For Him

Christopher-

After staying at Jade's for a little over an hour and keeping an eye on Jake after the single-worded conversation between him and Jana, Christopher finally slid back into his car. Unfortunately, he wasn't going to be able to return home yet. He'd gotten a text five minutes before he'd planned to leave from Domino, asking him to return and check on Jana. He wouldn't explain much, but Chris had a feeling that him or Jana would need a bit of stitching-up.

When he parked outside of the apartment, he could already see a light coming from the open door. As he walked up, Tera greeted him at the door, tail wagging slowly with a cautious look in her eyes. Before Chris could try to move past her, she darted back into the apartment and disappeared beyond the hallway.

Follow the dog, then.

Christopher shut the door first, then calmly headed in the direction of the far bedroom. When he ducked into the hall, he noticed Tera hurry out of sight, likely toward the bed. Squaring his shoulders, Chris followed, stepping into the room. To his surprise, the room wasn't in terrible shape. He'd expected at least a struggle, possibly some blood splatters and what not. The only thing that seemed out of place was the crack in the dresser to the left and one of the comforters from the bed mostly having fallen off onto the floor.

"Hey guys," he said, announcing his presence since Domino wasn't facing him and Jana had his eyes closed as he lay on the bed.

There were dark red marks circling his throat and upper left arm, but nothing appeared to be broken or causing him visible pain. The look on Jana's face seemed surprisingly peaceful as his eyes slowly opened. The previous dilation was completely gone, leaving behind his normal ocean blue irises.

"Hello, Jana. How are you feeling?" He asked as he took one step forward and set his medical bag on the floor.

He expected Jana's eyes to narrow as they did, and when the man didn't reply, Chris looked over to where Domino stood.

"I had to hurt him to get him to calm down. It's mostly just going to be bad bruising, but I did punch him initially, to keep him from easily being able to run out the door. Can you check his torso?" Domino said, his eyes wandering over toward Jana as he finished speaking.

Christopher could actually see regret in them, but he wasn't going to comment about it. The two of them had enough issues without him trying to be a shrink. Well, a second shrink. "Alright," he noted as he picked his bag back up and walked over, setting it down near the bed.

"Jana?"

It was just the man's name, but Chris knew that often asking a sexual abuse victim to remove an article of clothing could cause an easy trigger to psychosis, so he refrained from putting forth that question and instead just added the inflection to the man's name as he spoke.

At first, Jana didn't seem interested in cooperating, and Christopher sure as hell wasn't going to try and force him, but after several quiet seconds, he slowly pushed himself up into a sitting position. Chris watched silently, noting a few winces as the man got himself situated against the headboard. Another minute passed before he hesitantly lifted up the left side of his shirt to reveal a darkening, medium sized circle on his lower left side.

Instead of reaching for the injury right away, Christopher got on his knees, then looked up to meet Jana's cautious eyes. "Can I check your injury for just a moment?" He asked, not looking away even as Jana narrowed his eyes on him.

"Yes."

When Jana's response finally came, Christopher didn't hesitate. He gently pressed against the man's damaged skin, glancing up at him every few seconds to check his expression for pain or aggression. After about twenty seconds Chris sat back on his heels and pulled out a small tube of cream from his bag, then offered it to Jana.

"Use this on it right before you go to bed. It's a numbing agent, but it's pretty strong, so don't put a whole lot on."

He honestly wanted him to get checked out at the hospital in case the damage around his throat was worse than it looked, too, but he knew that Jana wouldn't want to go, and making him was out of the question. The man didn't need to be triggered standing in a hospital.

"Is there anything else I can help you with, Jana?" Chris asked after handing him the tube of medication.

When his his eyes rose from the tube of cream back to Jana's, Chris felt himself fidget slightly. Jana quickly looked away to glare at the opposite wall, but Chris hadn't imagined the sheen of tears beginning to well up in the man's eyes.

