In Which Alec and Ben Set Things Right
His blood count back more towards normal, Ben knew he was going to be released from the hospital the next day. He wasn't sure if he wanted to, especially since he was still working on remembering what his life was like before he was put into the djinn-induced dream world. He could tell a lot about what was and what wasn't reality, but there were lines that he still was working on figuring out and how to address them.
The biggest issue was, of course, Alec. Ben barely remembered the things he had said to his brother now, but he remembered that he had been harsh and had purposely aimed to hurt him. He regretted it now - he had regretted it when he was staying at Mama's but couldn't get the courage up to call Alec to apologize then - and wasn't sure what he should do.
And to make the situation worse, he knew Alec was nearby. He could feel him, usually just as he's about to wake up. A fleeting presence of fear, guilt, worry, and a bit of anger that managed to hightail it out of the room before his eyes could focus on the room. Ben didn't know how to get Alec to stay so they would talk this out. He wouldn't even blame Alec if he royally reamed him out, but it needed to be done.
He couldn't go on having his brother hate him so much when there was so much love Ben had towards him. So much that was from the imaginary Alec, but not having that bond hurt in so many ways. He could understand how much his father had probably hurt now when Sam left him all those years ago. Ben needed his brother back, and he had to make it right.
House had been right about Alec wanting to see his brother. He was, however, very unsure about his brother wanting to see him. So his solution, in true addled cat logic, was to be with his brother while he slept and then to slink away as soon as he started to wake. The trouble with this plan was that Alec himself had to sleep at some point. His own sleep pattern was even more erratic than it used to be and was truly subject to the whims of his environment. His brother's room was quiet, warm and strangely familiar. So it was really no surprise that Alec settled into a chair to watch his brother sleep and fell asleep himself.
Jinx circled, whined a little in a worried manner. He knew his master didn't want to be here if Ben was awake, but at the same time he didn't want to wake Alec. Alec's health won, and he settled on the floor.
Ben slowly came too, and he felt a presence there. However, unlike how Alec usually felt, it was a bit more relaxed. Cautiously, Ben opened his eye and saw Alec sleeping next to him. The first reaction was just how young his brother looked. Then it came back and he sighed and opened his other eye, just watching his brother. He was afraid that is Alec saw he was awake, he would bolt, and Ben wanted him to stay.
He also didn't want to wake Alec up. Ben had no idea how much sleep his brother was getting, so he was going to let the sleeping cat lie until he showed signs of stirring. He looked over at his table for a magazine that one of the nurses' had found for him and flipped to where he had left off.
Alec shifted a little with the noise but only to huddle down and curl up a little more.
Jinx stood up though and gave Ben a long considering look.
Ben looked up at the noise Alec was making, then saw Jinx move and looked at the hellhound. It was a sad look, though. Jinx in his world had been a big, real dog who had fathered a few litter of puppies, and lived to a ripe old age. Alec and the dog had been inseparable, and the loss had hit his brother hard. But that was another world, but the memories still hit and Ben just looked away, taking a deep breath and pushing the false memories away.
Jinx sighed, honestly a bit confused. Ben had looked confused and sad. More sad than anything else. Jinx had expected angry or indifferent.
Ben wasn't upset, not anymore. In fact he was more angry at himself than Alec now. Not interested in the magazine anymore, he put it back on the table and curled up in bed, just watching Alec with a sad, longing look. One hand dropped down, though, offering to pet Jinx if the dog wanted it.
The dog did. He put his head up under Ben's hand.
Scratching Jinx's head, Ben sighed and looked down at the dog. "I really messed up," he said softly. "I just hope he forgives me."
Jinx tipped his head just a little to get Ben's fingers to just the right spot and gave the human a steady look before rolling his eyes. Yeah, Ben had botched pretty bad, but Alec would forgive. And clearly so would Jinx. Because if nothing else, Jinx knew, somehow, that this was not all Ben's fault.
"You're a good friend to him," Ben said softly. "No matter where, you're always a good friend."
Jinx just propped his chin on the bed. He was large enough that he didn't have to stretch. What could he say to that. He belonged with Alec. It's was just the way of things.
Ben didn't say anything else, just pet Jinx and looking over at Alec, sighing. He started to drift off a bit, fighting to stay awake so that he could talk to Alec.
