AN: Thank you so so so incredibly much for all the reviews/follows/ favs! You guys are freaking AMAZING! Honestly =)
Special Mention: I wanna thank my amazing fanfiction friend AmberScanlan1234 for giving me an awesome idea for this chapter. You're beyond talented and brilliant! I can't thank you enough for everything! xx
Sunday 6:30 PM
"Come on Betty you can do it!"
Ste has resorted to watching this Betty woman start to walk to ease his boredom. One step then two. Her physical therapist is overly excited and is jumping up and down every time she takes a step. She stumbles a few times and gets caught by him every time. He keeps on reassuring her and clapping like a seal to get her motivated. Ste can't take this torture much longer. Luckily he doesn't have to as he sees Brendan walk into the North Wing. He curses slightly when he trips over some exercise equipment and has to grab onto the counter to balance himself again.
"Do you people not know how to pick up after yourself?" Brendan ends up picking it himself and moving it back to its proper spot.
"Cheer up Brendan!" The enthusiastic physical therapist responds with an obnoxiously huge smile on his face.
"Fuck you."
Ste gives Brendan a thumbs up for his very witty comeback. Brendan just gives him a shrug as he walks over to him and takes a seat on the floor again.
"Great entrance Bren. Couldn't have done it better myself."
"You know me always trying to make people smile." It comes out cold. "So what have you been doing in the-" he glances at his watch for a second "-30 minutes I been gone?"
"I sat here and watched the amazing Betty walk. It was riveting I tell ya."
Brendan affectionately rolls his eyes at him and then out of nowhere gives him the fastest, blink-and-you'll-miss-it kiss on the cheek. He quickly then stares at the ground and avoids any eye contact.
"You're adorable." Ste knows Brendan hates the word and eagerly waits for his reply.
"Fuck off Steven."
"There's the Brendan I like." Ste freezes on the spot and silently wishes he could be sucked into a black hole right now. 'Well least I didn't tell him I loved him' he thinks to himself. Ste waits for a rejection. He's caught off guard when he looks up.
Brendan gives him a smile that reaches his eyes. It's the warmest, affectionate, genuine smile he has ever seen from him. Like always though, he doesn't hold it long and he goes back to being emotionless.
"You wanna try to walk a little or should I take you back to your room?"
"I'll rather try walking a bit."
"Go on then." Brendan doesn't attempt to get up and instead crosses his arms across his chest.
"Well I can't without-"
"Me?"
"You just love this don't you?"
"What? Being needed? Having full control over someone? Maybe." He moves to kneel in front of Ste and wraps his arms around him. "I'm gonna lift you on 3 ok."
Ste nods and holds onto Brendan's neck as he picks him up. Once Ste is balanced against the wall they start his exercises. Brendan lets him know he doesn't expect him to actually take a step on his own he just wants him to be on his feet again. He places one of Stes arm over his shoulders and steps forwards and waits for Ste to try to move his leg but he can't. They try it over and over again but don't amount to anything. Ste gets frustrated and gives up.
"Hey it's fine. You haven't used your legs in a week so just standing up for as long as you did was good. I'm proud of you."
"Thank you. I'm proud of you too."
"For what?"
"Well you know for never lashing out even when you were in a bad mood."
Brendan stares at him like he's talking in another language. "I don't understand. Why would I lash out?"
Ste looks around and makes sure no one is eavesdropping on their conversation. "You know...your violent outbursts."
"How wou...I don't...I'm not..." Brendan struggles to even get out a coherent sentence as his mind starts racing. "Who told you that?"
"Oh Cheryl came by looking for you earlier when you went to check on your patient. We got to talking and she mentioned that you sometimes lose it and black out."
"What else did she say?" Brendan's jaw tightens and his cheeks start to twitch.
Ste tries remembering the conversation as he doesn't want to put words in her mouth. "Right umm...oh that you come with A LOT of baggage which is why you don't have many friends." Ste looks over at Brendan and sees the hurt expression in his eyes. The hurt soon gets replaced with what looks like pure rage. That's when Ste thinks he should have kept his mouth shut.
"So do you believe her?"
