Post by Ryder James Crowe on Sept 18, 2013 14:58:26 GMT -5
Ryder's head was fuzzy from the liquor, but the concern he felt for his cousin pushed him closer to the edge of sober than he'd been before the argument.
At his insistence to give him her hand Ali blinked her doe eyes and paused, as if she didn't know whether to trust him or not.
After what seemed like ages, the girl finally gave in and extended the limb, and Ry let out the breath he didn't realized he'd been holding in.
Trust. It was a heavy thing to give away, and yet when you received it, it was like a great weight lifting off of your soul.
Ryder nodded in response to Allison's quiet, but panicked words; carefully turning the hand over to inspect it. Her thin fingers had already begun to swell slightly, as had the back of it, so the hunter felt around as gently as he could for any breaks in the appendage.
"I don't think it's broken." He told her calmly, but didn't meet her silent stare. "You may have a fracture though...or hopefully its just a sprain."
The young man was still looking over the hand when she spoke again, but this time Ryder paused and his steel blue eyes popped up to meet hers.
He opened his mouth to speak but the words on the tip of his tongue fell right back down his throat.
Ry had never been close to Ali's mother before, and by the time the drama with that branch of the family tree had come to a climax, the hunter was already knee-deep in his own anguish as well as the bottle.
Truth was Ryder didn't feel guilty for not knowing the woman apart from their blood ties, but a glimmer of remorse for not being there for his younger cousin took up residence in his chest.
It was a dim glow, but it was there none-the-less. The transitory urge to squash the sensation before it grew from an ember to a blaze was hard to ignore.
He so didn't want to deal with someone else's emotional pain right now.
He could handle the physical boo-boos, but there wasn't a Band-Aid big enough that could handle the inner ones.
Ryder shook his head to clear the turmoil more than to disagree with the female and winced as she took her arm back.
"I think she was sick, Alicat." Ryder told her earnestly, and hoped not to hurt her anymore than he already had.
"She'd probably been sick for a while and nobody realized..."
The hunter sighed and then cleared his throat ; ready for a change of subject before it could go any further.
"You wanna' ditch the rest of the day cuz' ? I can run you over to the ER for some ex-rays...unless you're school nurse is hot...in that case we can stay."
Yet another glimmer, this one more apparent than the one in his chest.
It was a brief glimpse of the 'old Ry' in the playful sideways smile that graced his usually empty expression.
At his insistence to give him her hand Ali blinked her doe eyes and paused, as if she didn't know whether to trust him or not.
After what seemed like ages, the girl finally gave in and extended the limb, and Ry let out the breath he didn't realized he'd been holding in.
Trust. It was a heavy thing to give away, and yet when you received it, it was like a great weight lifting off of your soul.
Ryder nodded in response to Allison's quiet, but panicked words; carefully turning the hand over to inspect it. Her thin fingers had already begun to swell slightly, as had the back of it, so the hunter felt around as gently as he could for any breaks in the appendage.
"I don't think it's broken." He told her calmly, but didn't meet her silent stare. "You may have a fracture though...or hopefully its just a sprain."
The young man was still looking over the hand when she spoke again, but this time Ryder paused and his steel blue eyes popped up to meet hers.
He opened his mouth to speak but the words on the tip of his tongue fell right back down his throat.
Ry had never been close to Ali's mother before, and by the time the drama with that branch of the family tree had come to a climax, the hunter was already knee-deep in his own anguish as well as the bottle.
Truth was Ryder didn't feel guilty for not knowing the woman apart from their blood ties, but a glimmer of remorse for not being there for his younger cousin took up residence in his chest.
It was a dim glow, but it was there none-the-less. The transitory urge to squash the sensation before it grew from an ember to a blaze was hard to ignore.
He so didn't want to deal with someone else's emotional pain right now.
He could handle the physical boo-boos, but there wasn't a Band-Aid big enough that could handle the inner ones.
Ryder shook his head to clear the turmoil more than to disagree with the female and winced as she took her arm back.
"I think she was sick, Alicat." Ryder told her earnestly, and hoped not to hurt her anymore than he already had.
"She'd probably been sick for a while and nobody realized..."
The hunter sighed and then cleared his throat ; ready for a change of subject before it could go any further.
"You wanna' ditch the rest of the day cuz' ? I can run you over to the ER for some ex-rays...unless you're school nurse is hot...in that case we can stay."
Yet another glimmer, this one more apparent than the one in his chest.
It was a brief glimpse of the 'old Ry' in the playful sideways smile that graced his usually empty expression.