Jeff declared the rescue a success and on return to the island, Scott grabbed hold of Virgil's shoulder and pulled him towards him in a rough hug.
"I knew you still had it," he whispered, his voice filled with excitement, hope at having his younger brother back. Virgil smiled weakly and scratched the back oh his neck distractedly.
"Thanks to your help Scott," he said, making his way to his bedroom, closing the door and leaning back against it. He pulled his uniform from his body and ran the shower, waiting for it to heat up. Through the steam, he glanced at the picture he'd taken from his apartment. She was still smiling at him.
"I did it sweetheart," he whispered, reaching out to touch the picture with dirty fingers. The growing heat on his naked body drew him back to the shower and he stepped in, thankful for the warm water pounding his body. He sought relief in the stinging on his back as through the mist in his mind he was reminded of a situation so near this.
"Get cleaned up guys, you did well out there. It wasn't easy." Caitlin had glanced at Virgil out of the corner of her eye, the newness of their relationship still exciting them both. She winked at him as she grabbed her towel and made her way towards the showers. Virgil grabbed hold of his stuff and followed her, stepping into the shower cubicle beside her. He turned the shower on full and let out a long sigh as the water hit his body.
"Room for another?" he heard a voice behind him, and spun to see Caitlin wrapped it her towel, gazing at him with a half-smile on her face.
"Well…they say you should save water at all costs…" Virgil murmured as she let her towel drop and he pulled her under the water with him, pushing back her hair as she tilted her head back to let him kiss her. She placed her hands on his broad shoulders, bracing herself against the cool tiled wall as he ran his hands down to the base of her back, pulling them together.
Virgil turned the shower off and stumbled out of the shower, grabbing a towel and rubbing himself dry furiously. He couldn't keep remembering her like this. He had to stop thinking like this, otherwise he feared he would never move on, his life would become defined by events that had happened with Caitlin. His head was pounding, his body ached as he pulled on some clothes. He was out of practice, he realised with a half-smile. Digging through the medicine cabinet in his bathroom, he found a bottle of painkillers and took them to his bedside along with a glass of water. He took two and swallowed them with the water slowly, feeling them grating against his throat, placing the small brown bottle down on his bedside table and reaching over to switch the light off. He fumbled for the light switch, knocking over the bottle and scattering the white pills across the floor. Groggily, Virgil glanced at them, wondering whether or not he could be bothered cleaning it up. His mind was made up when his finger came into contact with the light switch and having plunged his room into darkness, he fell into a dreamless sleep.
"Has anyone seen Virgil this evening?" Jeff asked Scott and John, who seemed more interested in perfecting their pool break than anything else. Scott shook his head, but at his question, John's eyes shot up to meet his fathers, guilt obviously written across his face.
"You have some idea John?" their father asked patiently. John felt his cheeks flush as Scott shot his brother a confused look.
"Um…Virgil and I had…um…we had words earlier. After the rescue."
"What did you say to him?" Scott demanded, but Jeff shook his head, holding up his hand.
"I've noticed something wrong between the two of you. Do you want to expand or will I have to extract the information from Virgil?"
"I was just…look I'll sort it out," John said quickly, unable to meet Scott's questioning glower.
"Well, find him John and if this isn't sorted, I'm going to take it upon myself to deal with this."
John knocked Virgil's door timidly, but got no response. He paused before trying again, louder this time. The door was slightly ajar so John pushed it open, allowing him to peer into the dim room. He could make out his brother's crumpled form, splayed across his bed. The room was deadly silent and something made John take a few more steps into the room. He felt something crack and crunch below his feet and looked down. As his eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness, he saw tiny white pills scattered across the floorboards beside Virgil's bed. John grabbed the brown bottle that stood on the bedside table and with horror looked at the motionless form of his younger brother.
"Oh dear God, Virgil…what have you done? How many have you taken?" John straddled his brother and shook him violently, smacking his cheeks lightly, trying to bring him round.
"Virgil please…please don't be…" John's head was spinning as he panicked more and more as Virgil made no motion. With a sickening feeling in his gut, John was suddenly aware of the horror that Virgil had lived through, watching someone he loved slowly slip away.
"No Virgil…I won't let you do this!" John yelled as slowly Virgil groaned and his eyelids flickered.
"What…get off me…" he muttered as his eyes slowly opened and focused on John sitting over him. His face contorted into something of confusion and almost amusement, but the look on John's face stopped him from smiling sleepily at him.
"Virgil, how many did you take?" John demanded, waving the empty bottle in front of him. Virgil rubbed his eyes and batted John's hand away, slight annoyance in his actions.
"Two…like it tells you…" he yawned. "I had a headache…"
"A headache…" John repeated in a whisper, looking at Virgil who was slipping back into sleep. He slowly placed the bottle down and got off Virgil, who turned over and pulled the covers around him. John slowly gathered up the pills and put them back into the bottle, his hands shaking as he screwed the lid on.
"Virgil…I…I thought you…" But Virgil's breathing had slowed and it was obvious he'd simply turned over and went back to sleep, not aware of the anguish John had just experienced. John reached out and touched his brother's messy hair softly.
"God, Virgil…I'm sorry…I'm so sorry…" he whispered to an oblivious Virgil.
thanks to everyone that has reviewed. the whole john thing...well i hope it's kind of explained here. if it's not working let me know and any suggestions are welcome!