Butterfly Prince

by Britannica Tany

  Bright light splinters away the red and Francis felt the beginnings of ease as the nightmare soon disappeared. “The bleeding has stopped.”

  “Keep a check on his heartbeat!”

  “I need gauze.” There were voices, although it sounded as though they were speaking underwater, Francis could still hear them. “I see the bullet; hand me the tweezers.” A mans voice, the sound of clinking glass and metal, a woman’s voice. “There’s a man who claims to be the patients brother.”

  “Tell him to wait outside.”

  “I can’t he—“

  “Where is he? Francis!” Janus’s voice. “Sir, you can’t come in here!”

  “My brother, is he alright?”

  “Sir, he’s breathing, but we still—“ There’s a gasp. “His…leg…”

  “Yes, yes, the bullet struck his vastus lateralis and fragments from the bullet shattered part of his patella.”

  “His leg.” Janus repeats. “We can fix it up, it’ll take some work, but we can do it.”

  “Fran…cis.” Janus staggers forward but the doctor stops him. “He’ll be alright, but you have to wait outside.” Janus looks to her or through her, his brown eyes translucent. “He can’t dance like that.” He murmurs. “Yes, I understand but yo—“

  “He needs to dance.”

  “Sir…” She gave up on pushing him away because he had slumped against her, his shoulders bobbing up and down. “He has to…he has to…” wet, hot tears fell from his eyes. Francis struggles to move his lips, the world a white haze before his cracked eyes. “Janus, brother, I’m alright.” He wanted to say that, to reassure his brother that he was alright, that everything was…alright.

  A few hours later

  It was well past midnight as Janus listened to the continuous beepbeep of the machine dripping medicine and blood into Francis’s body. His expression was grave and he kept his gaze on his younger brother. “He’s lost a lot of blood, but we’re more concerned about the recovery of his leg.”

  “So am I..”

  “He has to stay off of it, that bone could take years to heal and one wrong move and it’s over for him. As his older brother do you understand?” Janus had dumbly nodded his head, wanting to get to Francis as fast as possible and hold his hand. “The cops haven’t been brought into this and you understand why…don’t you?” Janus clutches his hands together and groans. He was tired both physically and mentally. Everything in him felt like giving in and collapsing. But if he couldn’t survive a night seeing Francis like this, how would he survive a day, a week, a month or a year? He had to be strong and now. He slaps his cheeks hard and rushes over to the bathroom to splash cold water onto his face. “You’re the big broter, act like it. Be strong for him.” With a deep sigh he looks up at his reflection. There he saw a man who had aged twenty years in just a single night. “What will Micah think when he sees you like this?” Janus says jokingly, running a wet hand through his hair and returning to the room. He stands there for a moment, staring blankly at Francis. His eye crinkle at the corners, swelling with tears that wouldn’t quite spill over. “Oh, Francis…” he breathes, his eyes roving across Francis’s still figure.

  It was scary seeing him like that; not moving, breathing—just barely—with his eyes closed and his body wrapped up in a white blanket as though he were already in his deathbed. His black hair looked to have faded and was now a grayish color and his clear complexion was unsettlingly pale. Janus takes a slow step forward, extending his hand to touch Francis’s arm. “What were you thinking…” he falls to his knees. “How did this happen, Francis?” his hand encloses around Francis’s wrist and he grips it tightly. “Wake up and tell me…just wake up.” There’s a knock on the room door and Janus doesn’t look back as he calls for the person to come in. Micah slides the door open, a bag full of gas station snacks and instant ramen in his hands. “I thought you might be hungry.” He says and Janus barely tilts his head away from Francis to greet Micah. “It’s nothing fancy, but it’ll fill you up.” Micah places the bag down taking out a big bowl of ramen and going to the sink to fill the bowl up. “Kai told me what happened…”