"Erm... I-" he gets cuts off before he can even try to explain.
"You don't need to finish that. You answered my question. I'm taking you back to your room."
Sunday 7:45 PM
Once again silence fills Stes room. Ste is back on his bed staring at Brendan who is glaring right back at him. They haven't said a word to each other since they left the North Wing. Brendan has his arms crossed over his chest while he chews his gum violently.
"Are you just gonna keep staring at me?"
"I'll do what I want."
This is a side Ste hasn't seen before. Not only is Brendan coming off as aggravated but he also has his guard up now. His walls have come up and Ste doesn't think he can break through them again.
"Look I didn't mean to upset you."
"I'm not upset."
"Well you're not fine."
"You know it's really tiring to always be told I'm not fine. You don't know how I feel."
"I'm sorry."
Brendan makes his way to the door but gets stopped when Ste calls his name.
"The answer to your earlier question is no. No I don't."
Brendan doesn't turn to look at him as he walks out. He sneaks into one of the handicap restrooms as they give more privacy and takes out 2 prescription vials. He puts one back in his pocket and then swallows 2 tablets from the other vial. Brendan decides to give it a couple minutes to take effect so he takes a seat on the cold hard floor. He ends up bumping his arm on the wall rail and it hits him right on his scar.
"Shit." Brendan rubs at his arm and ends up making it worse. It's now redder than it was before. He stares at it and keeps putting pressure on it making him feel a slight burning sensation radiating through his arm. He digs his fingers right onto the most sensitive part of it and a sharp excruciating pain shoots up his whole body. Brendan closes his eyes and breathes deeply as he tries making the pain go away.
***The footsteps coming up the stairs wake you up. You already have on your tracking bottoms so you quickly grab a white T-shirt off the nightstand and put it on. You sink back into your bed and pull the covers over you. The footsteps seem to trail off so you breathe finally until you hear them coming back your way. There is a very soft knock on your door followed by the whisper of "Brenda." The door opens and lets out a creak. All the lights are out but you see him. You'll never forget him. Pretend you're asleep you keep telling yourself. It doesn't work but you might as well try. The covers get thrown right off the bed and his hands grip your ankles. You're yanked right out of your bed and land violently on the floor.
"Get up Brenda." Seamus lightly kicks you on the legs. He's clearly drunk as he stumbles every so often. You groan and try to get your eyes to focus. You're tired. Tired of dealing with this man. Tired of putting on a fake smile. Tired of telling everyone you're fine. You're tired of this life.
"Get up faggot!" Seamus slaps you right across the face and lifts you up by your shirt. "I saw you today."
"What?" You really can't even comprehend what he is saying.
"I was walking to the pub and saw you getting out of school. You were leaning against the wall."
"This story going anywhere?" The lack of sleep has clouded your judgment, because you would never disrespect your father like that.
"Some kid bumped into you and YOU apologized to him. Why Brenda? Were you scared of him? Such a frightened little girl aren't you."
You remember what he is talking about. If he wasn't so drunk earlier when he saw this maybe he would have actually seen what happened. Not only did you not say sorry but the kid didn't even bump into you. Pete was sitting on the floor next to you with his legs out and the kid tripped over him and placed his hand on the wall next to you to keep from falling. Pete apologized profusely and then the kid actually said sorry to you for almost crashing into you.
"Yeah Da." There's no point in arguing with him when he is like this.
"You need to learn to fight like a man. I'm giving you an opportunity to throw a punch at me. Go on."
He sticks he's arms straight out and keeps motioning you to swing. So you do. Your fist collides with his mouth. You throw another one and hit him right in the eye. You swing again and hit him straight in the nose. He reaches up and notices his nose is bleeding then he spits blood out of his mouth and a tooth falls out. You swallow your own saliva and get ready for what you know is going to be the worst beating you ever received. Before you can even try to defend yourself his fist hit you in the jaw. He doesn't stop as you feel punch after punch hitting your face, neck, throat, chest, ribs, legs. He's on top of you now punching at your already battered ribs. You can't take it anymore so you say the only thing that sometimes gets him to stop.
"Da I love you!"
