On the walk home from school the next day, Lovino was progressively getting more and more worried. His brother was pale and shivering, and from his stiff walk he could tell Feliciano was in a great deal of pain. His brother had learnt well to walk normally when he was hurting, so the fact that it was obvious was not a good sign. When they'd finally arrived at their 'home', they silently maneuvered around the seemly endless amounts of beer bottles and the drunk passed out on the couch .

As soon as they were in their room, Lovino reached out and placed the back of his hand on his brother's forehead. His frown deepened as he felt burning skin beneath his fingers. Cursing under his breath, he sat his brother down on the bed.

"I'm sorry Feli," he apologized softly, brushing Feliciano's brunette hair out of his eyes. "We're out of bandages. I promise I'll get some tomorrow." Oh no, there was no way he was leaving his brother in this state, not when that bastard could wake up at any second and make everything worse. But, his brother was quite out of it at this point (or would be very soon) and it was likely he couldn't even go to school tomorrow.

"It's okay, fratello," his voice was strained and scratchy, and his fists clenched as he shoved down the sudden anger at his foster 'father'.

"No, it's not," he corrected in the same soft tone. "You're sick now because of it. You're still wearing the bandages from last night and we both know that'sfucking not healthy-"

"It's not your fault!" he protested as loudly as he could under the circumstances. "It's not... It's his fault." Lovino knew too well who 'he' was.

For the longest time, they just were silent. Until Feliciano spoke. "Do you think if someone else took us, we'd be happier?" His voice was so innocent, and childlike. Broken.

Lovino didn't reply, but merely swallowed thickly. He's just out of it, that's all, he reminded himself. "Let's get you in the shower," he ordered quietly. Not only would the cool water bring down Feliciano's fever, but it would clean his wounds as well. It would have been better if they had some type of alcohol (well, technically they did, but they knew better than to touch that), but cleaning them was better than leaving them dirty. It would hurt, but Lovino would give his brother some pain medication afterwards.

The taller male assisted the shorter to the bathroom and then the tub. They hadn't done this in quite a while, but right now Lovino didn't trust the younger not to drown himself, not when his mind was muddled with sickness and pain. Besides, Feliciano never had a problem with being nude in front of his brother. Or at least, he used to. He hadn't done that in a while either.

Shoving the thoughts away for now, Lovino carefully pulled the shirt off his brother. But, no matter how slowly and how cautious he was, he knew that taking off the clothing would hurt. And this time, Feliciano was awake. More importantly, he would remember the pain… or not. His brother wasn't exactly in his right mind at this point.

The small hiss his brother let out while he was removing it felt like his heart was being stabbed, but he shook it off. "Now that pants, okay?" he soothed.

"M'Kay," his brother replied, almost dreamily.

That was significantly easier, but now came the hardest part. The bandages. "Here we go," he sighed under his breath. It was more encouragement for himself than informing Feliciano. Which one should I remove first? he asked himself. The bandages around his arms intrigued him, but his back needed more attention.

Back. The more quickly he did this, the less painful it would be, so he skillfully peeled the stained coverings off swiftly, not pausing when his brother let out a pained hiss. He then grabbed a stool, and not even bothering to take off his clothes, sat on it in the shower and put his brother over his knees for better access of the teen's back. When he realized just much more badly it looked than yesterday, his stomach dropped and he took in a sharp intake of breath.

The tint of green was no longer than just a tint, and the tiny portion of skin that wasn't shredded

had become red and inflamed. The new lashes had only worsened his previous condition. Lovino cursed again. Those would have to be cleaned thoroughly once again; there was no way he was allowing this infection to get worse.

Well, he couldn't very well give his brother a shower with the bandages around his wrists, so those came off as quickly as possible as well.

Lovino honestly wasn't prepared for what was underneath. Luckily, they weren't infected like the poor Italian's back, but wasn't what he was focusing on at this point. He looked down wide eyes at the intersecting marks, some faded and some not. Suddenly, it all clicked together in his mind. "I knew he lied...Feliciano, what the hell?!" he exclaimed in a loud whisper, glancing over at the said person.

But, unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately) he knew the younger of the two wasn't lucid at the time, and any questioning would be pointless.

"God, you better have a good explanation." With that, he reached over and turned on the water before going up and turning the shower on it's gentlest setting and grabbing a clean washcloth. After that, he fell into a rhythm, washing out the infected wounds, cleaning the blood off the cloth, wringing it out, and repeat. After he was done with that, he cleaned his brother's arms for good measure.

"There we go, Feli," he mumbled, helping Feliciano up and snatching a towel. Though he himself was dripping wet and his drenched clothes were clinging to him, his brother was the priority, and he dried off the other the best he could.

This was the part where he would usually use bandages, but for right now it would just be best to use a sterile cloth. They had been without proper ones before, but usually they had plenty of the frequently used medical tool. But this time, Lovino really hadn't been expecting Feliciano to receive such a vicious beating, and then one even more so just a day after.

"God, I'm so sorry…" he whispered as he wrapped the wounds best he could and out his brother to bed. "I'm so sorry, Feliciano…."

Double chapter today~

Well, this chapter marks the beginning of the end of the story. It'll probably be just a few more chapters and then an epilogue to wrap things up. I'm really excited; this is the first story that I've actually finished! I just want to take the time to tell you guys how much I've appreciated your support throughout this story, and all the people who've assisted me with writing it.

Spamano4ever: ^^;

Baylee1100: He really has no choice.

Fred and George Weasley Twins: Hope this is early enough!

Akayuki Sawada: Yeah, they definitely need some help, and soon.

stranger379: You pretty much just summarized all the reviews I've gotten.