Amor Vicissitudine

I was sitting next to Sicily's hospital bed, waiting for her to wake up from her current state of being passed out, my face and hands were smeared with blood and my shirt was stained with crimson blotches of Jaime's blood.

Today was much more exciting than I wanted it to be.

All in one day my best friend was shot, I had to draw my gun, and my girlfriend was admitted to the hospital. No more excitement for me today. Please, God don't send anymore this way.

I sighed and took Sicily's hand in mine, hoping that the physical contact could help her wake up.

I need my baby girl to pull through. She needs to be okay so that, even if Jaime doesn't come out okay, I know I'll have someone left to hold onto.

Everwhere I go I lose people.

First my father then my mother. After I found Jaime he and I had been nearly inseparable, mostly because I had nowhere to go and he was there to talk to and hang out with when I was down.

If I lose him I don't know what I'd do. He was my brother. My best friend. The only thing I had that was even near family. Besides Sicily.

I don't want to lose either of them.

Just then Sicily started to wake up, her head lolling from one side to the other and back again,

"Sicily." I hoped she'd heard me and would actually start to wake up to the sound of my voice, "Sicily, baby are you okay?" I squeezed her hand tighter as she opened her eyes and looked at me, "Hey beautiful. There you are." I reached up to her face and brushed her hair from her eyes,

"Tony, why am I here?" She had no recollection of what happened at my- our apartment earlier, "Jaime." She sat up, faster than I'd expected and smacked her head into mine, "Owww." I rubbed my forehead and she did the same before looking around wildly, "Where's Jaime?" I could hear the distress in her voice as her head whipped around the room.

I really had no answer for her. I'd lost track of him when we had driven to the hospital,

"Jaime is going to be fine. Babe, just relax, please." I tried to get her to lie back down on the bed, to no avail. She continued to look around the room,

"Where's Jaime?" She got up out of the bed and began wandering around the hospital, looking for the place her brother might be hiding in.

I stood up and followed her out into the lobby, trying to stop her before she got herself into deep shit,

"Sicily, you need to lie down." I grabbed her hand and tried to pull her back. She whipped her hand out of mine and whirled around, glaring at me through tear filled eyes,

"I'll lie down when I know what the fuck happened to my big brother." There was a heat in her voice that I had never heard before.

I'd caught it in Jaime but never in Sicily. I'd known the girl only a week, sure, but still. This was something I didn't think someone as small as she would be capable of,

"Fine, just take it easy for me, please." Her eyes softened as she saw the weakness I had.

I was beaten and bruised, covered in blood, pleading that she stay calm. I'd go through hell and back for her. Just to see that face again. The way I love it. With that big smile and those gorgeous blue eyes.

I let my mind blank as Sicily asked the receptionist where Jaime was. My hands slipped into my pockets and I looked around at all the people waiting.

Several of the smaller kids were staring at me with all my blood stained gore. My snapback was laying backward on my head and my feet were shuffling over the white and grey flecked tiles. I caught one girl continually staring at me, not breaking her gaze and when I looked up at her I tried to smile, hoping she wouldn't think I was killing people.

When I did she quickly looked down at her feet.

No. I don't kill people. I may be big and have a lot of tattoos but that doesn't mean I kill people.

I sighed and Sicily turned around, taking me by the hand and pulling me through the halls of the hospital. I guess she found out where Jaime was,

"Ci, where are we going?"

"Room E 86. Jaime's there recovering from surgery." Woah. The one place they move fast is the hospital.

Who would have guessed.

The walk to Jaime's room was long and there were several long, drawling corridors that we had to pass through before we found the right room.

And even when we did we weren't allowed inside. Jaime was fresh off the operating room floor and they weren'tletting anyone touch him with a six foot pole.

I glanced inside the high window on the door and saw him lying on the bed, surrounded by who knows how many tubes and machines. There was one tube that was hooked up to a machine that had seemingly been taped to his mouth to keep him breathing.

He was actually depending on something.

Jaime had always been independent, ever since high school, when we first met in guitar center.

His skin was pale and his chest was bandaged tightly with flesh colored gauz that stood out against his tan torso.

His chest was rising and falling with the beeping of a monitor and his heartbeat could be heard sounding off rhythmically as his heart pushed blood through his veins.

Sicily stood up on her toes and caught a look at Jaime before collapsing back down, into my arms,

"I can't see him like this." She spoke quietly as I could feel the tears wetting my tank top. I wrapped my arms around her shoulders and held her close to my body, "He shouldn't have been shot. This wasn't supposed to happen."

"I know baby." I held her as she cried into my shirt, silently.

I'd forgotten that this would hurt her just as much, if not more than me. He was, literally all she had left to hold onto. Sure sometimes they weren't on the best of terms, but what siblings are?

They were all they had left of a broken- shattered family line. There was nowhere left for them to go but each other,

"He'll be fine." I hled her head to my chest with my hand and her arms slipped around my waist, "Don't you dare think otherwise, okay?" I pulled away at that thought and held her face in my hands, my eyes flashing back and forth between hers.

She nodded, weakly and I puled her back close to me, feeling her strong arms practically crush my ribs as she hugged me.

Even if he doesn't make it I'll be here for Sicily. No matter what, thick and thin. I'll do my best o be the best hat I can be for her.