That stops him and he gets back to his feet. "I wish you were never born boy." You roll over and he gives you one final kick to your back and walks out.
You can't feel anything as you try to crawl back to your bed. You can't make it so you grab the covers that were on the floor and wrap it around yourself. You whisper out "I hate you Seamus." He doesn't deserve the title of dad.***
Brendan opens his eyes and looks down at his scar. It's still red but that's normal. There's no pain so he gets himself off the floor before anyone decides to come in here. He quickly washes his hands and throws some water on his arm to cool it down. Slowly he opens the door and makes sure no one is around and quickly exits the restroom.
Brendan heads to Cheryl's office hoping she's there but she's not. He checks the board to see if she's scheduled for any operations and it shows she's clear for the day so she has to be somewhere in the wing.
"Sean you seen Cheryl?"
"I saw her a couple minutes ago I think she went towards the cafeteria."
"Thanks." Brendan picks up his pace as he heads to the cafeteria. His pulse is racing and he can already feel the anger building up inside him. He ends up punching a wall on his way down the hall and doesn't even feel any pain from it. When he gets to the cafeteria he looks around but only spots Will Savage, another nurse on this wing. Brendan hates him. He always has. Every time they had a shift together Will would look at him weirdly. It creeped him out and Brendan once called him a freak in one of the staff meetings. He was suspended for his unprofessional comment but he did get quite a huge laugh for it. As Brendan walks around the tables trying to get to the other side Will rolls right in front of his path. Brendan charges forward not having the patience to deal with him right now. Will smartly moves his wheelchair back but doesn't move his tray in time. Brendan doesn't even hesitate when he forcefully slaps the tray right out Wills hand and the tray with the food go flying into the air. The spaghetti soars in the air and then comes splattering down all over Will.
"What the hell Brendan! You can't do that!" Will screams and it echoes through the empty cafeteria.
"SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Brendan rushes out before he ends up chocking the guy to death. After a few more trips up and down the wing he gives up. He leans on the wall and watches as nurses and visitors walk pass him with not a care in the world. A couple of the nurses say hello to him and he gives them the same exact fake smile that he's gotten used to doing since he was a child. Seamus always told him to smile when company was around. Apparently it made him look like a perfect father to the outside world when his son appeared happy. Brendan snaps out of his daydream when he feels someone pulling on the hem of his shirt. He's about to push them off and say don't touch me but when he looks down it's a small girl.
"Umm...hi." He was never really great with kids.
"Hi!" She waves as she still holds onto his shirt. "What ya doin?"
"Nothing."
"Should ya not be helpin em?"
He chooses to ignore the question as he doesn't really understand what she just asked. "Where are your parents?"
"Mum in voom."
"You know which one?" She points in the direction of the East Wing. "Can you get back by yourself?"
She shrinks a little but then raises her head up as if she doesn't want to admit she's lost.
"I'm actually heading that way so I'll walk with you. Is that ok?"
She nods and when Brendan pushes himself off the wall she loses her grip on his shirt. She lunges at him and hugs him tightly. Brendan raises his arms in surprise and looks around to see if anyone can help. He doesn't do hugs unless it's Cheryl. And even that didn't come easily.
***"Love your room is the one on the left. Mines across it if you ever need anything."
Brendan doesn't look up at her and walks into his new room. He drops his stuff on the floor not really caring to organize and walks back out to the living room. Cheryl is dragging boxes into their new flat so Brendan goes over to try and help.
"Bren its fine I got it."
"You can't even lift it."
"Which is why I'm pulling it. Besides I really don't want you hurting your one good arm. Just watch tv or something. Let me worry about everything else."
"I don't want you doing everything."
"That's what older sisters do. You're all I have Brendan. I'm not losing you." She points to the worn out sofa and Brendan reluctantly sits down. Cheryl keeps walking out the flat and back in with different boxes. By the time she has all of them inside she looks exhausted. She jumps onto the sofa next to him but Brendan quickly moves to the side.
"I'm sorry Bren I didn't..." She gets off the sofa and ends up sitting on the floor. Brendan feels like an asshole for making her think she did something wrong. All she's ever done is protect him. Since she found out what had been happening to him since he was 8 she's been blaming herself constantly. She tells him every day what a failure she is as a sister.
