A/N: I am in such a good mood, I'm posting chapter four as well.

Chapter 4: Pain

Nate was the one manning his bed when Matt woke up three days later.

He woke up mid scream, and Nate jumped up and ran to the door to find his parents. There wasn't any sign of them anywhere. They had barely left Matt's bedside for three whole days, but now, when he was finally awake, they were nowhere to be found. Nate could appreciate the irony.

Nate returned to his older brother's side. "Matt, talk to me," he whispered.

"Stop! Stop shouting!" Matt sounded delirious.

"I'm not." Nate replied as a doctor came running in.

"It's so loud! Quiet…" Matt's voice trailed off as the doctor gave him a large dose of morphine.

Nate just stood there, frozen in place. The doctor walked up to him. "Your brother was just in shock. He's going to be in a lot of pain for a while. Do you understand?"

Nate still couldn't move.

"Are you okay?" The doctor looked into Nate's eyes and felt his pulse. Nate collapsed, knees buckling. The doctor only just caught him.

"Nurse! A little help in here!" A nurse came running in, Jack and Maggie close behind.

"What happened?" Maggie shouted, staring at her eldest son's rumpled blankets and her youngest unconscious in the doctor's arms.

"Your son woke up screaming and then Jonathon here fainted from shock and fright."

Jack ran to the doctor and picked up the thirteen year-old in his arms. "Is he okay?"

The doctor nodded. "He should be. It must be difficult enough to see your older brother incapacitated like this, let alone delirious. I'll come in later to make sure he's okay, but for now, just lay him on the empty bed."

Jack nodded, caring Nate to the unoccupied bed next to Matt.

The parents stared at their boys, one out cold with fear and shock and the other tossing and turning in pain and wrapped in bandages from the cheekbones up. It was a painful sight.

Maggie and Jack were alone when Matt woke up a day later. They had left Nate at home to rest. Matt didn't scream this time as the pain had lessened slightly. But everything was so loud! Matt's ears were ringing and his nose wrinkled at all the strange smells.

"Where…?" Matt tried to sit up, but he felt a strong hand force him back down.

"You're in the hospital Mattie. Do you know what happened?" Jack's voice boomed from somewhere above him in the darkness.

"Why can't I see? What's…?" His voice trailed off as he felt the thick bandages covering his eyes. Then it came flooding back. The man…the truck…the searing pain.

"The man! How is he? Is he alright?" Matt heard a machine beep faster and he knew he should relax, but he couldn't.

"He's fine Mattie, but…" Jack's voice trailed off like Matt's had a minute before.

"But you were hurt, Mattie," Maggie finished softly.

"Yeah, that I can see." Matt's voice went from worried to sarcastic.

Jack and Maggie both flinched. "Look Mattie, we have to tell you something." Jack tried not to let his voice waver.

"Let me guess: I'm blind," Matt said coldly.

"How could you know?"

Matt scoffed. "Even under three layers of gauze, it's not this dark. So unless the hospital forgot to pay the electrical bills, my eyes aren't working."

Jack wanted to scold him for being so rough, but then he decided that Matt did have the right, this time at least. He was about to change the subject when the doctor walked in.

"Matt, my name is Dr. Coolson. I was the resident on call when they brought you in." He looked at Matt's chart. "I thought it would be best for you to wake up, so I lowered your medication. Are you still in pain?"

"Hell yeah! All the noise is killing me!" Another shot of pain from the volume of his own voice assaulting him.

"Okay, I'll have one of the nurses up your dose." The doctor gestured silent to Jack and Maggie, signaling them to meet him outside.

Maggie and Jack glanced at each other before following the doctor outside.

"We just got the test results back from the lab," Dr. Coolson began.

"And?"

"Well, I'm afraid we aren't exactly sure what splashed into Matthew's eyes. Apparently it was waste from some sort of unique isotope."

"Why does that not sound very good?" Maggie asked.

Dr. Coolson took a deep breath. "Because we're not sure of the damage."

"My son is blind, probably for the rest of his life and you are wondering if that's it?" Jack's voice raised an octave.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Murdock. We're doing all we can." He stuck out his hand, which Jack grudgingly shook. "I'll be back in a while." He nodded politely and left.

A/N: I realized I should probably mention something. Girlwithoutfear, I know what you are probably thinking, and let me say that if you have any edits for this or anything else, don't hesitate to tell. That goes for all. I am not above begging for reviews, by the way (that was a hint...).