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Aemond loses control of his car two blocks away from his mother's house. He's far too drunk for a worknight, which is surprising, since he rarely ever is. That, in addition to the unworking left headlight of his car and his general lack of awarness of his surroundings, combined with Aegon's usual state of drunkness and recklessness, creates a recipe for disaster, that ends in the younger hitting Aegon and his stupidly named motorcycle Sunfyre headfirst.
Aemond sobers up imediatelly. The general idea of causing hurt to others is generally unappealing to him. He steps out the car, phone in hand, dialing 999 on his phone while he approached whomever he had hit. It took him two or three seconds of looking to realize that it was Aegon sprawled out on the ground, his silver wavy hair unmistakable. His face was turned away from his brother, but Aemond knew.
He dropped his phone in panic, running towards the unmoving body of his older sibling. He kneeled beside him, head dropping to his chest. Aemond could hear his heart beating weakly. He let out the breath he'd been holding, palming through his pockets; when he remember that he had let his phone fall a few meters behind, he got up, running towards it.
He didn't let go of Aegon's hand in the ambulance ride, his whole body shaking in desperation. I could've killed him. I nearly did was all that went through his mind that moment. When they arrived, Aemond kept trying to glance into the emergency room they had put his brother in. It took nearly an hour until a nurse came up to him, hair no longer in his usual updo, eyepatch off, his left eye, or lack there off, itching like crazy. She tapped him in the shoulder, earning a shudder from him, before he turned towards her.
Her words got caught on her throat for a second or two at the sight of his eye implant. "We did an X-Ray, he's got a broken arm and a dislocated shoulder, but other than that physically he appears fine." She paused, looking for a reaction, a question, anything; when that didn't happen, she continued. "You're his brother, right? I need you to answer a questionnaire about his medical history to your best knowledge. Oh, and I need you to sign a few things too. Just... standard procedure."
Aemond hummed in agreeance, taking the papers from her hands, filling them up to his best ability. His hands were still shaking, and his heart was still racing, but he was calmer now that he knew Aegon would most likely be fine. Most of the questions were easy enough to answer, what you would generally expect from a medical questionnaire; questions about alcohol consumption (yes to that one), smoking (Aegon swore he had quit a few months back, but Aemond wasn't totally convinced), history of drug usage, keeping a balanced diet, exercising, among others. Aemond signed consent forms and handed it to another nurse at reception, going back to look for his brother.
Aemond quickly noted that Aegon was no longer in the emergency room he had been before. He felt himself start to panic again, looking for the nurse that had talked to him earlier; she found him before he found her, placing a slight touch on his shoulder that almost made him jump. "Your brother is in the second floor being monitored, since he hasn't woken up yet and all. Follow me to reception, I'll get you a visitors pass." She said, motioning to the reception counter. He followed her there, and was given a tag with his name and the number of the room he was visiting.
When he gets in line for the elevator, he finally notices the disgusted looks of people around him; he hadn't taken a proper bath in more than a day at that point, and he had been drinking, so he could guess he didn't smell the best. He was also aware that he looked like shit; his hair was a mess, now all tangled (he noticed minutes prior, when he tried to run a hand through it and it got stuck immediately), his poorly covered shirt was dirty with tomato sauce from the past he had been eating earlier, and, to top it all off, he still didn't have his eyepatch back on. He probably should go back to using it, as the sight always weirded out unknown people around him, but he really couldn't care less at that moment. He shoved his still shaking hands into the front pockets of his jeans, his left foot bouncing against the floor. When one of the elevators became avaliable, he pratically shoved his way inside, pressing the button to the second floor.
He walked in an almost running pace, looking for his brother's room, of which he had memorized the number for. It took him less than a minute, even in the non-ending hospital floor he was in. When he found it, he opened the door carefully as to not startle his brother, only realizing he couldn't do that anyway since he was unconcious. The nurse said he should be awake in a few hours, though, so Aemond chalked it up to him being hopeful. Aegon looked more peaceful than ever, even in the state he was in; he had the same pouty face he made when he was asleep when they were younger, his silver hair thrown over his face, his breath calm. Aemond would say he looked beautiful, if that didn't feel weird. He moved his eyes lower; his arm had been put in a cast, and then into a sling, for the shoulder, Aemond concluded. His hands was scratched, bruised and red, but not bloody, thanks to whoever had cleaned him. It was most likely from trying to stop the impact crossed the younger's mind. He stopped his brain as soon as it started; the last thing he needed now was to start freaking out about hitting his brother with a car.
