Bruises

msmooseberry

Summary:

A short drabble about the events after the fire at the church.

Notes:

A translation of Bruises by Sher_Wood

Work Text:

They made it to Arizona the next day by noon. Sean climbed out of the car, swaying a little. After the beating that church goon gave him his whole body was pulsing with dull pain in different places. He didn't care about a shower, nor about getting his wounds cleaned, and even his stomach humbly stayed quiet. All he cared about was sleep. He spent his last bits of energy on washing his own blood off his face and hands, and leaving his dirty hoodie to soak.

Karen immediately took note of his state and suggested that she and Daniel went for a walk outside, had a chat and left his brother to rest. Daniel was torn between his eagerness to learn something about their mother and his desire to be with his brother whom he hadn't seen for more than a month. To lay beside him at the very least, knowing that Sean was alive, that Sean was here and that he wasn't going anywhere anymore. However, Karen explained, calm but insistent, that Sean should better be left alone and have a good sleep. Daniel quickly and quietly changed into the offered brown tee-shirt, which was several sizes too big for him, and shorts, which had to be fastened tightly with a belt, and went out of the trailer with Karen.

It didn't take long for her and Daniel to hit it off. He spent half an hour showering her with questions and telling her about his past life with Sean as they sat in front of the trailer. Daniel had always been pretty talkative, and spoke and listened with equal enthusiasm, but his eyes kept travelling to the window with drawn curtains. When he turned around yet again, searching the side of the trailer for something, Karen stood up from the little table and said, "I'll go stock up on groceries. It's not far, so I'll be back in about two hours. And while I'm gone you'll keep an eye on your brother, won't you? He needs rest. The first aid kit is under the bed, in case he needs it too."

"Of course! I'll look after him." Daniel's face lit up with a smile. Karen chuckled softly and headed to her car.

Daniel felt like an adult: Sean always said he was the one taking care of him, that his little brother was his responsibility and that he needed to look out for him, but now Daniel would be the one "in charge", even if it would mean only staying put and waiting for Sean to wake up.

Sean was curled up in a fetal position, with his back pressed against the wall, because it made him feel safer that way. His arms, thin from starvation and his long track across the desert, were hugging the pillow. For a moment Daniel thought he really had become the older brother and protecting Sean had become his responsibility. He lay down facing Sean on the empty side of the bed as quietly as possible. Even in his sleep his brother didn't look calm and peaceful. He was obviously having a nightmare, his remaining eye was moving under the lid and his lips were trembling slightly.

"Daniel," he said, barely above a whisper.

Daniel put his small hand on Sean's, bigger one, which was clutching at the pillow and pressing it close to his body. Sean relaxed somewhat.

Daniel liked to just lie there and watch him. They finally weren't running, weren't fighting for their lives, weren't trying to survive. Their mom was with them, this place was a safe heaven where they would hardly be discovered, since the locals didn't even ask any questions when Karen brought one seriously roughed up boy with another, following him like a loyal puppy, holding him by the hand and helping him walk straight.

Sean started moving. Daniel got worried he woke him up with his touch, but he only rolled on his back, leaving the pillow by his side, and then stretched a little. The hem of his white shirt rode up, baring lilac bruises on his skin. Daniel's heart clenched painfully.

'It's all because of me,' he thought. 'If I agreed to leave right away, this wouldn't have happened.' He carefully pulled the shirt higher up to see how bad it really was: the trail of darkening spots was going along his stomach up to his chest, mainly covering the right side.

Daniel remembered about the first-aid kit and took it from under the bed. The names of the meds inside didn't ring a bell but a blue and white package caught his attention: Sean took a tube of healing cream out of a similar one to apply it on the huge black-eye he got from Big Joe. Daniel took the cream and squeezed a little into his palm. It was pleasantly cool in the stifling Arizona heat. Taking a deep breath, Daniel softly pressed his palm to the biggest bruise – below Sean's rib cage – and started gently rubbing the cream in, spreading it to the other bruises.

"What are you doing, enano?" Sean opened his only seeing eye with some difficulty.

"Sorry, I just saw them and-" Daniel snatched his hand back, as if burned, but Sean didn't seem to be bothered by his touch, he was still half-asleep. "It doesn't look good. Does it hurt a lot?"

"It's bearable."

"I wish I had a healing power." Daniel's head drooped when he realised how helpless he was. "If I did, Dad would've probably been alive… Or you would've still had your other eye. Or you wouldn't be hurting right now, at least."

"Hey." Sean rolled on his other side to look him straight in the eyes. He blindly grabbed Daniel's hand and squeezed it in his own. "You didn't choose your power and none of it was your fault. Having my little brother back is more than enough for me. I missed you a lot."

"Me too. I knew you would come back," Daniel said with a great deal of pride. He really never wanted to think otherwise, nor believe that his brother could be dead or locked up in prison. His brother was Sean Diaz, and he could get out of any trouble. "I still wish you weren't in so much pain."

"Don't worry about it, you need to get some rest too. Come here." Sean opened his arms, inviting Daniel into a hug, and he hurried to fall into them.

Squirming a little, he tried to lie down without grazing the bruised places on his brother's body, but Sean wrapped his arms around him tight and pressed Daniel's head to his chest. All that Daniel could do after that was wrap his own arms around Sean in return, hook their legs together and attempt to fall asleep. He might end up having nightmares about the fire and Lisbeth, but at least Sean would sleep peacefully, holding him close.