Charlie moaned as he regained consciousness. The first thing he heard was his father's voice, which brought him some comfort.

"You two are lucky I'm not in one of those beds, too. I swear, one of these days you boys are going to give me a heart attack."

"D-Dad?" Charlie's voice was hoarse because his mouth was so dry.

"Oh, thank God." Alan moved closer to Charlie's bed and looked into his son's brown, confused eyes.

"What's going on?"

"You're in the hospital, you and Donnie both."

"What? No!" Charlie struggled to see over his father to his brother.

"Is he okay? What's wrong with him?"

"Sh, calm down, kiddo. He's going to be okay, thanks to you I hear."

"What?"

Alan smiled. "Megan told me there was a bomb that went off that started a fire. She said you went in to get Don out. Now, I know when you were growing up your mother and I told you never to go back into a burning building, but for this instance, I'll let it pass."

Charlie remembered then. The flames should have felt so hot, but he couldn't feel a thing. It was as if nothing could touch him, all because of the driven force of saving Don.

As if coming with the memories, Charlie hissed with pain. "My arm hurts."

Alan's face paled as he remembered that part of the story.

"Apparently, your arm was on fire for quite some time, but you didn't seem to notice. Charlie, how could you have not felt that? You have second and third degree burns on your arm!"

Charlie shook his head. "Nothing else mattered. It never hurt. I just... I just had to get Don out of there."

Charlie looked over at his brother. He saw that he had a bandage over his eyes and Charlie felt some alarm.

"Dad, wh-what happened to his eyes?"

"His eyes were flushed with MFD 300. The doctors don't think there will be many side effects with it, though. They seem hopeful that he'll not lose any vision. It's more of a precaution, really."

"Has he woken up yet?"

"A little, yes. He has a grade 3 concussion, so things have been fuzzy for him. He'll be fine, though, I promise."

As if he knew they were talking about him, Don began to stir.

"M-Mom? Dad?"

Alan's head whipped around to his oldest son. He rushed to Don's side. "Donnie? It's Dad. I'm right here."

He took Don's hand to let him know.

"It's dark."

"Yeah, I know."

"Where Charlie?"

"I'm right over here, Don," Charlie said.

"Good."

"Get some more sleep, son. You need to keep up your strength."

"Okay."

Don soon nodded off. Alan looked over at Charlie and was scared to find tears on his face. He returned to Charlie's bed, feeling somewhat like a ping pong ball.

"What is it? Are you all right? Should I call a doctor?"

Charlie shook his head. "No. I... I just was so scared I had lost him. I-I was on the headset with him and I heard the explosion, and then, then he wouldn't answer me. It was so horrible. I just got him back. What if I'd lost him? Dad, I helped lead him there! How would I have been able to live with myself?"

Alan, too, had tears in his eyes. He came around to Charlie's better side and gathered his son in his arms.

"It's okay now, kiddo. You made everything right. I'm so proud of you, too. Thank you for saving your brother."

Charlie didn't feel proud. He was terrified. It was over, sure, but what-could-have-beens kept running through his mind. Don may be okay now, but it was so scary to think that if he hadn't gone to save him out of the school that Don could be dead now. Charlie shivered.

"I'll go get your doctor now, okay? He has to go over something with you."

"Okay."

Charlie felt cold when his father let go of him. He tried to get a stronger hold on his emotions for when the doctor arrived.

"Hello, Charlie. I'm Dr. Tyler Cheney. How are you feeling?"

"My arm hurts, but I'm okay."

"Well if it becomes a problem we can give you some more morphine for that."

"No. That's okay. My father said there was something you'd like to discuss with me."

"Yes. As you may already know, you have suffered from second and third degree burns on your arm. It will be necessary to do a skin graft for the small portion of the third degree burns. It's a procedure where we'll take skin – often from a thigh or the posterior – and replace the burned areas with the skin. We'll use your own skin so there will be less of a chance of infection."

"When will I be released?"

"Well, we have an OR reserved for this afternoon. You'll need to be prepared for surgery and you should be out of surgery after a few hours. We'll need to keep you here overnight, but you should be able to go home tomorrow."

"And what about Don?"

"He'll be able to go home with you if he's cleared in the morning. He only received minor burns on his leg. It's the head injury that we are monitoring now and his eyes. He'll have to return in a couple days to have the bandages removed, but there's not much else that can be done here."

"I'll go home with him."

Dr. Cheney smiled. "I figured as much. It seems you two are close."

Charlie nodded.

"Well, I'll leave you now. A nurse will come in to prepare you for surgery in about two hours. Try to get some rest. You look exhausted."

"Thank you, doctor."

Alan returned to Charlie's right side, avoiding the injured left arm. He was glad that his son was right handed. He leaned on Charlie's bed and reached out to stroke his son's hair.

"Dad?"

"Yeah, kiddo?"

"I'm sorry we scared you again," Charlie said, referring to what he had woken up hearing.

Alan smiled. "Hush now. I was just talking. I'm just glad you two are okay."

"Good."

"Just get some rest before your surgery, okay?" Alan began to stroke Charlie's hair again.

"'Kay."

"Sh." Soon Charlie was asleep again and Alan smiled at him. He was so proud of his sons. They were both fine young men.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Charlie woke up before the nurse came in to prep him for surgery. He found a note from his father saying he'd be back before he went in for surgery and if he wasn't he'd be there when he woke up.

Charlie looked over at his brother again. He hoped Don would be okay. He wouldn't wish his blindness on anyone else.

"Dad? Charlie?" There was a tone of panic in Don's voice, but also more of an awareness than before.

"I'm right here." Charlie untangled his IV line to where he could get up to go to Don's bedside.

Don couldn't understand why it was so dark. It was scaring him. Where was the light switch? What was going on?

