My Brother Part 2

Awareness came back slowly… and reluctantly. Oswald let out a groan; his head felt like a house fell on it and his limbs were stiff as wood.

"Ow…"

As he shifted on the soft surface he was laying on, a soft gasp came to his ears. His aches and pains instantly shrank to a pinprick and the rabbit pushed his eyes open, blinking at the low light.

"Ortensia??"

Any further speech was interrupted by a tight hug and passionate kiss, which he happily returned. He felt tears on his fur as Ortensia nestled into his chest.

"Thank heaven you're all right," she whispered. "I was so worried."

Feeling guilty, Oswald gently rubbed her head between the ears, smiling as she started purring.

"Don't cry, 'Tensia," he said softly. "I'm sorry, but I had to…"

His eyes widened in alarm.

"Mickey!"

Oswald sat up, grunting at the resulting throb in his head.

"Be careful!" Ortensia exclaimed, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"I'm fine," he said, rubbing his head. "Is Mickey okay?"

Ortensia bit her lip, looking worried.

"I don't know," she said softly. "Gus and Stawon are with him upstairs and they haven't come down yet. I thought of finding out, but I didn't want to leave you."

Seeing that she was getting upset again, the rabbit managed a reassuring smile and gave her a gentle hug. Ortensia whimpered quietly and nestled against him.

"Oswald… Gus told me that you… you tried to use the Paint…"

The rabbit clenched his jaw at the overwhelming sense of failure. From the sound of it, he hadn't done much, if any good.

"I thought I could help him," he said in a rough voice. "I really… I really believed it could work."

Ortensia sighed and rubbed his arm.

"Some things can't be fixed, Ozzie."

At those words, Oswald looked at his feet.

"Especially things I try to," he said bitterly. After a moment, Ortensia placed a hand under his chin and gently lifted until his eyes met hers.

"You did all you could, sweetie," she said softly. "Gus said if you hadn't, Mickey wouldn't have even made it here."

She smiled and kissed his forehead.

"I'm so proud of you, honey bunny."

Oswald managed to smile back and lifted his hand to hers. The moment was quickly interrupted by several light blue blurs zooming in from outside.

"Daddy!" they squealed, and Oswald found himself surrounded by overjoyed bunny kids, bouncing on and around the sofa between crushing hugs. Ortensia giggled as Oswald tried to greet his ecstatic children. Just as they started to calm down, a soft sound from the stairs made everyone look up.

The minute they saw Gus, the bunny kids scurried over and began spouting anxious questions all at once. The gremlin tried to answer them, but quickly grew flustered and looked at Ortensia with a "save me" look.

"All right, children," she said, walking over to them. "Why don't you go play? You can see Uncle Mickey later."

The bunny kids all drooped, but nodded obediently and hopped out. Once they were out the door, Gus sighed in relief.

"So…" Ortensia said softly. "Is he all right?"

Oswald's ears instantly perked as Gus rubbed his neck.

"I'm not sure," he said sadly. "Stawon made me wait outside most of the time. He just sent me to see if Oswald was awake."

The rabbit's ears drooped again. Gus fluttered over and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"He says you can come up now."

Oswald started to get up, but his head protested right away. Ortensia immediately hurried over and took his arm, helping him up.

"Are you sure you're okay, sweetie?" she whispered. Oswald drew himself up straighter and gave her a smile. He had long ago trained himself to be strong for her, his friends and his children, but now there was one more person to be strong for.

"Yeah, honey," he said, gently brushing his hand over her cheek. "I'm fine."

Ignoring the ache in his head, Oswald gave Ortensia a little kiss and headed upstairs as she and Gus watched. When he reached the closed bedroom door, he took a deep breath and opened it. Stawon looked up as he stepped inside, but the rabbit's eyes immediately went to the bed where Mickey was laying. He was still unconscious and his chest was bandaged.

"Ah, don't worry," Stawon said. "He's a tough fella. I'll bet my goggles he's up and melting Blotlings in no time."

Oswald smiled gratefully as the medical gremlin saluted and headed to the door, pausing to place a hand on Oswald's shoulder.

"That was a big risk, y' know," he said. The rabbit grinned sheepishly and shrugged.

"As long as it worked."

Stawon chuckled and left the room. Oswald looked back over at the bed and slowly walked over, sitting down on a nearby chair. As he rubbed his head, which was aching slightly again, he kept an eye on Mickey as he slept on. His breathing was still a little shaky, but soft and even now. After a few moments, Oswald sighed and placed his chin in his hand.

"Jeez," he muttered. "You fought hundreds of robots and Blotlings, crossed Thinner, jumped into the Shadow Blot, now you take one hit and here you are taking a nap."

A stirring motion made Oswald's ears prick. Mickey groaned softly as his eyes slowly opened. The rabbit grinned and crossed his arms.

"About time, mouse," he said. "I was startin' to think I saved your scrawny neck for nothing."

Mickey chuckled drily.

"Nice to see you too."

He winced as he pushed himself up, causing the rabbit's ears to twitch with concern; of course, he had no intention of showing it.

"So how do ya feel?"

Mickey didn't answer for a while, then glanced down.

"Oswald…" he said quietly. "I heard Gus and Stawon talking for a while."

Oswald cocked his head, slightly confused. After a moment, Mickey looked up and smiled slightly.

"Thanks," he said softly, but the guilt was visible on his face. After a moment, Oswald reached over and placed a hand on Mickey's shoulder, smiling.

"I wouldn't do anything else, Mick," he said. "And I know you wouldn't either. We're family, right?"

Mickey looked at him for a moment, then he smiled.

"Yeah," he said. "Thanks for saving me, Os."

Finally unable to keep up his tough guy appearance, Oswald gave it up, leaned in and hugged Mickey gently. After a moment's pause, he felt him return it and smiled.

"Ditto, little brother."