Agustin wouldn't be able to stay in bed for long. He had chores to do around the house. And he promised Julieta he would run errands in town for her, so that she could stay home with her brother. But he was reluctant to leave.
Bruno twitched against him as he slept. His face was flushed and he unconsciously clung to Agustin. When he shivered, it seemed impossible as his skin was hot to the touch. Illness in the encanto was completely unheard by most. Only the elders had seen or experienced it. Agustin personally had never seen anything like it.
Abuela and Julieta walked into the room after being informed Bruno was still unwell. "How is he?" the old woman asked seeing them laying in bed. When she got close enough, she observed how sickly her son looked. "You said he was better," she accused her daughter worriedly, while touching his damp forehead.
Agustin moved Bruno off his chest to lay on the pillow, so he could sit up to get a better look. The smaller man looked worse than he had when he was awake. "He was better," Julieta insisted.
"Get him to eat something," Abuela told her.
"It won't help mama," She responded unsettled. "My gift prevents people from getting sick. He shouldn't be able to be sick."
"It might help treat the symptoms," Alma reasoned. "Before you got your gift, when illness was common, we would treat the symptoms until the body healed itself."
Agustin held Bruno by the shoulders and gently pulled him to sit up. He got behind the small man and leaned him back against his chest, in order to keep him upright. Bruno groaned awake from the movement. He blinked but was unable to focus. His head ached and he closed his eyes against the pain.
"Take a bite of this," Julieta coaxed him as she put a wafer to his lips. He hoped eating it would make them leave him alone, so he took a bite. The bruise on his hand healed, and for only a second he felt relief throughout his whole body. But just as quickly as the nausea, aches, and pain disappeared, it slammed back into him the next moment like a wave of pure hell.
He groaned and whimpered as his body shivered from the sudden change. Illness was supposed to be gradual, but this was instant, and it made it feel that much worse. Bruno squirmed and pushed back against the man behind him unable to control his movement as his body had to acclimate to it's horrid condition once again.
"Don't," he begged while gripping Agustin's leg to steady himself. His stomach reeled and sharp pain stabbed his brain. "Don't do that again," he cried with labored breaths. The heat made him feel like he was on fire, yet he shivered from the chills that ran along his back and shoulders.
It disturbed Julieta to see her gift cause a reaction opposite of what it should. It was upsetting that she could not at least temporarily heal him. Just enough to last a few hours, before his mind would put him back in this state. She wanted to try to convince him that things were going to be okay. But how could she when he could barely function.
Abuela sighed in frustration. "I still have things to attend to," she told her daughter. "I'll have Dolores with me. Let me know if anything changes." She kissed her son on the forehead and watched his pained expression for a moment.
She wanted to stay, but life and responsibility did not stop even in the face of tragedy. So, she left. No one wanted to leave home with her. But abuela insisted they had to. Bruno could be sick for a while, and standing around doing nothing when Julieta was taking care of it would be pointless.
Julieta was getting increasingly worried. This illness was stressed induced and she could not relieve his stress. She could try to reduce the things around him that cause stress, but he would have to do the rest himself.
But that was the problem, her brother was stubborn when it came to thinking. She could get him to do anything but think positively. A life time of obligatory visions that showed nothing but uncontrollable negativity, along with being blamed and treated badly, ensured that he couldn't expect things to go right.
She could have prevented this in the past, had she known better. Maybe if she had supported him properly, he would not have been gone for those ten years. The isolation must have wreaked havoc on his mental stability. Even after, it was not too late to help him. Then there was Andre, and that probably should have been his breaking point. It was a shame that he couldn't see how strong he really was. It wasn't until he was horribly tortured that he finally couldn't go on any longer.
Julieta was anxious. She felt like this was the last straw. After his fever had faded last night, she thought they were in the clear. But the fever came back and it was much worse. He couldn't even stay conscious. If he could not get better now; he might never. If he did get better but fell ill again, he might die. It scared her to think of the worst possible outcome.
"We'll let him sleep for now. Hopefully resting will help, like it did last night." She hated that they couldn't do more. "I have to go cook more for town," she said reluctantly. All she wanted to do was stay with her brother, but she couldn't ignore her duty to heal the people. "Can you stay with him? I can ask Mirabel to run things to town for me. I just don't want him to be alone."
"Of course," Agustin replied. He was actually relieved she asked. He didn't want to leave Bruno. He was as disturbed as his wife, and he couldn't stand the thought of things getting worse while he was out doing something else. He got out of bed to reassure Julieta with a kiss and a comforting lengthy hug. "It's going to be okay," he told her, and she decided to believe him because she needed to.
