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"Oh, I bet this is Clara's!" Derek said with a small chuckle as he held up a small clay reindeer.
Eve looked round at his remark. "Wow. I hardly ever work in the art room, but I've heard she's so good at everything creative. If you're right, I think the rumours are true!"
He smiled as he carefully place the figure down on the reception desk.
"You make anything for the Christmas box?"
"I made s- snowmen."
She grinned as he located one from the box and held it up to her. "Aw, he's so cute. Love the little hat. You're pretty incredible at this creative stuff too."
"It's crochet; it's just patterns."
"Mmm...I know that but I still think you're downplaying how talented you are here, Derek."
"Okay." He sighed, with a fake stroppy voice like he was being told off by his mother. Eve knew how awkward he was about compliments.
She giggled softly. Derek had been in rehab for about seven months now, and she adored him, "You know you're my favourite resident?"
"And you're my favourite worker." He returned earnestly with a beam. "You here on Christmas day?"
"The wonderful, wonderful wife has agreed to let me spend lunch with you guys. But she wants me for the rest of the day all to herself."
"Fair enough."
"Now...what next?" She asked as she picked up the box from his lap, pulling out a long chain. "Ah, the paper bunting stuff! What do you think? Around the top here? Like from the little posts?"
"Definitely." He agreed with a short nod, pulling himself back a little so she could complete her idea.
"Thanks again for asking to help me out today with these final creations." She replied earnestly. Most of the hall had been decorated weeks ago, but there had been a session in the morning for any last decorations before the big day.
He smiled, just a little, but didn't speak. She was used to that.
"You looking forward to Christmas?"
He didn't reply for a second before muttering, "I guess."
"Oh." She breathed, looking at him. "I thought you liked Christmas?"
"Yeah." He agreed softly. "I did...do."
"Christmas in rehab was not the plan?"
"Mmm." He agreed before being hit with a wave of worry, "Not...that you and the others aren't lovel-"
"No, no. Don't worry about trying to explain. I completely understand. I promise." She reassured him quickly.
"I...think it will be nice. It...seems nice." He muttered, looking around at the decorations. He was aware that his family was paying a lot for him to stay in a rehabilitation centre of this caliber, but it was very clear they spent the money well. The building was very well kept, there were plenty of staff, and they had good-quality decorations for all the seasons. "Now that I'm...doing better, I see that it's really good here."
"I'm really glad to hear that, Derek. But I equally understand...when you really despised being here, it didn't really matter what it was like."
"Yeah..." He breathed.
"But?" She prompted, leaving him space to speak again if he wanted, even though she knew what he was trying to express.
"But just...it's not what I'm used to."
"Your family is gonna be here though? They'll make it feel more like home, I'm sure. Carolyn, your friends, your sisters?"
"Mom- yeah." He agreed. "But then...I have...four sisters. I'm sure you didn't know that."
"Well I've met Nancy, and one of her boys who came a few weeks ago. Kathleen and Lizzie..." She trailed off. That was only three. She'd never even heard of a fourth one.
"Yeah. I've got a-" He paused, swallowing. "-a...another...sister..."
"Derek?" She called, brow creased at the way his speech had so quickly turned from confident to confused and breathy. "You feeling oka-"
"Amelia?"
Eve turned round at that, realising that he was looking past her. In the doorway of the centre stood a young woman, wrapped in so many coats that Eve could tell she wasn't a Seattle native, and looking so very nervous as she stared and stared at Derek.
"You...you're here?" He breathed, not sure what else to say.
The brunette swallowed, looking between the pair. She didn't speak at all.
"Hey-" He chuckled as he approached her. "I'm the one with the bash to the noggin who can't speak properly. Not you. I thi-"
His words were instantly forgotten as Amelia stepped forward slightly, and pulled him into an extremely tight hug.
She remained attached to him for a few solid seconds before letting him go and stepping away instantly, like his hug had just burnt her.
"Wow. Hi." He greeted again, shocked.
"I didn't hurt you...did I?" She breathed, suddenly worried.
"No. No, no, no-" He smiled. "Hugs are good."
