Chapter 2

There was a gas leak at the corner market, and it exploded while Alfred was inside. Matthew gritted his teeth as he nearly slammed into the medical center's glass doors. An older woman entering at that moment gave him a shocked look. If that were true, there would be no body, and the catastrophe would be on a bigger news scale.

Alfred jumped off that stone bridge on the other end of town, and broke more than his legs. Matthew dodged some nurses scurrying by the front desk and strode up to the receptionist engrossed in her typing. "Ahem, ma'am?"

Tack, tack, tack.

"Um, miss, I was called here..."

Matthew tried to wave to get her attention, but wound up knocking down a little dancing flower figurine. That managed to make her look up. Snatching the fallen figure as if he greatly offended her, the receptionist asked, "May I help you?"

"I heard there is an Alfred Bonnefoy here. I was called in from my house to-"

"Yeah. I mean, yes." The woman delicately set the plastic flower back on her desk and attacked her keyboard. She gave him the room number. "Your brother is in a stable enough condition for family members to visit."

Immediately setting off, Matthew whisked by a pair of doctors exiting the elevator he slipped into. "The front of the car is completely bent! It's a miracle..."

The doors closed. Alfred was involved in a pile up on the free way! That one was truly ridiculous; the small town did not have large roads. A lot of the townies simply walked between the suburbs and shops. Out in the rain...on slippery streets...

Once free, Matthew broke into a run, unable to act calm and walk like a normal person. His head swung side-to-side, glimpsing at the room numbers. He nearly ran into a man pushing a cart of cleaning supplies.

The janitor chuckled, "Whoa there, speed demon!"

"Sorry!" Matthew spat, not sounding sorry as he weaved to the side, and continued down the hallway. He sucked in his breath, sneakers skittering on the ugly carpet when he caught sight of the correct room number. His fists clenched and unclenched, fingers dancing as he got his breathing under control again.

The door opened, and Matthew jumped as a nurse came out of the room, also surprised. "Are you Alfred's brother?"

Matthew put on a fake smile. "It's that easy to tell, huh?"

She smiled and opened the door again. Matthew followed and spotted an unoccupied cot on the closer side of the room divider, which sort of diminished the rising panic. Less audience. "You have a visitor, Mister Alfred!" Matthew's fingers continued to dance in a nervous song against his sides as she nodded, "You go see brother now."

A clear voice called from the other side of the curtain, "Dude, yes."

The nurse giggled and quickly left the room, leaving Matthew alone to brace himself, and he slowly stepped around the curtain. He paused at the foot of the bed, gaping in confusion. He expected his brother to be clad in full body bandages; bloody wraps, broken legs hanging in stirrups, and/or thick casts prohibiting any itches to be relieved. Instead, Alfred was sitting upright with only a patch on his forehead and sharp blue eyes behind his glasses that looked worse off than he did.

"Heya, Mattie! How are ya?"

"Alfred?" Matthew squeaked embarrassingly.

"Yeah?"

"You're all right!"

A bright smile flashed across Alfred's face. "Of course, man! You can't take down a hero that easily!"

Matthew lunged over the bed to give the greatest hug. His brother hissed and patted his back, "Whoa, take it easy! The quacks said a couple of my ribs are cracked. And yuck! You're all wet."

"Oh, sorry, it's still pouring outside." Matthew slipped away to settle on the edge of the cot. He ran a hand through his damp waves to quash his giddiness, "You said you were all right."

"Yeah," Alfred shrugged, only to falter and put a hand to his side. "I could be in worse shape. I didn't get banged up too bad."

Matthew blurted, "I should have been with you."

Alfred blinked, obviously taken back for a moment before laughing uneasily, "Mattie, I'm actually really, really glad you weren't. You're blinder than I am! Who knows what would have happened and where we would have ended up!"

"Seriously?! So much for worrying." Matthew shook his head as his brother snickered, but grabbed at his side again. Maybe this was the best case scenario. One of the suckier best cases, if someone asked him. "What happened anyway?"

"Oh, what'd you hear?"

"I asked you first."

Alfred playfully countered, "I asked you second."

Matthew huffed, turning away to stare out the window. The clouds were still unfriendly, but a soft glow lingered over the roof despite it all. "I was watching the news, and there was a flood warning. Then, the hospital called, and they asked for Dad, but I told them he was overseas-"

"He's been overseas for weeks now!" Alfred scoffed, "Everyone knows that."

"Apparently, not the hospital. Anyway, they asked if I was his son, and I said I was, and they told me that you were here..."

"Yeah? And?"

Matthew shrugged. "I just ran outside."

"Aw," Alfred put a hand to his chest with a ridiculous smile, "was my baby brother so worried, he risked getting a little cold for me?"

"Ugh, I'm older than you, Al!" Matthew reminded him, "I thought you were in a terrible accident."

"I was."

"Will you tell me what happened already?!"

