Out Of The Hospital

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“As Mark's hospital room door swung open, he took his first tentative steps into the world beyond the sterile white walls. His hand instinctively went to the bandaged wound on his chest, a constant reminder of the bullet that had nearly claimed his life.

The hospital corridor felt strange, unfamiliar, and yet oddly comforting. The soft hum of fluorescent lights overhead and the distant chatter of nurses at their station created a soothing ambiance, a stark contrast to the chaos of the emergency room where he had fought for his life.

Mark's heart raced as he moved further down the corridor, the rhythmic beeping of a nearby monitor echoing in his ears. Each step was a small victory, a testament to his resilience and the skill of the medical team that had saved him.

As he approached the exit, a wave of uncertainty washed over him. What would life be like now, post-recovery? Mark couldn't help but wonder how this brush with mortality might change him, and what new challenges lay ahe—”

“Kuya Mark, did you finally lose your mind? Why are you talking about yourself in third person?” Crystal teases me as soon as she sees me walking out of the hospital entrance.

“Sir, are you sure you don't want to be on a wheelchair?” the nurse that replaced Lucy says with genuine worry.

“He'll be fine. We can even admit him to a mental hospital now,” Crystal says with cute smile.

“It looks like you don't care about your ‘kuya Mark’ at all,” I flick her forehead but she dodges.

“Yes, kuya. I don't care... You can die now if yo—”

“Crystal! What are youuu saying~?” Mom gets off the car. She doesn't look mad but she is mad.

“Mommy, it was just a joke,” Crystal hugs my arm, purposely putting pressure on my chest, knowing its wound hasn't fully healed yet, “I actually love kuya Mark with all my heart. I was just being shy.”

No, you're not being shy.

And...

‘With all your heart’ huh? When did you get one?

Crystal glares at me like as if she read my thoughts. “Kuya, come on.. Mommy might start crying. She was so worried about you after all.”

“En! I miiiiiss my baby,” Mom hugs my other arm. And although it's embarrassing to get called ‘baby,’ I feel joy hearing it from her. That aside, right now I have two beautiful flowers on both arms. Though they're my family, but for some eyes, I'm having two beautiful ladies with me. I feel the flames of envy in their eyes fufufu..

“Mom, you were with me the whole night yesterday.”

Yet she left this morning to apparently pick me up at this moment.

“But it seems fun hehehe...” she smiles happily.

I see where Crystal got her traits from.

“Anyway, let's go. We cooked a bit to celebrate your recovery..!” Mom looks so happy. She's cute..

Ohh. Maybe that's why she left this morning.. to cook. Hmmm... She's really loving.

Mom gets in the car first. I tease Crystal a bit, “Why were you acting like you didn't care about me? Aren't you supposed to maintain your image as a loving and sweet little sister?“ I poke her soft cheeks. “Were you shy?”

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“.............” Crystal didn't say anything. She simply rolls her eyes on me. “Hmmp,” she then follows mom in the car.

I was expecting to get hit but... fufufu. I miss you too..

“Oh mom.. you put quite the effort didn't you?”

I see most of my favorite dish on the table. But a lot of them takes time and effort to be done properly. Yet my mom..

“I also did half the work, you know,” all of sudden, Crystal kicks my leg lightly and she sounds rather annoyed.

“Oh, my sweet little sister is jealous. I'll give you plenty of care later..” I pat her in the head but she slaps my hand away.

“Sweetie! Your brother hasn't recovered yet.. can you please handle him with care...” she glares at Crystal.

But mom, I am not like a fragile parcel. Don't worry too much about me.

“Kuya Mark, it's because you hasn't shown me love lately... It must be because you now have a girlfriend,” she says while pouting. She's suddenly acting meek. “Mommy, you should tell him to break up with Eli-chan..”

Oh bloody hell....Give me a break. Why do you keep coming after Eli-chan? You've done enough. Now she's avoiding me as much as she can.