"Mom said...I mean, in the hospital and stuff- but..." She swallowed. "You can like...breathe now."
"Most of the time. The exception being just then when you almost deflated my lungs."
"And...you relearnt to speak."
"Yeah. Mostly fine now. Still struggle with a few. Tried a new one this morning and I'm super stuck. My...myelo. Uh...myelomen- men...meningo-"
"Myelomeningocele."
He chuckled. "That's cheating. You don't have a massive brain injury."
"You...laugh about these things now?"
"No. I really can't stand jokes."
She didn't laugh at that one.
Damn.
"Hey, I though that one was- pretty...funny." He breathed, voice losing confidence as he watched her crouch to his level.
"Mom tells me lots of things."
He nodded slowly.
"And I hear them. I do. I promise I really do listen. Even though I never reply, and I don't ever want to talk about it...I promise I always listen."
He swallowed. It was his turn to not know what to say now, apparently.
"When she started talking about you getting better, I thought maybe she was just being optimistic. Either for me or for her...denial or something. Like...when she said you started using sentences for the first time, I didn't know whether you actually were, or just like...you were muttering gibberish but for five seconds straight instead of just one syllable."
"I was a master in gibberish for a while, I'll be honest. She was probably being a little optimistic at times."
"But you're like...right here. And I'm saying words, and you understand. And you're saying words. And like...you're here. You remember who I am-"
"-no bonk to the head could ever make me forget my little sister."
She rolled her eyes at his small joke, but couldn't held but feel tears cloud them as she did. "You were just so...dead."
He snorted. She probably could have come up with a better adjective. "I know."
"I can't...get over it. I'm sorry. I just keep saying it."
"It's okay. It's a lot. It...it is-"
She didn't push.
"I went through a lot. But also..." His thumb couldn't help but rub at his thigh. "There's a lot that I'm...still going through."
She sniffed a little, eyes dropping. "How...how is it?"
"It is difficult. But..." He swallowed. "I'm pretty independant now, like in my room and stuff. Don't have to rely on the staff for much."
She smiled softly. "That's good."
"Just...put up a load of Christmas decorations. Eve said a million decorations aren't enough, she needs like...two million." He replied, gesturing behind him. "And also I started learning how to cook and bake. Would you like some pancakes?"
She snorted at how random that was. "I am partial to some pancakes. But I'm pretty sure you're kidding."
"Well I was, but I can...be not kidding if you'd like."
"No. It's okay. To be honest, I'm not even sure what I'm doing here."
"That is a..." He paused. He loved her. He definitely did. But things were always so complicated between them, and her avoiding him for almost an entire year only made that worse. "Did Mom invite you?"
"She gave up inviting me to things a while ago."
"Oh." He breathed.
"I shouldn't be here." She sighed, standing and stepping away from him. "This is stupid."
"No, it's not." He rebutted quickly.
"No one wants me here."
"I want you here..." He breathed, frowning at her.
She sighed as she stared at him. "You almost died and...where was I? I didn't even come for a single day to see how you were doing, and I haven't phoned you since New Year's, basically a year ago."
"But I want you here."
She hesitated. He was being nice. But she'd done too much, "No, no. I should just...I should-"
"God!" One loud voice exclaimed from down the hallway, just as another asked, "What's she doing here?"
Crap. Their sisters.
"Mom! Mom! Guess who we found in the corridor!" Kathleen exclaimed as she rushed into Derek's room, which Carolyn had settled in while her son was out with Eve.
She looked up instantly. "Who you found?" She repeated, confused.
Kathleen practically pulled Amelia into the room to present her to their mother. "Hurricane Amelia!"
Her mother stared at her for a second, a little stunned at her presence. "I was...not expecting you to be here."
"Well...I knew this is where you'd be." She breathed. Actually, she hoped it was where they'd be, because Derek certainly didn't deserve to spend Christmas alone just because he couldn't travel to New York for their standard festive celebrations. However, she didn't expect Lizzie to be appearing from anywhere; she was in her last trimester and not planning on giving birth a few thousand miles away from her child's actual home.
