FicWad

"Please be alright. Oh, God, Gee, please be alright," Someone's hoarse, tired sounding voice was whispering. "C'mon. Come back to me, GeeGee, please. I love you man. Come back to me, please, please come back to me."

I blinked blearily and struggled into a sitting position. "GEE!" Mikey's strong, skinny arms were flung around my neck as he squeezed me into a tight hug. "You're okay!"

"Mm," I said. It was entirely true, but still, Mikey was happy.

"How do you feel?" He said.

"Not so hot," I admitted, shrugging. I rubbed my forehead - and felt that the skin there didn't feel the same as it usually did. I touched the rest of my face - my nose, my cheeks, my chin - everywhere felt weird. "Mikey..." I said, slowly. "What happened to my face?"

"N-Nothing," He shook his head. He always was a terrible liar, right from when he was six and he tried to make Mom believe 'Honestly, Mommy, I didn't steal the last cookie, maybe it was Gewawd'

"Mikey..." I said, folding my arms. "I want a mirror."

"O..okay," He said. He picked up the mirror on the table at the end of the bed. "But I just thought you should know - well... the doctor's tried." And then he handed me the mirror.

I dropped it almost as soon as I raised it to my face. I was a mess - my face a crisscross of scars and gashes and cuts and scratches. The area around my right eye was bruised and swollen. I brought my knees up to my chest and buried my face in them. "Oh my God, I'm fucking hideous!" I sobbed.

"No, no, Gee, you're not," Mikey's arms went around me again.

"Yes I am, look at me," I said.

"I am. I am looking at you, Gee, and do you know what I can see?" He said. "I can see my big brother and my best friend. And do you want to know something else? He's beautiful."

I guess that made me feel a little better.

*
About an hour later, Frank and Ray arrived in the room. They were both looking pretty miserable - but perked up when they saw me sitting up. I managed a small smile for their sake as the both shot to my bedside. "Hey, man," Ray said, pulling me into a bone-crushing hug that knocked the breath out of me.

"Hi," I hugged him back. We stayed like that for several seconds, before Ray let go of me. His arms were replaced by skinnier, dantier arms.

Frank snaked his arms around me and pressed his lips against my forehead. "I'm so glad you're okay," He whispered.

"I'm not, really," I replied, so quietly that only he could hear me.

"Don't say that GeeGee," He said. "You'll be fine."

It wasn't until I felt the warm, wet drops on my head, that I realised Frank was crying.

*
Someone at some point must've called my wife. She arrived in the early evening and flung her arms around me. "Oh, God. My poor baby! What've they done to you?" She said, squeezing me and kissing me rapturously all over my face.

"They... it doesn't matter," I shook my head. For some reason, the thought of telling my wife that I was raped and knifed made me cringe.

"How are you feeling?" She asked, peering at me.

"A lot better since you got here," I said, smiling at her and scooching over on the bed. I patted beside me and she sat down. I wound my arms around her waist and she rested her head on my shoulder. "Where's Bandit?" I muttered into her hair as I kissed her head.

"Oh. I left her at my mom's," She said. "I'd have brought her with me, but I just thought... I mean, if she knew that you'd had to go into hospital, she'd get worried. It'd upset her."

"Ah. Good thinking," I agreed. To be honest, I didn't really want B to know I'd been in the hospital. After all, at her age, Daddy is supposed to be someone who is the strongest man in the world. Daddy is supposed to be the one who pushes you highest on the swingset and puts you up on his shoulders and picks you up and kisses it better when you fall over. When you're two, Daddy is supposed to be invincible.

And, though I was feeling less and less like it, I still wanted Bandit to have that feeling.