Disclaimer: I own nothing…
"He's alive…"
After that all it Don saw were blurs of faces and lights. He remembered someone leading him to a car and the streetlamps made their flickering beams enter and exit Don's thoughts, like passing memories of when he and Charlie were children.
The constant fighting between both of them seemed so important to him now, because he said so many things to his brother that he wished now were left completely unsaid.
Don rarely hurt Charlie physically. There was that one huge wrestling match on the front lawn during their senior year at high school, which Don undoubtedly won. Then there was that one fight that started when Charlie said the completely wrong thing at the totally wrong time and it caused Don to fly into a frenzy. He didn't remember the conversation that started it but the topic of college popped into his mind when he thought about it.
He used to have to drag Charlie to the park with his friends because his parents forced him, and there were a few scraped elbows and knees then, but why did that matter now?
What was the point of remembering these childhood hurts?
Charlie was alive but he still was dying; so why did all this matter?
It didn't…
It didn't matter then to anyone… except him…
Don wanted to forget everything that happened during their childhood.
It hurt too much to think about what he had done to hurt his brother.
There were times when he wished that his brother had never been born.
No one to shadow him…
No one to make him jealous...
No one to take his Mom's and Dad's attention…
He hated this but he had to admit that he was very jealous of his baby brother as a kid.
When his parents found out about how special their Charlie was, there was a brief period of time when that's all they cared about.
Finding Charlie special teachers...
Getting Charlie special things…
Protecting Charlie from everything that could hurt him…
They always loved Don but he never got that sort of attention from them. It wasn't till recently that he actually realized how hard Charlie had it.
No friends…
Always being picked on…
Treated different…
An outsider…
How could Don ever want that?
He wished now that he understood how difficult Charlie's life could be when he was younger.
He felt the vehicle he was sitting in slow and then stop with a sharp jerk. He heard and felt the wrench of his father's door as he almost ran into the building they had stopped in front of.
The hospital…
That's where Charlie was…
The driver got out in a slower manner than his father. They opened his door for him when they realized he wasn't moving.
"Come on…" the voice was soft and quiet. "Lets go find Charlie…"
Looking up into her blue eyes. He felt as though he would die if they looked away.
"Thanks Terry…"
She smiled with sad eyes and helped him out of the car and enter through the doors Alan had rushed through moments ago.
Terry didn't want to leave Don alone with David when they exited the school but she had to find out what had happened to Charlie. She'd gotten quite close to the youngest Eppes' son over the past few months and it tore at her to think he was dead.
So she'd gone to the paramedic team and asked what had happened with Charlie's body, unaware that he was still alive.
A young man had looked confused for a moment before he told her that they'd taken him to a hospital and that he was alive.
Her numbness began to melt and finally she let her eyes let go of the sadness they held only to let the happiness flow.
She remembered asking about which one he'd been taken to before tuning to find a shaky Don talking to a very pale Alan Eppes. She grabbed him willing him to stop trembling before telling him the happiest thing he'd probably ever heard.
But that didn't mean that he was safe yet…
She knew she'd be the one to drive them. David would handle the scene from then on.
Terry had seen all the blood on the floor of the room and knew how bad Charlie was but he was still alive.
His heart still pumping…
Neither Alan or Don spoke on the ride to the hospital but she didn't try and provoke conversation. Silence seemed to be the best thing at the moment.
Right as she parked Alan opened the door and ran into the building, while Don just sat there staring at nothing.
Seeing him, like that made her want to cry harder than before.
She felt helpless and alone…
She could only imagine how Don felt…
Was this truly the life of an FBI agent?
When Don entered he found his Dad talking with the secretary. She'd said that Charlie had been taken up to surgery, once he was stable.
Don imagined his brother on a cold metal table bleeding and bleeding and bleeding and bleeding and…
He was having a really hard time believing that his brother would be alright.
He felt Terry behind him. He knew that she could've left after dropping them off but she didn't.
She was still there…
Don remembered when he was little his mom seemed to hold the answers to everything. If his mom said that everything was going to be alright it would be. She could fix everything.
He felt Terry move closer to him until she was standing right beside him. She took his hand in hers and squeezed slightly.
Terry was with him…
Maybe everything would be alright…
All of Alan's insides were in tangled knots as he went up the elevator with Don and Terry at his side.
He wanted to blame someone for this.
He wanted to point the finger at anyone and give away his blame.
It wasn't his fault…
It wasn't Don's fault…
It wasn't Charlie's fault…
A part of him wanted to go back to the scene of the shooting and beat the crap out of the boy who shot his son…
Wanted to make him pay for the pain his entire family was feeling…
He wanted so badly to cry but found that he couldn't in front of Don.
Don was a mess himself.
Alan didn't want to point this out to his eldest, but blood was covering Don's clothing and hands.
He could only guess that it was Charlie's…
He didn't think Don noticed but hoped he would soon…
Looking at all of it made is stomach continue to twist.
Don had let himself cry though. The last time Alan remembered him cry was when he was nine and their dog died. After that he became the tough Special Agent Don Eppes that most people knew today.
Don had seen Charlie though…
He had seen Charlie and had been convinced that he'd died.
That's one thing that Alan knew he would never get over.
DING
The elevator door opened and they exited.
A/N: I know I'm sorry… I kinda died on the inside(no joke) and my muse ran for the hills. I went to Europe and had my finals so I'm all alone and free for almost 3 beautiful weeks with nothing to do but summer reading… its so wonderful!
This chapter has nothing really in it I know but next chapter (I promise) will have amazing amounts of Eppes love and … well maybe not happiness(hint hint) but something more to do with the brothers…
Please review… I've been away so long that I've forgotten what it feels like to receive feedback!
TheDudeLordOfFantasy a.k.a. Kathleen