The Children Of Thalia

Visits - 1

Theo's PoV

"Well, I'll see you later, Radley boy."

"Yes.........."

Only a lethargic answer can I give you when the doctor leaves the room. Obviously, two days in the hospital, without seeing the outside world. It felt like all my energy was exhausted without having time to be replenished by anything.

I lay my back on top of the mattress which— is not really too soft. Standard hospital, maybe a little bit on it because it's a big hospital. Usually I cross my arms to be the headrest, but with both hands bandaged like this, it is a bit difficult to make the backrest. Therefore, I folded the pillow.

These wounds on my hands are mostly not due to outside attacks, this is a recoil of my own strength. The reflector can indeed reflect the attack energy I can touch, but there are side effects. When reflecting an attack, I received about a quarter of the attack energy as a recoil. In other words, if that time the fire attack I was reflecting had a temperature of a thousand degrees celsius, my hand received about 250°C of recoil heat. Well, I don't want to look at my hand before it's completely healed.

The white ceiling above looked so calm and peaceful, putting aside the fact that it was a hospital ceiling. This is not a strange sight. I had a lot of fights at school, of course with the delinquents or thugs who started luring me first. It's not every day, but I'm quite familiar with this type of health room. Stinging smell of medicine, iron bed with a standard mattress, a small cupboard next to the bed, semi-transparent curtains, a window that directly faces the outside yard, then AC installed right on top of the bed. My current school, Polaris Junior High, has a UKS space similar to this, and I am a regular visitor.

"Haaa..........."

I took a deep breath before fixing the pillow, then lay sideways towards the window. Damn, this pillow is too soft. I used to sleep with a rather solid pillow in the parlor, so sleeping on a pillow like this even felt like I was not using a pillow at all. Moreover, my hair was already too long. It felt tickling when I lay down. The breeze outside also started to cool, what because it would rain again?

"...................."

In the end I fell silent, lying back staring at the white ceiling. Upset, frustrated, irritated, disappointed, I cursed myself. From the very beginning I woke up from this solid bed, I couldn't get rid of something stuck in my chest. In the end, I woke up again, sitting hunched over with shoulders that felt so heavy. Looking towards the window, I could see a black cloud that was beginning to struggle again on the horizon. Ah, there will be more rain, just like two days ago. The streets were getting quiet, but it was still noon. The rainy season really sucks, huh?

My hand grabbed the pillow behind me, then placed it on my lap. White, clean, and too soft. I stared at every frown on the pillow, silent without a sound. Slowly my shoulders came down, immersing my face into tenderness.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

This pillow is soft, that's good. My screams will not be heard from outside. I let go of everything that bothered me, everything that pissed me off, all my disappointments, but I couldn't stop cursing myself. I pulled my head, then punched the pillow many times. It hurts, my right hand hurts. Before I was taken to the hospital, I could still see the blistered skin looking like flesh underneath. This is the side effect I'm talking about. The pain was only felt some time later, but this could not distract me from the tightness in the chest that I often experienced.

I'm stupid, weak, can't do anything. As I stared at the white ceiling above, my eyes looked again at the scene. It was still clear to me at that time, when I turned the living room curtains, when my nose smelled of concentrated gunpowder, when my ears heard an explosion, when my eyes saw my father's last face.

It may be guilt, or it may be a form of trauma. Obviously, when I do, I always wake up with my hands tied, with a face full of bruises. The doctor won't discuss, but I know I've beaten myself.

"Damn, shit, shit, shit, SHIT!!!!!!!!!!!"

I threw a pillow at the entrance involuntarily. I was expecting some noise or broken glass, but nothing was heard. I looked around, seeing two people who had just entered my room.

"Val....... Lee........"

Val caught the pillow I threw. Of course he can, he's a martial arts expert, not like me who can only fight. If he had been there at the time, maybe things wouldn't have ended like this.

"You look messy." Val said as he walked closer.

What does it mean mess? My hair? Of course my hair is messy. Two days I stayed here, just came out to pee. Fortunately lately it's been a bit cold so I don't sweat too much, but my hair is obviously greasy and wavy.

What am I talking about?

I know what Val means. I was fucked up. Usually I refrain from looking bad from the outside, but obviously Val and Lee came at the wrong time. They saw my face, which I did not know was showing any expression.

I sat back, leaning against the wall behind me. I drew a deep breath, then let out slowly. When you feel calm, just smile.

"Hey, it's been a while, huh?"

"..... Pretty long......" Val answered briefly, but Lee glared at me vexedly.

Lee sat in a small chair next to the drawer. Her eyes were sharp at me, but I could see the redness swelling in her eye bags. She tried to hide it with make up, but she was never good at using make up. He probably cried all night. A lot of things happen in a short time.

My smile slowly faded. Lee was right, this is pointless. They know how I look now, I also know what's in their hearts now. We are brothers even though we are not blood, we know the contents of each other's minds.

"At least follow the flow. It's hard to know how to make a face like that."

"Why would you do that if you knew it was hard?"

"...... Habits."

"Don't get used to it."

Always say what's on his mind, as always. To be honest I'm happy to see Lee who hasn't changed. The first second I saw Val's face, I immediately understood that something had changed from him. His eyes were more glaring, his face grim, his way of standing was more stooped like an old man. We didn't see each other for two days, the doctor didn't allow any visits, so I felt like I hadn't seen them in a long time.

"Hope to understand, Theo. Two days of not seeing each other makes Lee miss you, you know?" Val chirps behind, making Lee immediately turn with his eyes that seemed to be able to kill people in one look.

"Woi...."

Nice move, Val.

"eeh, that? Of course she felt weird not waking me up in the morning, didn't she?"

Lee's gaze was rolling on me. "If something changes, then my throat is better in the morning, you know?"

"There's no shame. I know you're waiting in front of the school fence, but Theo's here." Val continued.

"Because you're the old one!!!"

"Wait, is it okay that your learning is also disturbed because of me? Sorry yes!"

"AAAARGGHH THAT'S NOT TRUE!!!!!!!!!"

Lee ruffled his own hair, frustrated. Hahah, it feels refreshing to also insult your own brother like this. It was good to see us laughing again.

"Hey, this is a hospital!" Val reprimanded Lee after being satisfied with the laugh.

"False you."

"You scream in front of sick people, you know?"

"Your fault!"

"....... Hey—"

"That's you!!!"

Gawat, he's sulking. No, I mean I rarely see it like this. Rather than hitting her many times like a shy little boy, she now looked even more childish by putting a frowning face in front of us.

Okay, maybe there's enough opening. I sighed as the end of the laughter, then looked at Val seriously.

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