  “He did…” Micah nods. “The kid looked sick, like he was about to throw up all his guts.” Micah shudders at the memory. “He said that just like Francis needed you, you needed someone too.” Micah places the bowl in the microwave. “So I came.” His dark eyes settle on Janus’s hunched over figure, he sighs. “Honestly…I don’t know what to do right now.” He confesses and Janus looks back to meet his gaze. “I really, really don’t know.” Their eyes lock and Janus forces a smile onto his face. “That’s alright, your presence is enough.” His smile droops downward and his bottom lip quivers. Micah stares at him for a moment longer before turning abruptly away. “You should clean up, I’ll watch over him.” Micah sniffs, rubbing his nose and then beneath his eyes. “I can’t do that, I’ll be fine.” Micah says nothing else and waits on the microwave to beep. Once it does he takes out the bowl chanting a soft “hot, hot” as he touched it. He places a cloth around the bowl and steps towards Janus. “Here, you need to eat.” Janus takes it. “Thank you.” He replies softly and Micah—without so much as a thought—leans over and kisses his forehead. “I’ll be outside.” He gathers his stuff leaving behind two other bowls of ramen and a pillow. He reaches the door, stopping when Janus calls his name. “Thank you…”

  “No need, boyfriends take care of boyfriends right.” Micah turns to him and smiles. “I’ll pick up the slack back at the building and I’ll tell Aiden that you won’t be returning for a while.” Janus licks his lips. “You don’t have to do that. I’ll be back.”

  “But, Francis.” Janus shakes his head. “I meant I’ll be back to normal, don’t make Aiden worry by telling him that I won’t be back.” Micah blinks wanting to drape his coat over Janus’s shoulders and lay his head against his back and tell him over and over that he was here. But he—they—needed time alone together. There was never such a bond like that between younger brother and older brother. “Alright, get some sleep, Janus.”

  “I will.” Micah steps out of the door, it clicks shut behind him and the beeping continues.

  ~*~

  Kael heard the shot from his room window—it startled him from his reading and he slowly rose to his feet. By the time he reached the window and got the courage to pull the curtain aside and see what had happened, the ambulance had arrived. He saw them lifting Francis and placing him on the stretcher. His heart was pounding, stuck somewhere in his throat. He had rushed downstairs to confront his father, but he was nowhere to be found. A few moments later his mother came stumbling down the hall. Her eyes were darting all around wildly and her hair was wisped across her face. “Son, son, he tried to shoot me!” Once she reached him, she fell into his arms, burying her face in his chest. “He—he—“

  “Mom, what’s wrong? You’re scaring me.” She looked up into his eyes and shook her head slowly. Sometime later, after calming her down with a cup of tea, she went over what had happened. And now Kael was lying awake in his bed at 4AM. The clock was ticking and the castle walls were creaking and in the silence he could hear the gunshot. Over and over again it rung in his head. What if it had been Aiden? What then? A feeling Kael’s never felt before seizes his heart, a grip of worry takes over and he jumps up in his bed. He reaches for his nightstand, tugging the drawer open and fumbling around for his phone. He quickly pulls it out and stares at Aiden’s number. His chest was heaving with anxiety and his hands were trembling. “Oh no,” he inhales deeply. “It’s happening again.” He tries to exhale but it gets stuck somewhere in his throat, his palms were beginning to glaze over with sweat. He looks at the time on his phone and swallows. It was 4:30AM. “H-he’s probably sleeping…” Kael begins to place his phone away. The gunshot had triggered a distant memory, somewhere he had heard such a sound before. But where? Why? And then he remembered; during the fire many things had fallen down and combined with the sound of Skye’s screams it too w
as like a gunshot. His heart felt as though it were shaking, vibrating around his chest and shaking his nerves. Kael clutches the phone tighter, falling onto his side and burying himself in his blankets.

  Aiden was sleeping half on and half off of his bed. An arm was draped across his face and his lips were parted as he snored. His eyebrows were furrowed as though he were having a bad dream. There was an air of panic at practice today and Janus had rushed off, he wondered what had happened, but deep down he didn’t want to know. He smacks his lips turning onto his side and gripping his pillow. He brings it to his chest, still sleeping. He’d go to see Kael again, they’d go back to the greenhouse and clean there or maybe Kael would read to him. Just once Aiden would like to hear it; Kael’s voice pronouncing each syllable in his unique tone of voice. Kael’s voice…there’s a distant ringing sound, Aiden thinks it’s part of his dream, so he only stirs slightly, his tongue daring out to moisten his dry lips. But as the ringing continues he slowly awakens. With a dazed yawn and zombie-like movements, he rises from his slumber and looks over to his phone. It was vibrating across his mattress, Kael’s name flashing brightly across the screen. The sweet letters that spelled out K-A-E-L: My Prince. Aiden blinks, at first not able to make out the name, but then his eyes widen. His hand shoots out to grab up his phone. He quickly answers it. “K-Kael?”

