Chapter 4, Part 2

Joe sat back in his chair and cradled the book on his knees.

"Well, I guess it's no wonder you don't wake up," he said at last. "This has gotta be the dullest stuff I've ever read in my life. I gotta be honest, big brother, some of the things you find inerestin' are a real puzzle to me."

He slid a glance at Adam, then slid his eyes away again. Adam's breathing had taken on a raspy quality that filled the room, and the way his chest sucked in visibly when he breathed gave him a funny, cold feeling in the pit of his stomach.

He flipped the pages of the book idly again. "I looked for that Thagrus fella - can't find him anywhere, though. Maybe you could just show me the place…?" He looked hopefully at his brother's face, carefully avoiding looking at his chest again. "Or you could just explain to me about how wrong I am and how inerestin' it all really is…"

Nothing.

He sighed.

When he was little, he had hated waiting mornings for his brothers to wake up and keep him company, so he had often taken things into his own small hands. Waking Hoss up before he was ready had been nearly impossible, but Adam was always a good candidate, and he had developed a habit of running into his room early in the morning and jumping up and down on his bed. Adam hadn't cared for it much, but it had always been effective. Of course, Adam had eventually complained to Pa, too. Pa had decided that since Adam had to get up anyway, it would be all right as long as Joe waited until the clock chimed a certain number of times - but he was not allowed to disturb him in any way before then.

Joe smiled. Poor Adam. Looking back, he figured Pa was making sure he didn't take it into his head to jump up and down on HIS bed instead.

He could remember those mornings, sitting beside Adam's bed and watching him sleep, one ear impatiently cocked for the magic chime that would mean he could wake him up. He felt a lot like that now. He just wished he knew what the magic chime was this time. He peered dubiously at the book again.

"Didn't really figure on even YOU still havin' a math book in your room. Course, maybe it helps you build things. I kinda remember you explainin' to me once about how all those circles and arrows and things helped you build things. Never did figure how that worked." He folded his arms over the book. "I mean, if you're gonna build somethin' seems like you should just build it, y'know? Without all those little numbers scribbled on paper like you like to do." He leaned in toward him a little. "To tell the truth? I used ta kinda think they didn't mean anything and you were just using it as an excuse to play with those numbers and equations and things…"

"Joe?"

Joe jumped so high he had to scramble to catch the book.

"Who are you talking to, son?"

Joe flushed, embarrassed to be caught at it. "Adam," he explained gruffly.

Ben gave him an odd look. "You might just let him sleep, " he suggested.

"I didn't disturb him, I just…" Joe made a face. "When we were in the creek, he - kinda - responded when I talked about that - that Thagrus fella, so I thought…"

Doc Martin had made his way around the other side of the bed to check on Adam's splint, but he looked up at that. "Who?"

Joe held up the geometry book to show him. "You know - that Greek mathematics fella - with all the theories…"

Dr. Martin looked puzzled for a moment, then his face cleared. "Oh. You must mean Pythagoras?"

"That's it!" Joe caught a look from his father and tempered his exuberance, lowering his voice. "That's why I couldn't find him - I didn't have it spelled right. "

Ben shook his head. "What on earth made you talk about such a thing at such a time?"

Joe shrugged. "I don't know. Just sort of came to me. I was tryin' to get him to talk about anything so I tried to pick things I knew he liked to talk about. Kinda wanted to take his mind off things." Ben looked at him, and he grinned a little. "Oh, okay - maybe I wanted to take my mind off things."

Dr. Martin folded back the blankets and put a hand on Adam's chest, frowning slightly at his labored breathing. He bent over and listened for a while, then straightened again. "Hm. Think I'm going to set up a steam kettle in here, then maybe a new mustard plaster. Want to be a little careful with those - don't want to blister his chest."

Adam gave a moist cough that made Ben and Joe wince in unison. His left hand lifted slightly as if pushing something away, then dropped.

Ben felt his heart begin a slow hammering in his chest. "Adam?" he strode to the head of the bed and knelt down to search his face. "Adam? Son, can you hear me?"

Adam's hand lifted and dropped again, his lips moving soundlessly.