"Why didn't I see it? I'm so stupid! I just stood there and basically let it happen. You needed me and I choose him. I hate myself. I'm sorry you got stuck with me. I don't deserve to even be your sister." Constantly says this to herself.
But here she is at the age of 20 working 2 jobs to be able to even get them a flat. It's a dump but it's better than staying with their so called family members. Cheryl's still suffering from what happened that day but she puts on a brave face and stays strong. For the both of them. Brendan gets off the sofa and sits next to her avoiding any contact though.
"Sorry sis. I'm still a bit jumpy."
"Never apologize to me Bren. I'm sorry. I'm sorry for not being a better sister. For being the sister that you needed."
"Chez, you are so much more."
Her eyes become misty and she nods even though she doesn't believe him. Cheryl moves her arms and wants to hug him but she knows he's not ready for it so she just smiles at him instead.
"Right. So you want anything to eat? Don't really have much but I can make you a sandwich." She looks over at the counter and excitedly jumps up. "I made 15 bucks in tips today I can order us a pizza."
"I thought you were saving up all your tips to pay for medical school?"
"I'm sure 15 dollars won't make a difference."
"A sandwich is fine."
She gives him a knowing look and laughs. "So pepperoni ok?"
"Please."
She turns around and starts looking through the cabinets for the phone number to the local pizza shop.
"Chez?"
"Yep." She's looking down at the take out menu with the phone in her hand.
"I promise one day I'm gonna give you the biggest hug ever."
Cheryl looks up at him and Brendan notices how hard she is trying to hold in her tears.
"I promise I'll be here."***
Brendan awkwardly hugs the little girl back and then somehow maneuvers his way out of it. Her eyes are red now and he doesn't know if he said something to upset her.
"You ok?" He crouches down in front of her. "No no don't cry. It's fine."
"Don't go." The little girl now has snout coming out of her nose and she tries wiping it with the sleeves of her shirt.
"I'm not. I'm not going anywhere." He takes out a tissue and wipes her nose for her.
"Pomise?"
"I promise." He gets back up and she grabs a hold of his fingers not his hand. Brendan walks a little in front of her as she skips behind him. The walk to the East Wing is quite far and Brendan sighs as he looks out the windows. He stops when he feels the little girl pulling him back.
"What?"
She points to the gift shop and Brendan just gives in and follows her. She releases his hand and goes running towards the plush toys while Brendan takes a seat on a bean bag. After a few minutes she returns with a polar bear wearing a tiara.
"That for you?"
"Nu uh it's for me new baby sista. I was jealous mommy was gonna like her better. I was mean to mum. Tis is me pesent to say sowwy. If you do someting wong you should say sowwy."
"Yeah you should." Brendan tries getting off the bean bag but struggles. The little girl grabs his arm and tries to help. She laughs at him when he just rolls off it and then stands up. "Laugh now but when you're as old as me you will do the same thing."
"Nu uh."
"Yeah uh."
They reach the counter and she gets on her tip toes to place the bear on the counter. The cashier gives them the price and she reaches into her small toy purse and pulls out a dollar and shows it to Brendan.
"Tis enough."
"Nope."
She reaches in again and pulls out a hundred dollar bill...in Monopoly money. "Now?"
"That's not real money." He grabs a word search book from the counter and hands it to the cashier. "Can you add that in?" He hands the little girl her dollar back and pays for it himself. She grabs the bear and then grabs Brendan's hand again and rushes out the shop. As they are about to exit the shop Brendan sees Will coming inside. The little girl lets go of Brendan's hand and uses all her force and pushes the wheelchair out of the way. Will goes rolling into a display case full of key chains and knocks them all on the floor. The cashier yells at him from behind the counter and Will stares at her completely frozen from embarrassment. Brendan holds in his laughter and the girl grabs his hand again and runs out of the shop.
They finally make it to the East Wing and the girl pulls him into a room.
"Mommy!"
"Where have you been?" She sounds frantic but she's clearly in no position to move. Looks like she's ready to give birth any second.