"Have you seen De-" She paused as she spotted her son behind the trio. Amelia had clearly ran into Derek already then.
"Hi Mom." He breathed as their eyes met, pushing himself into the room a little more.
She smiled. "Hi Sweetie."
Amelia swallowed at that. Terms of affection like that were reserved for when she was stressed. They only popped up when one of them was ill, or...when she'd come home high again and cried about it. That happened far too often.
"So...you're here for Christmas, Amelia."
"I need to be back on the 29th...so here for a few more days than just Christmas."
"What do you need to be back on 29th for?" Nancy asked with a frown.
He hated this.
Not his sisters. He didn't hate his sisters.
But...this.
"My job. Cutting open people's brains." Amelia answered, voice blank.
"Are those two things connected? Please don't tell me you work in a grocery store and the latter is your hobby."
"Yes, those thing are connected; I'm in my 3rd year of Residency, and I'm going to be a neurosurgeon."
"You didn't drop out yet?" Kathleen quickly snapped back. "You're still going with all that?"
"Yes, of course."
"Well there's plenty of ways a woman, especially one such as yourself I imagine, can find a way to cling onto a profession doing basic research."
"I am not sleeping with my superiors and I am not clinging on. I'm top of my class, if you must know."
"Where? New York Community Hospital for the uninsured? Famed for its surgeries on scrapes and bruises."
"I just transferred to Johns Hopkins for a year under their head of neurosurgery, Dr Jamison. I was given the Klip Scholarship to move there."
Both of her sisters sighed and laughed in disgust, not quite sure how someone they were related to could be quite so delusional. Johns Hopkins? A scholarship? Since when did Amelia even know how to fill out an application form for a job as a janitor?
Derek, however, didn't share any of their emotions. "Really?" He breathed lightly with a small smile.
She swallowed as he looked to him. He looked so...proud. "Yeah...I'm a few months in now. It's been so good."
Kathleen snorted. "Are you quite sure you're not a psych patient at Johns Hopkins and Dr Jamison isn't your doctor, treating you for schizophrenia?"
"Okay, Kathleen, that's enough. Stop fighting."
"Mom, you're hearing this too, right? Aren't you concerned? Aren't you going to say something, do something?" She half-asked, half-demanded. They weren't fighting. Amelia was in the wrong, and they were just being helpful by correcting her. Clearly she'd made some kind of mistake because she most certainly wasn't going to be a neurosurgeon, nor doctor of any kind. She wasn't capable of that.
"Yeah. I'm concerned." Nancy added. "Is she okay to even be here? Derek needs stable and this isn't stable."
Amelia internally rolled her eyes at that. This was nothing to do with her concerns for her brother, and they all knew that.
"Kath-"
She paused at the voice of someone who hadn't contributed to the conversation at all. "What is it, Derek?"
"I really don't feel well."
"Oh." She breathed. "Okay. Um..."
"Everyone out, and quiet-" Carolyn instructed, taking over the situation instantly. "Kath and Nancy find Eve, Amelia...just...wait somewhere, and Derek...let's get you to bed."
"Your sister got me." Eve sighed as she entered his room, before pushing the door shut behind her. "You should have told me I was wearing you out with all those Christmas decorations."
"You didn't."
"Don't lie, Derek. Now...what kind of ill are you? I have your kit here."
"I'm not ill. I just...don't know how to get them to stop fighting."
Her brow creased. "You lied about being ill to get them to be quiet?"
"They stop arguing when they're worried about me."
She snorted. "Have you done that before? God, have you controlled me by lying about how you're feeling too? How often do you do this?"
"I have never done it, ever." He replied honestly. "Though it worked well...maybe I'll have to try it again!"
She giggled. "Please don't. Or at least don't try it on me."
He laughed too, but it quickly died away, and he found himself sighing heavily.
"Derek-" She breathed after a long second. "Can I ask a question? Your sister...Amelia-"
He nodded.
"What did she do?"
He faltered. "A better question is what didn't she do."
"Oh."
"From seventeen to about twenty, she was in and out of services, arrested, all sorts."
"Services?"
