Fragile Looking Boy

 ~DEMETRI (POV)~

Darkness.

That's all there was. A deep, unending drowning darkness all around me.

I wasn't even sure where here was, or how long I'd been stuck in this place; probably a day, a month, a year.

Time was irrelevant here, every moment the same, but that was until I saw a light suddenly appear.

No, it wasn't a light, it was a girl, staring down at me. Her flowing long red hair shining like a phoenix.

Was I seeing an angel?

Did this mean I was finally dead?

As these questions spiraled through my head, she reached out her hand to me.

I hesitated for a moment before taking her hand, and the moment our hands made contact, a heavy force yanked me forward, pulling me out from the darkness.

When my eyes opened again, there was someone in my face staring right at me, and no, this person wasn't the beautiful girl from my vision with red long hair, it was a boy with dull eyes, bruised face, and he was touching me.

He looked scared when he saw that I was staring right at him and immediately jumped off the bed I was lying on, trying to get away from me but he misstepped and fell down, hitting his head against the wall.

My eyes immediately widened when I saw that he was bleeding. I tried speaking but couldn't, something was in my throat, and right before my eyes, he passed out.

Managing to lift my hand up with great difficulty, I pried the tube out from my mouth, as fresh air burst into my lungs.

I was immediately thrown into a coughing fit, my lungs burned with each breath I took, like I was breathing for the first time. I glanced towards the boy, slightly panicking.

He was still bleeding and at this rate, I was certain he might die from the blood loss, but I couldn't move my body to reach him, and I couldn't speak loud enough to call for help.

Luckily, the door burst open at that moment and a maid came in.

She gasped when she saw me and was about to leave again immediately, probably to get a doctor or someone else.

"Stop," I managed to say, my own voice hoarse and almost unfamiliar. "He needs help." I pointed at the boy.

That was when the maid finally noticed him. She quickly rushed to his side to attend to him.

After seeing his condition, she left and came back with two other guys I didn't recognize, who were stunned to see me awake, before they moved and took the boy away, while the maid remained with me.

I could hear gunshots from outside.

Were we under an attack?

That was the least of my problems. I was more concerned about how long I'd been unconscious for, the last thing I remembered was getting shot trying to protect my brother from a flying bullet.

I wondered how Marcus was even.

"Where is my brother?" I glanced at the maid as she assisted me in sitting up.

"He's outside, Master Demetri, defending the house from an attack," she looked tense as she replied. "Someone has gone to inform him that you're awake."

"How long have I been like this?"

She knew exactly what I meant.

"Eleven months, Master Demetri."

My jaw tightened at her answer.

"And who has been running things in my absence. My brother, I assume." I asked and answered my own question.

"Yes." She nodded. "Master Marcus has been handling things while you were indisposed."

My gaze snapped towards her, sharp and hard.

"Indisposed?"

Now my tone was cold and deadly. The nerve of the little bitch.

Seeing that she had vexed me, she immediately dropped to her knees, her hands trembling.

"I–I didn't mean it like that. I m–mean–"

"Get the fuck out. Pack your shit and leave by morning."

"Please, Master Demetri. I can't get a job anywhere else. I've worked for this family for 3 years."

"Don't make me repeat myself."

She was smart enough to immediately get up and leave.

If I wasn't in this state, she'd be leaving here in a body bag for even daring to speak to me like that, but like she said, I was indisposed.

The reality vexed me. Being weak, confined to a fucking bed like a half-dead man, while everything I built was getting run by my brother who contributed to putting me in this condition.

"Haa..." I let out a tight sigh.

I would still be in that coma if it wasn't for that boy who touched me. I hope he survives after all that blood loss.

Be a real shame if he died.

*****

By the next morning there were at least two doctors running tests, taking samples of my blood, running diagnoses on me.

They said I shouldn't even be awake. I shouldn't even be able to speak or move at all even after waking up. They did their shit and couldn't find anything else wrong with me.

I was just fine.

"It's a miracle, Mr. Valcari," one of the doctors said, scanning my report. "Frankly, the odds of you regaining consciousness were negligible. And if you had, we expected severe, irreversible anoxic brain injury. You shouldn’t be speaking. You shouldn’t be awake."

"But your vitals are stable and your neurological function is completely intact," he said, a deep crease forming between his brows. "Frankly, Mr. Valcari, this defies medical explanation. By all accounts, you should have significant deficits. Yet your scans are unremarkable. It’s... inexplicable."

A miracle, huh.

I didn't really give a fuck about all this talk. If this was a miracle like these doctors were saying, then I need to see the catalyst of this miracle.

The boy who woke me up.

Marcus stood by the corner of the room listening to the doctors' reports with attentive focus.

When he first saw me awake after returning from the gun fight, there was first shock etched on his face, then guilt, not relief.

Lydia, my girlfriend, was also here. But she seemed different, also guilty like Marcus.

Now I was certain the two were hiding something.

When the doctors finally left, only the three of us were left in the room.

No one spoke for some time, not me, not Marcus, but I could tell that Lydia wanted to say something but was waiting for either me or my brother to speak first.

"I want to start rehabilitation tomorrow. Get the best physiotherapist ready," I said, breaking the silence.

Marcus frowned at my words.

"But they said you still need to wait a week–"

"I'm not waiting a week, brother," I cut him off, before he could finish giving me the fucking lecture I did not ask for. "My body can handle it."

"Okay. If you insist," he said, normally he would try to disagree with me, but he agreed so easily which I found surprising.

"Demetri," Lydia muttered my name softly as she approached my bed and sat down. "Marcus is just trying to make sure you don't rush the recovery and end up hurt. You can take your time and rest, he's been handling everything properly all this time. Taking a break to heal for a month will do you some good."

As she spoke, she gently rubbed the back of my palm in a circular motion.

My gaze dropped to her hand then back to her face, then I took a glance at Marcus and something finally clicked.

The whole guilt look they both had on their faces.

These two were fucking.

"Why? So you can have more time to keep fucking my brother?"

I saw the colour drain from Lydia's face instantly, while Marcus shifted uncomfortably from where he stood.

"You two can relax. I'm not having any thoughts of torturing the both of you....not yet at least." I looked towards Marcus' direction.

"Get me a wheelchair. There's someone I need to see."

"I can just bring the person here," Marcus said, his tone cautious.

"There was a boy here last night when I woke up. He got hurt and I want to see him."

"Oh, you mean Lydia's new pet."

"Pet?"

What did he even mean by that.

"I bought him for Lydia yesterday at an auction."

"Since when did you start buying people?"

What the absolute fuck did this place turn into while I was comatose.

"Just take me to the fucking boy," I said, he would explain to me why he was at an auction later.

Marcus wheeled me down to the workers' quarters. The place was different than I remembered.

Some renovations had been done. He finally stopped in front of a slightly ajar door, pushing it open.

And there he was, the boy I wanted to see. He was on the bed, a bandage wrapped around his head.

"I need some time alone with him."

Marcus gave me a questioning look but simply nodded.

"I'll be outside the door." He left me alone in the room.

Wheeling closer to the bed, my eyes examined this fragile-looking boy. His face was cleaner now than it looked last night, but the bruises were still there. I frowned as my eyes settled on his short hair peeking out through the b

angage.

Red. Just like the girl in my dream. My eyes swept down to his fragile, feminine-looking face again.

Then I noticed his eyes squeeze as he stirred in the bed. He was waking up.