It wasn't long after that that Alec woke with a snap. He hadn't meant to fall asleep. He didn't want to be caught here. He didn't want to upset Ben or make him angry. He didn't want to be yelled at again. Why had he fallen asleep. He should have known better. The thoughts circled and circled erratically at top speed.
And then he noticed that Ben was awake. And everything stopped cold.
Ben saw the look on Alec's face - the panic at being there - and he bit his lip. When Alec caught his eye, he gave a small hesitant smile. "Please stay," he asked softly.
Alec startled again, but didn't bolt. He took a deep breath and held it for a moment before letting it out slowly. It took him a couple of minutes to marshal his thoughts into something he knew was more. . . normal. More together. "Are you sure?" That didn't mean he was any less hesitant.
"Yeah." Ben didn't move, except to keep petting Jinx. "I... I'm sorry. I... I know I hurt you and I was wrong to lash out at you like that."
Alec wrapped his arms around himself to keep himself still and shrugged. "It was true."
"Honestly... I don't really even remember anymore what I said. It... well for me it was a long time ago." Ben looked down, away from Alec's eyes. "I don't like knowing I hurt you that much. You don't deserve that."
Alec was quiet for another long minute. Even if it was true and even if Alec deserved it that wasn't what Ben needed. The truth of it wasn't want would help. "Okay."
"What can I do to make this up to you?"
Alec immediately shook his head. "I don't want you to make it up to me." He looked down. "I just want you to be my brother."
"I'm always your brother." Ben bit his lip. "A horrible, selfish, spoiled one... but I'm still your brother."
"You're not though. Horrible, selfish, or spoiled I mean."
"Yes I am. All three. And I took it out on you."
"You're not the only person who's left." He bit his lip. "I just. . . hope the scales have evened out now." This was hard. Both trying to fix things with his brother and trying to keep himself on topic and his mind in the now and focused. He'd become to used to drifting.
"I let you down... the scales aren't even until I make up for that. If things were different... so much easier there..."
Alec didn't know how to argue when Ben didn't want to listen, so he reached for the only lead available. "What. . .were we like?"
Ben closed his eyes. "We were all happy. No demons... no battles. Just normal, loving family. You were my little brother and Mom loved you so much, and we were inseparable growing up. You followed grandpa's steps into the Marines while I went off to college. We both got married. You had three kids and I had two. Mom and Dad gave you the house to raise yours. I had a job working between California and Europe... Mom and Dad were living in retirement with Sam and Ruby after Sam's kids were married... it was everything we could have ever wanted..."
Alec relaxed a little. Even when Ben had everything he wanted he'd still wanted Alec. "We can still have some of that. We do have some of that."
"I know. I want to make sure we always still have some of that. In my head, we're so close now... coming back to know I hurt you the way I did... I can't believe I was so..." he couldn't find the right word. "I don't want to lose you, Alec. I can't."
"You won't. Or, at least, I won't leave. Not unless you want me to." The was a pause. And then a small grin. "Even then I'll just stalk you instead." He waved a hand at the current situation.
"I don't want you to leave. I shouldn't have left you either. I'm sorry." Ben gave a hesitant smile back. "And if you are going to stalk, you need to dim your emotions. I felt you every time." His smile grew a bit.
He looks sheepish. "Figured out how to lie to everyone else but not myself."
Ben sat up a bit, looking at Alec. "Remember once, long time ago... we promised not to lie to each other?"
He nodded and then stood to get another pillow from the closet in the corner of the room where he knew for a fact an extra was kept for each bed. "I remember." He stood there for a moment clutching the pillow and then seemed to come back to himself with a snap. He handed the pillow to Ben, not sure where Ben would want it.
"Think we should try again on that?" Ben took the pillow, scrunching it up and putting it behind his back so he could sit up more. "I've kinda sucked at it."
"Yeah." He moved to sit down and then paused nervously. He took another deep breath remembering that he was trying to not act like a crazy flake. "To the trying again part. Not to the sucking part." He sat on the foot of Ben's bed.
"Which means you can get to yell at me and tell me what's wrong. Just because I don't really remember details doesn't mean that you shouldn't get to tell me what I said that hurt, and get the pain off your chest." Ben was calling him out on holding back.
That took Alec off guard. He just stared at his brother for a long moment, stunned. Then his shoulders hunched and he crossed his arms, fingers griping the other arm. He managed to not pace around the room. "I don't want to yell at you. Can't we just let it go?"
