Snow Lodge
Chapter 23
Brian wiped the blood from the corner of AJ's mouth, and brought his hand up to look at his now red stained fingers. AJ had coughed up blood. His mind raced as he tried to digest this fact. This was a really bad sign, and it indicated that AJ had more than just pneumonia.
Carefully, he layed AJ's limp form back down, before sitting himself up. He pulled the covers away from AJ's chest completely, baring him to the waist. He winced as he once again took in the bruising on AJ's body. But this time he looked more closely, trying to see any signs of what could be wrong.
His eyes were drawn to AJ's left side, near the bottom of his ribcage. There was a significant amout of bruising around there, that seemed to be worse than anywhere else.
Brian reached a shaking hand out to the spot, before running his hand over it. He could feel AJ's ribs underneath, the hard bone standing out against his skin. His fingers brushed over the area, until he suddenly felt something and he stopped. He pressed his fingers more firmly over the area, and let out a stifled sob when he realised what he could feel. One of AJ's ribs was broken, and he could feel the lump under the skin where the bone had moved, shifting to a new angle.
He sucked in a deep breath as he realised what this could mean. If AJ's rib had moved, or if a piece of bone had splintered off, he may have a puncutered lung. That would explain the severity of the pain AJ had been feeling, and the blood that he had coughed up.
Tears fell unchecked from Brian's eyes as he realised once again, that things were much more serious than he had thought. If AJ had either a punctured lung OR pneumonia, either could be bad enough to kill him. But BOTH together, well that was a potentially lethal combination.
"Oh Alex. God I am so sorry." Brian whispered, as he ran his fingers over AJ's lax face.
"I never wanted to hurt you... But I always do. You have always been there for me, through everything, and I have never given you anything in return except pain and heartache."
He closed his eyes as he once again remembered the night he broke AJ's heart, the link between that moment and AJ's subsequent descent into alcohol addiction suddenly seeming all the more clear.
