Guys… apologies for the long wait! Exams are coming up, and I may or may not be freaking out.

But I hope you all enjoy this chapter :) Thank you all so much for the reviews from the last chapter, I absolutely loved them all!

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Connor leans in the doorway of Murphy's room, watching silently as his brother slept.

He was waiting for Ma to get back, she had gone down the hall to phone the supermarket that she worked at, to see how much time she could get off work. Connor chews at his lip, and studies his twin, Murphy sleeping dreamlessly after the sedative a nurse had given him.

When they had first gotten back to the room, Murphy had been clingy and wouldn't let anyone near him except Connor. He had been clutching tightly to Connor, and breathing shallowly, eyes wide and mistrusting. Connor hadn't known what to do, so he had just held onto his brother, and tried to keep tears from sliding down his face. Finally, two nurses had approached slowly, one to hold Murphy's hand tightly, and the other to inject the sedative into his IV port.

He had left Murphy twist weakly against him, and look at him with pain-filled eyes, but Connor hadn't done anything. Murphy needed the pain killers and medication, anyone could have seen that. So Connor had just pressed his lips to his brother's hair, and hadn't moved until Murphy had gone limp against him.

So now Connor was left, just watching.

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A hand on his shoulder jolts him out of his thoughts, and Connor whirls around to see Murphy's doctor looking at him, slightly bemused. "I heard that you were looking for me?"

Connor lets out a breath, and nods, "Aye, I was yeah. I jus' want ta talk ta ye about Murph an' his recovery. He's the kind of kid who needs a plan, an' he doesn't know what's goin' on cause of all the drugs, so I need ta be able ta explain things ta him. I need ta know the plan, so I can… y'know, make sure he sticks ta it."

"Well, okay, Connor," The doctor pauses for a moment, to look into Murphy's room, "I don't usually discuss patient plans with anyone other than the patient and their guardian, but I'll make an exception. This morning, we surgically repaired Murphy's left leg, with pins and screws. The tibia, and ankle bone were both quite badly damaged, but are now sitting in the right places, and all that's left on that leg is for the bones to heal properly."

He nods, and rubs at his casted wrist carefully, "What about his other leg?"

"That's more complicated. As a result of the blunt trauma, the car hitting him full force on his right leg, Murphy sustained many fractures. In a day or two, once he's more stable, we are going to go back in, and stabilise his right leg. Then, provided that the x-rays look okay, Murphy will be on his way to a full recovery. It'll take a lot of physical therapy and determination on Murphy's part, but he's going to be okay with time."

It isn't good enough for Connor though, and he rubs a hand over his face with exhaustion.

"Yeah, but how long? Murph's got ta have a timeline, he's got ta have something ta set his sights on. There has ta be something tha' ye can tell me."

The doctor takes a deep breath, and then glances back down at the chart in his hand, "Realistically, the casts should come off in about six weeks, give or take, but from there, it's all up to Murphy as to how hard he works at the therapy."

Connor nods, and clenches his good fist carefully, feeling frustration build up in him on Murphy's behalf, "He's gonna be the best fuckin' patient an' yer not even gonna believe how fast he's gonna get better. So ye jus' fuckin' watch him."

He walks back into the room, closing the door behind him without another glance back at the doctor.

Murphy stays asleep, though his head twitches slightly towards his brother, as Connor slumps down in the chair beside his bed. He reaches out his hand, and ruffles Murphy's hair gently. Even in sleep, Murphy looks tense and uncomfortable, as though he can somehow feel the worry radiating off Connor.

After only a minute or two, Ma walks in, and the look on her face is enough to make Connor jump up and ask frantically, "What's wrong? Is there—is there somethin' wrong with Murph?" He whirls around to look at his brother again, but nothing seems to be different.

Ma shakes her head, and sighs deeply, "I have ta go back home, Connor. The shop isn't lettin' me take any days off, I used 'em all up when it was yer birthdays, so I have ta." Connor knows that his face was fallen, but he doesn't have the energy to try and make it seem like things are okay, "I'm sorry, luv. But Murphy's medicals bills are gonna be expensive, an' we don't have that kind of money. I know that this is the public system, but down the line, he's gonna need things that the government won't pay fer. I can't afford ta lose this job. I'm sorry."

"When're ye leaving?"

Connor sits back down in the chair, and asks the question slowly, feeling numb. Ma puts a hand on his shoulder, but he doesn't even react to her, "Connor, I'm sorry, luv. I just have to go back until Sunday. They're lettin' me have yesterday an' today off, but I havta be back fer tomorrow morning. Ye know I havta."

"Yeah, I know." Connor gently put his hand on his brother's still shoulder, and looks up at his mother, "What am I gonna do though, Ma? I don't… I don't know how ta fix this. Murph's so… he's so broken an' hurtin', and I don't know."

"Maybe ya can't fix him this time," Ma says, and those words break Connor just a little but more, "But he'll get there. Murphy jus' need ye ta be his brother right now, and that's all you can do for him."

He shrugs, and leans back in the chair, slinging one arm over his eyes, and keeping the other hand clasped loosely around Murphy's limp one. Connor lets the darkness envelop him, and simply tries to concentrate on not thinking. Eventually, Ma leaves the room to give them some space perhaps, or talk to more doctors, Connor doesn't really care either way.