Agustin stayed with Bruno for hours waiting for changes. But the small man hardly moved beyond labored breathing and random twitching. At some point Agustin felt fatigued from the stress of just waiting, so he laid down and consequently fell asleep.
.-.
"Nowhere to run. Nowhere to hide. No one to protect you," Daz breathed out into his victim's ear. He held the small naked man on his lap and against his chest. Bruno wanted to get away from him, but he felt weak and his body was on fire. Every place the large man touched him felt sensitive and tingled.
"Should I keep making you feel good?" Daz breathed, as he sensually and slowly stroked Bruno's cock to hardness. "Remember, it's your choice. I can make you feel bad or I can make you feel good." Bruno trembled and whined, tears running down his face.
It translated into the waking world. Bruno clung to his in-law's chest, gripping the other man's vest in his fists as he whimpered. He rubbed against Agustin's leg. The unexpected movement and the sound of crying slowly woke the taller man up. "Bruno?" he grumbled, then felt the unmistakable bulge of an erection rubbing against him.
Agustin immediately sat up, grabbing Bruno's wrists to pull his hands from their death grip on his vest. "Bruno wake up," he said sternly, which only made his in-law flinch and start sobbing harder. "Wake up!" he said louder and the other man's eyes snapped open.
With a sense of self preservation, Bruno instinctively shoved his foot into the other man's stomach to get him away. Agustin yelped and fell off the bed from the pain and force of it. It took a second after, for Bruno to focus on the room around him. He immediately felt bad for having hurt his in-law.
Then, sudden realization dawned on the traumatized man, as he felt his own arousal between his legs. "No," his voice cracked. He began rocking back and forth on his knees. And started pulling harshly at his hair. Why was he like this? What did he just do?
Agustin ignored the soreness in his stomach and climbed back onto the bed. "It's okay. It's okay," he said reaching out for Bruno, who immediately scrambled away and off the mattress. The taller man quickly followed him as he tried to go for the door.
"It's not okay!"Bruno screamed. He felt repulsive. He couldn't believe he involved Agustin in his fucked up wet dream. Daz was right, he wanted it. It felt good and he liked it. Yet somehow it made him feel even more sick thinking about it. What was wrong with him?
Agustin caught up to him easily and grabbed his upper arm, twisting Bruno around and into a tight hug. "No!" the small man yelled, "Don't touch me! I'm disgusting!" He could still feel his erection and it made him want to vomit.
"It's okay," Agustin assured him. "It was just a nightmare." The taller man was aware that it had been involuntary. Bruno had been tense and distressed for the duration of it. Agustin assumed it had to be something to do with what his abusers had done.
Bruno sobbed into the other man's chest, still weakly trying to push him away. "Let go," he cried. He didn't deserve kindness and understanding. He didn't deserve a hug or any kind of comfort for what he did. He victimized his in-law with his demented dreams. Bruno was repulsive and got off on his own trauma.
He tried to shove Agustin away, but his arms were trapped between them. His in-law held him close, but he should be sickened by him. He tried to dig his nails into Agustin's chest to make him let go, but his nails were too short and useless.
It hurt Agustin's heart to witness Bruno like this. "It's going to be okay," he said sadly, still refusing to loosen his grip as the other man squirmed against him. Despite trying to keep it together, tears formed in his eyes. "It's going to be okay," he cried hugging Bruno tighter. Agustin tried not to cry in order to stay strong and focus. But between he and Julieta; he was the emotional one. Luisa took after him in that regard.
Hearing the taller man's upset, Bruno stopped trying to get away and tried to apologize. "Agustin, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," he said, voice muffled against the other mans chest. If Bruno had any sense to believe he didn't deserve punishment for this, he might tell his in-law that it was getting hard to breathe.
"It's not your fault," Agustin told him, holding him impossibly closer. He sniffled and did his best to stop his own tears. He didn't want the smaller man to feel worse about this. "I'm just so worried about you."
Despite his in-laws kind words, Bruno was filled with shame and humiliation. He felt sick to his stomach and his eyes burned with more oncoming tears that soaked into Agustin's vest. Bruno could feel his penis begin to soften, and it was only a reminder that he had nearly gotten off with his sister's husband.
Bruno turned his face into Agustin's chest and let out a muffled scream from the very thought of his horrible actions. It didn't matter that it was in his sleep. He felt so guilty, and so very disgusting. The taller man could feel him tense in his grip and just held on, to let the small man get it all out.