"We can, if you know that it won't keep bugging you every time you are with me."
Alec thought about it. Visibly thought about it. "I. . .don't know." He bit his lip thinking. "There were a lot of topics covered."
"I'm really trying to remember, but I don't." Ben rubbed the back of his neck. "It was too long ago for me."
That made Alec crack a small smile. "Old man."
"Bite me. At least my wife didn't force me to get neutered," Ben chuckled as it was an old joke the brothers had shared. Almost instantly, Ben realized he had slipped and rubbed his neck, suddenly uncomfortable.
Alec paused to, and then decided that maybe the best thing to do was role with it and treat it as a joke. The way it was intended. "Are you telling me you're intimidated by my manly verility?"
Looking up, Ben gave Alec a small, grateful smile. "More like the fact you got married and the first thing you and Amy did was turn into a pair of rabbits."
Alec's shoulders tensed at the mention of Amy, but that had nothing to do with Ben. "Actually sounds a lot like the way things were here. So, realistic." He gave an amused snort. Maybe they really could do this.
Ben realized from Alec's tension that Amy wasn't a friend of the Winchesters at the moment and he bit his lip. "Have you tried to talk to her since... well, you know?"
He shook his head. "I." He paused, licked his lips and tried again. "Dad. . . says she didn't mean to hurt us. Hurt me. But I haven't talked to her yet."
"I think Dad's a pretty good source of information now on this kind of topic." Ben sighed. The years of love from dream-world Dean made it hard for Ben to come back here, but with Dean more like himself and not totally angel-fied, it was helping. It was different but it helped. Especially right now when he really needed Dean in so many ways. "You should try. Just so you don't always question her. Talk to her."
Alec hands flex against his arms and then he shook them out and twisted them up in the edge of his shirt in stead. "I don't want to be angry with her."
"Well, you have right to be. Just like you have a right to be mad at me. If you can move past it with me... maybe you could let Amy re-earn your trust again too?" Ben shrugged. "I mean, her letting Lucifer out doesn't make me happy knowing that, but that kind of bond goes way beyond something we could know about. And, well..." Ben shrugged. "You guys were perfect for each other."
"I married Amy I take it?" He shook his head. "If I spent time being angry at everyone I have a right to be angry at I don't think I'd do anything else."
"Spring break on the beach. You stole her heart and she never let you forget it." Ben chuckled a bit, shrugged. "True."
Alec snorts, amused. Then sobers, "We are perfect for each other." It's wasn't necessarily a happy thing, but it also wasn't Ben's fault. Alec still had a few secrets from his past that he hadn't shared yet.
"And everyone makes mistakes, even against the people they really care about. I mean, look at Sam. He left Dad for 14 years to run a demon army, against Dean's wishes. And now they are just as close again." Ben shrugged, leaning back against his pillows. "Maybe she is just as sorry, but stays away because she doesn't know how to apologize for what she did to you?"
"I might believe she's sorry for hurting me and maybe ever hurting Sam, Ruby and everyone else, but she's not sorry for letting Lucifer free. That's not in her nature." He sighed and it sounded like it came from up from his toes. "But maybe that's one of the reasons why we get along. I. . .can't ask her to be sorry for that."
"Then don't. What's done is done."
Alec tipped over so he was laying across the foot of Ben's bed. That was good advice. He liked that. "What you said to me before? I can let it go. It's over. You still want me around. It's okay."
"Ok." Ben gave Alec a small smile. "Just... if I do shit that pisses you off... next time slap me or something so I'll shut up and listen? Ok?"
Alec snorted, amused. "Most of the time you aren't that bad."
"Wait till I have my first kid..." Ben laughed softly. "Anna almost killed me."
"Hey, if nothing else, you can learn from mistakes you haven't actually made." He was glad that Ben hadn't given up on the things that made him happy.
"If I don't make new ones in their place." Ben closed his eyes. "You don't know how hard this is. It's like I've lost 20 years of bonding with everyone..."
"I wont pretend to know how hard it is. Or even what you've lost. But at least you haven't lost everything." He curled up around Ben's feet.
"No, I haven't." He playfully kicked at Alec gently. "I'm probably a lot better than I was before the djinn got me. But still..."
Alec swatted at the kicking foot. "But still it's hard and it's going to take time?"
