How Green Becomes Wood

"I think it'll be a really special event," Daizi said contentedly.

After dinner, Dark brought Ivy into the living room while Daizi did the dishes. She absolutely refused help from anyone, saying Alec helped to cook and Xander needed to sit and rest.

After it was all done, she joined the rest of them in the living room until it was time for Ivy to go to bed. A few hours afterwards, once they both made sure Xander had everything he needed, they went upstairs to ready themselves for bed. Afterall, Daizi had work in the morning.
 
Xander had grumbled about the attention, but at the same time, he was kind of enjoying it. It was nice to be taken care of, but he was also a little uncomfortable because he was used to being the one to take care of others. He did try not to complain too much, though, and did keep his foot fully elevated. The elevation and complete immobility did help with the pain, which meant that when it was time for bed and going down the stairs, lowering his foot to do so caused a sharp bite of pain he hadn't been expecting.

Alec helped Xander to the stairs, but they weren't wide enough to support the pair of them going down side by side. Gripping the stair railing on one side and leaning on the opposite wall, Xander was able to carefully let himself down one step at a time. Alec followed, grumbling about how Xander should have just slept on the couch, but Xander refused. He wanted the comfort of his own bed! Alec helped get him dressed in his pajamas, settled him into bed, asked three times if he was okay, and finally left to let him sleep. Sleep didn't come easily, and he kept waking up with pinches of pain every time he shifted wrong in his sleep, but he finally got enough to feel like he could survive the day.

The next morning, Xander got out of bed, automatically put his foot on the floor to stand, and ended up curled on the floor, whimpering in pain. That had... not been a good idea. It took him a while to gather himself enough to try getting up again. Anytime his foot came even close to touching the floor, his body literally refused to put weight on it again. As long as he kept it still and up, he mostly felt a chilling numbness that was not normal at all. He realized that from where his bedroom was, he couldn't even get to the stairs easily. Finally, he gave up and began crawling painfully and rather pathetically to the stairs across the concrete floor and then up the steps. It was surprisingly tiring to crawl.
 
In the morning, Dark was in the kitchen preparing breakfast, when he heard an odd noise. He paused for a moment, looking around and expecting to see Enkidu had gotten into something he shouldn't be, or that Ivy had gotten into something she shouldn't be. But Ivy was upstairs with her mother, and Enkidu was sleeping under the dining room table. Setting his spoon aside and taking his pan off the stove, he went to investigate.

At the sight of his son, his eyes widened and, too shocked to even swear, ran over and dropped down beside him, "Xander! Khalas, what are you doing?"
 
Xander had just barely made it to the top, and he shifted to sit on the stair landing, huffing a bit. "I am trying out for a stair climbing competition," he said sarcastically. Then he said more seriously, though his tone was tinged with pain and annoyance, "I can't use my foot. At all. I needed up. So, here I am. Mostly up." Wincing, he turned and started trying to crawl over to the nearest chair. Hard floors were murder on the knees! And sometimes his leg dropped enough to hit his foot, which hurt his ankle.
 
Xander groaned and flopped on the floor on his stomach. "I'm doing fine," he said, his voice muffled by the floor. "I'm almost there. I can make it." He reached out one arm and plopped it on the floor. It was nowhere near any sort of chair or assistance.
 
"I will not," Dark said confidently. This was, in its way, what he had been training for all these years. The visuals of his physique were certainly a bonus, but all of the work he did in the gym was to give him the strength and endurance needed to rescue his family in an emergency. Now his son was on the floor, unable to walk. "Yalla," He said, helping Xander first up into a seated position, "Let me help you onto your good leg, okay? Lean on me."

It was a rare instance where Dark did not try to touch Xander as lightly as possible, because the last thing he wanted was for Xander to stumble and then either fall onto their hard floor or put his weight on his bad leg and hurt it worse than it already was. He held his son firmly but gently, and once Xander's arms were around his neck, he gently lifted him up as though he weighed nothing. As he carried him to the couch, Dark cradled him with the same tenderness as when he was holding Ivy when she was near to falling asleep, and he sat him down with the utmost care. "I am taking you to the doctor."
 
The touch was still uncomfortable, but it was needed. Xander was tense from the first Dark touched him, but he was able to endure far more than he used to. If Dark had been forced to carry him like this when they'd first come into this house, Xander would not have been able to stop himself from squirming and wiggling. Now, he was stiff as a board, but not fighting it. He appreciated Dark's help, and he could tell his father was being as gentle as he could. Not to mention, Xander was seriously impressed with Dark's ability, but he wasn't going to say it.

It was also a testiment to how much his ankle hurt that he only said, "Okay," to Dark's statement about doctors. After a moment, he reluctantly asked, "Can Alec come?"
 
For the past year or more, Dark and Daizi had been attempting to get their sons to unknot some of their codependent ties and understand they did not always need to both stay out of school for any setback. As he sat on the side of the couch next to Xander, though, it didn't really seem like just any setback.

"If you need him to." Dark answered, looking seriously into his eyes. His own were like embers which had not yet begun to cool, and for a time he was silent as he gazed into his son.

Finally, he said, "I never want you to do something like that again. Do you understand? I know it is difficult to ask for help---believe me, I know it is difficult. But if your leg is broken, you could have made it so much worse. Being stubborn to such a degree will only harm yourself, and it is not worth it." Once more, he felt silent, not looking away from Xander. When he spoke again, he simply confessed, "You frightened me."
 
"Thanks," Xander mumbled when Dark said Alec could come if Xander needed him. He was not certain how to properly explain why he needed Alec, or maybe he could have, but in his head it sounded stupid, but in truth, Xander wanted Alec to come because he knew what awaited him at the doctor's. A lot of touching and handling that would be needed, but so very unbearable. If he had Alec, at least there was one person he could hang onto that was familiar and "safe." Maybe he could even try to pretend it was Alec handling his ankle instead of the doctor. He knew, logically, that he didn't need Alec, but... He was in pain and frightened. He was trying to not show it too much because it was "just an ankle," but not being able to put his foot on the ground and use it frightened him.

He looked down when Dark scolded him, knowing full well he deserved it. "Sorry. It's just... It's just an ankle!" He waved his hand vaguely in the direction of his foot. "It was just stairs! I thought I should-could do it. And I wasn't thinking clearly. Sorry." He gripped his shirt tightly.
 
"I forgive you." Dark replied, and he really did. It would be hypocritical for him not to. "Your ankle sounds little, but all of the weight of your body goes onto it. When it hurts, it is going to hurt badly."

Dark really wanted to look at was happening beneath the bandaging he had meticulously applied, but if it was hurting so badly, he knew it was better left alone until professionals had a chance to look at it. So instead, he told Xander, "Once Daizi is ready for work, we can take her to the train station again, unless you also need her to stay home, and then the three of us will go to the doctor. Are you hungry?"
 
Xander shook his head. "No, she should head to work. Work's important, especially when you are just getting back to it. I'm kind of hungry, yeah."

Alec came down then and looked between them in confused worry. "What's going on? I thought you slept downstairs."

"I did, and now I'm upstairs," Xander told him.

Alec eyed Dark's face and then Xander's foot. "It's worse, isn't it?"
 
"It is," Dark said, standing up, "I am taking him to the hospital after we bring Daizi to work. Your presence was requested, I will call you both out of school while I return to breakfast." What he had started on was probably cold mush by now, but that was fine. He could start over.
 
Alec sat down carefully next to Xander and took his hand. "It'll be alright. I'll come with you," he assured his brother. "But I bet you won't even need me."

Xander snorted. "Right. I'm overreacting. It'll be fine." But he squeezed his brother's hand tightly.
 
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