Suddenly, Alfred didn't seem so eager to chat, "Uh, I was, um...walking down the street to get some milk like you wanted me to."

"And to see if you could get a job at the quick stop."

"Oh, jeez, looks like I totally forgot! I guess it's a good thing I never even got there!"

Matthew blanched, "Al!"

"Kidding, Mattie!" Alfred held his hands up, "I'm kidding! Don't look at me like that!"

"Yeah, sure. What happened next?"

After a moment of recollecting himself, Alfred continued, "I was just trying to get across the street, and there were cars flying everywhere, and I thought it was all good, but then it wasn't! There was this terrible, and I mean absolutely awful, horrible screeching noise!" Matthew flinched, seeing the scene too easily. Alfred's heart monitor started to get fast. "I turned around and..."

"A-and?"

Alfred glanced to the beeping screen, and lowered his arms from gesturing dramatically. "Um..."

"Al! What happened? You turned around?"

Alfred started to pick at his gown and grumbled, "I don't know if I should say it. You're not going to believe me."

"Believe you?" Matthew rolled his eyes, "Al, it's you we're talking about. I never believe you. I mean, I don't believe your stories!"

"I'm being serious!"

Matthew cringed from the unnecessary hollering, "Jeez, just how serious?"

Alfred glanced around the room, and his voice dropped further, like he was afraid, "Is there anybody around?"

"What?" Matthew pushed from the bed and glanced behind the curtain. Just like earlier, they were alone. He shook his head and settled beside Alfred again.

"Okay, do you know how it was raining really bad just a few minutes ago?" Alfred gestured to his glasses. "I couldn't see a foot in front of my face, so I was listening to the cars passing by, and hoping for the best."

Matthew drew a sharp breath. "Oh my God."

"Yeah, well, it was to get your dumb milk!" Alfred snorted and kept going without waiting for Matthew to get offended, "Anyway, I thought there were no cars coming, so I went. Turns out, some asshole decided that he didn't need to wait for anybody, and decided to just floor it!"

"Then he-"

"Sure thing!" Alfred shot the arm belonging on the uninjured side of his body in front of himself to re-enact the scene, "I saw headlights, and this horn blared in my ear, but I! Couldn't! Freaking! Move! You think when a giant car is coming right at you, you'd obviously get out of the way! But I just..."

Matthew's eyes started to sting for what could have been. "You froze."

Even Alfred was bewildered by the thought. "I-I thought I was going to die right then and there."

Relief, "But you didn't!"

"No!" Almost angrily, Alfred gestured, "I just...whoosh! Flew right across the street, totally missing the car."

"Wait..." Matthew shook his head, wondering if he heard that right. "How did you...without touching the car?!"

"Exactly! Somebody pushed me."

"Someone..."

"Yep!" Alfred concluded, "I fell right on the curb, and snapped my freaking ribs, dude."

"Wha...don't stop now! What happened to the person that pushed you?"

"He was right there, Mattie!" Alfred practically pleaded insanity with big blue eyes, "I had no idea how he didn't get hit!" He groaned as he settled against his pillow, "Well, honestly, I wasn't worried about him because I was lying there like, 'Fuck! My ribs!'"

Matthew scrambled to keep up with his brother's jabbering, "Yeah, I would think-"

"But then...!" Big breath. "Okay, now you're really not going to believe me."

Matthew dully stared at Alfred, deciding to just shut up and let him go.

For once, Alfred took the hint with a big sigh. "All right, but you better not call the psych ward on me."

"Spill it."

"He touched me!"

"What, all creepy-like?!"

"No, not creepy-like! He just..." Alfred scrunched his face up as his fingers danced in the air. Matthew wasn't sure what that meant. "When he put his hands on me, everything just...stopped hurting." His arms dropped as he looked up at Matthew. "I think I almost died!"

Matthew hated that expression. "But that-that guy helped! Right?!"

"Yeah! Weird, huh?"

Weird. "Did you ever see him before?"

Alfred snorted, getting back to his usual self, "Dude, I could hardly see as is. You know, from the rain! Plus, my glasses went flying, so...yeah."

"Oh. Any idea who...or maybe...what?"

"I don't know! Jesus?!"

A little giggle got the best of Matthew. "Okay, Al, sure." Alfred was all right. Despite everything, and even if that everything was just an exaggerated tale, or a product of panic, he was all right. Matthew sighed as he leaned forward to hug his brother, "I'm glad you're okay."

Thankfully, Alfred felt the same way. "Yeah, me too. So, what's up with you? Don't you work tonight?"

"Seriously, Al? Look outside. Do you think anyone is going to work in this weather?"

"If your boss is not cool, yeah, I guess so."

Matthew thought of his boss; an older Spanish guy with a grin and personality as bright as the sun and insane enough to want to run a bookstore in that Hellhole of a town. He told Matthew that he didn't have to go into work during weather like that. "Well then, it's a good thing that my boss is cool."