"Yeah."
Alec nodded and then yawned long and hard. "When you're feeling better we can all go home."
"I think Mama's laid claim on getting my weight back up first."
The biggest issue was, of course, Alec. Ben barely remembered the things he had said to his brother now, but he remembered that he had been harsh and had purposely aimed to hurt him. He regretted it now - he had regretted it when he was staying at Mama's but couldn't get the courage up to call Alec to apologize then - and wasn't sure what he should do.
And to make the situation worse, he knew Alec was nearby. He could feel him, usually just as he's about to wake up. A fleeting presence of fear, guilt, worry, and a bit of anger that managed to hightail it out of the room before his eyes could focus on the room. Ben didn't know how to get Alec to stay so they would talk this out. He wouldn't even blame Alec if he royally reamed him out, but it needed to be done.
He couldn't go on having his brother hate him so much when there was so much love Ben had towards him. So much that was from the imaginary Alec, but not having that bond hurt in so many ways. He could understand how much his father had probably hurt now when Sam left him all those years ago. Ben needed his brother back, and he had to make it right.
House had been right about Alec wanting to see his brother. He was, however, very unsure about his brother wanting to see him. So his solution, in true addled cat logic, was to be with his brother while he slept and then to slink away as soon as he started to wake. The trouble with this plan was that Alec himself had to sleep at some point. His own sleep pattern was even more erratic than it used to be and was truly subject to the whims of his environment. His brother's room was quiet, warm and strangely familiar. So it was really no surprise that Alec settled into a chair to watch his brother sleep and fell asleep himself.
Jinx circled, whined a little in a worried manner. He knew his master didn't want to be here if Ben was awake, but at the same time he didn't want to wake Alec. Alec's health won, and he settled on the floor.
Ben slowly came too, and he felt a presence there. However, unlike how Alec usually felt, it was a bit more relaxed. Cautiously, Ben opened his eye and saw Alec sleeping next to him. The first reaction was just how young his brother looked. Then it came back and he sighed and opened his other eye, just watching his brother. He was afraid that is Alec saw he was awake, he would bolt, and Ben wanted him to stay.
He also didn't want to wake Alec up. Ben had no idea how much sleep his brother was getting, so he was going to let the sleeping cat lie until he showed signs of stirring. He looked over at his table for a magazine that one of the nurses' had found for him and flipped to where he had left off.
Alec shifted a little with the noise but only to huddle down and curl up a little more.
Jinx stood up though and gave Ben a long considering look.
Ben looked up at the noise Alec was making, then saw Jinx move and looked at the hellhound. It was a sad look, though. Jinx in his world had been a big, real dog who had fathered a few litter of puppies, and lived to a ripe old age. Alec and the dog had been inseparable, and the loss had hit his brother hard. But that was another world, but the memories still hit and Ben just looked away, taking a deep breath and pushing the false memories away.
Jinx sighed, honestly a bit confused. Ben had looked confused and sad. More sad than anything else. Jinx had expected angry or indifferent.
Ben wasn't upset, not anymore. In fact he was more angry at himself than Alec now. Not interested in the magazine anymore, he put it back on the table and curled up in bed, just watching Alec with a sad, longing look. One hand dropped down, though, offering to pet Jinx if the dog wanted it.
The dog did. He put his head up under Ben's hand.
Scratching Jinx's head, Ben sighed and looked down at the dog. "I really messed up," he said softly. "I just hope he forgives me."
Jinx tipped his head just a little to get Ben's fingers to just the right spot and gave the human a steady look before rolling his eyes. Yeah, Ben had botched pretty bad, but Alec would forgive. And clearly so would Jinx. Because if nothing else, Jinx knew, somehow, that this was not all Ben's fault.
"You're a good friend to him," Ben said softly. "No matter where, you're always a good friend."
Jinx just propped his chin on the bed. He was large enough that he didn't have to stretch. What could he say to that. He belonged with Alec. It's was just the way of things.
Ben didn't say anything else, just pet Jinx and looking over at Alec, sighing. He started to drift off a bit, fighting to stay awake so that he could talk to Alec.
It wasn't long after that that Alec woke with a snap. He hadn't meant to fall asleep. He didn't want to be caught here. He didn't want to upset Ben or make him angry. He didn't want to be yelled at again. Why had he fallen asleep. He should have known better. The thoughts circled and circled erratically at top speed.
