Chapter Text
Seattle — 2016…
“Ow- damn-it!” Daniel swore as he fell yet another time. The boy couldn’t complain though. He did have a great time.
“You almost got it, Daniel. Try another time.” Sean, his older brother, encouraged him. He made it look so easy. Daniel couldn’t understand how he did it because this shit is anything but easy.
Skating.
Daniel saw his brother do it years ago, and even then it looked easy to him. He wanted to try it himself, so Daniel saved up enough money to buy himself a brand-new skateboard. Then, Sean took him to the skate park. To say that Daniel wasn’t ready would be putting it mildly.
Hours upon hours of falling flat on his ass, scrubbing his knees, and swearing. So much swearing. Still, Daniel refused to give up. He’s not leaving this place until he’s jumped over that rail at least once.
“You got this, Enano. Remember… focus.” Ok, focus. Daniel takes a moment while preparing himself for another attempt at the impossible.
“Ok, dude, come on, fucking focus!” Daniel tells himself before going down the ramp once again. He locks his eyes on the metal rail as he prepares to jump.
“Oh, shit-” Daniel whispered in disbelief as he jumped over the rail and landed unsteady, yet safely, on the other side.
“Sean?! You see that, Sean, I made it! I made it, Sean!” Daniel shouts in excitement while turning to his big brother. Meanwhile, Sean comes walking to him with a grin on his face.
“Nice job, Enano.” Sean pats his little brother on the shoulder as a way to tell him that he did a good job. Then, the wolfbrothers went to the nearby ice cream stand to get some well-deserved ice cream. Sean got one for himself and one for Daniel. They both tasted horrible, but neither brother cared much, least of all Daniel. This had been an awesome day.
“Hey, Sean?” Daniel mumbles, slightly tired.
“Yeah?” Sean answers while paying more attention to his ice cream than his brother.
“Thanks for taking me here. It’s been an awesome day.” Daniel tries to hide his smile as Sean wraps an arm around him.
“It’s ok, bro. I had a good time too. We can come back here some other time if you want to.” Sean says as he looks at the time on his phone.
“Well, it’s getting late, Daniel. You ready to get back home?” Neither of them knew it at the time, but they would both spend the rest of their lives wishing that Daniel would’ve answered “yes”.
“Hang on, Sean. I just wanna try one last time…” The little cub did not wait for any approval from the older wolf. He ran to the top of the ramp while carrying his skateboard under his arm, and leaving his helmet behind. He stared at the rail in the distance, and then he began descending from the ramp.
Fast.
Way too fast.
Especially for a beginner.
This beginner, however, radiated overconfidence that caused him to ignore such things in the belief that he could handle them. Daniel reached the rail much faster than he previously did, something he wasn’t prepared for.
He panicked as several things happened at once, leading to a catastrophic event that would change the life of Daniel Felipe Diaz forever.
Daniel’s brain told him to get the fuck off the skateboard and move to safety. His heart told him to stay focused, keep a steady balance, and jump over the damn thing. Daniel’s eyes were deadlocked with his brother’s as the latter began to realize what was about to happen. Combine those things, and Daniel’s body wouldn’t do what he told it to. Each of his limbs had a will of its own. He jumped, and then, in mid-air, he lost his footing.
Daniel could see Sean’s eyes widen with fear as he fell backward while still being in mid-air. A loud, clanking sound, echoed across the park as the small boy hit the back of his head against the rail.
Sean could see right from the start that something was wrong. He stood up as Daniel picked up speed, and then, Sean Diaz saw the second-worst sight in his entire life. It was, however, his worst at the time. He could see how Daniel’s expression changed from one that said “Fuck yeah, I’m doing it, Sean! Watch me!” to something along the lines of “Oh, shit. Well, guess I’m hurting myself again.”
Sean, however, would never be able to erase Daniel’s final expression. The one he had when their eyes met. It told him more than words ever could. Still, Sean almost wished that they didn’t.
“Help me, big brother. I’m scared, and I don’t know what to do. Help me.” But Sean couldn't help his brother. He just stood there and watched in horror as Daniel’s head hit the rail with full force. For the next ten seconds, neither brother moved. With his fear completely paralyzing him, Sean felt helpless. Did he just watch his little brother die? Only when Daniel’s legs start to move around does he snap back to the real world.
“DANIEL?!?!?!” Sean rushes to his brother’s side, kneeling next to him, and puts a palm to the side of his head.
No blood.
That’s good.
Right?
“Daniel, talk to me! Are- are you hurt?” Sean’s made it his life’s work to be strong for his little brother. He never cried in front of, or near Daniel, and he never spoke openly about how shitty he sometimes felt mentally. All of that would fall apart here. Tears poured down his face, but he didn’t give a shit, nor did Sean care about the fear he so obviously showed.
How could he not?
“Daniel, please, talk to me!!!” Sean almost screams at his brother’s face while begging him to wake up.
“Uh, what the hell, Sean? Stop- stop screaming, you asshole!” Daniel mutters at him while sounding a bit groggy. Sean’s never been so happy to be called an asshole in his life. A twenty-ton boulder evaporates in his gut as he realizes that Daniel’s going to be just fine.
“Sorry, Enano, sorry. I- I didn’t mean to- you just scared me, it’s all.” Sean gives his brother a moment to recover before asking him the question he doesn’t want the answer to.
“Are you hurt, Daniel?” Sean looks at him seriously. Daniel’s still a bit out of it but seems to realize that this isn’t a time to fool around. The younger Diaz brother moves around carefully on the ground, one limb at a time as Sean bites his tongue.
