Felix closed his eyes as he felt a few tears plop onto his shirt. Not his.
“I need to check on your brother.” His mother grunted, crossing her arms over her chest uncomfortably and walking out.
Felix closed his eyes and what felt like minutes later he could hear flip-flops slapping against the linen floor.
‘There’s only one girl in the entire school that would wear flip-flops in the dead of fall. . .’ Felix thought, his eyes opening as he saw Theodora appearing next to him.
“I. . .I’m just so. . .happy you’re okay. . !” she cried, bursting into tears as she hugged the surprised Felix. Felix relaxed and wrapped his arms around her waist too, ignoring the searing pain from his mid-section.
“Theo. . . you didn’t have to come.” Felix murmured into her cinnamon-scented hair.
“I know, but I just couldn’t stay away. . . I’m sorry.” she looked at her feet as she released her arms from him.
“Theo, it’s nothing to be sorry about because I’m glad you’re here. I just didn’t think I was worth seeing, you know?” Felix shrugged a little, playing with his fingers under the bedsheets, giving her a sad grin.
“If you’re not worth seeing, then why am I here?” Theo said, wiping the tears from her gleaming eyes.
“I’m not a mind-reader.” Felix shrugged, then hissed in pain. “But Theo, I need you to answer something important.”
“Fire away.” Theo said, tugging on a part of Felix’s bedsheet “What. . .happened out there? I don’t remember much. . .”
Theo turned away, and looked out towards the wall.
“. . .you. . .you. . .hit Corey. Several times. . .you were like a machine. He was bleeding, Felix.”
Felix sucked in his breath, laying back on his pillow and taking in shallow breaths.
“And then he pun-punched your side. And you’re back arched ba-backwa-rds. . .and you choked out blood and fell to the ground. And passed out. Corey kept on hitting you and hitting you. . .and I tried to get him away from you, Felix. I really tried.” Theo sobbed, her fists clenching, “But he punched me in the head.”
Theo shifted some of her hair to reveal a nasty bruise with a purple and green hue. Felix turned away and sunk his face into the pillow.
“No more!” He shouted.
Theodora didn’t hear or chose to ignore him. “And your brother, his head was bleeding when the ambulance came. But you were. . .one of your ribs are broken. And I don’t know what else is broken. Also, Corey got suspension, but they gave him some slack because ‘you hit him first’.”
“Thanks.” Felix rasped, clutching the bed frame, feeling sweat run down his body. “That. . .I went all. . .Transformer’s 3 there.”
“Felix, how can you still be. . .optimistic after everything that has happened?”
“That’s just me.” Felix sighed, turning back into the pillow and beginning to close his eyes.
“. . .Your brother is dying.”
Felix’s eyes blinked open. He felt numb, like Theo had just stabbed him. The room spun and he again felt Corey’s laughter in his ears.
“Oh. . .” he moaned, clutching his head and staggering to his feet and leaning onto the wall for support.
“Felix, wait! I’m sorry! Stop!” Theo yelled, grabbing Felix’s arms and trying to tug him back into bed.
“It’s my brother, Theo! Let me go!” Felix slurred. Theo cried out as Felix jumped out of her grasp. Felix felt like the bones in his ribs were burning off, but completely ignored it as he broke through the door and saw his brother, completely still and silent, resting on the bed. The heartbeat machine was beeping at a slow rate, the green line bobbing up and down. It seemed like a normal rate to Felix.
“Anthony. . .” Felix moaned, kneeling at his brother’s side of the bed where he slept, the left side. Anthony was asleep, curled up in the sterile blankets with soft snores being muffled by the sheet near his mouth. Felix wasn’t sure if he hadn’t woken up since the incident. Felix sat back in a chair and watched Anthony breathe.
“. . .Anthony.” His poor dying brother, laying in the white bed. Felix turned his head to the door where he heard little steps.
“Is this where Anthony is?” Ian shouted, tearing into the room.
“Good to see you’re awake.” Ian seemed to say with his shining eyes, nodding in recognition.
“Ian, you can’t touch him you might hurt him. . .” Felix trailed off as Ian warped his sleeping brother in a tight hug.
“How would Ian deal with it if Anthony died? How I would I deal with it?” Felix thought, shutting his eyes tightly in concentration.