Because he has to get his head straight, and figure out how to deal with this by himself.

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Murphy can feel the warmth of someone's hand clutching his, and within a second he can tell that it's Connor.

He knows that it's Connor, because of the scars that he has memorized on his brother's palm. It's also Connor beside him, because only his brother knows the perfect balance of not holding loosely enough to make it seem like he's not there, but not squeezing hard enough to panic him.

It's definitely Connor, because the moment that Murphy's eyes start twitching open, he can feel his brother moving closer, and a little part of him calms, "Connor?"

"'s me, Murph, it's me. Ye feelin' okay?"

Connor sounds terrible, voice hoarse and strained, but it's the same one that Murphy has heard every single day of his life, and it makes things better. He licks his lips sluggishly, his throat feeling like sandpaper, and raises his eyebrows, "I guess… it's not like it can get much worse than this." He regrets the words immediately, as Connor's face falls, and Murphy quickly backpedals, "Kidding, Connor, I'm jus' havin' the craic. I'm fine, can barely feel a thing thanks to these fuckin' pain killers."

"Ma has ta go home."

Murphy takes a moment to be sure that he's in control, and then struggles to prop himself up. He nods weakly at Connor, when his twin fumbles with the bed controls, before finally managing to get the bed into a semi-sitting position.

"Ye goin' with her?"

His brother flinches at the question, and stares at Murphy with large eyes, "Course not, Murph, course not. There's no fuckin' way tha' I'm leavin' ye here. No way. I go home, when you go home, you got it? No more of this doubting shit."

The rush of relief that goes through Murphy, and lifts the weight off his chest is unbelievable. He lifts a lethargic hand up to rub at his eyes, and gives Connor a lopsided grin, "Okay."

Connor scoffs back at him, "Yeah it's okay. I can't be goin' an' leavin' ye alone without yer big brother now, can I?" He lets out a groan, and bats away his twin's hair ruffle with a scowl, "Don't freak out, Murph, keep it together."

He lets his hand flop back onto the bed, and then glances down at his legs. Murphy can see the outline of his legs underneath the blankets, and they look bigger than usual, because of the immobilizers. Connor distracts him by leaning over and resting his head against Murphy's shoulder for a moment, not saying anything.

"What's goin' ta happen, Connor?"

"I talked ta the doc, a few minutes ago. Before ye woke up. An' he said… he said tha' yer gonna be fine. Ye have one more surgery, tomorrow or the day after, an' then yer home dry. Then its a few weeks of bein' at home, an' being spoiled rotten by everyone, an' then the hard work begins. See, tha' doesn't sound so hard, does it?"

Murphy avoids Connor's gaze, and stares carefully at the opposite wall, "It does."

There's another silence, and then Connor speaks again, "That's cause yer lazy, Murph. It'll be fine, I promise. We'll get through it together, an' before ye know it, things'll be back ta normal."

He twists his free hand up in the sheets, and clutches Connor's hand in his other, chewing on his lip. Murphy just wants to be home, wants things to be normal now. But when he looks at his brother, Connor is near tears himself, and seems to just only be holding it together.

Murphy thinks that Connor is the one who needs a big brother.

"Okay."

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When Ma comes back into the room, an hour or so later, she's dressed in her coat, and there are tears in her eyes.

Connor steps back so she can get closer to Murphy, and looks away when she hugs him tightly, "Did Connor tell ye what has ta happen?" Murphy nods quietly, his face pressed into Ma's shoulder, "I'm sorry, Murphy, I'm so, so sorry. I'll be back on Sunday, okay, and I'll call ye every night and morning, okay?"

"Okay, Ma."

She pulls away after a few long minutes, and gives Murphy a big watery smile, "Yer so brave, Murphy, yer tough as nails. Anytime tha' ye want ta call me, jus' get Connor ta ring the shop, an' I'll be there. Anytime that ye want ta… want ta talk, or anythin' or jus'… ye can call whenever ye want, okay?"

"Okay, Ma."

Connor runs a hand through his hair as his mother turns to him, and breathes in deeply as she pulls him into a tight embrace, "You take care of him, Connor, you make sure that he's okay. Yer the best person tha' he needs right now, jus' be his brother. Look out fer yer brother."

He holds out his hand in surprise when Ma presses a wad of cash into it, and his mouth drops open in surprise. "Ma—wha—"

But she just nods carefully, and smiles at him, "Okay, be good fer me, ye ungrateful pissants." Both brothers let out snort of laughter at the term of endearment, and Connor rolls his eyes, "I'll call ye both when I make it back home. No messing, boys."

Murphy rubs at his eyes for a moment, when Ma leaves the room, and Connor simply sighs along with him. They sit in silence for a few moments, both just breathing in the quiet, before Murphy reaches over and nudges Connor.

"So… are there any hot nurses in here?"

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I hope you all liked this! I'd love to hear what you guys thought :) I'll have the next chapter up by next weekend!

Review…?

Thanks for reading,

ArmedWithMyComputer xx