Hardly A Hero [REWRITTEN ON NEW ACCOUNT]

Chapter 13: The Good, The Bad and the Worst.

~~~~~~~~~

Don't forget to read the Author's Note at the bottom of this chapter. I have some news :)

~~~~~~~~~

"This is crazy. I mean, you've had one hell of a week."

Ben gently patted my arm with a clean cloth after wiping away the blood. Of course, I was in my mask and some of my gear, but it was hard to walk, let alone get changed, when your body refused to get off the floor. At least I was unrecognisable.

I had explained to him everything that was going on in the past couple of weeks. He listened intently and asked detailed questions. I hoped none of it helped him in his search to uncover my identity.

I sat on my swirly desk chair, my eyelids feeling heavier by the second and my legs still numb from the exhaustion.

He started to wrap a clean bandage around my arm, focused intensely. I had never really seen him look this serious before.

"I'm sorry for dragging you into this." I mumbled. "I didn't know who else to call."

He shook his head, quickly glancing up at my face before continuing to fiddle with the bandage.

"Don't worry about that. If anything, I wanted to be dragged into this. It's makes me feel like I'm part of something much... bigger."

The left side of his mouth twitched up into a small smile.

"That's very philosophical of you."

"Yeah, I guess it is." He kept the bandage in place with a small, metal clasp and then focused on my face where blood was still seeping down from the bottom of my forehead.

"Can I ask you a question?" I asked cautiously.

He simply nodded, too focused on whatever he was doing above my right eye to say anything.

"How do you know how to do this? I mean, don't get me wrong, I just thought that first aid wouldn't really be your, well, thing, I guess."

He paused what he was doing for a moment before continuing again.

"I have an older brother." He started and I kept my eyes fixed on his. "He used to get into a lot of fights, especially with the older years. It was always for stupid reasons, but he'd usually get himself hurt, even if he'd supposedly won."

I flinched at the sting above my eye as he wiped antiseptic cream over it. He mouthed a 'sorry' before continuing.

"When he got home, I would clean him up as well as I could. I was really young so I did a terrible job at first, but I improved over time. Only for him to go out again and start another fight."

I bit my lip. You could practically cut the unspoken tension in the air with a butter knife.

"What happened? I meant if you don't mind me asking." I immediately regretted saying anything. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to-"

"No, no, it's fine." He glanced down at me again, smiling slightly. "He got sent to a strict military school on the other side of the country. I haven't seen him in a very long time. But he escaped, somehow. No one has seen him since. My father-"

He pursed his lips, ready to say more, before glancing at me and smirking slightly.

"You are very easy to talk to, has anyone ever told you that?"

I watched him pull out a band-aid from his first aid box and plant it gently above my eyebrow.

"Thank you." I muttered.