"I'm right here, Brother. You're okay."

"What about you?" Charlie was afraid to answer.

"I, uh, I hurt my arm pretty badly. I'm going to be okay, though." Charlie didn't want to risk another fight. He'd have to tell the truth from now on.

"Sorry."

"Ah, don't be. You didn't do anything. Get some more sleep."

Confused, Don thought he was dreaming. He must have been placed in Charlie's position after he'd been hit with the baseball bat.

No wonder Charlie had been so freaked out. He couldn't see a thing and he could only rely on the person talking to him to inform him of what was going on and who was in the room with him. Where was he? What was happening?

"It'll be okay. I promise. I'll help you get through this."

Don hoped he had been this comforting to his brother as he was now in the dream. However, he still felt so scared, so vulnerable. Had Charlie felt it too? He heard himself, or rather, Charlie whimper.

A warm hand grabbed hold of his and he some how knew it was his brother's. Maybe it was because he knew the feel of his own hand, but that couldn't be the case, could it?

"I'm right here. I'm not going any where."

Another voice faded in, then back out as Don fell into a deep sleep.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Charlie wasn't afraid of the surgery. He just worried about Don. He knew how hard it had been to be unable to see anything. He wanted the surgery to be over with so he could get back to his brother.

The surgery went well for him and when he woke later his father was sitting at his bedside waiting on him to wake.

"Hey, Dad," Charlie said groggily.

"Hey, kiddo. How are you?"

"I'm okay."

"No pain?"

"Nope. How's Don?"

"Good. He's been sleeping. He hasn't woken up since before I left. Did he wake up before your surgery?"

"Yeah, briefly." Charlie looked closer at his father, noticing the paleness in his father's face.

"Are you okay, Dad?"

"Me? Of course. Why?"

"You don't look so good. Are you sure you're okay?"

"I told you 'of course.' Don't you listen?" Alan didn't sound like he was teasing. There was an aggression in his father's voice that hadn't been there before.

"Dad?"

"Hush."

"Dad. Talk to me."

Charlie sat up and watched his father as he changed his hands into fists repeatedly. His brow was furrowed and he was sweating lightly.

"Dad? Dad. What's going on?"

Alan bit his lip, hating himself for beginning to break in front of his own son. That wasn't supposed to happen. He was the father. He was supposed to show strength, not weakness. He couldn't believe how similar he started to sound like Don.

"Dad?"

Alan's tears fell as he looked up at Charlie. He scooted his chair closer to the head of Charlie's bed and leaned slightly forward.

"What is it?"

"Nothing, nothing. I just can't imagine losing you or your brother. I've come too close to it so far. Children are supposed to outlive their parents. It's the law."

Charlie smiled. He reached out and rested his hand on his father's wet cheek, using his fingers to wipe at the tears. Alan leaned into his son's hand, then grabbed it with his hands.

"Thank you. I should thank you both more often. It seems like any time I get close to losing one of you, the other is there to prevent it from happening."

Alan smiled as he wiped at his tears. "I'm sorry I had to fall apart like that." He chuckled nervously.

"You're tired, Dad. Go home."

"No. I should stay here. One of you might need me."

"We always need you, Dad, but right now you need rest. Go home. We'll take care of each other."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. Go, Dad. Go."

"Didn't I read you that book?"

Charlie shook his head with confusion. "What?"

"'Go, Dog, Go.' Didn't I read you that book?"

"Maybe. You're definitely tired. Maybe you should call a cab."

"No. I'm fine. I'll go home by myself."

"Be careful," Charlie said as his father leaned over and kissed his forehead. Then Alan moved to do the same with his other son.

"Bye, kiddo. Sleep well."

Charlie yawned after Alan left. He was still groggy from the anesthesia. He was ready to sleep. However, Don must have thought otherwise.

"What? Dad? Charlie!" Don began to panic.

Charlie got out of bed quickly and went to his brother. He tried to calm him as he walked by talking to him.

"I'm here, Donnie. It's okay."

"Why can't I see? What's happening?" Don was frightened. Why couldn't he see?

"It's okay, Donnie. Your eyes are bandaged." Charlie reached out and touched Don and his brother flinched. Don reached up to touch his bandages, but Charlie stayed his hands.

"Wh-what? Why?"

"Do you remember the bomb case?"

"Yeah, I went after the bomb, too. What happened?"

"The bomb went off when you went in the building."

"What? No! It wasn't due to go off for another ten hours or so."

"I know, but it did."

"Why am I in the hospital? What happened to me?"

"You got burned on your leg and your eyes got flushed with MFD 300. You'll be okay, though."

"What about my eyes? Will... will I be able to see?"

"The doctors think so. The bandages are more of a precaution."

Don sighed with relief. "What time is it?"

"It's getting late. It's around eight."

"Where's Dad?"

"I just sent him home."

"And it worked?"

"Yeah. He was tired."

"He must have been if you succeeded in convincing him to go home."

Charlie smiled. "Yeah. He was."

Don reached out for his brother's hand and Charlie took it.

"Thanks for staying. I wouldn't have wanted to wake up alone."

"No problem, Don."

Don smiled and pressed deeper into his pillows.

"I think I'm going to go back to sleep, Buddy."

"Okay. Sleep well."

"Okay."

Don hadn't asked how Charlie was so Charlie felt no need to tell his brother his arm was hurt. But did he remember that he had told him earlier? Would he have to tell Don again? And if so, could he do it?

This chapter's title comes from the song "It Ends Tonight" by All-American Rejects.

Thank you to FraidyCat for giving me so much help with this chapter. As always, you ROCK!

And if anyone got confused, when Don thought he was Charlie, he was actually awake, just thought he was dreaming. That was FC's idea. Isn't she awesome?