today, and yesterday, you weren't freaking out like you did the last few times Charlie landed himself in the hospital."
"Ha you're wrong. He's my youngest, of course I was panicking but you were with him. Even when you two barely spoke you made sure nothing happened to Charlie. If you're with him I know you'll move heaven and hell to make sure he's okay. You always have and you always will."
Don smiles at the thought. Of course, he would it's his brother. Even more so now because he wants to make up for the time they lost with each other.
"Yeah, I will."
AN: A little more hurt and angst than I originally saw but what's CWDA without it. Don't know where the car crash came from but I couldn't shake the idea. Please Review.