“No. No, I don’t think so.” Sean breathes out a sigh of relief. The kid’s fine. Thank god.
“Good. No headaches or anything?” Daniel shakes his head in rapid succession. Feeling confident that this scare is over, Sean believes this to be a good time to get out of here.
“I think it’s time we call it a night, Daniel. You good to walk home?” Sean stood up and offered Daniel his hand.
“Yeah. I think so, Sean. Let’s go home.” Daniel grabbed his brother’s helping hand, using it to pull himself to his feet. Then, the wolfbrothers began heading for their home lair. Sean felt like shit. He screwed up on a massive scale today, and Daniel’s the one paying for it. Still, that’s not even the worst part. Sean keeps telling himself that Daniel’s good to walk home and in no need to see a doctor. However, Sean also repeatedly tells himself that the decision to head home instead of to the hospital has nothing to do with the fact that he’s afraid of how their father would react when learning about it. Sean could already see his painful and judgmental eyes.
“I am so disappointed in you, Sean.” Esteban Diaz rarely if ever, got angry. Instead, he got disappointed. And that hurt so much more. It hurt more because Sean knew that every word spoken was the truth, and not the loud bullshit people randomly call each other while screaming at the top of their lungs.
He tried to convince himself it had nothing to do with that.
“Hey, Sean?” Daniel’s voice drags Sean out from his shameful trail of thoughts. He turns around to notice how Daniel’s far behind him.
“Hey, man, everything ok?” Sean understood immediately that the answer to that question was “no.”
“My head hurts, Sean. It hurts really bad.” Sean tries to hide the invisible punch he just received in the gut while kneeling to check on his brother.
“Fuck. What the fuck’s going on with him?” Sean wonders while carefully checking Daniel’s skull for… whateverthefuck. He’s got no clue about what he’s doing right now, and he knows it. Everything seems normal to him. When looking at his younger brother’s eyes, however, things felt far from normal.
The boy appeared confused, lost, and scared. Almost as if he’s not quite “there.” Sean’s starting to get a bit nervous, but he believes that Daniel needs to rest. Therefore, they must get home as soon as possible.
“Daniel, I need you to trust me, ok? Grab my hand, and we’ll be home in a few minutes, Enano.” The wolfbrothers situation goes from bad to worse as Sean watches his little brother try to grab hold of his hand.
Try… and fail.
Try… and fail.
Over and over again. Sean realized that whatever happened when Daniel hit his head is far worse than he imagined.
“Daniel, look at me. I said, look at me!” And if Sean thought that his little brother looked confused before…
“Who- who are you?” Those eyes told the story. Daniel’s terrified of this stranger, screaming at his face. And this stranger’s heartbroken that Daniel can’t remember his own big brother. Sean took a deep breath while forcing back his tears. Now is not the time for crying. Now is the time for action!
“I have to get you to the hospital, ok? Come with me.” The hospital isn’t too far. Hell, it’s even closer than their home, so walking there would be much faster than calling an ambulance.
However…
“Hey… wait.” Daniel slurred to him. Sean didn’t want to stop, but still, for reasons he cannot explain, he did so anyway.
“What’s wrong, man?” Sean looked at his brother, immediately wishing that this day never happened. Daniel’s pale as a ghost, and he’s hyperventilating.
“I- I den’t- don’t… good.” What? Sean felt a chill at the top of his neck, making its way down throughout his entire spine. His brother couldn’t speak real words now? What the fuck is going on?!?!?!
“Daniel… we have to go.” Sean almost whimpers as a plea to Daniel to make the first move.
“Nu-uh… I dun- I wanna… I’m god, Sean… just god…” Daniel takes a few steps forward before losing his balance completely, and falling on the grass.
“Shit! Daniel, are you hurt?” Sean pulls his younger brother to his feet. He could see Daniel’s mouth open as if he were about to respond, but vomit replaced the words. Sean watched in horror as he got an impulse, telling him what to do.
“Pick Daniel up, and run to the hospital.” Don’t think, just do it. The only problem is, that Sean can’t do it. He’s paralyzed by his own fear. After the small eternity his brother spent vomiting, Sean finally felt ready to check on him again.
“Daniel, come on, we have to go, Enano.” His younger brother turns to face him. This is where Sean Diaz would witness the most horrifying event in his entire life.
Daniel stood there with a blank expression and a pale-white face. His entire body trembled, he hyperventilated, and his clothes are covered in vomit. Sean, however, only saw one thing.
“Daniel… your nose?” Sean raised his finger to point at the steady stream of blood, pouring out of his little brother’s nose at an alarmingly fast rate. Slowly, Daniel raised his left hand to touch his nose.
“Oh…” Daniel, the boy that almost passed out after witnessing the bloodbath that was Sean slicing an onion, barely reacted to having his hand, colored red by blood. At the corner of his eyes, however, Sean could see how Daniel’s right arm began to twitch in a strange way.
“Hey, Sean? Why can’t I feel my right arm? It’s weird. I don’t think it’s-” Sean saw it happen in slow-motion. He saw Daniel’s dark-brown puppy-eyes roll into the back of his head, making Daniel look like the little brother from your nightmares. Sean saw, and he could swear that he almost heard it too, every single muscle in that small body as it tensed itself to the very limit and beyond. Then, Sean witnessed his little brother collapse on the ground.
The life of the wolfbrothers would never be the same again.