"Bendan found me."
The mom looks over at him and gives him an appreciative smile. "Thank you so much I thought she was right outside the door and I couldn't get up to get her."
"It's no problem. Congratulations." He waves at them both and walks out the door.
"Bendan wait!" The little girl runs out the door and again gives him a hug. She hold on tight. "Thank you fo finding me mommy."
"You're welcome."
"Do you have a mum?"
"Not anymore."
"I'm sowwy. Do you have a daug...daughta?"
He has struggled this whole time trying to figure out what she says. She still hasn't learned how to pronounce her R's correctly.
"I do. She's 3."
"Can I see?"
"She's with her mom in Ireland."
"Do you miss she?"
"All the time."
Brendan hasn't ever said it aloud. It's something he has tried putting to the back on his mind. Not because he doesn't want to be a dad but because it hurts him to not be a part of her life. His daughters' mother took full custody of her and flat out denied him any visitation rights. Cheryl and Brendan went to court to try to fight it but the mother provided evidence deeming Brendan unfit to take care of her. She won and he hasn't heard his daughters' voice in over 2 years.
"Why don't you see her?"
"Sometimes people aren't ready to be parents. I need some help before her mother will let me see her. It's ok though ill see her someday."
"You will." She says it as if she believes it. "Thank you. Bye!" She gives him one last hug and walks back into the room.
Sunday 8:50 PM
Ste is in a good mood as he has found 'The Nightmare Before Christmas' playing on tv. He's so into the movie he doesn't even notice Brendan walked in. A word search book hits him right in the face and his attention shifts from the movie to Brendan.
"What was that for?"
"Open it to page 48."
"Why?"
"Just open it ok."
"Fine." Ste starts flipping through the pages. "But you know you can't just walk in here and act like everything is all a ok with us after you stormed out of here."
"Shut up and get to the page."
"Now you're telling me to shut-" Ste stops talking when he gets to the page. On the top the words 'Im' and 'sorry' are circled horizontally. Then the word 'forgive' is circled diagonally. The final word 'me' is circled vertically at the very bottom. Ste almost cries like a hormonal pregnant woman but keeps it in. He looks over at Brendan who is standing by the wall looking very uncomfortable.
"Don't say it."
"You're adorable."
"Next time you call me that I'm gonna push your wheelchair down a slope. So we ok?"
"Yeah you're forgiven." Ste can't stop looking at the book. "How the hell did you even do this?"
"I literally went through each one of those pages till the damn letters formed those words. My eyes hurt from squinting." Brendan takes a seat on the edge of the bed and turns to look at the tv. It's a comfortable silence in the room as they both watch the movie.
Halfway into the movie Ste uses all the energy he has in his only functioning leg and catches Brendan off guard as he wraps his leg around Brendan's waist. He pulls him back and Brendan's back is right on top of Stes lower body. His head reaches Stes stomach.
"Steven this position is uncomfortable." He tries shuffling out of the hold but he can't. "Steven let go."
"Make me." Ste moves his good arm and runs it through Brendan's hair. Brendan somehow manages to turn around and squeezes through the hold to move further up.
"Think you're in control now huh?" He slowly leans down and kisses Ste on the lips. He lifts his body back up so he's not touching any part of him. Ste tries pulling him back down but Brendan braces his arms next to him and doesn't move. "What do you want me to do Steven? I'll do whatever you want." He leans his head down and starts kissing his neck. Then he moves up and starts trailing his jaw line with wet kisses. Ste can't get out any words and just tries showing what he wants by constantly forcing him to move on top of him. Brendan ignores him and continues giving him small kisses on his neck and then he places his hand on Stes chest. As his hand starts moving down his pager goes off completely surprising both of them and causing Ste to jump and slam his forehead against Brendan's.
"Oww fuck!" They both say it simultaneously as Brendan rolls off him and gets off the bed. Once they get their foreheads to stop pounding Ste gets his mind together.
"One day I'm gonna break that damn pager of yours."
"I'll make it up to you." Brendan leans over and gives him another kiss and pulls at his bottom lip with his teeth. "I'll be back in a bit."
