Nicholas, called "Nikki" by those close to him ran around like a chicken with his head cut off, "Ohmigosh your bleeding!!!" he was squealing louder than a newborn piglet with his back foot caught in a bear trap. He grabbed the first-aid kit from under the nightstand and tried to tear off the bandages with his teeth, cursing under his breath because it wouldn't tear.

Normally, Adrian would have calmed her brother down, by saying, "Oh don't worry, it's just a scratch. I'll be fine," But she was lost in a flashback.

"Fine, just go! We don't need you!" Delilah Puget screamed as her husband slammed the front door for the final time. She sunk to her knees, sobbing in the fetal position. 3-year-old Adrian stood amidst broken beer bottles, plates, and expensive glasses, watching what she thought was just "another mommy-daddy disagreement". She didn't know at the time that that would be the last time she would ever see her father alive.

"Huh?" Adrian said as she snapped back into reality. "Oh. Nikki, it's fine. Don't worry."

He put his hands on his hips, the bandages still stuck to the corner of his mouth, "Fine? I'm thisclose to running to get mom's sewing basket and stitching you up. You know I can. I have a nurse's degree." He continued to pull at the bandages, until he gave up and just tore them with his fingernails, "Wow... that was easy."

Adrian smiled at her brother's silliness. "But I don't need you to sew me up, I'll be fine. See?"
She held up her bleeding arm so he could get a closr look at the deep-but-not-deep-at-the-same-time cut that had been inflicted by flying glass particles. "It's not that bad..."

"I reserve the right to overreact." Nikki said simply and began searching the wound for any more pieces of glass that got in before he taped up her arm.

Adrian just laughed and hugged Nikki tighly. "I don't know what I would do without my big bubby..."

"You wouldn't be missing anything because you wouldn't know what having one was like, if you really wanted to get technical." he grinned, "And just so you know, I told mom to have another baby, so your being here is my fault."
He sat up suddenly, "So that means in a really freaky kinda way, I'm your dad!"

Adrian cocked an eyebrow at him, while making a face that if you tried to type it out, it would look like this o_O. "That's a little creepy..." She said slowly.

Nikki rolled over onto his head, "Well, it's the truth. I was just a few years old and I said, 'Mommy, you need to have me a sister so I can play dress up with somebody' and poof! Here you are."

"Ah" Adrian said matter of factly. "That explains the repressed memories of a little boy treating me like a Barbie doll...minus the head removal boys usually do to Barbies..."

"How anyone could twist the head off of a perfectly good Barbie is beyond me." Nikki marveled, "And why repress them? Those were the good 'ol days before all this with dad..." Nikki's voice trailed off, as if he weren't sure he could say anymore.

Adrian's face went even whiter than it's normal pale color. She shook her head slightly, trying not to think of her dad anymore.

Nikki hugged her, "Things are going to get better even if I have to tie them down and make them better." Nikki promised, right before Adrian's mom barged in.
"What are you two doing? I wasn't done talking to you! Don't just run off like that. Nicholas, go downstairs."
Nikki went downstairs, winking mischievously as soon as their mom couldn't see him.

Adrian sighed. "Mom, I really don't want to put up with this right now. You're drunk, you won't remember this later, so just go sleep it off or something." She tried to push past her mom and go downstaris but her mom blocked her.

"I said I wasn't done with you! You think you can just push your way around me like I have no authority! I am your mother and you will do what I say!"