Aftermath- A Wakko's Wish Drabble

The hospital bed was really uncomfortable.  The mattress had too many springs.  She had a tough time falling asleep, but managed to every now and then, because she was so exhausted.  The operation had really taken a lot out of her. She felt like she’d just run at least two marathons.  Dot dug her face into the stiff pillow and wished for better blankets. She wished for the comfort of her own bed in the silo. Even if it was straw, it was better. She was sure it was better than all the royal beds in the castle she would soon be occupying.

Sure, she was really content with living in a castle. Real warmth and carpets and walls that didn’t fall apart and sweet, sweet doors with locks. And a throne for her. Oh, and her brothers too, but mostly her.  Castle life was going to be great. But… no matter how comfortable and big that castle was… it wasn’t home. Home was that orphanage she grew up in. That silo her brothers built. Home was the small place where she could see both boys at all times. A castle was too big for that.

Dot was happy about the whole situation, either way. She was a princess!!

Drifting in and out of consciousness, she didn’t register the footsteps coming down the hall. Had she, Dot would’ve jumped up and armed herself with the nearest blunt object. Someone coming to steal her cuteness, eh? No way.  But she was drowsy, tired.  The door creaking open was the thing that snapped her eyes awake.

Dot sat straight up in the bed, trying to blink and adjust her eyes to the darkness, the silhouette in the doorway was too difficult to make out.  It was probably male, but who knew. Only when it walked over to her and put a hand on her shoulder did she realize it was her eldest brother.  Ever the light sleeper, he always was and always had been.  Dot wished she could see the look on his face. But she could imagine it. After going all the way to find a silly wishing star, watching her fake her own death, and waiting for her cutie mark operation to finish, she figured he was worried. He really needed to stop doing that. It was annoyingly endearing.

Dot blinked away more of the darkness, and she could see his frown and his nose now, but his eyes were too dark to make out. Yakko stared at her for what felt like an eternity, before Dot finally mustered up the energy to whisper.

“Hi,” Was all she could say.

“Dot.” He sounded like he had something to say. But, then again, he always did. But he really sounded like he did, this time. Something heavy was on his mind. He wasn’t just going to babble. One never really knew… but Dot did. She knew him. She always expected a lot of things from her brother.

Except for the bone crushing hug he gave her, right in that moment.

“How many times are you going to give me a heart attack, huh?” He muttered. Dot tentatively placed her hands on his shoulder blades, her chin securely resting on his shoulder. She blinked, confused.  What kinda question was that? Sure, she gave lots of men heart attacks from her sheer cuteness, but…

“Yakko…?” she croaked. Her brain was too tired to come up with anything to say.

“I lied to you. When I said that the acting classes never paid off. Because, really. They did. I… well.” He sounded tired too. But Yakko was known to run his mouth no matter what the circumstances…  “I really thought… you… I honestly th—“

Then Dot heard something she’d never heard in her short eight years of life. Her eldest brother’s voice cracked. She saw his hand go over his mouth in the darkness, and he turned his head away for a second, going completely silent. He must have been holding his breath, he was so quiet.  Dot found herself holding hers too, which was a bad idea. She had a wave of tiredness wash over her, and laid back down while Yakko collected himself.

“You thought I would have known you were faking it?” He asked, breaking the silence. Dot nodded, then realized he couldn’t see.

“Yes. You always see right through it. I thought I was being dramatic, Yakko. I thought it was so unlikely…of a thing…that you’d figure it out.”

“Maybe it didn’t seem so far-fetched considering Salazar had fired on us.” She could hear rage in his voice, he spat out the past king’s name. Dot didn’t know what source Yakko’s hate for the man came from, but it was obviously something from when she was a baby. Most of her brother’s secrets were from that past that she could hardly remember, that he had the privilege—or burden, perhaps—of knowing. But Salazar was terrible, so she didn’t blame him.

“It didn’t hit me,” she whispered. “It… came close…though.” Dot cringed and prepared for the worst. She almost heard a woosh when Yakko reeled back in fear, then immediately climbed into the bed next to her. It was so fast, it must’ve been a reflex.

Dot’s reflex of her own was to wrap herself around him and rest her head on his torso. “I’m sorry. I should’ve told you that. I didn’t—“she hiccupped. “—mean to freak you out.”

Yakko didn’t say anything for a while. He was preoccupied with holding his breath again, and clutching the back of Dot’s head like it was a precious gem.

They stayed like that for a minute, maybe more, until Dot scooched back and gave him an apologetic smile.  She had freaked him out.  Not on purpose, of course, but… she really had.  He had sounded pretty upset when it had all happened. Thinking back on it…

Oh. Oh Acme…

When she really thought about the event, really remembered what he had said and how he had sounded… and Wakko’s face, his expression. Gosh, his expression. Neither of them really knew.  Wakko had powered his way through it, for her.  He’d run away under the cover of her dying words.  Yakko… had sat there.  She had assumed to help with the distraction.  No one had noticed Wakko’s departure, he was usually quiet, anyway.

Either way, Yakko had held her face in his hands and cried.  That fact was undeniable.  But now… knowing it had been genuine… Dot felt like she had been hit with a ton of bricks.  Like Wakko had dumped his gag bag on her, or something. She couldn’t imagine what it would be like, being in his shoes. She never wanted to know.  Dot felt sick again.  Not sick like before—no coughing,—more that… she was going to puke.

She took a breath and sat up, to stop her racing heart.  Yakko was sitting next to her, a hand on her shoulder.  He was keeping quiet, for the time being. Wouldn’t last long.

“Hey. If it’s any consolation… I’m over it. Totally.” He was lying through his teeth, she knew it. But, hey, if those acting classes were really of any use…

“Good. So am I.”

“Right, then. Should I… go back home? You okay here?”

“Yes. Go ahead.” Acting classes, really. She was getting a lot better.

He hopped off the bed, and it creaked, to which Dot cringed. A headache was coming on, she felt it. His padded footsteps seemed to pound in her brain, emphasizing how much she really didn’t want him to go.  Yakko hadn’t really given her an honest smile in the last few days, and Dot was starting to worry. Worry. About her older brother. Now that’s backwards. He was the worrier.

“Yakko?”  He turned.

“Yeah?”

“I’m okay, so you should be okay too, okay?”

Her eyes were more adjusted to the dark now, and she could see the moonlight from the window glint in his eyes and off his teeth as a grin formed on his face.  That annoying contagious grin that she loved so much.

“Okay.”