FicWad

Nosey sat upright in his bed, staring at the walls. He was alone, for now, and liked it that way. No doctor to pester him about his symptoms, no friends to ask how he was feeling. Every time he woke from resting, he was always met with one thing: the pity look.

He hated it. Eyebrows furrowed, mouth slightly pursed, sometimes teeth biting the lower lip. And the eyes. He hated the look in their eyes, the unsaid words. I feel so bad for him. I can't believe he's going through this. The poor boy. He couldn't bear seeing that expression any longer. It was funny to think, that at one point, he had given that look to two of his best friends.

Oh, what poor kids. They don't have parents no more.

Not once did he think about the feelings of Delilah or ...--Maybe they didn't want to be pitied. But that didn't stop him from feeling sorry for them.

Just thinking about it made him sigh. Julius. Where was he? He was his best friend, besides Emmett, he always had been. Every time something terrible happened, Julius had been by his side to help him through it. Except now, when he really needed him, he was gone. He had just run off, and no one bothered to explain why.

Why had he left without even checking in to make sure he was okay? Nosey had assumed that was something friends did. Every single time Julius was injured, he would ask him about it, even if it wasn't in public. Just a simple "You okay, man?" would do. It showed that he cared, that he was concerned.

But Julius was gone.

Nosey couldn't help but feel abandoned. The one, the only person he thought that he could count on to always stick with him and left.

I am here, child.

Glancing around the room, Nosey searched for the voice. But no one was around to have spoken. Shaking his head, he dismissed the brief sentence. His mind must have conjured it up in a feeble attempt to offer him some comfort.

I am here.

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[Somewhere in Halifax]

The hotel room was dark. Only the light of the television allowed Julius to see the fuzzy outlines of the furniture in his room. Images on the screen flashed by, unnoticed. He had found them.

The five men were across the street, sitting in a bar that Julius had just left. He tried to tell himself that it was the hope of finding the thugs that had pulled him into the pub, but he knew it was a lie. It was simple luck that they had been in there, and simple luck that he had noted them. A couple more drinks, and he wouldn't have been paying attention to the five men playing pool, laughing loudly about the stupid kid that they'd beaten the shit out of, for a measly ten bucks.

Recalling the overheard conversation made Julius' fist tighten on the TV remote. Nosey had traded ten bucks for a failing kidney. He had traded a damned piece of purple paper for a sickeningly white hospital bed. He had traded a thin rectangle for needles shoved into his body.

Where was the fairness in it?

Nosey didn't deserve any of it. He was only seventeen, just a kid. Behind the head of curly hair was a gentle soul, a lovable voice. He was the one to go to if a good laugh was needed. Granted, he wasn't much of an agent most of the time, but he tried his best. He just wanted to prove himself. There was no justice in the world of something like this could happen to someone like Nosey.

The silence of the night air was interrupted. Obnoxious hoots of laughter reached Julius' open window. He leaped up from his chair and pushed away the dusty blinds. Down on the street, five men stumbled out of the bar.

A grim smile spread slowly across his face.

Walking briskly, he swept an object off the bedside table, stuffing it into his coat pocket as he left the room, heading out into the night.