“Errr.. sweeetie~ I.. I can't interfere with that~ That's your brother's—”

“But mommy, I missed kuya Mark!” she's now acting like a wronged child. “When that bitc— woman came to his life, he has been acting very cold to me ever since...”

Mom cast a side eye at me.

Bloody hell... Crystal's acting is so good she genuinely looks pitiful. What's her goal this time..? Is she trying to get back at me for destroying her spy camera?

“When kuya was in the hospital, I visited him but he made me leave immediately. He said I was being annoying... It.. it was because that Elizabitch was there.. Mommy...” she's getting teary-eyed.

And that's not true. I welcomed you warmly. We even slept together. Moreover, can you please not give my Eli-chan such a horrible nickname?

“Err... baby..” mom is confused of what to do. “Baby Mark, can you please properly treat your one and only little sister~? Crystal might be rude sometimes, but she's just masking her love for you. She's just shy... please love each other 'kay~?”

No, she is not being shy, mom. She's truly sadistic. Look at her sticking her tongue out at me. She knows she won this round.

“Yes mom. I understand po,” I show a force smile at Crystal. Like those gentleman in the past, I bow a little and takes the hand of Crystal to kiss it, “May I know how can I make it up with my sweet and angelic little sister?”

“Hehe... I... you don't have to... um.. kuya... Mar..k..” I don't like how she's so good at this. She knows how to use her cuteness properly. Those micro-expressions are executed so well it looks genuine and not practiced.

“No, no, no.. as an old—”

“‘your’,” Crystal says in whisper.

“Err.. As your older brother, I must do my best to make it up with my lit—”

“‘sweet and lovely’”

“— ehem, sweet and lovely, little sister...”

“Err... um... m'kay. Thank you kuya Mark.. hehehehehe...” I wonder what she'll ask me to do. “I don't.. really want anything hehe.. I'm already happy with this..”

Yes, yes, I believe you.

“Oh... hehehe... that's nice. Hm-mm~” At least mom is happy.

“But mommy...”

“Yes..?”

Here it goes.

“I think kuya Mark began to distance himself from me when our... our interactions decreased..”

Oh hell. You were the one who decided to avoid me. Then all of sudden, you began acting intimate again.. with a violent twist on top of that.

“So... umm...”

““.............””

Just what is it?

“I want to sleep together with kuya Mark from now on... I-I mean, we're siblings anyway so there should be no problem hehehe..”

N...

No...

No way in hell! That's basically torture for me.

“Mom, Crystal and I are both adolescent. I don't think it's ethically appropriate...”

“Eh? It's not like we'll do anything.. or what kuya? Do you have weird thoughts about me..?”

Aaaaaaaargh!!

Stop it! Don't give mom any weird ideas. Look at her eyes, she's starting to get worried. Wait, is that disgust I see?

“Certainly not. There's nothing interesting in you anyway. It's just that it's inap—”

“How is it inappropriate? We're siblings! And what do you mean I'm not interesting?!” she's says ‘calmly’ with irritation.

That's the same reason you said back when you were trying to take a bath with me.

“...sniff... I know Kuya Mark isn't a sick pervert... I know you... S-so this only means that you don't love me... uhu.. it's because of that Elizabitch...” she starts crying. She shows irritation at the latter part. Whether she genuinely felt that or not is unbeknownst to me.

And my chest is aching already. We've been standing here since we got inside.

“Arrgh! Fine fine. I don't have a problem with it anyway. But won't your room be a waste—”

“Still mine! And by the way, you're not allowed inside kuya... Please refrain from sneaking in!”

She's back to her original self.

Fufufu... How annoying. Her warning must be because I sneaked in last time to confront her about what she did to Eli-chan.

“Oh.. I am also okay with it~! If it will help you brother-sister to reconcile, I don't find the problem.”

There's a major problem in it, mom!

“Yay! But mommy....?”

The hell is it this time?

“Can we also take a bath together from now on? Hehehehe,” she says with a flushed face.