Coraline Murphy

29.

The first thing Tommy felt was the pain. Through his closed eyes, he could see that there was some sunlight shining wherever he was, and he did his best to start to prise them open. 

"Alright, Tommy?" Arthur's voice caught his attention, and he tried harder still to open his eyes, groaning in pain as his body began to regain feeling. 

"Arthur..." he groaned, and looked up at his older brother who was smiling back at him.

"You going to stay awake a bit longer this time?" 

Tommy grunted, trying to take in his surroundings. 

"How are you feeling?" 

"Hurts..." Tommy croaked, words feeling like a huge effort. "Fucking Sabini..."

Arthur nodded, patting his brother's arm comfortingly. "Fucking Sabini. Do you remember what happened? You couldn't tell me when you woke up earlier."

"Earlier? How long have I been here?" 

"Day before yesterday. You were brought in around 10pm. You woke up yesterday a couple of times but you didn't stay awake for long."

Tommy started to try and sit up. "Got jumped," he croaked. "About 5 of them. Beat the fucking shit out me." Arthur chuckled, before frowning as Tommy's face became uncharacteristically confused. "Could have sworn I saw..."

"What, Tommy?" 

"Rich Murphy..." Whilst Arthur looked at his brother in shock, Tommy finally managed to get to a comfortable seated position, his eyes locking on the small figure in a bed not too far aware from his. "Coraline..." he breathed, suddenly looking like he was going to try and get out of bed to see her. 

"No, no!" Arthur was firm. "You stay right there."

Easily overpowered in his weakened state, all Tommy could do was glare at his brother. "But..."

"She's going to be fine," Arthur reassured him. "She woke up yesterday too. She's just resting now."

Tommy let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding. "Fuck, Arthur, the fire."

Arthur looked grim. "Poor Garrison..." 

Tommy could have laughed at his brother's poor choice of priorities if it weren't for the circumstances. 

"Rory's alright, though?" He sought reassurance from Arthur who nodded.

"Yeah, she woke up  yesterday evening and was able to talk for a bit, though she has a horrible cough." 

"What's that on her face?" Tommy indicated to a mask which was over her mouth and nose.

"Doctor said it was oxygen. It'll help her get better." 

"Right." Tommy began to pick at the IV that was in his left arm.

"Leave that, Tom," Arthur chastised him. "It's helping you." His younger brother raised a questioning eyebrow. "The doctor said it's delivering pain medication." Arthur looked proud at his newfound medical knowledge. 

Tommy, leaving his own IV alone, looked back across at Coraline, noticing that she too had one in the back of one of her own, thin hands. He looked back at Arthur in panic. "Coraline's hurting?" He asked, and Arthur felt his heart break at the dismay on his brother's face. 

"No, Tom, she's fine. The medicine is helping her." He tried to reassure him. "The doctors were a little worried that she was too..." he searched for the right words; "...frail. Hers has special medicine in to make her stronger so she can heal faster."

"Frail?" 

"She's very thin, Tommy." Arthur looked down, unused to the vulnerable look on Tommys face. "And she's very tired. They were struggling to keep her breathing when she arrived."