  “Aiden, I’m so sorry, I know it’s late, but I—“

  “Slow down, it’s alright. It’s never too late, just talk to me.” Aiden replies, he was now sitting up straight in his bed, his pillow still clutched to his chest. He could hear the steady and somewhat choked sound of Kael breathing. “Someone was shot today…at the castle.”

  “What?”

  “There was a gunshot and I could see from my window, I could see the blood.”

  “Kael, do you want me to come over?” Aiden was already stumbling out of his bed, nearly tripping over his feet as he tried to get dressed. “I’ll come over right now if you need me to—“

  “No, I’ll be fine, I’m just a bit shaken up, I can take care of myself, I just…” Kael pauses. “I only needed to hear your voice.” He sighs. “It…helps the attacks settle down.” Aiden begins to still, his shoulders relaxing. “Oh…okay.” He falls back onto his bed, his legs and arms spread out across the mattress. “Tell me about practice.” Kael requests suddenly and Aiden licks his lips. “It was alright, the new guys need a little work.” Kael laughs. “A little toughening up can be fun, right?” Aiden grins. “Yeah, I guess.” Kael goes silent again, but Aiden listens and his breathing had calmed down. “Aiden.” His voice returns resolutely and Aiden’s eyebrows raise. “Yes?”

  “It was Francis.”

  “Excuse me?” Aiden slowly rises up to a sitting position. “Francis was the one who was shot.” Aiden pulls the phone away to stare at it for a moment before returning it to his ear. “He was taken away by the ambulance, so I can assume that he’s at the hospital.” It sounded as though Kael was speaking from miles and oceans away and Aiden hadn’t noticed it but his hand was shaking. Francis was like a little brother to him, an annoying one, but a brother no less. They had their ups and downs but he still cared for the kid.

  He still cared for him…and suddenly a thought struck him. “Janus.” He blurts. “Aiden?”

  “Janus, he, he’s probably—Kael.”

  “What is it?” Aiden begins to rise up from his bed and this time he calmly slips on his jacket and slides his feet into his shoes. “I feel like I’m losing my footing,” he places a hand to the wall. “Like I’m slowly falling.” No, I’ve always been falling, but this time I’m falling faster. “I’ll catch you.” Kael says calmly. “I’ll hold all your weight; your worries, your sadness, your fears, your tears—I’ll hold it all Aiden.” Aiden takes a shaky step forward. “So, fall, fall knowing that I’ll catch you.” They came in a wave, his shoulders were shaking and his legs were too, he clamps a hand over his mouth to keep Kael from hearing his sobs. After a moment of strained silence he chokes out. “Kael, I love you so much.”

  “I know.” Kael replies, a smile in his voice. Aiden begins to cry again. Why did those around him have to go through so much pain? Skye, Jenna, Kael and now Janus and Francis. He wants to fall to his knees, but the only thing keeping him up is the comfort that Kael is on the other end listening, breathing and waiting to catch him.

  In the Midst of Hell Pt.2

  Aiden was sitting in the hospital waiting room, his foot tapping impatiently as he waited for Janus to come. He kept glancing at his phone, opening a new text message and deciding whether or not he should call Jenna at such an early hour. It was now six in the morning and although there were no windows where he was sitting, Aiden knew that the sun had to be rising up right about now. He jumps to his feet when he hears the sound of approaching footsteps. Janus had come. Aiden rushes towards him unable to wait any longer. “Janus!” Janus stops moving and looks at Aiden, he smiles, but it seemed as though someone had drawn a smile onto his face—it didn’t reach his eyes—it was just there. “How…how is he?”

  “He’s fine.” Aiden hunches forward resting his hands on his knees as he let out a relieved sigh. “Thank god.” He regains his composure, straightening up and tilting his head as he stares at Janus. “Have you gotten any rest?”

