вlood & peтalѕ [ ĸoтlc - тιana ]

ch. xv

Not showdown time YET. But it's coming soon.

"Tam, I'm back," Linh called as she pulled the door shut behind her. "But I won't be staying. I'm headed to Everglen." By the time she'd finished saying that, Linh had reached the door of their room. She twisted the knob and stepped inside. "I just wanted to check on-Tam!"

"Please, please, please be alright..." she whispered, kneeling down next to his unconscious form, which sprawled across the floor in a rather undignified way. Not that dignity mattered right now, Linh mentally reminded herself, as she struggled to turn him over onto his back and checked his pulse, trying her best not to look at his deathly pale face. "Wake up, wake up, please-please-please-please-please wake up...."

He still had a pulse, much to her relief, but it was weak. Weak enough to scare her. Just as she was debating whether or not to hail Mr Forkle, Tam stirred, letting out a weak groan. "Linh....?"

"Tammy..." it came out with half a sob, which she wasn't very proud of. "Are you okay?"

He tried to push himself up with his hands, wincing from the sudden movement. "I-don't t-think so..."

"Okay. I got you." Quickly mustering her concentration the way the Exillium Coaches had hammered into her, Linh lifted her hands and gently floated her brother back onto the bed. "There. Do you feel up to telling me what happened?"

"Wanted...water," he muttered, struggling to form words. "So I tried to g-get some. B-but...got all woozy. Still am woozy."

"Hm. Are you also still thirsty?"

"Y-yeah," he rasped out.

"I can help with that." She picked up the empty glass from where it lay on its side near the nightstand, and with a flick of her wrist, extracted enough water from the air to fill the glass almost fully. "Here. Drink."

As soon as he was done, she took the glass from him and propped it back on the nightstand. "I'll fill this glass and leave it here in case you get thirsty again. Okay?"

"Mm." He stared up at her from half-lidded eyes. "I'm sorry, b-by the way."

Her eyebrow twitched. "Huh? Why?"

"F-for being so selfish." He stared at the ceiling. "I k-kept telling you that I didn't want to take the surgery...because I wanted to hold onto what tiny bit I had left of Biana." Tam's eyes slowly fell shut. "I didn't think about what you felt...."

Linh hurriedly wipes her streaming eyes. "I...no. I'm the selfish one. I didn't want you to take the surgery b-because I wanted you to stay. I can't be strong without you, Tam. I can't do it." She was full-on crying by now. "I'm sorry-"

"Hey. Hey. Linh. Look at m-me." He waited until she wiped her eyes, sniffled loudly and looked at him. "You are the least selfish person I know, and I'm not just saying that because I'm your brother. I'm saying it because I know you, and I know what you feel like." His hand, still deathly pale, wrapped around hers. "So please don't f-feel like you're putting p-pressure on me or anything, because trust me, you're not."

"I'm sorry," she mumbled again, leaning her head into his chest. "I'm sorry for not being strong enough... I'm sorry you always had to protect me."

He wrapped the arm she wasn't clinging to around her back, holding her closer. "I didn't want protect you because you weren't strong, Linh. You're one of the strongest people I know. I did it because...well, because I wanted to. And also because that's what I'm here for. To protect you even if you don't need it. I've sort of made that my purpose now."

Linh took in a great shuddery breath, not really trusting her voice to hold steady. So it was with a rather wobbly voice that she asked, "so what are you going to do now?"

I am literally crying now. I love these two so much.
*trumpet music punctuated by random sobs*