And then he noticed that Ben was awake. And everything stopped cold.
Ben saw the look on Alec's face - the panic at being there - and he bit his lip. When Alec caught his eye, he gave a small hesitant smile. "Please stay," he asked softly.
Alec startled again, but didn't bolt. He took a deep breath and held it for a moment before letting it out slowly. It took him a couple of minutes to marshal his thoughts into something he knew was more. . . normal. More together. "Are you sure?" That didn't mean he was any less hesitant.
"Yeah." Ben didn't move, except to keep petting Jinx. "I... I'm sorry. I... I know I hurt you and I was wrong to lash out at you like that."
Alec wrapped his arms around himself to keep himself still and shrugged. "It was true."
"Honestly... I don't really even remember anymore what I said. It... well for me it was a long time ago." Ben looked down, away from Alec's eyes. "I don't like knowing I hurt you that much. You don't deserve that."
Alec was quiet for another long minute. Even if it was true and even if Alec deserved it that wasn't what Ben needed. The truth of it wasn't want would help. "Okay."
"What can I do to make this up to you?"
Alec immediately shook his head. "I don't want you to make it up to me." He looked down. "I just want you to be my brother."
"I'm always your brother." Ben bit his lip. "A horrible, selfish, spoiled one... but I'm still your brother."
"You're not though. Horrible, selfish, or spoiled I mean."
"Yes I am. All three. And I took it out on you."
"You're not the only person who's left." He bit his lip. "I just. . . hope the scales have evened out now." This was hard. Both trying to fix things with his brother and trying to keep himself on topic and his mind in the now and focused. He'd become to used to drifting.
"I let you down... the scales aren't even until I make up for that. If things were different... so much easier there..."
Alec didn't know how to argue when Ben didn't want to listen, so he reached for the only lead available. "What. . .were we like?"
Ben closed his eyes. "We were all happy. No demons... no battles. Just normal, loving family. You were my little brother and Mom loved you so much, and we were inseparable growing up. You followed grandpa's steps into the Marines while I went off to college. We both got married. You had three kids and I had two. Mom and Dad gave you the house to raise yours. I had a job working between California and Europe... Mom and Dad were living in retirement with Sam and Ruby after Sam's kids were married... it was everything we could have ever wanted..."
Alec relaxed a little. Even when Ben had everything he wanted he'd still wanted Alec. "We can still have some of that. We do have some of that."
"I know. I want to make sure we always still have some of that. In my head, we're so close now... coming back to know I hurt you the way I did... I can't believe I was so..." he couldn't find the right word. "I don't want to lose you, Alec. I can't."
"You won't. Or, at least, I won't leave. Not unless you want me to." The was a pause. And then a small grin. "Even then I'll just stalk you instead." He waved a hand at the current situation.
"I don't want you to leave. I shouldn't have left you either. I'm sorry." Ben gave a hesitant smile back. "And if you are going to stalk, you need to dim your emotions. I felt you every time." His smile grew a bit.
He looks sheepish. "Figured out how to lie to everyone else but not myself."
Ben sat up a bit, looking at Alec. "Remember once, long time ago... we promised not to lie to each other?"
He nodded and then stood to get another pillow from the closet in the corner of the room where he knew for a fact an extra was kept for each bed. "I remember." He stood there for a moment clutching the pillow and then seemed to come back to himself with a snap. He handed the pillow to Ben, not sure where Ben would want it.
"Think we should try again on that?" Ben took the pillow, scrunching it up and putting it behind his back so he could sit up more. "I've kinda sucked at it."
"Yeah." He moved to sit down and then paused nervously. He took another deep breath remembering that he was trying to not act like a crazy flake. "To the trying again part. Not to the sucking part." He sat on the foot of Ben's bed.
"Which means you can get to yell at me and tell me what's wrong. Just because I don't really remember details doesn't mean that you shouldn't get to tell me what I said that hurt, and get the pain off your chest." Ben was calling him out on holding back.
That took Alec off guard. He just stared at his brother for a long moment, stunned. Then his shoulders hunched and he crossed his arms, fingers griping the other arm. He managed to not pace around the room. "I don't want to yell at you. Can't we just let it go?"
"We can, if you know that it won't keep bugging you every time you are with me."