"She's a drug addict." He paused. "She was a drug addict."
"But not now?"
"She's been clean...five years."
"You wouldn't think it from what I heard your sisters say...sorry, I was putting up more decorations near your room and couldn't help but hear some of the things they were talking about."
"I know." He sighed. "They're...brutal."
"You...don't feel the same way though?" She inferred. She hadn't heard Derek contributing to the conversation so she had assumed that already, but he was also known for being extremely quiet after his accident and experience with AOS, so she supposed it could have also just been down to that.
"They don't understand."
"Why she did drugs? Addiction?" She assumed.
"Both...I guess."
"Why do you understand her?"
"We...talked about family this morning-"
She nodded.
"I have my mom. I have...one more sister than you realised-"
She smiled briefly. This was true.
"But I don't have a dad."
"I noticed that." She sighed.
"We were there...just me and Amelia...when he..." He paused for a long, long time before eventually concluding, "Nancy, Kath, Liz...they were not there."
"She couldn't cope with the grief...that's why she started getting into substances?"
He sighed. "I don't know. Either the grief, or...the memory. Something like that. She just...it was an easy, good way to escape."
"You going to tell me how your dad died?" Eve asked softly. She could tell he wanted to.
"I'm going to...try." He sighed.
"You take your time. No rush, no pressure."
"Mom and Dad were always too busy working to pick us up from school, and it was too far to easily walk. So I'd leave alone, walk to Amelia's elementary school, collect her, and we'd wait in Dad's shop down the road for an hour and a bit before he could take us all the way home."
She nodded.
"One day, these two guys came in, cleaned out the register. And then-" He paused.
Then he was dead.
He licked his lips before softly muttering, "They had guns."
That was enough for her. She understood.
"I am so sorry for your loss, Derek. And what you went through."
He swallowed, but all he could do to respond was nod.
"And I'm sorry that your family is so complicated. I know how crazy it can be."
"They just...they're so cruel to her. Makes me so..."
"Go on-" She pushed. She wasn't a psychotherapist, but she acted like one often and she knew Derek often struggled with expressing his emotions.
"Makes me sad. Makes me a bit angry too. Think...I feel a little disappointed too. I...always like to think that they're better people, that they might have learnt to change."
She nodded, proud of the explanation he'd managed. "All of those things are so completely understandable."
"And I feel bad for her. Wish I could help. I know what it's like to..."
She didn't push this time. He just needed a moment.
"When...you know who you are, what you want, what you don't want, but other people can't see that and they just...are so unadaptable from their preconceptions...it's really frustrating."
"Like, when people assume things about someone and don't try to listen and understand what they actually want, just because they can't speak."
He sighed. That would be the one. Or, obviously, when your sisters decide they know everything about you because you were an addict, and refuse to hear anything to the contrary, dismissing any sliver of positive news.
"I love my family, I really do..."
"You can feel more than one simultaneous emotion, Derek. That's okay. You can love them and cherish them, but also be mad at the way that they are treating your sister. I think you should be. I think it sounds like she's tried so hard to get to where she wants to be and...like you and your AOS, people should acknowledge that."
He nodded slowly.
"I have to see someone at three, but can I just make a quick request before you go?"
A request? Of him? "Okay."
"I didn't know you before your accident. But I've been told by several people that you're more shy than you used to be, that you don't talk as much as you used to. Which of course makes sense with the AOS."
"Right."
"Have a go at...using some more words. At taking up some more space. At demanding to be heard."
"Really?"
"Yes, really."
"What if I start a big fight in the cafeteria?"
"Then I will be there to pull you off your sisters, don't you worry!"
He chuckled. "Okay, Eve."
She snorted, just because he decided to include her name in his response. "I'm really impressed that you are yet to make a Christmas joke about my name, by the way. Well, perhaps impressed, perhaps worried?"
"We have a session at five. I made some jokes up for then. Don't panic."
"Oh." She laughed. Of course. He wouldn't be himself without far too many bad jokes. "Well, I'm looking forward to them!"