Only then did he remember his mom, his efforts to keep calm down the drain. He palmed his clothes, looking for his phone, not sure were he had shoved it. He found it in a pocket inside his jacket, picking it up with shaky hands. He had three missed calls from his mom, one from Rhaenyra, a text message from Daeron and another from his mom. "where are you?" was all that was written in the chat with his mom when he opened it. He began typing, "kl genwral hospitsk" he wrote, to the best of his ability, a tear he didn't realize had formed falling on the screen, "i hir aegon witg thr car, pls come quick" he finished, turning his phone off, tears now falling freely over his face. The reality of things seemed to hit him; he had almost killed his brother due to his own negligence. He sat beside him on a chair, holding the hand on the arm that hadn't been broken. He held it up to his face with both of his own hands, crying over it, murmuring broken "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry Aegon. I didn't mean to hurt you." over and over. At some point, he could've sworn he had heard his brother murmuring something back; when he looked up, he looked the same he had minutes before.
He only noticed someone had come into the room when a hand touched his shoulder, he looked up, expecting his mother, but it was Rhaenyra who stared down at him. Alicent was at the other side of the bed, already crying, kneeled beside her son. She looked up at Aemond, a mixture on anger and sadness in her expression. "Couldn't you have been more careful?" she yelled, her voice coming out half chocked from the tears. "Look at what you've done! You-" her voice got lost in a sob, "You could've killed him, for fucks sake!" she finished, her knees back on the floor, one of her tremoring hands placed over her eldest's stomach, while she kept sobbing.
Aemond didn't answer. He got up, vision blurry from crying, and left the room, ignoring Rhaenyra's protests and his mother's sobbing. He knew what he had done, and Aegon didn't need him there to fuck up the situation even more.
[ . . . ]
Two days later, someone starts banging on Aemond's door, hard enough for it to annoy him. He doesn't answer, and, after a few minutes, the knocking stops. He throws himself back into his bed, face down, thinking no one would bother him anymore. That assumption is proven wrong the minute he hears someone unlocking his front door. What the hell is Alys doing here? is what crosses his mind. He doesn't want to see her at all, specially in a situation like this. Before he can get up to lock himself inside his room, the door opens.
Helaena comes in, backpack hanging from her shoulder, in what Aemond assumes are her college clothes. "Where the hell have you been?" She inquires, her tone soft despite her words. "Did you turn off your phone?" Technically no. He just hadn't bothered to charge it. "Nyra said she called you like twice and you didn't pick up. And Daeron said you haven't replied to him yet. And you didn't answer when I called either."
Aemond looks up at her, annoyed; "Where did you even get keys to my apartment?" He asks, sitting up on his bed.
"I called Alys, because I thought she of all people would know where you were." That makes Aemond look up at his sister, eyes widened. She cuts him off before he can say anything. "When were you going to tell me that she broke up with you, huh?"
"We broke up wednesday afternoon. I haven't exactly seen you since then." He sounds irritated when he answers, and Helaena only sighs.
"I asked if she still had your keys and she was nice enough to give them to me after I told her what happened." There's a pause, Aemond staring at the floor to avoid his sister's gaze. "Why did she even break up with you? I thought you two were like positively in love and getting married soon enough."
The answer comes murmured and chocked a few seconds later, Aemond slouching more than he already was. "I cheated on her." Helaena looks shocked, like any thought had just escaped her head. "I told her because I didn't want to lie to her. Then she broke up with me. That's it." He was staring at her now.
"What? Ho- With who? Who could be better than her for you to go cheat on her?"
"I don't wanna talk about it." He mumbled, averting his gaze back to the floor. Helaena scoffs. "What do you want here anyway?"
"Mainly because you just vanished, but also because you haven't shown up to visit Aegon anymore." He says, sitting down beside him. "Jesus christ Aemond, have you bathed at all?"
"No." He mumbles. "Are you sure he wants to see me? Did he tell you he wants me there?" He stares at her, almost hopeful.
