Our Boys

A Reckless Kid

Harry's reckless behaviour gets him injured and Tobi blames himself.

Harry was good at a lot of different things. The trouble was, a lot of those things were also the things that would get him in trouble. Some of it was good; he was good at washing up, he was good at making simple meals, he was good at helping people in and out of bed, he was good at smiling when others were sad.

That stuff had all come naturally to him. When his single mum had fallen ill when he was only four years old, he'd had to take on responsibilities no child his age should ever have to. It had been hard but he knew he'd been doing the right thing, and he was good at it.

But he was also good at climbing trees, or jumping off roofs, or pulling off dangerous stunts...well good as in he often did them without feat or thinking, and as such, things went wrong sometimes.

Simon had been driving when he'd received a call from the hospital and had performed a few illegal manoeuvres in order to turn the car around. Arriving at the hospital a nurse took him to an examination room she'd managed to talk the boys into. Tobi was standing, leaning against the far wall with his arms crossed. The fifteen year old was normally the calmest of his kids, but when something went wrong—when someone was hurt or upset—he tended to lock up. Ethan was sitting on the exam table with Harry clinging to him.

"Dad-" Tobi began.

At the same time, Harry yelled, "Dad!"

The nurse gave Simon an odd look, but she said she would bring pain medicine and slipped out quietly. Ethan patted his younger brother's back and began to try to shift Harry off of his lap. Harry didn't move, but he did remove his face from Ethan's shirt.

He'd been crying, enough that Ethan's shirt was damp. His face was red, his blue eyes were shiny, and his nose was running. He held his arm to his chest protectively.

"It's okay, Harry," Simon said. "It's just me. Let me see, buddy."

It took a few minutes, but Simon finally got his son turned around so he could see his arm. It was already swollen and purpling, and had a wide scrape crossed his inner forearm. The boy was clearly in pain. He wouldn't let go of Ethan, and having his arm examined brought him back to tears. The nurse returned with the pain medication, but it would be a while before it kicked in.

"Look at me," Simon said softly. Harry sniffled and looked up. "The nice nurses and I are going to take you down the hall to get an X-ray, okay?"

Instead of responding, Harry leaned forward and put his forehead again his dad's chest. Harry was by no means a tiny boy any more, but Simon picked him up regardless. Ethan looked relieved, which meant he'd probably carried Harry inside.

"Ethan, why don't you step outside and call your Papa?" Simon said. "Let him know that everything is fine, and I've got Harry with me."

Ethan nodded. He went outside, and Tobi followed his father and the nurses out of the room, quiet as a ghost. Every nurse and doctor they passed gave them an odd look, and a few even offered to get a wheelchair. Simon declined each time without breaking stride.

"Hello, Ben," Simon greeted the X-ray technician in surprise, as he recognised his old school friend who now worked at the hospital. They hadn't seen each other in a long time but still kept in touch on FaceBook.  "I'd hoped to introduce you to my kids under better circumstances, but these are two of my boys, Harry and Tobi."

Tobi said hello politely. Harry kept his grip on Simon and made a quiet noise of acknowledgement. Once Simon had coaxed him into a chair, Ben spoke to him kindly while he positioned his arm beneath the machine. Harry bit down on the inside of his lip and tried to stop crying.

"I'm going to be right over here with your dad and your brother," Ben said. "You stay really still, and we'll be done fast, alright?"

Harry nodded, and Simon and Tobi stepped behind the wall with Ben.

"Don't you want to know what happened?" Tobi asked quietly. "You haven't asked yet."

"I figured we'd worry about that once Harry was taken care of," Simon said. Ben either didn't hear them or pretended not to.

"I didn't mean to," Tobi said.

Simon did his best not to react. Tobi was one of the gentlest kids he knew and he'd never do anything to purposefully hurt one of his siblings. He took his status as the oldest brother very seriously, and he could be hard on himself when he thought he'd messed that up.

"He had his hand out the taxi window on the way home from town," Tobi said. "Not that far. He was just feeling the wind. He likes to do that, said it felt like flying, so I just let him do it. But then he leaned out too far at the wrong point and hit the post box. It was my fault."

Only his sons, Simon mused.

"Tobi, it was an accident," Simon said. "Harry knows that."

"It was one of those fancy brick ones. He screamed, Dad" Tobi said. "Ethan got in the backseat with him, and I told the taxi driver to come straight here. I didn't even realise what happened at first."

"Definitely broken, Si," Ben said. Simon patted his oldest son on the back reassuringly and stepped over to view the X-ray. Tobi peered over his shoulder to see.

It was a clean break he was told. There was no doubt it had been painful, but nothing had been displaced. No need for surgery. Harry would be in a cast for a while, but it would heal well.

"We're all done, Harry," Ben said. "Do you want to see the pictures?" Harry nodded and walked over. The pain medicine must had kicked in, because he was much calmer.

"Right there," Ben said, pointing out the fracture.

Harry examined the X-ray and then his arm. He indicated a spot on his injured arm, careful not to touch it, and raised an inquisitive eyebrow at his father.

"Yeah, about there," Simon said. "Let's go back to the exam room, and a nurse will wrap your arm up and make you an appointment to get a cast."

"Then home?" Harry asked.

"Then home," Simon promised.

They met back up with Ethan in the hallway. Harry was leaning against Simon's side drowsily. By the time his arm was wrapped, his eyes were half closed. The nurse found a sling for him, and Ethan began to process of getting the boy back to his feet. Tobi stayed back, still quiet.

"Come on, Harry," Ethan said. "Time to go home."

"Dad too?" Harry asked.

"He's probably got to finish whatever he was doing before," Ethan said. "But Papa, Josh and Vik will be at home. I could barely convince Papa that we'd be home just as soon as he could get here."

"I'll be home as soon as I can," Simon promised as he checked his ten year old's arm was safely in the sling.

Simon only had a few other errands to run before he could return home also. He eased the front door open quietly and slipped inside. As he'd expected, Harry was asleep on the sofa. Miraculously, he'd made it into his pyjamas before he conked out. What Simon hadn't expected was for Harry to be lying on top of Tobi.

"I'm home, Tobes," Simon whispered. The teen looked at him, but he stayed still. "He's out like a light."

"Yeah," tobi said, running a hand through his little brother's hair. "Papa fussed over him and got him into pyjamas. I didn't expect you to be back yet."

"Roads were fairly quiet," Simon said. "I can take him up to his bed if you want to get up."

"Nah, I'm okay," Tobi said. He was quiet for a second. "He forgives too easy."

Simon planted a light kiss on the top of the teen's head. "There was nothing to forgive."