They stayed standing there for a while, as Bruno's muffled screams became muffled sobs. And from the iron grip around him and labored emotional breathing. The small man could not get enough air in. His vision started to go dark, and Agustin could feel his body start to go slack.
Realizing that maybe he was holding on too tight, which he sometimes did, Agustin loosened his arms. Bruno immediately sucked in a breath, although he secretly wished his in-law would have suffocated him to death. It was what he deserved. "Sorry," Agustin said feeling embarrassed, but still holding the small man up.
"Why are you apologizing?" Bruno said looking up at him. "I'm the one who did something wrong. In- in your daughter's bed," He shut his mouth suddenly and closed his eyes trying not to retch. He didn't want to make Agustin more uncomfortable than he probably already was, but Bruno could not help but lean against him for support.
Now that they both had calmed down a little, Bruno warily waited to hear what the other man really thought of the situation. Surely even Agustin, with his forgiving and kind nature would be at least a little upset.
"You have nothing to be sorry about," Agustin told him rubbing his back. "Sometimes bad dreams can have real life affects." He took a moment to reminisce, unable to miss an opportunity for a lesson or a story.
"I remember once I had a bad dream about bees attacking me. I flung my arms around in my dream and accidentally knocked everything off of the bedside table. Julieta was annoyed with me the next morning." He smiled then. "She makes the cutest pouting face when she's annoyed."
"Mine couldn't have been a bad dream," Bruno replied sadly, thinking his in-law was taking this too lightly. "It felt-"he wasn't sure that he could say it out loud but the other man understood.
"It doesn't matter how your body felt," Agustin explained hugging him close but not to hard this time. Bruno accepted it, he hated how much the hug helped him feel better. It made him feel like his in-law wasn't upset with him.
Agustin continued to reassure him. "I could see how upset you were. It was a bad dream, nothing more. You would never have done that if you had understood what was happening. Trust and believe me, you can't keep blaming yourself for things you cannot control. So put it out of your mind. "
Bruno hoped it was nothing more, and that he could somehow get it off his mind. He felt a hand touch his forehead. "You're still burning up. Let's put you back in bed."
"No," Bruno said as Agustin moved to push him by the shoulders toward the bed. "I don't want to sleep here anymore." He couldn't help it. He felt like he had tainted the room.
"Okay," Agustin said sympathetically. "That's fine. Let go to mine and Julieta's room," he offered. Bruno didn't have the heart to refuse. Her room was rather nice.
Julieta's room was an open field of herbs with scattered fruit trees. In one corner of the room was a kitchen with plenty of counter space for her to cook and conduct experiments. The bed sat in the left corner, closet to the door, just under a tall thick Maracuyá tree that stood behind it.
Agustin steered Bruno by the shoulders toward the bed. But the small man was feeling a little reluctant about it. Now he was invading his sister's space and he couldn't bare to mess this up too. The thought made him feel more nauseous.
He was guided on to the bed by his in-law, who placed warm blankets over him. The room was a little bright, but the tree provided much needed shade to keep his headache from getting worse. The smell of the plants in the room were not as strong as the flowers in Isabela's. It made it easier to breathe.
Agustin climbed onto the bed, getting under the blankets and maneuvering Bruno to lay his head on the taller man's shoulder, so that he could hold the small man close to him. Shocked that his in-law wanted to be near him, he tried to stop it in case it was out of obligation, "You don't have to-"
"I'm not leaving you," Agustin interrupted . "You'll probably get it in your head that I'm upset with you and everything is somehow your fault."
"You should be upset with me. So should Julieta," Bruno countered and sudden dread took over him. "What's Julieta going to think? What will she say?" He grabbed his hair and yanked it in distress as his cheeks grew hot and red with fever.
"She would probably abandon the town to lay in bed with you until you were no longer sick," Agustin said honestly as he grabbed Bruno's hand to keep him from yanking at his hair more. "She probably wouldn't even sleep. She'd just stare at you for days on end to make sure you didn't have a nightmare." The imagery of that both disturbed and warmed Bruno. He had to disagree, Agustin was too positive about everything.
"No, I think she would be upset with me," Bruno said sadly.
"You have a very bleak outlook on life, little brother," Agustin teased hoping to get the other man's thoughts off of the situation. Bruno was focusing too must on it and he wasn't looking well.
"I'm older," Bruno asserted not seeing the smirk on his in-law's face. His response meant he could be distracted. Arguing was also good, it meant Bruno still cared and hadn't given up.
"Change your perspective," Agustin said, pretending he didn't hear Bruno. "Remember when Luisa first got her power and she had lifted the bridge for the first time, only to trip and break it to pieces. Would you blame her for that?"
