Wake Up, Omega

What sticks with him, as he listens to the doctors go on and on, is the fact that Omega could have died. Omega could have died, and if he had, the last thoughts he would have had about Delta was that he was hated. That they fought. That they couldn’t see eye to eye. That, and he has to wonder about how Omega would feel about Delta being in charge of medical situations in an emergency. Delta hates hospitals, hates doctors, hates knowing the terrible things that can happen. But Beta isn’t anywhere on medical records, so Delta is the next of kin.

At last the doctors walk away and Delta is left alone with his brother. Left alone in a hospital room with the lights dimmed, Omega unconscious. Drugged. There is metal in his leg now. Omega will like that. A bionic man. They rebuilt him, he is better. And he almost died.

Tex, Beta is gone, and Delta doesn’t know what to do with that. Instead he stays silent in the chair by the bed.

Strange how cold he feels inside. He’d thought if it ever came to this, there would be tears. Sure, they threaten a little at the idea that his brother might have died, or that Omega thought… But he doesn’t know what Omega thinks. So many times Omega had told him that, and Delta needed to accept his own limitations of knowledge of his sibling.

When did they grow apart? When did they get like this?

“You know, you could have waited for your second job.”

The room doesn’t respond. There is silence. The monitors muted for the sake of Delta sleeping here. The nurses wanted to argue, but they had looked at Tex and… well, no one dared say no.

But it’s silent, and Delta wishes his brother was awake to respond, to yell at him, to argue.

“I didn’t mean to… start all these fights,” Delta whispers, reaching out and resting his hand on his brother’s. It’s not as warm as it should be. “I just… All of my life is changing and not for the best. So much of my life wasted, and you maybe scared to tell me until we had something else?”

Delta sighs. Why is he doing this? These are things to say when awake. But he has to say it now, or he might never.

“Don’t die, okay? I love you, Meg, and I need you here at my side. This is our family, and I can’t do any of this without you. This is what we do. We care for our family. Yeah, we’re finally learning new things, but this is what we are. Family. About family. For the family. And… please just wake up, okay? I get scared of the thought of doing all of this without you.”

His fingers squeeze around Omega’s hand.

“I’m sorry. For all of it. Everything I’ve said and done. I’m just so scared of the changes. You and me, Omega, we were the constants. That’s how we kept them going. And we’re changing now too. I don’t know what to do anymore. Please… wake up and tell me.”

But he doesn’t. Of course he doesn’t. With a sigh Delta pulls his chair a bit closer. His hand still on Omega’s, he leans over the bed. Rests his head on a corner of Omega’s pillow. Not that he’ll sleep. But for now? For now he just wants to be close.