"Well..." She pauses, looking at the wall behind him, mouth hanged open as she's looking for the right words. "He hasn't really... Woken up." She finishes with a nervous smile. Aemond starts tremoring slightly, and Helaena notices; she'd spent most of middle school comforting his brother from the constant bullying his appearence brought. It wasn't until high school, when Aemond grew almost a head taller than their oldest sibling and started working out, that he started defending himself; he got a week of suspension for beating one of his classmates once after the latter snatched his eyepatch out of his head. Their mom didn't let him out of the house for a month after that. He still cried, in private, always shutting his sister out. Helaena grabbed his hand with both of hers, looking into his eyes. "I'm sure he would like for you to visit. Even if he doesn't know. Rhaenyra said she'll get mom to go home and you can go without having to fight with her." She gave him a half-smile.
Aemond sighed, murmuring an "Okay". Helaena hugged him then, warm and comforting.
"You're taking a bath first, though. I'm not having you show up smelling like a dead raccoon to a hospital."
[ . . . ]
Helaena calls Rhaenyra when they're in the car. Their stepmom/sister just says they'll be leaving soon enough; she asks if Daeron can stay, but Aemond shakes his head to signal a "no". They talk for a while more, but Aemond doesn't bother paying attention; he stares at the sidewalk instead, observing the buildings and the one or two trees planted in every block in a failed attempt to be ecological.
"Did they say why he hasn't woken up?" He asks, turning towards her.
"He hit his head, apparently. He had a bump they missed on their first evaluation, since they were more focused in the whole broken arm thing. It's gone down already, though. They said he's probably gonna be fine. They don't think he'll be in a coma for much longer."
Aemond hums, turning his head fully towards the window, tears threatening to spill again. He draws a deep breath, focusing on not letting himself cry.
When they got in, the lady at reception recognized him. Helaena was the one to approach, giving her both of their names. She turned around a minute later, sticking Aemond's visitor tag in his sweatshirt, placing her own in her blouse.
Aemond walked in front of her, stopping in front of the closed elevator door. One of the women in line, looked at him, widened her eyes and turned away from him. It didn't surprise him anymore, and, honestly, he did not care enough to cover the eye. He was already stressed enough.
He stalked through the corridors, the path to Aegon's room engraved in his mind, despite him only having been there once before. "I'm gonna stay here." She points at a set of connected chairs on the opposite side of the corridor. "You can call me if you want me inside." She smiled, turning around towards the chairs.
Aemond opens the door, his brother immediately coming into view; he let's out a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding. Aegon has the same peaceful face he had two days before, maybe slightly paler. He could see his chest moving up and down as he breathed, he could even hear it if he tried hard enough.
He pushed one of the visitors' chairs to Aegon's unbroken side, right beside his bed. He sat, observing him for a while. He felt teras starting to form in his eyes. Aemond lowered his head, resting it on his brother's stomach quiet sobs escaping his lips. He placed one of his hands over the older's legs, the other kept at his own lap, and continued to cry, almost unmoving.
He could almost feel like Aegon was awake, hand in his hair, softly caressing it. I could fall asleep like this said a passing thought in his head, and he truly felt like he could, with Aegon's soft hands massaging his scalp.
"Are you gonna spend all day crying over me?" Aegon's voice came out rough and scratched, and he immediately began coughing. Aemond snapped his head up, and then his torso, eyes wide and mouth opening and closing, like he'd lost the ability to form sentences.
"You're awake." He seemed to have settled for that. Aegon laughed, and began coughing a little. Aemond got up, Aegon's hand finally falling from his face. He was about to make his way to the door when his brother held his arm.
"Where are you going?"
"Tell Helaena. She'll call mom for me. To tell her you're awake." He said, his free hand cleaning the rest of the tears on his face.
"Why?"
Aemond doesn't answer immediately. He gulps, his breathing becoming irregular. "It's my fault you're here." He paused, seing if the other would react. Aegon had a questioning look on his face, his fingers still tightly wrapped around Aemond's wrist. "I hit you with my car going to mom's."
"Oh." Aegon said, no longer confused. His hand still didn't let go. "Stay a little? As an apology?" He asked, smile back on his face. Aemond was half glad, half incredulous.