"Hurry up!" Ste shouts as Brendan walks out again.
Sunday 9:20 PM
Cheryl walks out of the restroom to catch Brendan walking into one of his patients' room. She figures he was most likely in Stes room and got called over. She knows she doesn't have much time to do this so she dashes down the hall to Stes room.
"Hi love." Cheryl comes bouncing into the room as happy as can be.
"Huh? Oh hey. What's up?"
"Not much. Just doing my rounds making sure every patient in this wing is good. So sucks that Brendan is gonna be stuck in the North Wing till he's shift ends huh."
"Oh he told me he was coming back."
"No no the nurse on that wing left for an hour so he's the only one there. By the time she comes back I'm sure he will be too exhausted to come to even say bye."
Ste can feel his mood go down. He doesn't know why just seeing Brendan makes his heart flutter. Brendan completes him. And now he won't even see his beautiful face before he goes to sleep. Cheryl notices the frown on Stes face so she moves on with her plan.
"You know if you like I could take you over there so you can spend an hour together before he goes."
"Oh please? That would be mint."
"No problem. Come on let's get you in the wheelchair."
Cheryl hastily helps Ste get on the wheelchair and rushes out the door before Brendan comes back.
"Geez Cheryl we're not in a wheelchair race. Slow down."
"Sorry." She looks back and once she turns the corner she's knows she's in the clear.
"Erm...I thought the North Wing was that way." Ste points in the completely opposite direction from where they are going.
"Shortcut." Cheryl ends up pushing him to a part of the hospital that the nurses call the Supply Ward. One room here is about the size of 3 rooms in the West Wing. The rooms also don't have doors on them so it's easier for the nurses to get their supplies and go.
"Cheryl I don't think this-"
Her phone goes off but she grabs her pager instead and tells Ste it's an emergency.
"I have to go and pushing you back will slow me down. Do you mind just staying here for like 10 minutes top? As soon as I get to back to the Wing I'll get a nurse to come get you." She gives him an apologetic smile.
"Fine."
"Thanks love. I'm so so sorry about this. I'll make it up to you." She turns to leave and speaks to a nurse sitting on the counter on her way out.
"Hey Anne can you watch him for me? His name is Ste. Just make sure he's ok. I'll send someone down here to get him in a bit."
"I can just take him back."
"No no no you can't!"
"Ok calm down Cheryl!"
"Sorry. Look if no one comes to get him by 10:15 then you can bring him back. No sooner though."
"Alright alright. You know you're crazy right?"
"I'm a Brady we all are." Cheryl runs out of the Ward and as soon as she is out of Stes sight she stops and casually strolls back.
Sunday 9:57 PM
Brendan steps out of the break room after having to go in there to change his shirt. Laura, his other patient in the West Wing called him over complaining of stomach pains. He read her charts and everything looked fine. He started pressing down on her stomach and abdomen so he could know where exactly she felt the pain. The next thing he knew he had yellow puke all over him. It was all over his shirt and his hands. He was finally able to get the bedside bucket and handed it to her so she could finish up.
"Oh my god I'm so sorry. This is so embarrassing. I'm sorry I didn't even feel it coming up or I would have warned you." She covers her face with her hands to hide her red cheeks.
"It's fine honestly. Least you didn't get my face. Let's clean you up ok."
After he cleaned up all the mess in the room he went to the break room to clean himself off and change. When he finished up he headed over to Stes room. There is no one there and the tv is still turned on.
"Steven?" He goes to the restroom and knocks before he opens it. He's not in there. Brendan looks around and notices the wheelchair is gone. He walks out the room again and spots Lynsey on the counter.
"Hey Lyns you wouldn't happen to know where Steven is?"
"No didn't see him leave. Umm Sean you see anyone take Ste somewhere?"
"No. He's not in his room?"
"Would I be asking if he was? Look did anyone sign him out? He's not supposed to go anywhere unless it's cleared with me first."
Sean takes out the nurses' book and flips it to today's date. "No one signed him out. Last person I have here is you signing him back in at 7:40 PM."
"Thanks. Can you ring me if you see him?"