"Adam?" Ben stroked the hair away from his face. "What is it, son?"

"Off." The voice was so faint that Ben had to put his ear right next to his mouth to hear him. He watched Adam lift his hand again, this time get it as far as his chest before it dropped. "Off…"

"What…?" Ben watched the hand try feebly to push something invisible away again, then was struck with realization. "No, Adam, there's nothing there, though I'm sure it FEELS like - it's the fluid in your lungs, son." The hand flapped weakly once more and Ben captured it gently, mindful of the bandages, and held it in his own. "There's nothing there, Adam, it just feels that way. Paul is trying to take care of it for you."

Adam coughed again, a painful sound that had Joe resting his hand on his own chest in sympathy, and moved his mouth again. His eyelids slid back unexpectedly. "Pa?"

Ben's heart gave a jump. "That's right, son." He tried to sound calm. "How are you feeling?"

Adam blinked owlishly at him. His eyes didn't look quite right - one was all pupil and the other was just the opposite. His gaze slid vaguely over to Joe, then back to Ben. He coughed, and his eyes shut again as though holding them open had taken all his strength.

Ben thought for sure he was asleep, then he heard the faint, hoarse voice.

"Head hurts."

Ben choked on a relieved laugh. "Yes," he said softly. "Yes, I imagine it does."

"Don't think…"

Ben leaned closer, fighting to hear. "Don't think…what, son?"

Adam swallowed, struggling some with his breathing. "I can…go to school…today…"

Ben's heart froze. "No." he said automatically, glancing at Paul. "No, I don't suppose you can."

Adam's brows knotted painfully, as though he was struggling to remember something. "…Hoss…?" he managed at last.

"Is doing fine, son. Don't worry yourself about it."

Adam's eyes half opened again and tried to focus on him. "'S'true…?"

"Of course it's true. Paul says he's going to be just fine. Just needs a little rest. Which is what you should be doing, too."

Adam's eyelids dropped, but then he pried them apart, trying to fix his eyes back on Ben. "'S'Really…? Joe looks…worried…"

Ben gave his hand a pat. "Yes. Well. Joe is worried about…something else right now. Don't you trouble yourself about it." On the other side of the bed he saw Paul pouring water into a glass and adding something to it, and he continued, "I'm going to give you a drink, then I want you to sleep, all right?"

Adam coughed again, and his eyes squeezed closed, his face suddenly tight and washed with pain.

Ben rubbed the back of his hand soothingly with his thumb, his own heart clenched within him until he saw the face relax again. Paul reached across Adam to hand him the glass, and Ben slid his arm carefully under the pillows to raise him up a little further.

"Now, I want you to drink this - take your time."

Adam sipped at the glass, then pushed it away, his forehead furrowed. "Geo…metry…test?"

Ben glanced at Joe, then back at Adam. "No - don't worry about it, son. Just drink the rest of this for me."

Adam drank some more, then pushed vaguely at the glass again, slumping wearily back against the pillows. His chest heaved in another cough and his eyes remained shut this time. "Where's…?" his voice seemed to be getting fainter, though Ben wouldn't have thought it possible.

"Where's what, Adam?" Ben pulled the blankets up around him and rested his hand on his chest, hoping that would keep him from trying to move.

"…'S'Marie…?"

Ben's look at Paul this time was frantic.

Paul leaned in close and tried to snag Adam's attention, though he already seemed to be fading.

"Adam," he said clearly, "Adam, it's Paul. Can you tell me what day it is, son?"

Adam's eyes opened again, and he stared blankly at him.

Paul touched his shoulder lightly to make sure he was listening. "How about the year, son? Can you tell me what year it is?"

Adam blinked slowly, his eyes wide and fixed on him.

"No," he said after a minute. Then his eyelids fell again.

TBC

I'm glad you got to see the episode, drmweaver - I think it helps a lot. I also think I assumed some things were already understood when I wrote this. I always enjoy Ben/Adam scenes because usually so much is unspoken between them. I love the opportunity to give them a chance to open up to each other a little. I'm glad you enjoyed it too.