Alec thought about it. Visibly thought about it. "I. . .don't know." He bit his lip thinking. "There were a lot of topics covered."
"I'm really trying to remember, but I don't." Ben rubbed the back of his neck. "It was too long ago for me."
That made Alec crack a small smile. "Old man."
"Bite me. At least my wife didn't force me to get neutered," Ben chuckled as it was an old joke the brothers had shared. Almost instantly, Ben realized he had slipped and rubbed his neck, suddenly uncomfortable.
Alec paused to, and then decided that maybe the best thing to do was role with it and treat it as a joke. The way it was intended. "Are you telling me you're intimidated by my manly verility?"
Looking up, Ben gave Alec a small, grateful smile. "More like the fact you got married and the first thing you and Amy did was turn into a pair of rabbits."
Alec's shoulders tensed at the mention of Amy, but that had nothing to do with Ben. "Actually sounds a lot like the way things were here. So, realistic." He gave an amused snort. Maybe they really could do this.
Ben realized from Alec's tension that Amy wasn't a friend of the Winchesters at the moment and he bit his lip. "Have you tried to talk to her since... well, you know?"
He shook his head. "I." He paused, licked his lips and tried again. "Dad. . . says she didn't mean to hurt us. Hurt me. But I haven't talked to her yet."
"I think Dad's a pretty good source of information now on this kind of topic." Ben sighed. The years of love from dream-world Dean made it hard for Ben to come back here, but with Dean more like himself and not totally angel-fied, it was helping. It was different but it helped. Especially right now when he really needed Dean in so many ways. "You should try. Just so you don't always question her. Talk to her."
Alec hands flex against his arms and then he shook them out and twisted them up in the edge of his shirt in stead. "I don't want to be angry with her."
"Well, you have right to be. Just like you have a right to be mad at me. If you can move past it with me... maybe you could let Amy re-earn your trust again too?" Ben shrugged. "I mean, her letting Lucifer out doesn't make me happy knowing that, but that kind of bond goes way beyond something we could know about. And, well..." Ben shrugged. "You guys were perfect for each other."
"I married Amy I take it?" He shook his head. "If I spent time being angry at everyone I have a right to be angry at I don't think I'd do anything else."
"Spring break on the beach. You stole her heart and she never let you forget it." Ben chuckled a bit, shrugged. "True."
Alec snorts, amused. Then sobers, "We are perfect for each other." It's wasn't necessarily a happy thing, but it also wasn't Ben's fault. Alec still had a few secrets from his past that he hadn't shared yet.
"And everyone makes mistakes, even against the people they really care about. I mean, look at Sam. He left Dad for 14 years to run a demon army, against Dean's wishes. And now they are just as close again." Ben shrugged, leaning back against his pillows. "Maybe she is just as sorry, but stays away because she doesn't know how to apologize for what she did to you?"
"I might believe she's sorry for hurting me and maybe ever hurting Sam, Ruby and everyone else, but she's not sorry for letting Lucifer free. That's not in her nature." He sighed and it sounded like it came from up from his toes. "But maybe that's one of the reasons why we get along. I. . .can't ask her to be sorry for that."
"Then don't. What's done is done."
Alec tipped over so he was laying across the foot of Ben's bed. That was good advice. He liked that. "What you said to me before? I can let it go. It's over. You still want me around. It's okay."
"Ok." Ben gave Alec a small smile. "Just... if I do shit that pisses you off... next time slap me or something so I'll shut up and listen? Ok?"
Alec snorted, amused. "Most of the time you aren't that bad."
"Wait till I have my first kid..." Ben laughed softly. "Anna almost killed me."
"Hey, if nothing else, you can learn from mistakes you haven't actually made." He was glad that Ben hadn't given up on the things that made him happy.
"If I don't make new ones in their place." Ben closed his eyes. "You don't know how hard this is. It's like I've lost 20 years of bonding with everyone..."
"I wont pretend to know how hard it is. Or even what you've lost. But at least you haven't lost everything." He curled up around Ben's feet.
"No, I haven't." He playfully kicked at Alec gently. "I'm probably a lot better than I was before the djinn got me. But still..."
Alec swatted at the kicking foot. "But still it's hard and it's going to take time?"
"Yeah."
Alec nodded and then yawned long and hard. "When you're feeling better we can all go home."
"I think Mama's laid claim on getting my weight back up first."