Dead and Alive

Chapter 13

Ok you guys before you kill me for not updating for so long I gotta say that I'm sorry lol I was super busy and also I had no time to go on devices sorry :(

"Hey buddy!" Julie called as she heard the door open, "how was practice?" She slipped the arroz con gandules that her aunt had made for them into a low oven to reheat and then turned around to meet her brother.

Carlos came into the kitchen, obviously limping. There was blood streaked down his leg from a nasty scrape on his knee and he winced with every step.

"Carlos, what happened?" Julie took some paper towel and wet them in the sink, bending down to clean the injury.

"A bad slide into third." Carlos eased himself onto one of the kitchen chairs and held his leg out in front of him. "It hurt like a sonofabitch, but I didn't cry."

"Dad doesn't like it when you swear, and there's nothing wrong with crying when you're hurt," she said automatically as she inspected his injury. It was dirty but not that deep. "Where's Tia?"

"In her car deep breathing, trying not to puke," Carlos said. "You know how she gets around blood."

"I'm glad she didn't come in. This is going to hurt." She began to clean the scrape and he hissed in pain. "Sorry."

"It's okay, it's better then dying of tetanus."

"We've been vaccinated against tetanus."

"Gangrene, then. Besides, it's not that bad."

"You're very brave." she grinned at him. She and Carlos shared the dark hair and dark brown eyes that had been a gift from their mother. In moments like this when they weren't fighting, she was so happy he was in the world.

"I thought you said there's nothing wrong with crying?"

"There's not, but you're not crying, so..." She gave a half shrug. "All done."

He examined the scrape. "Do you think I'll need stitches?"

"You sound far too excited by that idea."

"I've never had stitches," Carlos said matter-of-factly. Then he frowned. "But I'd have to go to hospital to get them, wouldn't I?"

"Yeah," she said, knowing what he was thinking about.

"I hate hospitals," he said, more subdued than before. "That's where mom died."

"I know," Julie sighed. "I kind of hate them, too."

"Think I'll scar?" Carlos went back to scrutinizing his injury. "Chicks dig scars."

Julie scowled at him. "Women like men who don't use words like chicks." She looked at the scrape. It had stopped bleeding, and now it was clean it looked painful but not terrible. In fact, it didn't look nearly as bad as the gash that Luke had appeared with. She looked down at her hands and flexed her fingers. "Carlos, can I try something?"

"Sure. Wait. Will it hurt?"

"I don't think so." Julie concentrated on evoking the strange, bubbly feeling that meant her Gift was activating. Only this time, instead of starting it in her spine, she focussed on putting it just into her fingertips. The last time she'd used it to make Reggie solid she'd accidentally done the same thing to Luke, Alex and Willie as well. This time, she only wanted Carlos to feel the effects.

She felt it: a mild buzzing along her fingers, like she was holding an electric toothbrush. She touched her fingertips to her brother's knee. There was a small burst of white light, and his skin repaired itself as they watched.