My Brother Dr. Reese

Chad

Only now do I notice Ty, Chad's assistant, standing behind me.

He clears his throat. "Mind if I take a look? See what's hurting?"

Chad, now standing, touches my shoulder. "He's right, Min."

I give Ty one more look of despair before taking Chad's outstretched and allowing him to pull me to my feet, then going to sit in the chair.

Ty lays me down and goes about his business prepping.

I feel naked.

"Chad?" my lips ask before I can stop them.

"Yeah, love?"

I hesitate. "Can I have a blanket?"

He nods, looking concerned. "Of course."

Chad goes to what appears to be a supply closet, takes a folded blanket, and spreads it over me.

"Better?"

How can he know? The confusion seems to show on my face, since Chad explains.

"I've worked with patients who are victims of sexual abuse before. The blanket often helps them feel more comfortable. You are the first to actually ask for one, though."

Now that I'm feeling less exposed, I can close my eyes.

Everything goes well until after the X-rays.

Ty comes in, mask under his chin, and looks me in the eyes. "Chad's coming. He told me to tell you he's sorry."

Sorry? For what?

Chad walks in. But it's not the relaxed, confident stride of my easy-going brother. It's the clipped, controlled pace that only manifests itself when he's mad.

Ty sees this too. "Chad..."

Chad's head snaps to Ty. "You keep your mouth shut, Parson. I have to deal with this."

His head snakes around to me. He smiles-it doesn't reach his eyes.

His voice is sugary. "Tell me, sister, dearest. How long has your mouth been hurting?"

I shrink back in his cold gaze. "Eighteen days."

"Liar!" he says, sweet façade abandoned.

I press my back against the chair. "I'm not lying. I told you seventeen days yesterday, that would make it eighteen today."

He does the sugar-smile again. The façade is back on. "I refuse to have a liar for my own flesh and blood. Please, sister, tell me the truth."

I'm starting to get mad now. "I told you, eighteen days."

"I know you're lying. Tell me the truth. You raised the number for attention!"

"Chad!" Ty yells, grabbing his shoulders.

Chad shuts up for a moment and glares. "What?"

Ty's jaw tightens. "Go." he says, pointing to the door.

Chad crosses his arms and walks out, shutting the door behind him.

I turn to Ty, eyes wide. "What just happened?"

He gives a shrug and sighs. "His angry-self doesn't believe it's really been eighteen days."

"I could see that. Why?"

Ty shifts his weight from foot to foot. "Your molar is cracked in half-"

"What? Are you sure?" I cut him off.

He nods, face troubled. "I can show you a picture if you want to see it."

I gag. "Ew, no."

The corners of his mouth tip up a bit at my reaction. "Your molar is cracked in half, and statistically speaking, you should have a raging infection by now. But you don't. So he jumped to his own conclusion and figured there was no way it had actually been eighteen days, and you made up the number for attention."

A beat of silence passes.

"Can I talk to him?"

Ty hesitates, choosing his words carefully. "I...don't think that's a very good idea. He's mad, and if you try to talk to him, he might do something he'll regret. If I know Chad, he'll come back in and apologize when he's calmed down."

There's a pause.

"And I was thinking, maybe, in the meantime, I could take another look?"

I sigh, resigned to my fate.

Sorry it's been so long, I lost track of time, and school's happening, and I'm writing a Phanfiction.  I'm sorry!  

Also, huge shoutout to halohellohola, who's been voting!  

And I need ideas, I don't really know where I want to go after this.  Any and all help is appreciated, message me or comment.