"No," Bruno said immediately, annoyed to hear something so ridiculous. "She had no control over that."
"Should she have felt bad about it?" Agustin asked. "She was guilty of breaking it after all."
Bruno sat up and glared at the other man. "She wasn't guilty of anything. It was an accident. Abuela made her move the bridge. Luisa can't be at fault for a situation she didn't even choose to be in."
"Ah, so you agree?" Agustin asked looking at Bruno expectantly.
"Agree with what?" The prophet tired of this. No vision on earth could make Agustin make sense within a decent length of time. The man could explain something for an hour before getting to the point, and only then at the very end of the explanation would it would even make sense.
"You agree that a person cannot be blamed for a situation they didn't choose," Agustin re-phrased. Bruno gave a nod. "So why do you keep blaming yourself for the situation you're in now? You're no more in control of your reaction to what you have been through, then Luisa's guilt over breaking the bridge."
That was irritating. Bruno pouted, not having a good come back for the logic. It made sense. Perhaps his guilt was a little miss placed. And perhaps his thoughts were a little out of the proper perspective. Bruno decided that maybe he could try to feel less responsible for things outside his control. But that didn't mean he wouldn't still try to make it up to his family and make himself useful in their lives.
His fault or not, Bruno had a responsibility to his family, especially as one of the older members. And it was becoming more and more apparent that he wasn't doing what he should. The guilt had been weighing him down. If he could just get well enough then he could be there for them. He needed to stop taking advantage of their kindness.
Seeing Bruno's face go from annoyed to sad, Agustin quickly intervened. "Julieta gives me that same look when I'm right about something. She gets quiet and pouts with her nose scrunched up. Just like that," he said and proceeded to boop Bruno's nose.
Which prompted the small man to give him a very offended look. "Lay down Bruno, Julieta will be pouting next if you don't get some rest," Agustin smiled. Bruno was annoyed, yet slightly amused. So he decided to ignore the other man and laid down against him again.
It felt odd to be with someone this comfortably and easily. Bruno had been alone for so long, with only himself and his rats for company and comfort. And then so many people had hurt him and taken advantage of him. So, it was odd to be able to lay with his in-law and feel secure. Like everything would be alright. It was likely that Agustin's forgiving nature made him feel safe enough to believe that this was one thing he could not mess up.
They laid together for a long while. Bruno was unable to sleep, but the taller man was feeling pretty relaxed and started to doze. The prophet thought about how he had already punched, bit, and kicked Agustin, yet the man was never upset or angry with him. "I think your gift is being a saint," Bruno said to his sleeping in-law.
.-.
Agustin woke up hours later, unsure of how much time had passed. He got worried for a moment when the weight of another person was not against him. But he sat to find Bruno sitting on the bed next to him, messing with his rats. "Are you feeling better?" he asked hopefully. Bruno shrugged. His head still ached and he still felt tired, but he didn't want to sleep. Agustin felt his forehead, and while it was not hot to the touch it was warmer than it should be.
A rat climbed from Bruno's hair onto Agustin's hand, up his arm, and on to his shoulder. "She likes you," the small man noted watching her. "I'm surprised, she's been cautious of people since Daz." He said it so casually and without much thought in his words, that Agustin wasn't so sure if they were talking about the man that had tortured him.
"What do you mean?" Agustin asked cautiously.
"He tried to crush her in my hands," Bruno said then set the rats he was holding down. He sighed and changed the subject. He was feeling better and he wasn't going to ruin it with talking about upsetting things. "How do you feel about telenovelas?" Agustin could only squint in confusion.
.=.
Abuela and the rest of the rest of the family returned home early. Everyone had rushed through their chores desperate to get back home sooner to check on their ailing relative. It had caused more harm than good.
Pepa flooded crops. Isabela tried to fix them, but she wasn't practiced enough on those types of plants and filled a field with cacti. Camilo rushed an old woman too quickly when helping her get to church and she ended up falling. Felix couldn't keep up with all the people needing healed and the food table ended up being a mess. It gave Alma a headache thinking of the rest.
She tried to wrap things up and got everyone back home as quickly as possible. The townspeople were luckily very understanding as Dolores had spread news that Bruno was having troubles at home. They were under the impression that his visions were making him ill, as the truth was harder to explain. It at least helped people to not ask for visions of the future.
Once home, Camilo and Mirabel practically raced to Isabela's room to see how their Tio was. When they swung the door open, they found the room empty. "Casita?" Mirabel questioned in confusion. The house responded by moving them to stand in front of the right door. Camilo shrugged and they entered.