"I just told you I almost ran you over and you want me to stay here?"
"Mhm." His smile grew. "But get me water first" Aemond did, going to the other side of the room, grabbing a cup his mother had left out when she was still there. Aegon moved what he could to the left of his bed, tapping his right side when Aemond came back.
He didn't really need an explanation from the older, laying on his side next to him.
[ . . . ]
Aemond stayed and talked to his brother until he fell asleep, getting up as swiftly as he could to talk to his sister.
"Did you fall asleep? You were there almost three hours!" She asked, laptop in her lap, while she lowered her glasses.
"He woke up a while ago. He's back to sleep now, but he wanted me to stay there for a while." She squinted her eyes. "You should call mom. And a nurse. I'm going home, I don't wanna be here when she comes."
He walked away, ignoring Helaena as she called his name.
[ . . . ]
When Aegon woke up, the familiar weight of Aemond was no longer at his side. He opened his eyes to find most of his family in his room; Helaena was in a chair reading a book, Daeron was laid down on the sofa playing on his Nintendo, their mom was slouched against the armchair, asleep, Rhaenyra just using her phone while sat at her lap.
"Where's Aemond?" He asked, his throat scratching, coughing twice after. Alicent woke up in an instant after hearing her son's voice. Rhaenyra got up before she had to ask, Alicent immediately going towards the bed to hold her son's hand.
"I'm so glad you're okay honey." She said, crying. "I shouldn't have let you leave drunk. I'm so sorry baby. Please forgive me." Aegon could swear she was going to break his hand from the force she was using to hold it.
"It's fine mom." He smiled. "It wasn't your fault. I should've known better than to leave drunk." He pulled her into a half-hug, the best he could give now. Alicent brought her hand up to his hair, caressing it. "Where's Aemond?" He asked again.
"I don't think it would be good for him to be here" and "He's back home", his mother and Helaena said at the same time.
"Why not? I want him here." He said to his mom like he was obvious.
"No you don't, sweetie. He was the one that hit you. I think it's best if-" Aegon cut her before she could finish.
"I know mom, he told me, he was here when I woke up." She stopped talking. "It was an accident, it's fine, I'm alive and all is well. I want him here." His tone was demanding; Alicent huffed, looking into his eyes.
"If that's what you want then fine. You're injured, I'm not going to argue with you." She lowered herself, placing a kiss on her son's forehead. "Helaena, you go get him."
She grumbled under her breath, but got up to go anyways.
[ . . . ]
The knocking at Aemond's door started again seven hours after he got home. "Aemond! Open the fucking door!" His sister yelled, not giving him time to open it before starting.
When he opened the door, Helaena shoved herself inside. "Who did you cheat on Alys with?" She got on the tip of her toes, staring straight into his eyes.
"You came back here to ask me THAT?" His tone was aggravated, and he took a step back, away from his sister's weird attempt of intimidation.
"No, Aegon wants you back at the hospital." She takes another step foward and doesn't give him time to interrupt before continuing "That's not the point. Who did you sleep with, Aemond?"
"That's none of your business, quite frankly." An uncomfortable smile formed in his face while he held his sister's shoulders pushing her slightly back. "We should go. Don't wanna keep Aegon waiting!"
Helaena huffed while Aemond made his way outside the door.
[ . . . ]
When he opens the door to the room, he first greets Daeron, who pointedly avoids ackowledging him. Aemond avoids his mother's gaze, waving hi to his sister. When he eyes Aegon, and the older him, he seems to light up. He pushes himself up on the bed with his good arm to the best of his ability, waving Aemond closer.
Aegon doesn't wait for him to speak before pulling him closer, good arm around his back and face burried in his torso. Aemond smiles, placing his arms around his brother's shoulders, one of his hands touching his hair softly.
"Hi" he begins, and Aegon mutters a "hey" that gets muffled in his chest before he can continue. "Sorry I left. And... Well..." he says as he runs his hands through the older's hair "Sorry for running you over."
Aegon laughs at that, lifiting his face from it's place on his chest to look into his eyes. "I'm only forgiving you if you pay to get Sunfyre fixed." He says, decidedly, a big smile on his face.
"Fuck you!" Aemond says, full on laughing now.
