Chapter Text
I open my eyes and it's dark. It takes me a minute to remember where I am. I turn to look at Willow but she's not there. I turn to look at Gus and he’s gone too. Panic starts to rise in my chest. I look over at the door and it’s open and there’s light coming in from the hall.
I start to roll on my side, and pain shoots up my arm. I yelp but continue moving. I need to find them, they might be in danger. I slowly push myself to my feet and lean on the wall to keep from falling over. I slowly make my way over to the door and look out. No one’s there. I stagger down the hall, my shoulder and chest throbbing with pain. I push through it and make it to the top of the stairs.
These are going to be a pain to get down, but I need to find them, I need to make sure they're safe. I take one step and my leg buckles under me. I manage to catch myself on the railing and shout in pain. I catch my breath and I hear footsteps coming from downstairs. I look up to see Luz standing at the bottom of the stairs, looking up at me.
“Hunter! What are you doing?” She asks, running up the stairs. She tucks under my good arm and hoists me up.
“I woke up and everyone was gone, I thought something happened.” I tell her. She slowly starts to help me down the stairs. I hear more footsteps and see the others coming.
“Hunter!” Willow calls out. “Are you okay? What are you doing?”
“Captain. I’m okay.” I say. Willow runs up the stairs and puts an arm around me to make sure I don't fall.
“This idiot woke up and decided to try to get down the stairs by himself while injured.” Luz tells the others.
“Hunter,” Amity says, shaking her head and Gus just laughs. Willow and Luz help me the rest of the way down and lead me into the kitchen. I see Camila and Vee making food on the stove. I sit down at the table and the others do too.
“Hunter, how are you feeling?” Camila asks.
“I’m okay.” I mumble. Camila brings food to the table and Vee sets out plates. Luz and Vee dive in. Gus looks excitedly at the food. Willow and Amity look at the food skeptical. Slowly they dish up, Camila explains what food she made. I stare down at my plate not sure what to do. Luz looks over at me and tilts her head.
“Here,” Luz says, putting some food on my plate. “It’s not poisoned.” She smiles at me and I give her a weak smile. I reach forward to grab my fork and pain shoots through my arm and chest. I grown in pain and put my head back against the chair. This sucks, I can’t use my right arm.
“Hunter, what’s wrong?” Willow asks, concerned. I half shrug and point to the bandages on my arm.
“I’m right handed.” I say. Luz laughs and chokes on her food. Gus and Willow bite back a laugh. I pick up my fork with my left hand awkwardly. I try to pick up some food and it falls off the fork. I try a couple more times before I give up and stare at the plate. I see a piece of bread on a plate in the center of the table. I lean forward and grab it. I shove it in my mouth and watch the others eat. Everyone eats in silence, then Vee and Luz get up to clean up breakfast.
“Luz, I’m going to the store later. Is there anything that you or your friends need?” Camila asks as she gets up from the table.
“Not that I can think of.” Luz answers.
The others get up to help clean up. Right, I think to myself, we need to earn our keep. I use my good hand to push myself standing. I wobble a bit but stay standing. I take a step and my knee buckles. I put my hands out to catch myself, I fall landing on my hands and knees. Pain shoots through my arm and chest. It feels like the gold veins are back, snaking across my chest. I collapse the rest of the way, the pain so bad it hurts to breathe.
“Hunter!!” Someone calls. Tears run down my face. Someone rolls me onto my back and pulls me onto their lap. “Hunter!” I hear again, my surroundings overwhelmed by pain. It is hard to breathe, like my chest is burning. My arm feels like it's on fire, pain sinking down to the bone. I try to scream but there’s not enough air in my lungs. I feel something on my arm and try to flinch away. I find I can't move, someone is holding me down. I can’t tell what’s happening, my vision is blurred by pain and tears. I move my head around trying to get free and make the pain stop.
All of a sudden I can breathe. I gasp for air, trying to air back in my lungs. The pain slowly recedes only leaving the memory of it and an ache in my bones. Slowly my surroundings come back into focus. I sob in relief and open my eyes. I see the tile floor and someone's arm. I turn my head to look up and see people sitting around me. It takes me a second to recognize them, my friends.
“Hunter?” Willow asks, her eyes filled with tears. I realize I’m laying in her lap again just like last night.
“I’m sorry.” I sob, turning my head away not wanting to see the tears that I caused.
“Mijo, are you okay? Are you still in pain?” Camila asks. The others sit next to me wondering the same thing.
“I’m okay, I think. The pain is not that bad.” I tell her and look back up.
“Hunter, you scared us.” Luz says, grabbing my good hand. I look over at her and she is also crying.
“I’m sorry.” I say again. My eyes dry and my breath evens out. “I’m sorry.” I whisper.
“Hunter, you don’t have to be sorry. It’s okay.” Camila responds. “Let's get you up, Mijo.” Willow helps me sit up, then her and Amity help me stand. Luz leads them to the couch and makes a place for me to sit. Carefully they set me down on the couch. Luz wraps me in a blanket and I realize I’m still not wearing a shirt. Gus sits next to me and leans on my shoulder. Camila comes over with a glass of water. She brings it up to my mouth and slowly tips it into my mouth. I gulp down the water and thank her.
