1

Nathan and Christian Akechi stood in front of the house they lived in with their parents and siblings. The darkness of the night was surrounding them as Nathan gripped his shoulder where the injury was. He didn’t want to do anything but go inside. He knew his parents would flip out if they knew he got hurt. His mother Sophia would call out the doctor, and everything would blow up from there.

He shook his head as he looked at his younger brother. “You can’t tell anyone about this.”

Christian looked at him and shook his head. “You know I won’t say anything unless I am asked straight out. How you handle that, all of this is up to you.”

“Thank Chris,” Nathan said as they walked to the front door hoping their mother was somewhere deep in the house and not hovering near the front door. Though she never really did that it would be Nathan’s luck that today she would be there.

“You do need to get it looked at,” Christian said softly.

“I will handle it,” Nathan said as he looked at his younger brother by a year. This was how they had handled everything for most of their lives. They always had each other's backs. Their entire lives, they had been in the spotlight because of their father and his position in society. Their mother, a beautiful woman who drew the eye from way too many men, was their main caregiver and their younger siblings. Nathan was the oldest of the six children their parents had.

“Good,” Christian said as they opened the door and they looked around. Nathan at twenty one and Christian at twenty they could come and go as they pleased. It wasn’t overly late, but the house was quiet. They both hoped their parents had retired for the night. As the two made their way through the house to their rooms that were next to each other, they found that no one was awake or they weren’t in the hallway at least.

They parted in the hallway and went into their respective rooms. Nathan wanted nothing more than to flop down on his bed and go to sleep, but he needed to at least to clean the wound on his shoulder. He didn’t think the woman would actually stab him. Though the knife wasn’t all that big when it was in her hand. He knew better than that as she had plunged it into his shoulder. Then it seemed rather large. He knew that she hadn’t done any real damage where she had stabbed him. However it was in a place he hoped it wouldn’t get infected.

The pain was nothing to him, but he couldn’t take the risk of infection. That would be slightly harder to explain. His father already knew too much about him, and where he often would go at nights, and when he didn’t have any work to do for university. He had done exactly what his father had wished of him when it came to that life. He had done his research. He had put in the leg work and learned what he liked and what he was willing to give as well.

Nathan knew his father and Grandfather also had the same preference in their own desires. He also was in the stage where he wanted to learn more. His partner for the night, though, was not one he normally worked with. He only used her this one night. She kept taking things a little too far though. He had begun to feel that he had reached his limits and he had said the safe words. She didn’t listen.

When the knife went into his skin, he knew this wasn’t what he really wanted. Not with this one, at least. He was not pleased with that.

He lifted his shirt and looked at the wound. He cleaned it as best he could without reopening it. Since it had just stopped bleeding. He didn’t want to really think about this now. It was time to go to bed. Tonight had exhausted him. He fell into bed, and when he did, he fell asleep deeply.

Two days later, he had barely thought of the wound on his shoulder. He was tired and was beginning to feel achy. It was like someone had taken over his body and replaced all of his joints with ones that didn’t work to well. He was stumbling out of his classes, and he looked off into the distance toward the medical building. He knew he needed to do something.

Stumbling toward the building, he tripped a few times as people looked at him as he realized he must look like a complete zombie. He made it into the building and to the check-in area. The young girl that sat in front of him looked up, and her eyes went wide as she looked over him.

“I need to be seen.” Nathan forced the words out.

“I see that.” She said as she stood up. She motioned for him to follow her. She led him back to a hallway with rooms. She was going to leave him in there. When she shut the door, she looked at one of the younger nursing students and nodded to her.

The other woman came up to the door, “What is wrong with this one?” she asked.

“Didn’t ask. He is in bad shape.” The receptionist said. “I thought it would be good to get him back here though. He could barely walk in the door.”

“Good thinking.” The nursing student said with a smile. She was shaking her head, knowing she was walking in blind. She opened the door slowly to look at the man in front of her, sitting in one of the chairs. “Hi there, I am Kathleen Williams. I am a nursing student here at the school. I will be taking care of you today.”

“Well, hello there, nurse,” Nathan said as he raked his eyes over the complete woman in front of him. A smaller woman then most he came into contact with. Though his eyes would not focus to well he could see she was pretty.

“And why are you here?” Kathleen asked as she tried to stay focused on the man as a patient and not a man. That wasn’t going to be easy because this man was hot as hell in her mind. He had to be a student like her, but he didn’t have that aura of being all that young. There was something about him that gave the presence of someone who knew exactly what he was.

“I think I have a fever.” He said as he tried to sit up and found his actions jerky. He winced as he sat back. “It might have something to do with the stab wound in my shoulder.”

“The what?” she asked as she watched as he tried to lift his shirt up over his head. As soon as she saw the wound that was now festering, she went into action. “Where did you get this?”

“I’d rather not say.” He said softly.

“Fine.” She said as she started to work and check him over. “I will have to go get a doctor.”

“Can’t you take care of me?” he asked as he looked into her blue eyes with his golden yellow ones.

“Sorry, no. I am not a doctor but a nursing student.” Kathleen said as she looked down at him as she was assessing the wound in his shoulder.

“Well, can you at least stay with me?” Nathan asked right before he leaned back and passed out.