It took ages for Kieran to fix Bree. Alex sat near her head, clutching her hand, she was conscious as the doctor performed the medical surgery on his dining room table. Bree had to be conscious the doctor said, because then it would be easier to control her breathing and movements, Kieran said he didn’t have the sufficient equipment to keep her breathing constant.
He did give her pain killers though, lots and lots of them. And Alex tried his hardest to divert his eyes from the work the doctor was doing, he didn’t want to see that, he couldn’t watched as Kieran pulled bullets from her skin. He couldn’t, because then the reality of all of this would come back to him, the fact that Bree could die would hit him square in the chest and he'd find it hard to breathe. The fact he could get put into jail for what he was doing would register. Even the fact that Bree wasn’t the girl he wanted her to be would sting.
In truth, he wanted all of this to be different.
He wanted a cute relationship like you got in the books, in the movies. You know the ones. Kids started out as best friends, they were close and they loved each other with everything they had. And then, something happened, and they were pulled away from each other, one of the kids became an asshole. One moved away, some sort of excuse. And then out of the blue they meet again, or they start to like each other again, there was a few problems, but they always ended up together, kissing and smiling and holding hands and generally being too happy.
That’s what Alex wanted, he wanted Bree to be his childhood sweetheart.
He didn’t want to be holding her hand while she was having surgery that could kill her. He wanted to slip his hand into hers shyly after they’d just gone to the movies and Alex had pulled the ‘arm-around-the-shoulders’ move for the first time. That’s what he wanted.
But he knew he was being stupid. He couldn’t have that.
Because Bree hadn’t just been taken away, Alex hadn’t become a popular jerk like in the movies. Bree had killed her family, and then she’d been thrown into a mental asylum. And they hadn’t just met up with each other again, Bree had tried to kill him the first time they’d met up again.
Alex had become an antisocial goth who hated everyone and had severe depression.
Bree had become a raging psychopath who’d kill you as soon as look at you.
What a pair they were, but, Alex thought, almost hopefully as he looked down at her, sweating heavily from the effort of staying still, maybe that’s what made them good for each other.
He didn’t know. He didn’t even know if he liked her in that way. He didn’t want to have sex with her, or be in a relationship with her, not really. Bree wasn’t the kind of girl you imagined doing that kind of stuff with. All he wanted was to have her close, to protect her. He supposed big brothers got that kind of feeling too, but he knew it wasn’t just a brotherly, best friend kind of protectiveness that was spurring him on.
There was something more than that, stirring in his chest. He could feel it gripping his heart and constricting his breathing. He didn’t know what it was. But it wasn’t a pleasant feeling, not at all. Every time he looked at her, he got that feeling. The feeling of not being able to breathe, surely it wasn’t normal. Surely it were some kind of disease that could be cured. Because it was hurting him, and he couldn’t deal with pain like Bree could, he wanted the feeling to go away as soon as possible.
The operation took ages. Maybe hours. Alex couldn’t tell, because by the end of it he was half sleeping on Bree, his head resting on her shoulder from where he sat in a wooden chair near the head of the table. She’d held onto his hand throughout the whole operation, and cracked several fingers by the feel of it. But Alex didn’t mind, if she hadn’t taken his hand he would have given it anyway.
Finally Kieran stepped back, brow gleaming and eyes heavy as he stared with satisfaction at her thigh, now wrapped in a thick bandage, and her upper right arm too.
“It’s done” Kieran nodded. Alex breathed a sigh of relief and murmured the message into Bree’s ear, because for the last half an hour she’d been dozing, and now it seemed she was having trouble focussing on anything, let alone able to comprehend words spoken from far away.
Alex wasn’t entirely sure Bree understood what he was saying, but it didn’t matter, she’d get the point when she didn’t feel her metal prodding around in her muscles.
“Leave her be for a while” Kieran ordered him, settling a blanket around the girl, being careful to let it fall above her thigh. “She needs to rest” the older man sighed, he looked drawn and tired, Alex guessed he couldn’t really blame the guy.
Still, Alex didn’t let go of Bree’s hand, partly because he didn’t want to, and he didn’t like taking orders from the doctor anyway, but mostly because Bree was the one holding on, he could feel her hand flexing around his weakly, Alex couldn’t bare the idea of letting go, what if something bad happened? What if she actually died? And he wasn’t there?
He’d never forgive himself.
