Hurtful memories (Varian story)

Lungs (part 18)

There wasn't much to say but Cass and Rapunzel agreed with Eugene. They were glad Varian's dad was a better dad. Varian appreciated that and was happy everyone was getting along. However, he knew there was more and was dreading the inevitable reactions.

The next memory faded in. Varian woke up the morning after being kidnapped by Cassandra and realised that it hurt to breathe. Every breath was agonisingly painful, he didn't really want to look but he knew he had to. He knew where this came from he didn't want to admit that Cassandra had hurt him that badly but here he was. He couldn't lie to himself about. He had no choice.

He went to Quirin. "Dad?" He opened Quirin's door and took a small step into the room. Quirin shuffled in his bed a bit then woke up. "What is it Varian?" Quirin said as he sat up and looked at Varian who was at the doorway. "I- my chest hurts." Quirin immediately knew it was bad as Varian had a very high pain tolerance. He got up and walked over to Varian who had been nervous about asking Quirin for help. Quirin tried not to let Varian's obvious nervousness around him get to him but if he was honest it did hurt to know that his son feared him even if it was his fault. He took Varian back to his room and had a feeling that he knew what was wrong.

Once they got to Varian's room, Varian sat back down on his bed and Quirin thought about if it was possible to check what was wrong without Varian being in pain. He knew there wasn't but he didn't want to see his son in pain. "Varian need you to take a deep breath in and lift your shirt up. Okay?" Varian nodded and did so. The pain when he took the breath was excruciating. His chest was bruised and was swollen in areas. The bruises were a mess purple and dark blue that spread across his chest. Quirin lightly pushed on each rib to check for breaks. The lower two ribs made a sickening crunch sound. Varian bit down on his lip so he didn't scream from the pain. Quirin quickly retracted his hand. "Sorry... alright breathe in for me." Varian did so it hurt a lot and Quirin could see that. "Alright. I think I know what's wrong." Varian looked at his dad with a worried expression. "I'm pretty sure your ribs are broken." Quirin said almost apologetically as Varian looked at him. "How do you fix it?" Varian asked with a hint of fear in his voice. "Rest Varian. You have to stay here in your bed. Can you do that for me Varian?" Quirin lightly ruffled Varian's hair. Varian smiled and laughed a little. "Dad.... Ok I will." Quirin smiled softly at Varian. "I'll bring some books up for you." With that Quirin left

Varian couldn't ignore that Cassandra had broken his ribs but he really wanted his old life back now. He wanted to go back to before Prison. Before the storm. Before he even met Cassandra and Rapunzel. He could forgive but could never forget. He cared about his friends but he couldn't ignore that his life would be easier if he had never met them.

The first week was agonisingly painful, every breath was painful. If he moved it hurt. He breathed it hurt. Everything just hurt. The worst part was that it didn't go away. When he woke up, it was agony and he couldn't just ignore it because it was constant. He tried not to breathe too much because it hurt so much. Quirin had been taking care of Varian but he always seem sad to see Varian in pain which Varian understood but still didn't want to see his dad sad or upset. Varian barely ate in the first week. His bruises were getting worse. The mess of purple and blue spread across his torso. Varian wanted to cry some times. He wanted scream and cry until his voice gave out.

The second week, Varian had been feeling better but still in pain. Quirin had been allowing Varian to do things around the house and some non dangerous parts of alchemy. Quirin and Varian also occasionally read books together. Quirin seemed to be making more of an effort to understand Varian more and Varian also occasionally tried to understand his dad more which he didn't really get some of the things Quirin explained but enjoyed listening to Quirin anyway. The stories Quirin told Varian were pretty interesting, he sometimes talked about Dark kingdom and his time as a warrior.

"Morning dad." Varian had gone down stairs after waking up. Varian had adjusted pretty well to the schedule of being at home. Varian just enjoyed being around his dad again. "Hello Varian. Good to see you in good spirits." Quirin ruffledVarian's hair which Varian jokingly pouted at his dad. Quirin laughed and gave Varian his breakfast. "Go eat Varian." Quirin said jokingly. "Okay." Varian laughed and went to the table to eat.

Varian thought very often about prison and when he was trapped and dangled off of Cassandra's tower. He had hurt and trapped and as much as he didn't want it to, it reminded him of the captain. Varian and Quirin eat breakfast and then Varian did some alchemy in the basement for most of the day while his dad worked on the farm. The memory then faded out.

Cassandra looked at Varian. "I'm so sorry." She then pulled him into a tight hug. "You should have told me, you idiot. "Varian laughed a little and hugged back. "I know. I just didn't want to make you feel worse then you did." Cass sighed and looked Varian in the eyes. "You need to start thinking more about yourself." Varian smiled weakly. "I'll try Cass." Cassandra smiled softly. "Good cause you tendency to burn yourself out."

A.N: Hi it's me. I am so sorry for the extremely late chapter. I do sincerely apologise.