"And then, in the last minute...we got her back! It was crazy...one of the most insane complications I'd ever seen!" Nancy sighed as she concluded her story.
"Sure sounds it, Nance." Her mom agreed with a small smile, briefly glancing to her son to see his reaction to the story. He didn't have one, however.
"You feeling okay?" She whispered to him as Nancy and Kathleen engaged in their own conversation.
"Yeah, yeah..." He breathed.
Carolyn's brow creased, and she rubbed his back a little. "You sure?"
He nodded.
"I can ask them not to talk about medicine if it's making you feel sad...I know this stuff is hard."
"I don't mind. I like it." He reassured her truthfully.
"You're just so quiet today, Sweetie. Moreso than usual. That means either you're sick, or you're really anxious."
"I'm alri-"
"Oh my god-" Kathleen half-whispered, interrupting their conversation, but probably also the conversations occurring on the tables around them. She had quite an amazing ability to gossip in a tone as if she was being polite and quiet, while simultaneously speaking so extremely loudly. "Incoming, two o' clock."
The group turned to see a very, very frightened looking Amelia walking towards them, head down, and two gift bags in her hands.
"We thought you went home." Nancy stated, just as she met the table.
"I'm going tommorow. Don't worry." She sighed. "I just wanted to give these out."
Amelia selected one bag, and held it out to her mom. She looked surprised for a moment but took it.
She smiled softly as she looked to her brother. "I hope you like these things."
He beamed back as he took the bag. "I'm sure I will. Thank you so m-"
"Where's our bags?" Kathleen frowned, not baring to let the pair have any kind of moment.
Nancy instantly joined in, "Yeah. I thought you were on a big neurosurgeon salary now? It's customary to at least buy a small gift, a bottle of wine or something."
"I didn't buy you gifts because I don't like you, not because I can't afford them."
Derek resisted a laugh at that. She was...certainly a character.
"Now, I know you don't want me here, so I'll go now. I just wanted to give these to you on time. Bye Derek, Mom-" Her brows dropped as she looked to her sisters. "Nance, Kath."
"Wait!"
The whole family, including Amelia, turned to look him at that. While his diction had improved, he talked so quietly and awkwardly. Well, he did, past tense. This was the strongest, most confident word any of them had heard in months.
She swallowed as she watched him pick up her present, place it on his lap, and push himself to her.
He held the bag back out to her.
"Oh. Don't you want it?" She breathed, frowning as she took it from him. He hadn't even opened it.
Kathleen and Nancy snickered as they exchanged a look behind the pair.
"I struggle to carry things. Don't want to drop it."
Her brow creased, taking a moment to process that before understanding what he was inferring. "Why? Where are you going?"
He turned round to address the rest of his family. "I'd like to spend a few hours of Christmas with my sister, Amelia. See you later. Enjoy desert."
No one moved for a long moment as the pair left the room.
"Were we just dumped for Hurricane Amelia?" Kathleen asked, brow creased.
"I...think so."
"So...um..." Amelia tried as she walked down the corridor beside her brother. She really wasn't sure what to say to...whatever the hell had just happened.
"You hungry?"
"Hungry?" She repeated. "Um...sure. Didn't you eat already though?"
"Hate eating when I'm anxious. So no."
She was surprised at his simple honesty, but replied anyway, "So maybe looking at more food isn't going to help?"
"Oh, I'm not anxious anymore."
"Right." She agreed, although she was a little confused. "Derek, what are we doing? Either...right now or like...can we talk about the way that you just totally rejected our entire family? To spend time with me?"
"What about it?"
"Well...you're pretty crazy."
"Brain injuries can do that to you."
She snorted. "Mom has said a lot about your TBI, but never that it made you crazy. Moreso, the opposite."
"Well, I decided to take some advice from a friend." He paused physically, and she stopped too. "Now, I don't know about you, but I've been thinking about pancakes for a day straight."
"And also I started learning how to cook and bake. Would you like some pancakes?"
She snorted at how random that was. "I am partial to some pancakes. But I'm pretty sure you're kidding."
"Well I was, but I can...be not kidding if you'd like."
"Right." She agreed.