"Yeah no problem. I'll keep my eyes open for him."
Brendan would call him to see where he is but of course Ste left his phone on the table so it's pointless. He starts looking through the West Wing first thinking that maybe Ste somehow got onto his wheelchair and managed to move a short distance. He makes sure he looks in every hall and quickly glances into different rooms but doesn't see him. Brendan is just about to head over to the North Wing when he sees Cheryl leaning over the top floor rails looking out the center window. She looks over at him when she hears him approaching.
"What's up Bren?"
"The ceiling. Look you seen Steven?"
"Nope. Why?"
"I left him in his room for about an hour and now he's not there. No one signed him out so I don't know if a nurse took him somewhere or not."
"Don't panic. I'm sure he's fine. Maybe Noah went in there and Ste asked him to take him around the hospital."
"He would have waited for me to come back though to let me know."
"Why would he let you know though?"
"I'm his nurse why wouldn't he?"
"Noah is one of his nurses too."
"Yeah when I'm not here. And as you can see-" Brendan does some weird hand signal "-I'm still here."
"Look I'll ask around." She looks up at the clock on the wall. "Shouldn't you be getting out of here your shift ended."
"I'm not leaving till I know he's fine."
"Why do you even care so much?"
"He's my patient."
"You didn't care about your other patients like you do with him."
"What are you implying?"
"Nothing. Look just go home and I'll look for him for you ok." Cheryl drags him all the way to the break room and tells him she is going to go to the North Wing to look for him. Once she walks away Brendan steps out of the break room and starts walking towards Stes room again. Just as he is about to open the door he looks to his left and sees Anne pushing Ste.
"Before you get mad at me Bren I didn't have anything to do with it." Anne pushes Ste into his room as Brendan follows behind him. Once they get him settled into his bed Anne wraps her arms around Brendan and leans on his shoulder as if he was her own brother. He kisses the top of her head and looks over at Ste who appears to be pissed.
"Where did you go?"
"Your sister is fucking crazy!"
"Yeah I know that but what does that have to do with anything."
Anne taps Brendan on his chest to get his attention. "Umm well Cheryl brought him over to the Supply Ward like half an hour ago and told me not to bring him back till 10:15 but I brought him back earlier as you know I don't really listen well. Anyway I left my station unoccupied so I have to get back. Sorry Ste I hope you aren't mad at me. You too Bren...I honestly thought you knew."
"It's fine Anne. I'll see you tomorrow."
"You still coming over before work right?"
"Yeah."
"Great. Text me when you get home big bro." She says sorry one more time to Ste and leaves them alone.
"You wanna fill me in on what happened ?"
"Your psychotic sister came to my room and said you got stuck in the North Wing for the rest of your shift and that you probably wouldn't be able to come say bye to me. So she told me she would take me over there so that I could spend the last hour of your shift with you. Then she freaking takes me to some place of the hospital I never been at and of course right on time her pager goes off and she says she has to go. Oh oh and that she would tell a nurse to come get me in 10 minutes. I spent 30 fucking minutes over there before Anne said this was ridiculous and brought me back."
"I wasn't even in the North Wing Steven."
"That's what she told me!"
"I haven't even talked to her since my shift started, except for a few minutes ago when I was asking about you."
"Don't lie to me you didn't even come looking for me."
"I fucking looked everywhere for you!"
"BULLSHIT!"
"Why the hell are you yelling at me for? I didn't do anything."
"Brendan your sister freaking kidnapped me! What the fuck is wrong with you two?!"
"I'll deal with it but don't get mad at me for something she did."
"She's always gonna be around Brendan! I don't know what she thinks is happening but she's determined to stop you from talking to me and I can't figure out why."
"I'm sorry."
"Yeah yeah me too. Look I'm tired. Can you just go please?" Ste brings the covers over himself and turns slightly to face away from Brendan.
"Fine." Brendan slams the door on his way out.
Sunday 10:33 PM
Cheryl takes a sip of her tea that she just bought from the cafeteria. She has some paperwork to finish up before she heads home. The door opens so fast that it makes a hole in the wall.
"Brendan! Seriously. I'm gonna have to pay to fix that."