“No problem, Hunter. Just rest now.” Camila tells me. She walks over to Luz. “Luz I need to go to the store real quick. Will you be okay for a bit?”
“We’ll be fine Mama. I’ll make sure he doesn’t do any else stupid.” Luz says, looking over at me. Camila gets ready to leave, hugs Luz, and she heads out the door. Luz sits down on the couch and turns on the screaming box. We watch random cartoons for a while and I slowly drift off to sleep.
***********
I slowly start to wake up, I hear voices talking in the distance. I open my eyes and look around, Gus still sleeping on my shoulder and Willow sitting next to be staring at the wall. On my other side Amity sits twirling her thumbs. I feel an ache in my chest and arm. I think of what happened earlier and how I made my friends cry.
“Willow.” I say quietly, turning my head to look at her. She doesn’t respond so I say her name again. She looks over this time.
“Hey, what’s up? How are you feeling?” she asks me.
“I want to apologize for earlier.” I say, looking at the ground. “I’m sorry I made you cry.”
“Hunter.” she says, and I look up at her. “It’s okay. It’s not your fault.” I look away again.
“But I made you upset.” I say quietly. “I did something stupid again and made you cry. How could that not be my fault.”
“I cried because I care about you and I don’t like seeing you in pain. Yes, you did something stupid but I don’t blame you for it. We all do stupid things sometimes.”
“Why would anyone care about me? I don’t deserve it.” I whisper, still staring at the ground. I hear Willow move next to me and flinch. She gets off the couch and sits in front of me.
“You deserve it Hunter. Everyone deserves to have someone care about them. I care about you and so do the rest of the people here. Even if you don’t deserve it, we will still care about you. I know you grew up in a place where people did not care what happened to you but you're safe now and you have people who care about you.” Willow says lightly.
“But..” I start to say but she cuts me off.
“It’s okay, it’s okay for people to care about you. I know you care about us and we care about you too. It’s okay if it takes a while for you to understand or believe us when we say it, but I’ll keep saying it till you do.” I meet her eyes and she smiles. I smile weakly at her.
“Hunter.” Amity says, I look over at her. “Willow’s right. We care about you and as much as you don’t want us to worry, we will. That's what friends do, we just want to keep you safe. It took me a while to believe that people cared about me as well. It takes a bit of getting used to. Having people care about you is a good thing and it means you found people you can trust.” she smiles at me and Willow nods. I hear someone walk out of the kitchen and look up.
“Finally, someone got it through that thick head of his.” Luz says and we all laugh.
“Thanks guys.” I say smiling. They look at me and smile back.
“Hunter, how's your arm?” Luz asks.
“Not bad.” I answer.
“That’s good. Mama got you some things that might help. Also we should change your bandages.” Luz tells me and I nod. I look over at Gus who’s still sleeping. Willow gets up and gently moves Gus over and lays him down. “Do you want to come into the kitchen or go upstairs?” Luz asks.
“Kitchen.” I tell her. Willow helps me stand up and makes sure I don’t fall over again. I grip her shoulder and slowly move towards the kitchen. She stabilizes me while I walk but she doesn’t have to carry my weight like last time. I make it to the kitchen and sit down. I see bags of groceries sitting on the table. Camila comes over to me with something in her hand.
“I’m going to give you a pain killer before I clean your arm so what happened doesn’t happen again.” Camila tells me. “This might hurt a bit.” she says as she puts the needle in my arm. I sit patiently as we wait for the morphine to kick in. The ache in my bones goes away. I start to untape the edge of my bandage before Camila stops me.
“Mijo let me do it. You can’t do it with one arm.” She tells me. I stop and let her do it. I hiss in pain as she unwraps the bandage. After she’s done unwrapping it she reaches into one of the bags and grabs some burn cream. She gently puts it on my arm and chest and I try not hiss in pain. She finishes and starts wrapping it back up.
“Hunter, what were you trying to do earlier after breakfast?” Camila asks.
“I was trying to help clean up.” I tell her. She looks up at me confused.
“You’re injured and you’re a guest, you don’t have to help clean up.” She tells me.
“But how else am I supposed to earn my keep?” I ask confused.
“Hunter, sweetie, you don’t have to earn your keep here.” She explains softly.
“I don’t understand. Why?” I ask. She looks up at me, her eyes wondering what to say next.
“That’s not how we do things here. You kids don’t have to earn anything here.” She says as she finishes wrapping burns. “Do you understand Hunter?”
“I think so, maybe?” I say. She looks through the bags again and pulls out a sling.
“Here.” She says and helps me put it on. “Is that better?” I nod. She smiles at me and starts to put stuff away. As I sit there my mind starts to drift.
This place is so different from the castle. No more fending for myself, no more dealing with things alone. People who care about me, people who make me feel safe. I’ve never had this before, it’s nice, I think.