“Felix. . . Will Anthony be okay?” Ian asked, looking at Felix and letting go of Anthony. Felix watched the tears streaming down Ian’s face.
‘Without Anthony. . .Ian would be nothing. Like ying without yang. . .’ Felix thought sadly.
“Yeah, he’ll be alright, Ian.” Felix said, unsure of himself, putting his arms out to Ian. Ian was about to go hug Felix and cry on his shoulder when-
“H-hey. . .” Anthony croaked.
“Anthony. . .!” Ian exclaimed letting go of Felix and wiping his tears.
“Anthony! Don’t leave me! Don’t leave me with Felix!” he cried, lightly shaking Anthony and climbing onto the bed.
Felix stayed sitting in the green chair, bluntly noticing the comment without objection.
“I’ll be alright. . . I won’t. . .I’ll be. . .o. . .k. . .” Anthony said, struggling to sit up and breathing heavily.
“Anthony, lay back down. . .” Felix demanded. It was a little late for that, Anthony flopped onto his back and passed out.
“Anthony! Is he dead?! Felix! Is he dead?!”
“No, he’s okay. It’s okay, Ian. Hear his heartbeat? It’s normal. It means he’s alive.” Felix mrumured softly, grabbing Ian’s hand and turning to leave. A clipboard taped to Anthony’s bed caught his eye.
“His schedule, right?” Felix muttered to himself, flipping over the paper that had Anthony’s name scripted across it. He was due for surgery next morning. Felix couldn’t possibly imagine what was wrong.
With Ian, Felix walked back to his room where Theo sat.
“How is he?” Theo asked. “Hello.” she waved to Ian who backed out the door, fleeing like a fearful animal.
“I can’t tell. . . he woke up but just passed out.” Felix said, watching Ian tackle the long stretching stairway with a blank face,
“I’m just sorry it had to happen. . .” Theo said, putting a hand on Felix’s shoulder. Felix stood speechless and walked into his bed.
“It didn’t have to happen though.” Felix murmured. He felt sleep begin to overcome him. Why did his body protest and ache like it was?
“My ribs are starting to hurt. . . I’m going to sleep. Bye, Theo.” Felix said slowly, closing his eyes and curling up in the sheets.
“Beep beep beep” the heart monitor screeched in Felix’s ear. It beated faster and faster. There was a lot of rushing nurses and doctors.
“We’re losing him!” a doctor yelled. Felix was in the room, but no one seemed to notice. The heart monitor got faster, and then, a straight beep came out of it. Felix felt his heart pound. He looked behind all the nurses and doctors to see who it was. He saw Anthony, lying with a pale face and sweat. The nurses and doctors left for medicines and then Ian walked in. The green line was flat, a deep monotone surrounding Felix.
“Anthony?! Anthony?!” Ian screamed. Felix couldn’t talk, he had nothing to say. He didn’t know what to say. He just watched his brother die.
“NO! He’s not dead! He’s not dead!” Ian screeched, running out of the room and pushing his mother and sister aside as they walked in. Colbie screamed, falling onto the wall in a faint. His mom fell to her knees and put her head in her hands, sobbing into them.
His father held the monitor and knelt, spreading his arms wide and letting the speechless Felix fall into him. Feli
x felt wet tears on his hair. Felix’s dad never cried. Felix had rarely seen his dad break a tear, even with pollen in the allergy season. The whole family, in the room. . . minus one. Anthony was gone.
Felix woke up in a cold sweat, tears spilling from his eyes. He looked to his left and pulled back the curtain. The night sky’s stars shined with a glossy hope that Felix wished was for his brother. Felix stood up and snuck over to his brother’s room, and saw him breathing and heard the heartbeat monitor beeping normally. It was just a nightmare. His brother was okay.
Felix watched the bed sheets rise and fall, signifying his brother’s soft breathing. Felix, not taking his eyes off the rising sheets, pulled over a chair that he guessed was for visitors to sit in and fell into his deep spiral of thought.
“Fel-ix?”
“Hey Anthony.” Felix said shakily, stirring from his thoughts as his brother’s eyes blinked open.
