Blooded Mate

Chapter 17 - Riotous Body

When morning came, the Reyn household was in chaos.

Cody ran between his room and the kitchen, replacing tainted water with clean ones, his heart beating at the amount of blood he had thrown out. His best friend, Damien, was still in his pajamas. He was in charge of keeping the big pot boiling and washing towels for him to carry upstairs.

Cody lugged a bowl of steaming water up the stairs, going slowly so that it would not splash on him. Once he entered Ethan's room, he placed it on the desk chair next to Mrs. Bane, who was cleaning his brother's naked body.

Damien's mom had not had the chance to remove her hospital visitor's tag yet, and the pink dress she wore had streaks of blood in it. But her clothes were not as bad as Dr. Kim's, who was bent over Ethan sewing up his thigh.

Dr. Kim had been their family doctor for as long as Cody could remember, but he had never seen her this dirty. Her white coat had so much red in it that it looked like the tie-die school project he had once brought home.

He had never seen so much blood in his life.

"I need these sterilized, please, Naomi," she said.

His mom nodded and gathered some sharp-looking metal things in a towel.

"Come on, Cody," his mom said, ushering him out of the room before he could see more.

In the kitchen, his mom poured the steaming pot of water over the tools in the sink and let them soak. She turned her face into the corner, but he could still see her shoulders shaking. She was weeping.

Why is she crying? Is Ethan going to die?

He glanced at Damien, whose eyes were also wide and filled with tears like his. Since yesterday, his best friend had been crying when their moms had explained to them that Major Bane would not wake up again. His eyes were puffy, and he could not stop sniffling.

Cody did not want Ethan to go to sleep like Damien's dad.

"Mom, is Ethan going to wake up?"

His mom gasped and turned around, wiping her face with the back of her hands.

"Yes, hon. Dr. Kim is doing her best. Ethan will be fine, ok." She smiled, but it shook.

Then she turned and pulled the stopper out of the sink.

Carrying a fresh bowl of water, Cody followed his mom upstairs once again. He placed it on the chair, and Mrs. Bane handed him the old container. The water was red like someone had added Kool-Aid.

He went and emptied it into the toilet but did not go downstairs right away.

Worried about his brother, he stood near the door, watching to see if Ethan would wake up soon.

Dr. Kim was working on a deep gash on his brother's arm. There were many like that on his body. Deep, ugly wounds that almost showed the bone inside.

Ethan groaned, sweating and thrashing, despite the strips of sheet tied to his arms and legs. His mom rushed around the bed to hold him down. So did Mrs. Bane.

Dr. Kim straightened up with a sigh. She did not look happy.

"This isn't working. His flesh is basically breaking apart!" she said, tossing the curved needle onto a new tray his mom had just brought.

Cody stood by the door, more tears streaming down his reddened cheeks.

No, Dr. Kim. You can't stop. The empty bowl he held dropped to his side.

Yesterday, after Ethan left for camp, Cody thought he had the meanest brother ever alive. But in the middle of the night, when Jeb carried him back into the house, broken and unconscious, he got scared. He could not imagine a world where his older brother was not in it.