"This can't be happening." Matt said quietly as he sat in the dark room, Jeff still sleeping in the bed in front of him.
The teen had his head in his hands, grasping onto his hair tightly as if he wanted to rip it out. But, you can't really blame him. He had just been told that his brother was going to die in the span of three months; maybe even less if Jeff wasn't careful; and that was barely a year after his father committed suicide. Was there someone up there out to get him?
"First mom dying because the stupid driver didn't see her... Then dad... Now Jeff? What did I ever do to have my lived ones disappear before my very eyes?" Matt asked in a whisper, his head bowed as low as he dared.
He didn't want to see Jeff's eyes open for the first time since the accident, and he knew those emerald pearls would be filled with pain and fear... Fear for whatever the doctor would tell him. And Matt sure as hell didn't want to see Jeff when his eyes widened in shock and even more fear when they told him he would only live for three months.
There was a crack of thunder that made Matt jump, then he looked out the window, wondering when it had started raining. Then he looked at the door, wondering just how much time had passed since Ric and Dr. Bryan left, Ric to get some coffee and to alert some of Jeff's friends, and the doctor to do his job.
Matt sighed as he leaned back into the chair once more, knowing that the family would not take the news of Jeff's limited time very well. And his friends would be even worse off. Shannon would most probably confront Dr. Bryan and yell at him to not follow the conspiracies and Lita would most probably start researching all she can to make sure that Jeff would live.
There was a soft moan from the bed that made Matt look over, only to find Jeff slowly trying to get up. The boy was blinking rapidly as he did so, which made Matt smile and think back to times that they were both young and didn't have to worry about anything except for school and food.
"Hey, Jeffro." Matt spoke softly as he got up, plastering a smile onto his face as to comfort Jeff. "How are you feeling?"
Jeff looked around the room, as if now noticing that this was a hospital room, then looked up at Matt, eyes slightly closed. "Well, I feel like crap, my ribs are hurting me, I think someone crushed my skull... And my chest hurts a lot... Mattie, why am I in a hospital?"
Matt grabbed the chair he had been sitting in and dragged it to Jeff's bedside and sat down, looking directly into Jeff's eyes. "Even though you just answered yourself, Jeff, I'm not going to lie to you. Nor am I going to sugarcoat anything. You got into a car accident."
Jeff's eyes widened in surprise, and he quickly said, "But I was following all the rules! I stopped in the red-lights, decelerated in the yellow, put the blinker... I did everything you taught me, Matt! I swear!"
Matt smiled sadly at Jeff, shocked that his brother could act like such a child at times, then placed a hand on his shoulder, "You're not in trouble, Jeff. The other driver's in jail right now for a DUI... But, there's something you have to know."
Jeff looked up at him, wondering what Matt could mean, but a knock on the door interrupted the older from saying anything.
"Sorry for interrupting, Matt." Dr. Bryan said as he walked into the room, a clipboard in hand. "But I have to check up on Jeff."
"Don't worry 'bout it, Doc. I understand." Matt said as he leaned back into his chair, allowing Dr. Bryan to check over Jeff and anything that was up with him.
Once he was done with that, and was finished with shining a flashlight into Jeff's eyes, he smiled down at the boy and said, "Well, your vitals have seemed to stabilize, Jeff. And your concussion seems to already be getting better." He wrote down some information, then looked around the room and pulled up a chair.
"Jeff," Dr. Bryan started, the teen looking at him with an unsure look. "Do you have any dreams you would like to accomplish before you graduate?"
Matt sucked in a sharp breath, turning away as he felt the tears sting. This really was happening... His little brother really was going to die.
Jeff looked at Matt, who was now looking at him anymore, then looked at the doctor. "Well, yeah, Doc. I have a lot of things I want to do."
"Like what?" Dr. Bryan was smiling at Jeff now, who was now kind of worried.
"Well... I'd like to go ice-skating. I've wanted to do that since I was seven, but we've never had the money."
"Mm-hmm. Anything else?" Daniel nodded, which made Jeff smile slightly.
Why was this man wanting to know this? It's not like he was going to die, so there really wasn't that much rush to do these things.
"Lots of things, Doc. But I don't get why you want to know this. It's not like I'm going to die, right?" He asked, now smiling.
Daniel's smile faded at the question, while Matt got up and placed a hand on the bed, looking away. Jeff looked at his brother, his own smile fading as he noticed what this reaction could mean.
"Mattie? Am I going to die?" Jeff asked quietly as he gazed up at his older brother, who was leaning heavily on the hospital bed.
"Mattie?" Jeff asked once more, worried because his brother was now trembling.
Dr. Bryan now got up, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Jeff... This is really hard to say, and please, don't freak out. But there's debris embedded into your chest, inside."
Jeff looked at him, still confused. "I don't get it, what's so bad about that? I'll have a few scars, so what?"
Matt looked up, tears flowing down his face. "Jeff, that's not how it works... Those pieces of debris that weren't taken out... They're going to slowly make their way into your heart."
Jeff now looked from Matt to Daniel, then back to Matt, and last to Daniel. "I don't get it... Don't those pieces stop moving?"
"Jeff, they were too close to your heart to remove. Either we risked your life to get them, or we left them there."
"So you're going to tease me with life for it to only ripped away from me?!" Jeff screamed, making both Matt and Daniel jump.
"Jeff! They did everything they could!" Matt growled, wiping a tear away.
"But Matt!" He yelled, then let his shoulders slump and his head fall. "... Am I really going to die?"
"I-I don't know, Jeff." Matt answered, then looked at Daniel, silently asking him to leave.
Daniel got the message, nodded, and left. With that, Matt turned back to Jeff and leaned down, hugging him. "But... But I have an idea. It's crazy... And, heck, we may even die tryin' it, but it might work."
Jeff looked up at Matt, his eyes wide and teary, and said, "Anything, Mattie. Anything to keep you from losing me."
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