With the sun setting in the distance, Katrina waved to her parents through the window of her house. Their car was just leaving the driveway as they embarked on the long road trip to Chicago, where they were going to attend a week-long science convention for work. Katrina didn't know if they could see her, but she felt compelled to do it anyway. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Ash sitting next to her, doing the exact opposite. He didn't wave or anything; he just sat there frowning, his russet brown eyes glaring through the window pane.

Katrina sighed. She couldn't blame him for being miserably. Ash had gotten severely burned when trying to put out a fire that had happened at a nearby neighbor's house a few weeks ago. He had acted heroically when he rushed into the burning building to help pull one of the kids out from under some debris, but he paid the price for his recklessness when some rogue flames burnt his hands, torso and legs. Ash recovered quickly, as he has been known to do, but his body and legs were covered in bandages he wasn't supposed to remove except for bathing and rubbing on ointment and he was supposed to keep his walking and other leg movements to a minimum. Worse of all, his hands got the worst of it and were both completely wrapped up in a cast that looked like a club at the ends of his arms. He couldn't do anything for himself that required his fingers or hands and for an active guy like Ash, it was a real pain. Even though he was feeling fine, he was still restricted in what he was allowed to do.

"Aren't you going to wave to Mom and Dad?" Katrina asked.

"Why?" He grumbled. "Because they get to go to Chicago and have a great time while I'm stuck here in a wheelchair?" He motioned to the contraption he was seated in.

"Oh come on. They would have taken us if it was at all feasible." Katrina said.

"Yeah, and that's what sucks." Ash sighed. "If it wasn't for me, you'd be going with them Kat." He shook his head. "Now, you have to stick around the house all day and take care of me." He spit the last words out venomously. Ash hated the idea of having to be 'taken care of'. He was always a very self-reliant person and needing other people to do even the simple tasks of eating breakfast was infuriating to him.

"Oh come on. Since when have I ever complained about spending time with you?" Katrina laughed. "Don't think of it as being stuck in the house, Ash. Think of it as getting to spend a lot of quality time together!"

"You are far too cheery about this, Kat." Ash raised an eyebrow. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you're looking forward to this week."

"Of course I am." Katrina laughed. She tossled his short black hair mischieviously. "We haven't seen enough of each other this summer vacation. We just get to sit back and enjoy this next week. Just the two of us."

"You make it sound like a cruise." Ash laughed and went back to looking out the window. Katrina continued to stare at him for a few moments before turning back to the window. He wasn't wrong, of course. She was looking forward to this week. She felt bad about being glad he was injured, but the prospect of being able to care for him and the fact that for the next seven days he will absolutely need her filled her with excitement. She toyed with her long chestnut brown hair subconsiously.

Katrina didn't know when her affection for her adopted brother began. They had known each other since they were little when they lived next door to one another. Their parents were close friends so they two of them spent a lot of time together. Ash's parents died when he was thirteen and Katrina's parents graciously adopted him into their family. Even though they were technically brother and sister now, Katrina never felt that way about Ash. To her, he was always something else. Something more than just a sibling. At first she thought it was just close friendship. But it evolved as she grew older and she started seeing Ash in a different light; she started to see him as a man. As puberty hit her, she started to dream about Ash in a very non-sisterly fashion and he began to fill more and more of her fantasies. Before she knew what happened, she fell head-over-heals for him. She knew it was forbidden romance and tried to forget her feelings, but living so close to him made it hard. She tried to date other guys, but none of them stuck. She couldn't help it. She wanted Ash bad.

And now she was going to spend a week taking care of him herself. Her parents usually did most of the things for him, while she helped just a little, but he was fully her responsibility now and the thought excited her. She would feed him, clothe him, even bathe him. The thought of her rubbing his naked body with her hands caused her to shiver and tremble. As excited as she felt, she was scared as well. She didn't know if she would be able to keep her feelings to herself. She had watched him rush headlong into the burning building to help the trapped kid and she was the one to stick by him as the ambulance took his burned body to hospital. The fear that he might have been killed mixed with the swell of emotion after watching his selfless deed only pushed her further over the brink and her attraction to her 'brother' became even stronger.

"Well?" Ash asked. "Are you going to answer me?" Katrina jumped to attention and turned to him. He gave her a funny look and Katrina realized he had been talking to her while she was off thinking.

"Sorry Ash. I was drifting off in thought." She said, rubbing the back of her head.

"As usual." Ash scoffed. "I could see your eyes were staring at nothing." Katrina looked at her reflection in the window and wondered how her crystalline blue eyes looked when she was off in thought. Ash continued his statement. "I asked what we were going to do for dinner."

"We could order out pizza." Katrina said.

"Okay. That sounds good." Ash replied dully. Katrina sighed. She hoped he wouldn't act this down all week.

"Do you want to call or should I?" She asked, cracking a smile. Ash shot her an incredulous look. "That was a joke, Ash." She laughed.

"Well, hardy-fucking-har." He said. "Keep cracking them Kat. These casts are hard plaster." He put his hands up. "I may be stuck in a wheelchair, but I can still win in a fight."

Katrina laughed. She knew Ash was kidding; he would never lay a hand on her. In fact, the only way she could win when they playfully wrestled was to pretend he really hurt her and take advantage of him when he pulls away in shock. "Sure thing, Ash." She chuckled. "Let me get the phone."

"You do that." Ash said and went back to staring out the window. Katrina went off to order food.