“Why did they. . .throw. . .ball?” Felix could barely make out Anthony’s voice.
Felix couldn’t answer. He looked away.
“Felix, don’t leave.” Anthony rasped.
“Never.”
“Then tell me. Because I think I know why, but it’s gonna hurt a lot more comin’ from me than you.” Anthony coughed.
Felix’s eyes widened at his brother’s wiseness. “I’m bullied.”
“That’s okay.” Anthony murmured, leaning back in bed. “Can you go get Ian for me? I know he’s not asleep.” Anthony smiled slightly, “Knowing him he’s probably outside, chucking basketballs at a basket too high for him to reach.”
“Alright, Anthony. And. . .you’re going to be okay.”
“. . .Felix, don’t lie. The doctors already told me I might be too weak to host an operation. I could be laying in a coffin tomorrow. I want Ian by my side.” Anthony sighed, shaking his head at Felix’s weak try to comfort him.
Felix turned and left, shuddering at the silent tears that had been running down his face, gasping as he walked down the narrow hallway. His hospital gown flapped in the back.
“Whoever made this deserves to be slapped by. . .eugh. . .”
Sure enough, Felix found Ian grunting as he ran about, throwing basketballs by bending his arms backward and tossing them. He was sweating and shaking, a crazed look in his eyes. Felix ran over to Ian and grabbed his shoulder.
“Let go!” Ian said firmly, eying the basketball like it was about to lunge at him.
“I-”
“No!”
“Ian, p-”
“LET GO OF ME!” Ian screamed, whipping his arms and tripping over his own feet, falling sprawled on the pavement.
“. . .ah. . .”
Ian stood up, admiring the fresh blood decorating his pale knees.
“Felix, it hurts.” Ian said bluntly, admiring the red spots falling to the ground. Felix knew he wasn’t referring to his knees.
“. . .I know.” Felix murmured. “It hurts me too. They did this because of me. You saw them. . .laughing when he f-fell, right?”
Ian nodded, shivering in the cold wind that bit into their ankles.
“They hit me, hurt me, push me into lockers and yell insults in my face. That’s. . .everyday at school.”
Ian’s innocent eyes widened, then dulled. “Oh.” he said.
“Oh?”
“Yeah.”
“Look. . .” Felix mumbled, jamming his hands into imaginary pockets, “Anthony’s awake and wants to see you.”
“Alright. Um. . .” Ian looked down at the ground, now flecked with red. “Err. . .carry me there?”
“Sure.” Felix replied quickly, hoisting his brother in his arms.
“Hey I-” Anthony began but stopped mid-sentence in a coughing fit.
Ian surveyed Anthony quietly. Felix rubbed his shoulders as Ian shook in horror.
“Hey Ian, I want you to know, if I die. . .I’d like to tell you where I hid our candy stash.” Anthony said, pulling Ian towards him. Anthony whispered something to Ian that Felix couldn’t hear.
“You won’t die!” Ian yelled. “. . .You can’t.”
“We don’t know that. . .” Anthony trailed off quietly, fingering the bedsheets.
“Felix? Wake up, it’s Sunday. . .”
“What?” Felix said, sitting in his hospital bed .
“Wow. . . my ribs feel a lot better. . .” he said, stretching his arms and only feeling a slight tugging in his ribs. Probably from the stitches running up his side where he had hit the dirt, opening his skin.
“Well, I thought because it was Sunday, I would bring you a sundae!” his mom smiled cheesily, Felix seeing through her fake smile through her dull and unhappy eyes handing him a cup with vanilla ice cream and hot fudge with rainbow sprinkles.
Felix moaned in happiness that wasn’t fake, grabbing the ice cream cup and shoving spoonful after spoonful into his mouth.
“The doctors believe you’ll be alright at home.” she smiled, but Felix could see the black circles under her eyes and the paleness in her skin.
“How’s Anthony?” he asked, throwing the empty cup on a desktop nearby.
“I don’t know yet. . .” His mom trailed off, hanging her head.
“He seems. . .stable.” Felix didn’t catch the last word after stable, but he thought it was probably “enough”.
The phone rang loudly on the granite kitchen counter where the family of six minus one sat, eating pizza but not really talking.