So he sat back in a wooden chain, and held on to her anyway. Kieran inspected him for a few moments, a scowl on his handsome face, but then he turned and went to pour himself a drink, something alcoholic, Alex noticed. Alex also noticed, that Kieran didn’t offer him one either.
“Why you here, kid?” Kieran asked gruffly as he sat down in the seat opposite, staring at Alex over Bree’s body.
Alex frowned, “Because Bree was hurt”
“That’s not what I meant,” he snapped “I meant, she’s here now. I’ll look after her, there’s no need for you to stay”
“I have to”
“Why?”
“Because…” Alex frowned, but it swiftly disappeared “She needs me”
Kieran gave a harsh laugh “Bree doesn’t need people. ‘Specially little kids like you” Kieran seemed to sneer.
“She would have died if I hadn’t helped her” Alex snapped back.
“Maybe she would have liked it that way” Kieran replied, eyes cold.
“She was the one who told me to bring her here. If she wanted to die, she wouldn’t of told me about you” Alex growled.
At that moment, the broken girl groaned on the table, her hand flexing in Alex’s as she shifted restlessly.
“Bree?” Alex leaned over to whisper in her ear. There was a incoherent groan of tangled words, and she lifted a hand to swat at her face, rubbing at her still closed lids with the heels of her hand.
“Pansy?” she whispered, voice hoarse. Alex couldn’t help smirk as her nickname for him was the first thing from her mouth, he saw Kieran scowl.
“I’m here, Bree” he squeezed her hand, and after a long moment, she squeezed it back.
“My dead yet?” she mumbled, Alex let out a low chuckle.
“Not yet” he replied, she cracked open her closed lids to see him smirking at her, so she narrowed her eyes at him and squeezed his hand, a little tighter than was necessary. He hissed, but didn’t remove the limb she was latched onto, her green eyes studied him, large and cold, and after a few seconds of him staring determinedly back, she released her grip.
Alex glanced up to see Kieran moving away, he started banging around his kitchen, disposing of the tools he'd used with Bree while grumbling under his breath and kicking at the rubbish bin and cupboards.
“Bree” Alex bent down to whisper in her ear, she quirked an eyebrow at him “I think something’s wrong with your doctor” he hissed. Her head twisted to the side and inspected Kieran for a long time.
“Pansy, help me up” she whispered to him after a few moments. He complied, hooking his arms under her armpits and pulling her gently into a sitting position. She tilted her head to the side as she inspected the doctor with an intensity that had Alex glaring.
“Kieran?” she asked, softly. The doctor turned to stare at her. “Are you okay?”
“Why wouldn’t I be?” he snapped back, but his eyes were wide and staring, he turned his gaze on Alex, and those hazel eyes seemed to explode.
“Pansy,” Bree held out her arm, and Alex quickly shifted her into a standing position, she winced, and Alex gritted his teeth to stop from fussing over her, she’d only hit him.
“What’s wrong with him?” Alex hissed at the smaller girl.
“We need to get out. Out, right now” Bree snapped. Alex wrapped his arm around her waist and yanked her from the room. She gave a hiss of pain, but she allowed him to pull her along.
“Where the fuck do you think you two are going?” the doctor demanded. A moment later, Alex yelled out as something hit him in the back, he went sprawling, as did Bree, who gave a cry of pain as her leg must really have hurt her.
Kieran stood over them, breathing heavily. Alex spun round onto his back, gaping up at the doctor, who held a scalpel in his quivering fist, blond hair messy on his head, the usual angelic face twisted into a deranged expression.
“Kieran, please” Bree gasped, she pushed herself into a sitting position with some difficulty, staring up at the doctor with wide, pleading eyes. Alex thought anyone would melt under that stare, and the doctor’s eyes did clear a little, but not nearly enough.
The next second, he was lunging. Not for Bree, but right at Alex.
Alex yelled out and rolled as the doctor swooped down on him, brandishing the scalpel with terrifying accuracy. Kieran stumbled as he found Alex no longer beneath him, but then he turned, lunging at Alex yet again.
Alex managed to scramble to his feet just in time for the doctor to crash into his body. Alex was shoved into a nearby wall, and he gasped as Kieran sliced the weapon across his stomach, Alex didn’t feel any pain, but when he looked down, he found his shirt hanging open raggedly, no blood though.
He dodged as Kieran came at him again, he had no idea what to do, he wasn’t a fighter, he was a runner.