"And they're my favourite things to make."
She smiled softly. "Well...I do love a good pancake."
"I remember you making us food when we were kids."
He nodded slowly as he turned on the heat. Pancakes. Pancakes for...Christmas?
"You kinda sucked."
He paused what he was doing as he laughed. "Thank you. Ever so much."
She snorted. "Not a problem!"
"I'm kidding. Mostly. I liked most of the things you made." She corrected. He didn't reply to that, so she continued, "Plus, you were only a teenager. You weren't supposed to be good at cooking."
He nodded.
"I am seriously kidding." She clarified.
He placed looked up to her from the bowl as he finished off the mixture. "I know. I'm sorry."
"Why are you sorry?"
"I can't multitask anymore. Not with speaking."
"Oh." She breathed. She was talking to him while he did something else, and expected a verbal response. Crap. "God, no. I'm sorry. You've just seemed so...you know, you seem really good at speaking now. I didn't even think that you might be...not all there yet."
"It's okay. I get it. It's less...present than the obvious."
She nodded slowly, eyes lowering a little.
"What's it like? If you're honest, I mean."
He thought for a second before answering, "It's really annoying."
"Annoying?"
"Yeah. More annoying than you....that's saying something!"
She giggled. "That's not nice!"
"Sorry." He apologised, grinning at her. He was clearly not sorry.
"That's okay. You're probably right. But, seriously, because I'm trying to learn...annoying in what way?"
"Well they just don't listen to me, you know? And it's frustrating."
She nodded slowly. "It's odd that you personify them."
"Well I guess that's the thing. They're not a part of me anymore. My chair is more a part of me, and it's a hunk of metal."
"To be fair, I've heard you've also got quite a lot of metal in you so you're not too different I suppose."
"I'm an airport's worst nightmare." He joked, grinning.
"Indeed." She agreed.
"Also...stairs." He added as he removed a pancake from the hob. "Stairs are annoying. You never realise how everywhere are."
She nodded slowly.
"And...people."
"Well, I hate people too so don't need to sell me there."
"They're just so stupid. They never understand. They never listen. They never..."
Her brow creased as she examined him, and listened to the frustration in his voice.
"Sorry." He breathed.
"Don't be sorry." She assured him. She wanted to know how he was, what she'd missed out on. "Why are you sorry?"
"I know what it's like now."
"What what's like?"
"For everyone to just...not understand. Anything. Ever."
Her head tilted a little as she frowned, "Are you okay, Derek?"
"No." He barely whispered after a few seconds.
"What are you thinking about?" She asked. Asking why he wasn't okay was so clearly a stupid question, so she thought this was a good alternative.
"There were a few weeks...back when I was only getting out a word or two in a row..." He swallowed. "Do you know...you know this feeling where you feel so upset or angry or...something, that just everything sets you off, all the time?"
"Yes. Definitely." She breathed.
"It was just that. For weeks. People...I don't know, I was functional enough to think completely normally but no one wanted to treat me like that. Still wanted to guess what I was thinking instead of actually listen or...talk to me like I was a child. Some people still do it now and here I am talking in sentences!"
She nodded, but didn't want to interrupt.
"Sometimes...sometimes I wonder...what was the point in even learning to speak again if no one wants to listen?"
She couldn't help but feel her eyes cloud a little. "Oh, Derek..."
"People are crap."
"I am crap. I should have been here with you, for you. I should have visited you."
"And relapsed? No. I know why you stayed away...I get it, I promise."
"Mom tells me you have a lot anxiety...post-traumtic stress..."
He looked back to her. That wasn't what he was expecting her to say.
"Drugs help."
His brow creased. "What?"
"Drugs. They stop the anxiety. They stop the flashbacks."
"They did for you?" He asked softly, understanding what she was implying.
"Why else would I have ever done it?"
He sighed, and made a grasp for her hand. "Are you...you know?"
"Yeah, yeah." She nodded as she smiled, just a little. "I wouldn't be practicing if I wasn't clean."
"Of course." He breathed. Crap. "Yeah. Sorry. I just...I panicked."