Instinct told him to try and figure out what was wrong, and fix it, but as Tera climbed up into the bed and snuggled up against Jana, Christopher knew that he needed to take a step back from the situation. Jana wasn't someone who showed emotion easily, unless it was negatively impacted by a situation.

He's not crying from the injury. He would have already had tear tracks down his face.

The words What's wrong? were on the tip of his tongue, but Christopher swallowed them with a calming breath. Instead of rushing into a conversation that would likely die immediately, he thought back to what had happened up until their current situation.

"Your little brother..." He whispered to himself.

Jana swallowed, the Adam's apple in his throat bobbing with the action, but he didn't bother to look back at Chris. Maybe that's not it? Christopher wracked his brain for another trigger, but he'd never expected Jana to cry about anything he knew of, so he hadn't thought about possible triggers for it. As he tried to figure it out, Chris noticed Jana tilt his head up to stare at the ceiling before he took a deep breath. He winced as the motion hurt his injury, but as Christopher saw the first tear slowly weave its way down Jana's cheek, he realized what had likely been the trigger.

A strong ache pulsed in his chest as he lowered his eyes to the floor and moved further away, not stopping until his back rested against the wall where he sat. "My little brother." Truthfully, he hadn't thought about him much since his passing. It wasn't that Chris hadn't cared for him. In all honesty, he had cherished his brother. He still did. He'd been family, and even after his death, he respected the man for who he had been and what he had accomplished. At one point, he'd beaten himself up over not figuring out the problem and fixing it before Emmet passed, but eventually Christopher realized that he could have done no such thing.

There had been no need to check his brother's health. Their family had been clear of life-threatening genetic issues. And a brain scan of all things? It likely wouldn't have showed much of anything. His heart hurt none-the-less, and as he looked back up at Jana, he could see the same pain reflected in the man's dark eyes.

"I can't bring him back, but I can say that I'm very glad that he was here for how long he was. He saw something in you that everyone else overlooked." Chris said as he got to his feet and lifted his bag up onto his shoulder. "My little brother was the most annoying, kind-hearted guy I've ever known, and while you've only known you had a brother for a few hours, I do hope that you two are able to figure out a way to strengthen each other. You've both been through different forms of hell."

Jana's gaze began to turn venomous, but Christopher knew that backing away wasn't a wise idea. The man was already injured, but he didn't doubt that he would get up to attack him if he said the wrong thing.

Licking his dry lips, Chris held his head high and continued. "I know you don't think it's fair. He got away from it all. He never had to deal with what you went through. I don't doubt that your life was terrible from a young age, and I can't say exactly how Jake's was, but he clearly hasn't gotten away without suffering, either."

Jana swung his legs over the edge of the bed, making Christopher fight back a flinch as Domino took a step closer, hopefully in case he needed to intercept.

"I'm not telling you to do anything, Jana, but if you try for anyone... if you can't try for yourself, or Jake." Chris took a deep breath to steady his words. "Try for my brother, alright? Emmet believed in everything you are. He believed that you don't need to change and that you just need to be you, and surround yourself with people who are okay with exactly who you are. Why not see if Jake can be one of those people? Why not try?"

Jana's gaze lowered to the carpet beneath his feet as his hands dove into his hair and tugged at the strands. Chris watched the man's jaw clench as he clearly tried to think past the pain in his mind. Domino sat down next to him after a moment and wrapped one arm around his shoulders to hug him to his side and press a kiss to his messy hair.

Just the simple touches gave Chris hope for the troubled man. When he'd first met him, he knew that what Domino was doing would have resulted in broken bones, or at least some nasty repercussions. Yet Jana was slowly leaning into Domino, much like what he'd seen Jake do whenever he was given attention.

Thank you, Jana, for giving me hope. Please keep proving my brother right. Be everything he saw in you, and when you're ready... be more.

Without another word, he silently stood once more, grabbed his bag, and let himself out.

(Damn, I needed tissues on this one. The feels have reappeared in full force)