"I'm pretty sure you've already done that."
It takes Aemond a few seconds to process the words that come out of Aegon's mind, but when he does, he stops laughing, eyes growing wide. Aegon is smirking up at him, like he's proud of himself. The room seems to have fallen silent too, Alicent and Rhaenyra no longer chatting in their armchair, Helaena's book forgotten, Daeron still too focused on his game.
"I fucking knew it!" Helaena is the first to say something followed by a half shouted "What?!" from their mother. Rhaenyra is laughing quietly. Daeron is still unaware of his surroundings. "When did this happen?" Alicent inquires, her face poking from the side of her wife's neck.
"I don't wanna talk about it" Aemond muttered, "It has been happening for a while" said by Aegon at the same time. When Aemond opens his mouth to scold the older, his mom interferes.
"Since when?!" Alicent says, tone aggravated. "God, please tell me you haven't had sex at our home."
"We have not!" Aemond jumps in before Aegon can say anything. The room goes quiet for a minute, Helaena, typing furiously on her phone, Rhaenyra holding in her laughter and Alicent fuming. Aegon pull him back to the bed,, forcing Aemond to sit beside him.
"Answer the other one." Their mother said, tone slightly calmer. Aemond looks beside him to Aegon, who's still smirking.
"Christmas two years ago. First one since you married Nyra, and all her kids where over so we didn't have enough rooms and you didn't want me to drive Sunfyre home because you were bitching that I had drank too much." He pauses, to emphasize his point. "Which I had not. I was fine! But you insisted I sleep on the floor and I didn't want to do that so Aemond said I could sleep on his couch because he knew you'd let him drive anyway because he's your precious baby boy." Alicent had her eyes squinted, but said nothing, so Aegon continued. "We ended up drinking more and... Well I would tell you details but I'm pretty sure Aemond would run me over intentionally next time."
Aemond has his arms crossed on his chest, though he has laid down beside Aegon. Alicent simply humming, anger still visible in her face.
"I mean, it's not like it's uncommon in this family." Helaena interjects. "Jacaerys is dating his aunt. And dad wanted to marry me to Aegon and you were gonna let him." Alicent looks more ashamed than mad now. Rhaenyra nodded in silent agreement, resting her head besides her wife's to look at her in the eye.
"She is kind of right, you know." Rhaenyra smiles at her wife, stealing a kiss from her. Alicent sighs, resting her head on the blonde's shoulder.
"Alright, alright, fine, you two can do whatever you want. Just... don't do anything at ours." She's looking at the pair laid on the bed, Aemond caressing Aegon's scalp, the latter on the verge of sleep. The younger of the two mutters a "Thanks", while Aegon just hums.
Not a minute later, a nurse knocks at the door, coming in. "So... You're all good to go, you don't appear to have had any damage done to your brain and your arm should heal itself on the cast, though it's probably best if you stay with someone the first days to help you get used to it." She pauses, looking first at Aegon, still half asleep, then at Alicent, who has her lips pressed together. "I thought maybe your mother would be willing to do that, since she's... Well, your mom." An uncomfortable smile paints her face.
"Oh no that's okay, I'm staying with my boyfriend." Aegon replies, smilling.
"Right, right, okay. Do you know if he's coming to pick you up soon? Just so I can get started with your discharge papers and all."
"Oh no, he's right here!" He points at Aemond with his head. Rhaenyra is back to trying to control her laughter. "You can get started with it right now if you'd like!"
"Oh!" She says, her mouth hanging open while she looks through the papers in her hands; Aemond recognizes her as the nurse that had talked to him when Aegon was brought to the hospital. The one to whom he had mentioned being Aegon's brother. "I'll go get them and bring them back here, then." She said and turned around, leaving as quickily as she could.
Rhaenyra burst in laughter, loud enough so that Aemond's and Aegon's quiet chattering wasn't listened to by the others in the room.
"We're not having sex until that thing is off." Aemond muttered, pressing a kiss to the top of Aegon's head.
"Aw man, come on. It's your fault!"
"Yes, and I'm making sure you don't get more hurt because of me."
"You really did inhereted mom's paranoia." Aegon turns his head to bury it in Aemond's neck, the latter rests him own on top of the other's, closing his eyes and letting himself fall asleep.