alistair & alexander balfour.
time and time again, he’d told his little brother that ‘ this menial little job of yours, it’s going to get you killed ’. and as much as hope had droned on about the importance of supporting your family unconditionally, no matter what career path they embarked on, alistair had remained skeptical. with good reason, it seemed, too, as his brother had now, almost to the minute, been non-responsive for ten days straight. “ — listen, ” he sighed, clearly having had enough of this nurses persistence. “ frankly, i could care less about what your ‘standard procedures’ are like. your standard procedures don’t cut it. i want this fixed, immediately, so see to it before i get your superiors involv— ” his threat was cut off by the sound of the alarm sounding from the other end of the suite. he’s about to lecture brody, both about his use of language and his blatant disregard for his own safety, but is promptly cut off by the door slamming behind him. “ oh, this has got to be a joke. you couldn’t even bother to get dressed properly before barging in, xan ? ” and then, to the nurse: “ surely you don’t get paid to stand around witnessing family reunions. don’t you have check-ups to do ? ”
oh, for fucks sake. right in the middle of —, he groaned internally as the alarm blared. a disturbance, but also an effective indicator that their sleeping beauty finally woke up. “ well, that’s my cue. thanks for the check up, doc. ” he sighed, getting up from the chair to sloppily pull his trousers up, buttoning up a few buttons on his shirt as he exited his brother’s attending physician’s office.
behind the door to the suite, he could hear his younger brother’s voice. “ must you always assert dominance everywhere you go alistair ? let the staff do what they’re trained to do. they’re professionals. they know what they’re doing, yes ? ” he gives the nurse a polite smile. “ now, won’t you be a dear & get my brother some morphine ? ” the nurse nods, biting down on her lip when he gave her a quick wink, before she excuses herself out of the room leaving the siblings to themselves. “ how could i even think of dressing decently at a time like this ? despite what you think, i’m not that selfish. ” he leans in to whisper into alistair’s ear, then gave him a pat on the back before walking over to brody’s side, glancing at sabrina who was passed out on the settee right by the bed. “ don’t strain yourself, princess. relax. just lay down. we can adjust the bed for you if you so desire to sit up. ”
“ if you two are going to fucking bicker over my prone fucking body, i swear to god i’ll get security called on the both of you. ” brody spoke over his brothers, his body felt like it was on fire and they decide to argue over xan’s oufit ? to be fair, he couldn’t think of anything he wanted less than to be graced with his oldest brother’s presence but it definitely meant that something was seriously wrong with him right now. he grasped the bed’s remote control in his hand and managed to prop himself up enough that it didn’t hurt but so he could survey his surroundings also. after giving the sterile hospital room a scan, his eyes landed on one person, though sleeping he couldn’t help but murmur a pleased: “ ‘brina ! ” he also noticed scattered paperwork, a macbook and a briefcase on a table, and knew that alistair had been working here, for however long, and he felt unreasonably warm inside because of it.
“ first of all, can someone tell me what the hell is happening ? ” he huffed. it annoyed him that the action made his lungs feel like they were set on fire and stomped on, but considering all of his siblings were gathered in one place for once, he decided to ignore it. “ and for the love of god, you, ” he spoke, pointing to alistair, his finger shaking as he did so. “ don’t scare my nurses, my life literally rests in their bloody hands ! and you, ” he turned to alexander. “ stop fucking shagging all of my nurses. don’t you have a wife ? ” it was a low blow, brody knew, bringing up xan’s ex-wife, but frankly, he didn’t find himself giving much of a second thought to his sibling who’d unceremoniously left them, only popping in when it suited him.
the last time one of them was sick ( it was sab, and not a shock at all ), their mum and dad had better things to do than tend to her, despite brody dropping out of a race to rush to her bedside. the thought of them not showing up for him made him terrified and relieved in equal parts. they weren’t here so maybe they didn’t, but he again turned to alistair to check anyway. “ mum and dad ? ” he felt like a kid again, almost ready to cry.
