Reid woke suddenly, sitting upright in an overly white room. Sound hit him hard. Dozens of voices, some crying and some shouting, others soothing while a few maintained calm regularity. The bed beneath him creaked. His clothes were still bloody but his neck was patched. Swallowing hard, he rolled his legs off of the side of the bed, holding tight to the edge as his vision swayed.
The curtain that separated him from the rest of the emergency room beds pulled open almost violently and he looked up in time to see a mix of horror and relief wash over Tyler's features. The youngest rushed forward, his hand curling in the back of Reid's hair to pull his head to his chest, hugging him even as he still sat on the bed. "They said you were shot in the neck. You were dead when they found you," Tyler was practically babbling, his words melding together in a panicked rush. "They said they resuscitated you in the ambulance."
Reid sighed and for a moment let his head rest against his brother's chest. "It's alright," he said it just as he remembered it wasn't. His fingers curled in the side of Tyler's shirt as he looked up. "Where's Po?"
Tyler hesitated, his hand still on Reid's shoulder and suddenly the blond wondered if it was meant to keep him seated. "He's in a room upstairs. They're still running tests."
Reid exhaled in slight relief. He was alive. "What tests?"
Again the youngest hesitated, choosing his words. "Caleb's with him now."
Reid scrubbed a hand over his face. "Which room?"
"I think you should take it easy and—"
"Don't make me Use again today, Baby Boy." It was a hollow threat. He wasn't even sure he had enough energy for it. Despite his behavior in high school, he had no interest in draining his body before his brothers, especially not after what happened with Kyle. But if Using was the only way to keep them alive and safe, Reid would ruin himself without a second though.
Tyler sighed heavily. "It's just down the hall. 121."
Holding his brother's arm, Reid pulled himself up off the bed and started down the hall. Tyler followed closely, nervously. They stopped in the open doorway. Pogue was sleeping in the hospital bed, hooked up to machines that beeped steadily and flashed with lights and numbers. Caleb was standing beside the bed, looking as dark and sullen as ever and yet somehow his expression only darkened when he turned and saw Reid standing there.
He crossed the room quietly, a hand on Reid' s arm carefully ushering him out into the hall once more before closing the door. Caleb frowned deeply as he looked at the blood that covered Reid's shirt and stuck to his skin, his eyes finally settling on the bandages taped to his neck. "You should be lying down." He looked at Tyler. "I told you to keep him where he was."
"I'm not a fucking baby," Reid snapped, turning his attention toward the glass windows that now parted them from Pogue. "What's wrong with him?"
Caleb took a deep breath and ran fingers through his hair, tugging at it lightly. "They said he must have hit his head when he fell."
Reid stared through the glass almost blindly now. He hadn't healed him completely? He'd been so focused on the heartbeat, on making him breathe again. "He was shot."
Caleb shook his head. "There was a shooter. You were shot when you came back for Po."
"No," Reid sighed and closed his eyes. "I mean, yes, I came back for Po, but he had been shot in the head." He felt the stillness of his brother's beside him and looked up at Caleb. "He was dead. I was shot in the throat." Caleb looked at the blood on his shirt with new horror. "I healed it well enough, but Po… he wasn't breathing." He looked at the glass again. "His eyes were open," he muttered.
"You saved him?" Caleb whispered.
Reid sighed. "I guess. I kept pouring power into him until I couldn't anymore."
Caleb swore and it was harsh and quiet. "That's why you went into shock? You died!" he snapped louder than Caleb would normally in public, causing more than a few others down the hall to look.
"We felt you Using from across town," Tyler muttered in addition.
"What do you want me to say?" Reid hissed up at his brother. "You wouldn't have done the same?"
Caleb pressed his eyes shut and took a quiet breath before nodding his silent understanding. "We have a new problem."
"Aside from the shooter?" Tyler mumbled.
"They had to get his name from his wallet. There's nothing physically wrong with him but…"
"But what?" Reid asked uneasily.
"He doesn't remember."
Reid paused, staring at Caleb. "Being shot?"
"Anything."
"Anything?" Reid asked automatically before it sank in. "No." He reached for the doorknob.
Caleb grabbed his wrist to stop him. "I already tried Using to make it right again. It didn't work."
Reid looked through the window again. "He doesn't remember us?" It was a whisper of disbelief.
"He asked about you. He saw you when the ambulance came. But no, he doesn't remember us," Caleb sighed and looked down the hall toward the nurse's desk. "We're not going to tell his family," he said firmly and the other two nodded automatically. "I don't want more people here right now. The doctors are going to run a few more tests and in the morning they'll release Pogue. We'll take him home. I'll call his mother then."
"What if he doesn't want to go with us?" Tyler whispered.
"I've talked to him some. It'll be okay. He'll remember." The optimistic words fell from a skeptical but desperate man. "We'll be okay."
So this wasn't a very conclusive chapter either but it's a little something more. Thank you so much for the comments! They were a great push to getting this chapter done today as well.
