Day 3
He's awake again and this time it's for good. He wishes it weren't so.
The agony of the gunshot wounds pulses through his body, the crude structure of the building around him, a human house, mocks him and hateful, shameful whispers echo in his brain.
He failed and this is nothing more than he deserves.
No… no, this is more than he deserves. He could at least have been granted death, which would have held some measure of comfort, some ounce of hope; this… this is just torment.
The room, his prison, it nothing spectacular. Its walls are of mettle reinforced stone, several steel shelves line them. These shelves are packed with various medical paraphernalia. Some of which looks like it was salvaged from a SEEDS ship, but mostly it is the crude implements which pass as healer's aids on GunSmoke.
There is one narrow window, set high in the pale wall. He can see nothing through it except sunlight, which lights the room with a dull, golden glow. There are lamps there, too, for when night sets in.
His bed is a simple affair, comfortable enough, he supposes, but nothing spectacular. By it is a simple wooden chair with a worn, flat cushion upon it. Nothing much else, aside perhaps from the cracked and dusty ceiling, is worthy of note.
He hasn't been awake long, and all of that time he has been alone. Yet the pain, the bandages keep him still, keep him tied.
Well, what else could he have expected, after all?
He hears the door opening, his sharp ears catching a familiar, heavy footfall. He wishes he could close his eyes, dive back into the cool darkness, or even fake it, lie. But he's never been able to really lie to his brother, so he accepts the inevitable. He stares at Vash coldly as he enters the sparse room, willing his blue eyes to pierce bullet holes into his body, willing him to feel some of the pain he's caused.
Vash looks up, obviously not expecting his patient to be awake, let alone glaring.
And he grins.
Damn him!
Damn him!
How dare he smile! How dare he allow his face, his dreadful, mobile face to do that! To look so young again, so child-like. For a moment, for a terrible, heart rending moment things are as they were before, on the SEEDS ship and they are young again. Young and bright, full of stupidity and naivety and innocence.
It's a lie, of course, a soft, sweet lie, with thorns hidden comforting within its deceptively beautiful petals.
Even Vash must know that.
His grin fades quickly and he is himself again, as he should be, serious, solemn, and thoughtful.
It's like watching someone put on a mask, hiding the sun with the moon.
'You're awake,' he says, and moves over.
Knives does not reply. He turns away, staring resolutely at the wall.
His dear brother makes no comment; he busies himself with bandages, salves, stitches and water. His hands moving with neat precision over Knives body, tending it as he would his own, as it very nearly is. Or once was, anyway.
Knives watches his shadow upon the wall. He's not wearing that coat, he notices. He's stripped down to body armour, and there is no gun by his side.
Fool.
'Do you want to talk?' he asks at last, finishing his final ministrations.
Knives does not satisfy him with an answer.
'I thought not, I'll be back later.'
He leaves then, not even sparing Knives a passing thought.
Knives is alone again.
As he always is.
Reader Replies:
Humm… only one of you… well I wasn't expecting this story to be very popular, at least not at first.
So…
Hi Silverarm! Well, I'm sorry to you (and everyone else) that this has started off so slow, I need to build the atmosphere first. I hope this lives up to your expectations. The following chapters should be a bit longer, but there will be some pretty short ones too. Tell me, do you want to have more than one chapter (if the chapter(s) are short, or just one chapter at a time? Regardless of length? There are some much longer chapters coming up, promise, just hold on.
Also, PLEASE keep reviewing, I want at least one review between each chapter, if only so that I know someone is actually READING this. If I don't get a review per chapter (or per posting session) I'll quit with the story? OK?
So please, if you're reading this, drop a review!
See you next time!