"I understand. I'm not mad."
He smiled softly. "Thanks. For understanding."
"Though...that day that they were going to extubate you..."
He nodded slowly.
"I was sat outside a house when I got a call from Mom telling me you were finally starting to show some signs of consciousness. I got the address from a friend of a friend...I got the address to..."
"You were going to buy drugs."
"But I didn't. But...it was that day that I...I decided I couldn't see you. Not...it was never that I didn't want to. I just...I don't like to know you're in pain."
"And I don't want you to know that pain exists." He concurred.
She sighed, examining him. "You know, you really are my favourite brother."
"Thanks." He muttered.
"I kid. You're so clearly my favourite sibling. You're one of my favourite people, actually. Maybe my number one favourite. Wouldn't give up four years of sobriety for just anybody, huh?"
His brow creased.
"What?" She asked at his expression. "I thought you liked the dark humour! If you can have paralysis humour, I'm allowed addiction humour!"
He rolled his eyes. "I suppose..."
"I'm serious. You're...my family. All of my family."
"I'd knock some sense into Kath and Nance if I could."
"Guess knocking people about is harder nowadays?"
He smiled. "Hey...you've learnt to mock me! How exciting for you."
She giggled, "You seem to think it's okay to do it to yourself...and I'm your sister; I'm supposed to be a little bit unpleasant."
"I guess so."
"Now...this is lovely and all...but I think our batter is going to dry out soon so shall we start actually doing something?"
She grinned. "Sounds like a good idea."
"Pancakes for Christmas, huh?" Amelia muttered as she took a bite.
"You complaining?"
"Most certainly not."
He chuckled, and watched as she leant down a little, and produced the present bag she'd given to him an hour or so ago.
"Forgot this. This is your real present."
"I...didn't get you anything. Didn't know you'd be here and um...well, haven't been shopping in about eleven months."
She snorted. "That's okay. My gift is stupid anyway."
"I'm sure it's..." His brow creased as he tore away enough of the paper to see the contents. "Not wonderful!"
She giggled.
"You were all sensitive about my chair when you arrived, but you had the guts to get me-" He held the box up to her. "-freaking running shoes? Ass. You wanted to make fun of me this whole time, right?"
She rolled her eyes. "Of course I did. But actually look inside."
He put the box down, and followed her instruction. Right. Not running shoes. Just the box...as a prank.
He smiled at the simple picture frame, showing the pair, alongside their dad. He looked young, sure, but Amelia must have been about four in the photo.
"I really love it." He breathed softly as he examined their old selves.
"Didn't want you to forget your favourite little sister with all that brain damage, you know?"
"But now you know-"
"No bonk to the head could make you forget your little sister." She finished for him, quoting him from the day before.
"Amelia."
"Yeah..."
"The present is lovely. Truly." He stated, and it was clear he was only half way through whatever his point was.
"But?" She pressed, worried.
"You coming down for Christmas...that's the best present I could have wished for."
"Not new legs? Or a new brain?"
He snorted. "Why would I need either of those things when my favourite sister could come and be so perfect?"
She laughed. For a good few seconds. "Never has anyone called me perfect."
"You were freaked out when you saw me for the first time. I get it. It would be weird if you weren't. But you got me, almost instantly. You know...where I'm at, what I want, what drives me up the wall. We've had less than an hour of communication but...you just...Mom tries her best...but she can't do what I want her to. Nance and Kath...you know them. Liz...has too many children to see me-"
She smiled. God, she had so many kids.
"Mark and Addie...it's too complicated for them. Eve, my rehab team...they are wonderful but...they're my rehab team. They're not friends or family." He smiled softly. "But you..."
She couldn't help it when her eyes misted again.
"You make me feel human. And it's been so freaking long since I've felt human."
"Merry Christmas, I guess?"
He smiled. "Sorry I didn't get you anything in return."
"These pancakes-" She shook her head. "Mmm, yeah, way better than like...whatever breakthrough you just had. Like, my life-alerting kindness present sucked compared to these!"
He chuckled. "More jokes?"
"Hey, I've got to get you back somehow!"