“I got it.” Felix’s dad mumbled, grabbing the receiver and looking at it. “It’s the hospital.”
Felix closed his eyes and clapped his hands together in silent prayer to Zeus as he heard his mother stand up, her chair scraping across the floor.
“Hello? Oh okay. Wait. . . Is he going to be okay? This is my son we’re talking about! I don’t care if you hear that a lot or if you’re doing the best you can. You need to keep my son alive!”
The phone clattered back into it’s handheld.
“We pick up Anthony tomorrow.” his dad murmured angrily, pacing the room. “I don’t care if. . .” he trailed off, “He needs to be here. . .”
“Dad, what if it’s not safe yet? What if you unhook the tubes and. . .and. . .” Ian looked up at the ceiling and pointed upward.
“Ian, that won’t happen. I promise.” Felix replied, watching as Ian’s finger fell to his side.
“And Ian, if it’s all okay, he’ll be back home.” Colbie said, eyeing her meatballs with newfound disgust.
“He’ll be here.” Colbie repeated, like Ian hadn’t understood.
“. . .Okay.”
Felix watched as the Iv’s green line suddenly went flat.
“I don’t think I can walk dad.” Anthony mumbled.
Colbie took Anthony’s feet and hoisted him up on her shoulders. “That better? That hospital gown looks terrible. I bet you’re looking forward to wearing your sweatpants.” She said blankly, adjusting her glasses with one hand.
“Oh, yeah!” Anthony agreed, raising his fist in the air, then coughing into his hand. “Yeah.”
“Anthony, did they tell what exactly happened to your. . . you know.” Felix pointed to his head.
“Oh, that. Uh. . .a major concussion. My brain kinda. . .it did this thing and it snapped forward in my brain. And I may have been. . .” here he whispered, for their mother’s sake, “Bleeding internally?”
Felix said nothing, only reached for his brother’s hand, relaxing as the small hand grasped it.
“Ian’s at home. He wanted to do something for you. He wouldn’t tell us what it was. . .” Felix’s mother remarked, pushing the door open and admiring a few violets on the desktop next to the hospital bed.
“Oh?” Anthony’s mischievous smile returned.
“Yeah.” Felix smiled quickly, squeezing his brother’s hand.
“What I’m really looking forward to is see
ing Ian. That’s a good enough present for me.”
Felix shook his head as his mother gasped and made an “aww. . .”-ing sound.
WELCOME HOME ANTHONY
Was what the banner read, with big blue block letters across a spread orange fabric with glitter covering it.
Anthony was speechless as Ian ran over to him, along with his entire class from his school. Anthony gasped and stared as his whole class seemed to be smiling straight at him. All twenty of them. “Welcome home.” Ian breathed, holding out a pair of pants and a t-shirt for Anthony.
Anthony pushed the clothing aside and wrapped Ian in a long hug.
“By the way Anthony, we got this all on video.” Ian smiled.
“Yeah!” Anthony fist pumped.
“You’ll be seeing it on YouTube, trust me.” Ian smirked, releasing his arms that constricted Anthony.
The bus screeched to a halt.
Felix had noticed that nobody would sit with them. There were several people crowded into threesomes in different seats, far away from him, their backs inching away.
And instead of the usual loud chattering, their had only been hushed whispers with eyes boring into him from every direction.
Felix blinked as he stepped off the bus steps as people began to turn around, pointing. ‘More whispers, more eyes.’ Felix thought as the crowd parted like the Red Sea, letting Felix pass.
“Punched Corey. . .”
“His brother fell. . .”
“Operated on. . .”
“I’m not, uh, Moses.” Felix mumbled under his breath as he trudged up the steps to the school.
The same thing happened in homeroom.
“What is. . .”
Then Felix remembered.
“I punched Corey.” He breathed.
Felix blinked in surprise as a makeshift paper airplane flew above his desk, making a full spiral and hovering for a few seconds before landing on the wooden surface.
Felix it read.
Felix stared at it apprehensively, then shifted his gaze towards his classmates. His eyes fell onto a girl. Her bangs dripped down into her face, her hair tips black but the rest in a vibrant pink. She wore a black hoodie with white checkered marks all over it. Her skinny jeans were light blue and had rip marks all over them, hung by threads.