"What the fuck is your problem?" He advances and stands in front of her desk as she stands up.
"What are you talking about?"
"You lied straight to my face and told me you hadn't seen him."
"Seen who?" She plays dumb and tries to plan her exit as she already knows this is going to turn out really ugly.
"Stop! Just stop! I already know. They both told me everything."
"Look I can explain."
"Can you? You gonna explain to me why you told him I was in the North Wing when I never told you that. You going to explain why you told Anne to under no circumstances bring him back over here till 10:15. Oh how about explaining to me why you would tell him I have violent outburst and black out sometimes. And to top it off that I come with a lot of baggage and have no one."
Cheryl can't speak she just stands there glued to the spot.
"Have nothing to say huh?"
"I did it for your own good. You're not ready."
"Ready for what? To have a friend that I can talk to."
"How come you can talk to him but not me?"
"Is that what this is? You're jealous that I'm telling him things."
"No! I'm not jealous. I'm hurt that you can't talk to me about what you're going through." She tries moving to the door but Brendan stands right in front of it blocking her way.
"You told me you wanted me to speak to someone."
"I meant an actual psychologist! Not a bloody deli owner."
"I'm not going to a psychologist Cheryl! I don't know how many times I have to say it before you get it in your head."
Cheryl reaches for the door handle but Brendan holds the door close. "Move Brendan."
"No! Tell me why you keep interfering in my life."
"I have to! You're not in the right state of mind to make sound decisions."
"I can make my own decisions I don't need to have you as my conservatorship."
"Brendan get out of the fucking way!" She starts pushing him but he barely even moves.
"STOP! I have one good thing going for me right now and you fucking go and ruin it for me! I just got bitched at because you stuck your nose into my business like I told you not to do! Can't you just let me live my damn life for myself?!"
"Oh so what now Ste is this freaking angel in your life. Fuck off Brendan I have been there for you since day one! Do I not get a bloody thank you or recognition?"
"THANK YOU! You happy?"
"SHUT UP! I'm tired of dealing with your damn bipolar mood swings. YOU'RE NOT FINE! I'm sick of it!" Cheryl digs her nails into Brendan's scar and he loosens his grip on the door enough for her to open it and run out.
"CHERYL! We're not done!"
There are a couple nurses still in the area and they all freeze as they are witnessing what can only be described as a sibling bloodbath right in front of their eyes.
"I AM!" She starts walking down the hall with Brendan right behind her. Then she abruptly stops and faces him. "You know what do whatever you want Brendan. But when Ste sees who you really are and gets a tiny glimpse of what you have put me through. The punches, the screams, the tears, and the utter devastation you bring with you he won't be able to handle it. He will fucking leave like the rest of them! And don't expect any sympathy from me when I warned you."
"I'm so fucking sorry I ruined you precious life! Must be so hard for you when you wake up every morning and think to yourself that you have to deal with me again. I have done everything for you. Everything! You talk about what you went through. What about what I have been through. It's always about you Cheryl! I'm fucking sick of dealing with your bullshit! I rather try my damn luck with someone who doesn't only care about themselves!"
"No one will ever take you how you are Brendan! YOU'RE BROKEN. SHATTERED!"
"SHUT UP SHUP UP SHUT UP!"
"UNFIXABLE! DEFEATED! FRIGHTENED!"
"STOP! JUST STOP!"
"Brendan your worst enemy is your own memory. You lost yourself so long ago and I don't see you coming back."
There both pause for a second and are about to start again but a screaming voice that isn't either of theres catches their attention.
"ENOUGHHHHH! CHERYL. BRENDAN. IN MY OFFICE NOW!"
Both Cheryl and Brendan come back into reality and finally see their surroundings. They are in the middle of a hallway with nurses around them with their jaws basically hitting the floor. When they both turn around they see Eoghan staring straight at them. His head looks like it's going to explode.
"OFFICE. NOW!"
So this is where I ask you guys for advice. Do y'all think this is T rating? I think it is but I don't want to have it in the wrong section lol. Please let me know if you liked this chapter...review please? I do really hope you enjoyed it tho =)