“Just doing what any decent person would’ve done,” he said, without his usual shrug that would’ve normally accompanied a comment like that. “But if you want to keep thinking of me as a hero, I’ll stop arguing.” It really didn’t matter anymore, anyway.
Elliot did manage a smirk when David joked lightly about metaphorical shoes. “You always had bigger feet than me.” A joke for a joke, even if there was no laughter accompanying it. “Seriously, though? I believe in you. Always have. You’ll outlive this infection, help rebuild the world, be a part of history…”
Some hero he’d turned out to be. Lying in a bed, dying from a single small bite on his hand. Turning his head, he raised his left hand slightly from its place on his chest and eyed the bandage covering his wound. It was clean. The blood was no longer seeping through. That should’ve been a positive sign, a sign that he was getting better. But it wasn’t. Elliot could feel the infection spreading through his body. It was hard to accept being called a hero when he couldn’t even beat a virus.
Elliot’s brows drew down when he turned his attention back to his brother. Dying was terrible in and of itself, but knowing that he’d never get to meet his son was… all the more heartbreaking. He let out a shuddering breath. “That eases my mind somewhat; that he’ll at least know who I was and how much I loved him.”
His gaze followed David’s to Rae and a small burst of panic went through him. This was the part where goodbye was supposed be said. Back when David had been the one in quarantine, Elliot had rehearsed a small farewell on the off chance that his brother wouldn’t live through the infection. Much as it pained him to think about, he’d wanted to be prepared. He wanted his goodbye to mean something. Wanted David to know just how much he meant, how thankful Elliot was to have found him.
Elliot met his brother’s gaze, nodding his answer, but still refusing to let go of David’s hand. Maybe he was supposed to be brave now, make things easier on the people he was leaving behind, but how did you even begin to tell someone goodbye forever? He finally settled on, “I love you, David. Don’t you ever forget that, okay? Best brother a guy like me could ever have hoped for.”