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"Tommy!" Wilbur yelled, throwing down his weapon and bolting to his side, ignoring the stabbing pain in his side and the siren that was sounding as millions of people lowered their arms. The siren signaling the end of the war, the end of it all, finally it was over...
The child seemed to fall in slow motion, seemed to be so much smaller than he was just a few moments ago-
As Tommy hit the ground, Wilbur slid onto his knees, catching his head before it could slam into the dirt. "Tommy- Tommy, fuck- Tommy are you ok?" Wilbur knew it was a stupid question. The bullet had hit him in the chest, of course he wasn't ok.
Tommy turned his head up to look at Wilbur and winced slightly. "Wilbur-"
Wilbur was shaking, sitting on the ground, holding Tommy's head in his lap so he wouldn't be lying on the ground. "Tommy please- keep your eyes open for me, can you do that? Just- just keep your eyes open."
Tommy nodded vaguely, blinking slowly. "Wilbur- Wilby please-" Tommy coughed harshly, falling back against Wilbur with a groan as blood sprayed from his mouth, blood that was now slowly trickling down his face.
Wilbur's eyes welled up. He refused to cry now, not now, not in front of his little brother, when he needed him to be strong more than ever before.
"It's gonna be- Tommy you're gonna be-" As Wilbur saw how Tommy's consciousness was wavering, he knew his little brother wasn't going to make it out of this one. He took a breath. Fixed a smile on his face. "Tommy, you're gonna be fine, everything's fine."
Tommy gazed up at his older brother. "You-" Tommy coughed violently again, bringing up more blood. "You promise?"
Wilbur's smile faltered, if only for a second, before it was brought back up again. "Yeah. Yeah I promise Toms. It's gonna be ok." Wilbur didn't mention the bullet he had in his own side. He didn't mention that while he had more of a chance than Tommy, it was unlikely either of them were going home alive.
Wilbur brought up his hand to Tommy's head, gently running his fingers through his hair as his other hand sat keeping Tommy's head stable. "It's gonna be ok."
Wilbur needed a moment, he didn't want to break in front of Tommy, he didn't want him to have to deal with the knowledge his big brother was likely dying just like he was. Why did Tommy look so small, so young- barely 18 and yet fighting on the front lines. "Wilby- Wilby I'm scared."
It was those words that shattered Wilbur to his core. "Would you-" His voice shook and died. He swallowed and tried again. "Would you like to hear a story?"
Tommy's eyes were staying shut for seconds at a time now. He opened his mouth to respond, but the only sound he could make was a weak choking noise. He nodded and grimaced at the pain it caused.
"Okay- Okay then.." Wilbur began. "Far away, somewhere beautiful- no fighting and no wars, just peaceful quiet and bright sunlight on beaches of white sand and turquoise water, there were- are- will be- two men. They'll be brothers, each with their own island but close enough together that they'll be able to visit each other whenever they want to. They'll have everything they could- everything they could want. Each other, safety, maybe they'll have a few friends on their islands, families maybe."
Glancing down, Tommy's chest was moving strangely- breathing mostly evenly, like he was asleep, or just about to be; but also heaving slightly, as if it was an effort to keep breathing in. Now that he noticed, Wilbur could hear quiet wheezes drawing out of Tommy's mouth, and his panic shot up. He did his best to hide it.
"Wilby? You stop- you stopped the story." Tommy's eyes were on him, big blue eyes that kept closing and staying closed for what he knew had to be far too long.
"Just remembering how it goes, Toms," Wilbur said, the hand he had in Tommy's hair never ceasing to move.
"So the men, they'll be happy on their islands, they'll have everything they want. One of them- one of them will be named Tommy-" Wilbur didn't miss the slight shift in his lap, the quiet exhale of air that Wilbur knew, one day, might've been an actual laugh. "-And his brother Wilbur. They can both have families on their islands. Wilbur will meet a girl who's almost the exact opposite of him, and they'll fall in love. Tommy-"
"What's her name?" Tommy cut in, ignoring the way talking made more blood track it's way down the curve of his face. "The girl Wilbur falls in love with?" Tommy sounded almost pleading, begging Wilbur to give him this life when his current one had failed him so badly. His voice was getting weaker, hoarser.
"I- Her name is Sally. Do you want to know what Sally looks like?"
"Mhm." Tommy's eyes were now staying closed for minutes, the only indications he was still alive being the rattling breaths he was taking and the questions he was asking, the responses he was giving.
"She'll be tall, around the same height as Wilbur, who'll be pretty tall himself. She'll have long red hair and- and faint freckles over the middle of her face." Tommy seemed satisfied with that, nodding slowly.
"What about Tommy?"
"Tommy, he- he'll be very happy on his island. He'll support Wilbur and Sally and adopt lots of pets. He'll adopt a cow, a sheep and a spider-"
Wilbur was cut off by a weak giggle from Tommy.
"Mhm!" Wilbur continued, trying to force as much cheer into his voice as he could. "And he'll keep pets for his friends as well, that'll stay at his place while his friends aren't visiting. His friends will have a dog, a polar bear and a- a horse. They'll all have names, because Tommy and his friends will love them and want them to have names that they love. The cow will be called- will be called Henry. The sheep will be dyed blue and his name will be Friend. The spider will be called Shroud." Wilbur paused, letting the happiness drain from his face for a moment, letting the façade drop for a second.
Tommy's rattling breaths were slowing more and more, and Wilbur could feel himself struggling to stay upright. Wilbur silently both cursed and begged to whatever higher power there might be that Tommy would be okay, that Tommy was so young and had been through so much..
The hand in Tommy's hair never ceased to move.
"The- the dog will be called Bruno. His friend's polar bear will be named Steve. And the horse will be called Carl, he'll belong to Steve's owner as well. They'll- everyone will be happy there." Wilbur swallowed again. His throat was unusually dry. His mouth tasted like blood. "It'll be beautiful every day, and Tommy and Wilbur's friends will visit very often, and they'll all be very happy."
"Wil- Wilby?"
"Yes Toms?" Wilbur looked down at Tommy, who blinked up at him for a moment before his eyes slid shut again.
"Is- are the islands real? Is the beautiful place real?"
Wilbur's voice died in his throat. He swallowed again. "Yes- yes Toms. The beautiful place is real. We'll be going there soon, me and you, how does that sound?"
Tommy smiled gently.
"Hmm. I might get it." Tommy's voice was scarily faint. "And we could be friends in it?"
Wilbur couldn't hold back anymore, couldn't keep the tears from tracking their way down his face. "Yeah. Yeah we can be friends." Wilbur looked at the disaster around them. If he was honest, he wouldn't be too opposed to going to the beautiful place. "You can come to my island."
Tommy took a shuddering breath. "That sounds nice."
And he went silent.
Those agonising, rattling breaths continued for a few moments longer.
The hand in Tommy's hair never ceased to move.
And then there was the end.
His breathing slowed, and then-
Stopped.
Wilbur knew it was too late.
He'd known since he saw the bullet enter his little brother's chest, seemingly hours ago. He had just been hoping he was wrong.
Wilbur leaned down, gently laying a kiss on his brother's hair as he finally allowed the floodgates to open, and he sobbed into his little brother's hair.
There was a stabbing pain in his side, slowly spreading its way through his back, making it harder for him to cry, making it harder for him to breathe.
He looked to the sky, praying that Tommy would see the beautiful place, that Tommy would make it to the islands.
His eyes were starting to close.
Sleep- sleep didn't sound so bad right now.
Wilbur leaned back and let his eyes slide shut.
The hand in Tommy's hair finally ceased to move.