Family Matters
The door hung at an odd angle, the lock broken - again - but this time it was nothing to do with Kris or Simon. There were a few drops of blood on the floor and Jenny’s internal alarm went off.
She had a horrible feeling that she knew exactly whose blood that was on the floor.
“Ben?”
There was a faint groan from the bedroom. Her bedroom. God, he had better not be bleeding on her sheets.
She hurried through, cursing under her breath as Sampson purred, rubbing himself against her legs and trying to convince her that she should bend down and give him love right now or else he was going to trip her over.
The last thing she wanted to be dealing with was her brother. He was a pain in her ass - even if he was hurt, somehow it was probably his fault - and she was trying to deal with everything that was happening at the hospital and in her life. Especially considering someone else had died today and she had ended up thinking back to her John Doe all day. He’d been circulating around her mind. She always took it hard, but that one she had taken harder than normal.
“Ben, what the hell?”
She flicked on the light and saw him curled up on his side, hands plastered against his stomach where blood was leaking through his fingers, through his shirt and all over her goddamned sheets.
“Fuck, Benny, what the hell happened?”
“I’m in trouble, Jay,” he muttered, voice weak and tight as she crossed over to cut away his shirt, first-aid kit in hand. “In real trouble.”
She pursed her lips and crouched beside the bed, lamp on and pointed in the direction of her brother’s stomach. Looked like a stab wound or some sort. “Real big trouble.”
She wasn’t surprised, but she kept the sardonic comments at bay. She didn’t look up at him as she spoke, instead she focused on fixing his side, patching up the wound in his stomach. “What happened?”
“I owe people money,” he admitted, “Bad people. I owe bad people lots of money, Jay and I can’t pay them back. If I don’t... they’re gonna kill me.”
Jenny’s stomach twisted. Three deaths in two months she couldn’t handle, especially not if one of them was her big brother. Deadbeat as he may have been, he was still her flesh and blood and she loved him dearly.
“He- the guys are nasty, Jen, big time nasty and they might be gunning for you too.”
“I’ll be fine,” Jenny said as she quickly and efficiently patched her brother’s side up. “I live with a cop, I’ll be fine.”
“That’s not gonna stop them. They’ll wait till she’s out. They’ll come for you to get to me. They’ve already threatened mom and dad. Obviously not overtly, they did it in a roundabout way, but still, they threatened mom and dad.”
“Have you told them?” Jenny asked, voice sharp with alarm. “Do they know?”
“Are you fucking retarded? Why the fuck would I fucking tell them that I owe the fucking mob money?”
Jenny frowned and got to her feet, pulling the gloves off her hands and looking distinctly unimpressed. “Don’t swear at me, you come into my house, bleed all over my floor and my bed and you- God!”
Ben just looked at her for a moment before he pushed himself into a seated position, a hand on his side. Jenny had stitched up the wound but she wasn’t about to put a bandage on it when he was swearing at her. He didn’t look at all apologetic.
“Do you not get it? I’m not safe, not here, not anywhere. You’re not safe. Mom and dad aren’t safe. God- You are fucking retarded, Jennifer, for all your book smarts and your fucking degrees and your years of studying haven’t prepared you for shit. You’re fucking useless when it comes to stuff like this and you know it.”
Recoiling in hurt, the brunette looked at him, eyes wide and shocked. He didn’t often lose his rag with her but when he did it was always epic. Always. She closed her eyes and put her fingers against her forehead, the gloves having been dropped in the bin at the foot of the bed.
“Shut up, Benjamin. You’re scared, I know that. But don’t take it out on me!” Her voice lifted, rising in pitch and volume. “It’s not my fault you’re irresponsible and-”
“It’s not my fault you’re the favourite kid!” he retorted sharply and then groaned as he pulled his side. Dark eyes narrowed at him as Jenny’s expression went from hurt to anger. It flared, the same way her (practically non-existent) temper always did whenever she was speaking to Ben and he was being an ass. “You know how much it sucks living in your baby sister’s shadow?”
“You’re thirty five,” Jenny snapped, “You need to start acting like it.”
Ben opened his mouth and started to speak, but Jenny had given up listening. Instead she closed her eyes and took a breath, trying to find the surface thoughts that would give her some indication as to what was going on. She hated using her powers like this, against awake people - or against anyone but sometimes she couldn’t help it, like Rhiannon or Izzy the first time they met, humans broadcasted, whether they were realising it or not - but sometimes it was necessary. Like right now.
He hadn’t finished talking, and Jenny heard his “Hey! I’m not done with you yet!” follow her out of the bedroom. She slammed the door shut with an equally loud “Just stay put, don’t move”.
Not what she needed after a long shift at work, but then when were family ever easy to deal with? She left a note on the kitchen counter after having quickly and efficiently cleaned up the blood on the floor.
Guys, Ben’s in my room, he’s a bit beat up and in a foul mood and being a dick an idiot. so just leave him alone and wrestle him back to bed if he tries anything. I’ll be back later.
Also, please don’t call our parents. I’ll handle them later.