But Bree was there, and that was the only thing stopping him from sprinting from the house. So when Kieran came at him again, Alex dived to the side, seized the back of Kieran’s head and slammed it straight into the wall. Thankfully, Kieran slumped, dazed.
Alex lunged for Bree had yanked her from the floor, he guessed it was all adrenaline, he’d never have been that forceful knowing she was injured, but still, he could hear Kieran starting to stand again.
Bree let him drag her, but just as they rounded the corner at the front door came into view, Bree screamed.
She slumped, and suddenly she was being yanked from Alex’s grip, he yelled, turning, to see Kieran had seized her leg, the injured one. Alex lunged forward, knocking the doctor off of Bree and back onto the floor with a crash.
“Go, Bree!” Alex yelled at her, giving her as soft a shove he could in the direction of the door.
“No!” she shouted, eyes on fire, face a twisted mess of fury. Alex knew in that moment that if she hadn’t have been injured, Kieran would be dead, for sure.
Kieran flew at Alex, but before he could even reach for the younger boy, Bree was on him, she didn’t need her leg. She snatched the doctor right out of the air as he pitched forward.
She shoved him into a nearby wall, hand tangled in his hair, she yanked him back, and a second later, smashed him forward. Alex gave a strangled cry, he could almost feel the pain exploding in the doctor’s face. A spurt of blood flew everywhere, all down the wall and over Bree’s clothes, but she didn’t even blink as the crimson liquid splattered her.
She shoved Kieran forward again, growling as she did. Alex, seeing that Kieran was slumping heavily, supported by nothing but Bree’s strong arms, moved forward slowly, laying a hand on her shoulder. She tilted her head, glancing back at him.
“Enough Bree” he murmured, she quirked an eyebrow, assessing him and the steadiness of his stare, a moment later, Kieran’s limp body dropped to the floor like a sack of potatoes.
“We should leave” she said, eyes trained on Alex’s face, he merely nodded and held out his arms, Bree slumped into them, leaning her side against his heavily. He made sure to support most of her weight as he manoeuvred the two of them out of the crazy house. Once they were safely back in the interior of the car, the central heating had been flicked on and Bree was securely strapped in, Alex turned to her.
“What was that back there?” he demanded, she raised an eyebrow at his tone, but shook her head when he didn’t amend.
“It was psychotic episode.” she informed him, eyes hard as she stared out the window.
“Explain further” he ordered, and when she threw him a look so sharp it could have cut him, he added a hasty “Please”
“Drive, and I’ll tell you” she said, voice dead. He winced at the tone, hating it with a passion, but he dutifully started up the car, swinging out of the drive way and starting down the street, slower than usual.
“I saw them at Crickly all the time.” Bree started, slowly “The patient can be fine for days, weeks. But then something just snaps. You go crazy, you cant control it, cant tell the people you love from the people you hate. Sometimes there’s a trigger. A certain song maybe. A certain word. A face, a person you hate, someone who hurt you. Anything. It’s usually a symptom of psychosis.” she gave an offhand shrug.
“What’s that? Psychosis?” he questioned, genuinely intrigued.
“Psychosis is a medical word used to describe mental health problems that stop the person from thinking clearly, telling the difference between reality and their imagination, and acting in a normal way.” she informed him with a heavy hearted sigh.
“So he’s crazy?” Alex demanded, throwing her a sharp look, she sighed again.
“Maybe, that was definitely a psychotic trip. Maybe he’s bipolar.” she shook her head.
“You think you can trust him? What if he calls the police?” Alex’s chest tightened, his hands gripping the steering wheel so hard his knuckles turned white.
“He wont,” Bree shook her head, “I know him”
“Did you know he could do that?” Alex snapped. She turned on him, green eyes livid, but Alex stared right back “It’s a valid point, Bree.” he told her, softer than before. She let out the breath she had sucked in.
“You’re right. But I don’t think he would. Honestly, Pansy” she turned a stare on Alex that made his chest hurt. He huffed, dismissing the conversation entirely.
Ten minutes later, they were outside Alex’s house, it was dark now. His mother would be home in a few short hours.
“Home sweet home” Alex threw her a sarcastic smirk, one she didn’t react to at all.
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Thank you for reading! Updates every Sunday don't forget, also don't forget to comment and vote, or Bree will hunt you down, just saying *shrugs* :3