'Grandma,' Virgil stated flatly. .
Of all the people he had expected, she was not on that list. Why was she here? Now?
'And Katie,' he added softly with a lighter note.
'You're both looking well,' Grandma said. There was a forced edge to the words.
'Thank you.' Virgil sounded as suspicious as he felt. He couldn't help but frown; Virgil was losing control on his tones—before, it was impossible to tell how he felt through his voice, he'd always had a firm grip on his tones, but now…
'I'll leave you to it. If you need me, don't hesitate to call,' Katie said, derailing his thoughts. Her voice was always so soft and caring. She always made him smile.
Once the door shut, he heard their grandmother move, that familiar clack of her shoes on the hard floor. 'Playing cards?' That forced edge was still there as she faked an interest.
'Yeah,' he answered, returning his attention to gather up the cards, except now he couldn't remember where everything was. His hand was in front of him, Virgil had his, so the shared cards were ahead… somewhere.
'North,' Virgil said after he'd missed them. Slowly and methodically, he searched ahead, patting along the bedding. 'East and—Grandma!'
He jumped a little as the sudden exclamation.
'Here.' Scott frowned as he felt the card pressed against the back of his hand. She was helping him, and he blood boiled.
Why?
Why was she doing this?
Did she not think he could do it? Or was he, in her eyes, so broken that he shouldn't be allowed to try?
He wasn't sure what hurt more.
'Don't!' he snapped, pulling away. 'I can do it.' The words slipped out as more of a growl than anything else. He felt the hand vanish, heard her back off.
'I was just trying to help.'
Again his blood boiled, hot in his views. She wasn't regretful or sorry—no, she was… Angry?
Why? How dare she?
'Help? Help who?' Virgil jumped in, sudden and sounding as furious as Scott felt. This was not something he had expected from his brother, especially not towards her. 'The only person you're here to help is you.'
'Virgil,' she tried.
'No! Don't stand there and pretend you're here for anyone but yourself.' He paused, and when she didn't say anything, he continued. 'You stand there and try to tell me that you care, but you do this every time. We need you, and you do nothing—then, when you feel bad, you turn up to 'help'. If you wanted to help, you should have been here sooner. Should have been here when we acutely needed you.
'When I was announced as officially deaf, when I died as Scott was alone, when he started physio or braille classes, but no, you're here now when we're okay. When it's easy. You're too late. Again,' he snarled.
Scott could only listen in shock. The last time he had heard his brother this angry, they were still in Kansas. Right then, though, he would have given anything to see, even if just for a second. He wanted to see Virgil's face, his grandmother's reaction, because this silence did nothing to let him know what was happening, what was going on, and how people felt.
After a long silence, too long, he heard the clack of heels rush from the room and the door open and shut.
'Better?' he asked, reaching out to rest his hand on his brother's leg. He smiled as Virgil sighed, the anger escaping with the breath.
'Yeah, actually.'
'Good.' He smiled. 'So, ready to lose again?'
Virgil scoffed. 'I have to win eventually, law of averages.'