What they saw was completely unexpected. Bruno stood in front of the bed moving around energetically as he spoke. Julieta and Agustin seemed to be listening intently from their spots on the mattress.
"At this point," Bruno explained holding up a rat. "She had been staying with her nephew for weeks not knowing who he was. And to her family, she had been missing. He couldn't risk her knowing the truth. If she got her memories back, then she may lose her love for him!"
"But the doctor said she would get her memories back, given time," Agustin argued on the edge of his seat. "Eventually she will know!"
"That wouldn't erase all the time they have had together already," Julieta said, throwing in her opinion. "They have gotten closer and shared a romantic kiss under the stars. She wouldn't abandon him once she remembers."
"That's true," Agustin agreed, then turned to Bruno. "How long until she remembers? How long before the family finds out? What will happen when they do?"
"One day, while the nephew is out. His step-mother comes to his home. She finds her sister alive but with no memory of who she is," Bruno explained lifting his rats as representations of the characters. "She takes her sister home and it's not long after that she remembers who she is once she is re-introduced to her family members, which jogs her memory."
"How does she react?" Julieta asked needing to know.
"Is she still in love with him?" Dolores spoke up coming in the room. Bruno turned to see many of his family members watching and listening. It was a little too much attention, and he started to feel nervous.
"Ah, well," he said putting his rats down. "The story is still in the works." Everyone deflated unhappily. They would have to wait until Bruno came up with the next part of the story. Truthfully, he already knew what happened next, he just wasn't ready for a large crowd to tell it to.
"You're all back already?" Julieta asked getting up. "I'll start on dinner."
"And everyone else will leave the room," Agustin said pushing the other family members out.
"Why?" Camilo complained, seeing his meek little Tio watching them leave guiltily.
"Julieta says he needs as little stress as possible. Until he's fully feeling better he needs rest and limited visitors," Agustin explained. Mirabel could understand that, Bruno wasn't one for constant interaction. But Camilo grumbled, annoyed by it.
Dolores managed to slip by as her Tio Agustin as he shooed the others away. "Tio Bruno," she said to the small man sitting on the bed. He looked a bit flushed, but overall he seemed fine. "I just wanted to say I was sorry," she said.
"Sorry?" Bruno asked confused.
"My listening in on you about your story seemed to upset you. And I think maybe that might be what pushed you over the edge and made you sick. I can't help what I hear, but I wanted you to know, I didn't mean to invade your privacy." She had been feeling guilty about bringing up his telenovela unprompted. He had gotten sick because of it, and she assumed it must had disturbed his already fragile state.
"Dolores," Bruno said shaking his head to let her know she had it all wrong. "I'm not upset that you heard about my telenovela. I was upset that you heard everything else." He was nearly in tears but held back to be strong for her. "You can't help what you can hear and you shouldn't feel bad about it," he insisted. "I just have so much regret and guilt for what you heard in Andre's house. I am so, so sorry. I should have been able to protect you."
She took his hand and squeezed it, finally understanding. "You can't help what happened anymore than I can." He looked away from her. It may have been true, but it was hard to accept.
"Out you go," Agustin said to Dolores as he pulled her toward the door. "Give it a few days. Your Tia says as long as he is stress free for a few days and eats well, he should be perfectly fine." Dolores smiled and nodded before finally leaving.
.=.
Bruno had dinner with Agustin and Julieta. He didn't talk much, feeling a bit tired out from talking so much earlier. So he mostly just listened to their conversation. His sister kept eyeing him, like she was expecting something to go wrong. It made it harder for him to pretend to eat and give all his food to his rats.
At bedtime he was made to sleep between the couple. Julieta hugged him close, as he laid on his back, and Agustin laid out an arm across them and snuggled close to his other side. It was sweet of them to let him sleep there, but it was also just a little awkward. He felt like he was getting in between them; like he was in the way.
Bruno didn't go to sleep. When his sister and her husband had fallen asleep, he sat up and got out of bed. Sleeping meant more bad dreams, and he didn't want to subject them to that. Instead, he spent the night petting and playing with his rats. He even took some time to think about his telenovela and how it should end.
When Julieta woke up, she found Bruno laying next to her. He look well and she felt his forehead to find the fever was gone. Satisfied that he was okay, she got up to get ready and thought of plans to keep a close watch on him. Nothing could stress him out, otherwise his health would decline.
Bruno waited until Julieta left the room to open his eyes. He was very tired, but he planned to sleep later, alone. Today, he was going to help around the house. He was feeling much better and he was going to make the most of it.