  “A little.”

  “You have to get some sleep otherwi—“

  “I know, the moment he wakes up I’ll be fine.” Janus smiles that just-there smile and Aiden steps forward to embrace him. He strokes his back up and down and Janus stands there in Aiden’s arms, staring ahead at nothing. In this moment—as morning seeped into the sky—Janus felt nothing, he didn’t know what to feel. He was a mix between anger, hate and confusion. Why his brother? Why Francis who had so much for his future? Janus leans down to rest his head on Aiden’s shoulder. He knew he was being vulnerable in this moment, showing his weakness to someone younger than him—to Aiden, but he didn’t care for it. Ever so slowly he wraps his arms around Aiden’s back, clutching onto his shirt and inhaling an unstable breath. “You can go see him.” Janus whispers, but Aiden shakes his head with a sad smile. “He probably doesn’t want to see me, I’ll just peep my head into the room and comeback some other time.” Janus unwraps himself from Aiden’s embrace and sighs a melancholic sigh. He looked tired—completely worn away. “I don’t understand…why he would…” Janus begins to say, his brown eyes flicking every which way. Aiden steadies his gaze on Janus’s face and places a hand to his shoulder. “You were probably too busy to notice even the littlest of things, especially if he was hiding it from you.”

  “But what would he hide? Why would he hide it from me? His brother.”

  “Maybe that’s exactly why he hid it…” Janus looks up. “Because you’re his brother.” The hospital doors swing open and a woman’s figure rushes inside, her hair a bundled mess. “Janus!” they both turn at the sound of her voice and Aiden’s eyes widen, his heart rate spiking. “Jenna…” Janus calls dazedly, stumbling towards her. She runs into his arms, knocking him back as she held tightly onto him. Aiden stares in shock at them, his brown eyes flicking across Jenna’s hunched figure. It only hit him now how long it had been, since he’s seen her face. “Have you gotten any sleep? Are you taking care of yourself? How’s Francis?” She steps back to look into Janus’s eyes, he smiles. “I’m fine, he’s fine—he just needs to rest.”

  “Rest…they always say to rest.” Janus reaches forward to ruffle her hair and that’s when her eyes slide over to meet Aiden’s. Her expression doesn’t change for a moment and ever so slowly, her eyes begin to widen and her mouth forms into an ‘o’ as she gasps out his name. “Aiden…?”

  “Jenna…it’s been a while.” He smiles dimly at her, taking a step forward to properly greet her. “It’s quite depressing that we had to meet again under such…drastic circumstances.” Her shock fades into anger and then into suppressed warmth and then she laughs. “It seems I can’t get away from you.” He scratches the back of hi
s head at her words, his eyes drifting about her face. Her cheeks were flushed and her brown eyes seemed red with lack of sleep and her lips were chapped. “How…have yo—“

  “Lets talk about this later, I came to see Francis.” With a quick smile she brushes past him, her long hair trailing out behind her; she smelled faintly of shampoo—a chemical of shared memories in her bedroom. Aiden turns to look back at her, his heart aching slightly. He clears his throat and turns towards Janus. “I have to go, can you call me the moment he wakes up?” Janus nods. “Are you going to see Kael?”

  “Yes, he heard the gunshot go off and I think that may have struck another attack in him.” Janus smiles faintly. “You’re good to him.”

  “I try my best to be; I think we balance each other out.”

  “It’s because you both love one another.” Aiden nods with a half-smile. “Yes we do.”

  “Tell him I’m sorry I can’t be there.” Janus murmurs. “Don’t be like that, you know how Kael is, I’m sure he’d want you here.”

  “….”

  “Did Micah come by?” Aiden asks and Janus nods, his eyes lighting up just slightly. “He brought me some ramen and a pillow.” Aiden grins. “He’s good to you.” He says tossing Janus’s words back at him. Janus smiles—a true, heart-warming smile. “I thank him for that.” Aiden rolls his eyes. “Once Francis gets better, you two better start dating and properly. I mean late night strolls, dinner dates and bathroom frickle-frackle.” Janus chuckles. “You did not just say that.”