Mindy opened her eyes and found herself in a small white bed covered in sheets. She looked around the room; Richard, Lily, and Reginald stood by her side, watching over her. The three breathed a sigh of relief over her recovery while Mindy tried to remember what happened. The group got her up to speed and explained the situation prior to her falling unconscious. They rested in the Hope Haven Hospital, while the cops chased after the imposter, trying to apprehend them.

Lucy went to report the scoops to her other boss and tried to get back up from other authorities to help with the problem.

“I can’t believe this...” Mindy sighed, as she placed a hand on her head.

“To be honest, I don’t know if I could forgive myself if you didn’t make it out,” Lily muttered. She lowered her head and looked away.

“Well, you did save me that one time,” Mindy pointed out. “So, I guess we’re even.”

“Oh, was that all?” Lily raised her head and frowned.

“Well, I mean, ever since I had that talk with, a certain someone...” Mindy glanced at Richard before turning her gaze back to Lily. “I’ve meant to find the time to talk with you.”

“Really?” Lily asked, her heart moved. “But I thought you hated me...”

“I did, but, look, I just didn’t want you to go with the wrong crowd, make the wrong choices, and regret it for the rest of your life.”

“So, that’s why?”

Richard and Reginald just stood there and watched them interact until everyone grew silent. Reginald whispered to Richard that they should leave the two sisters alone, so they could have their moment. Richard agreed, as they headed out of the room.

.-.-.-.

Richard and Reginald waited for them outside the door as they rested their backs on the wall. The two stayed silent, unsure of what to say to one another. After a while, Richard peeked through the windows as Lily and Mindy gave each other a tearful hug. Richard smiled and wiped the tears from his eyes.

“Hey, Richard?” Reginald spoke up.

“Yeah, what is it?” Richard turned back to face his brother.

“I’m sorry for accusing you of that homicide,” Reginald said, lowering his head. “And for attacking you too.”

“I didn’t know about it either, water under the bridge.”

“No, how can you forgive me so easily? I tried to kill you!”

“You had your reasons, Greg told me bits and pieces of what happened beforehand.”

Reginald paused. “You may not believe it, but father didn’t resent you.”

“Sure, if you say so.”

Minutes have passed in silence, neither of them knowing what to say. It was Reginald who broke the ice with a scoff.

"You know, it's funny. We may be related by blood, but we've never truly bonded like brothers. Heck, we never felt like a proper family back then."

"What do you mean?" Richard asked, he glanced at him, noticing something was off, but couldn’t picture what.

"Well, often, we don't communicate how we feel or share good and bad memories. We don't even talk unless it's convenient or one of us did something wrong.” Reginald wrapped his arms around himself and looked away. “Even when I tried my hardest to please father back then, he always had that look of contempt and pain in his eyes."

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

"What? But Dad loved you more than anyone else."

"No, he loved mother most of all, and she died after giving birth to me. I knew because I overheard Gerald discuss it with the other workers there.” His breath shook as he struggled to hold back tears. “Ever since that day, I've struggled to suppress my feelings; I didn't argue or complain because I didn't want others to see me as..."

"I'm sorry,” Richard muttered, lowering his head. “I had no idea."

"Of course you didn't," Reginald said in a bitter tone. “You only cared about yourself, not how anyone felt at the time. You had no idea how lucky you had it, but still, you threw it all away. And for what?"

"Are you blaming me for this now?” Richard asked, pointing at himself, almost offended that he’d say such a thing. “At least they all paid attention to you."

"Well, at least you got treated equally!” Reginald snapped, catching his brother off guard. He stomped with his foot and threw his arms up, forgetting he was in a hospital. “Dad, the servants, and everyone at school treated you like anyone else. Nobody said it, but I felt like I was being pitied and coddled every step of the way! You got to be a kid. You got to make mistakes and learn from them. I…” Reginald calmed down, finally letting the tears fall down his face. “I didn't get any of that. All because I remind them of someone amazing I have never met. Sometimes, I wondered how different my life would've been if I chose to run away with you that night."

Richard opened his mouth, but nothing came out. For the first time in his life, he was truly speechless. He didn’t want to leave his younger brother without a response, but also didn’t know what to say to help cheer him up, if that was possible. Eventually, he went with the first thing that came to his mind.

"Reginald, I..."

A voice echoed through the walls. The two brothers raised their heads and turned to find Fawn phasing through the walls and facing them. Richard stepped back and gasped, while Reginald wiped his eyes and cleared his throat.

“Huh? Fawn, what are you doing here?” Richard asked.

“Oh, so it worked.” Reginald scratched his chin, feeling a sense of accomplishment. He had already moved on after letting it all out at once.

“Wait, what did you do?”

“I felt bad about what happened before. During the time Mindy was at the hospital, I learned a healing spell for ghosts back at this supernatural store I went to,” Reginald explained.

“Oh yeah, sure.” Richard rolled his eyes. “Just like with that spirit jar.” His face brightened up. “Wait a minute, I got an idea! Fawn?”

“What’s up?” Fawn inquired, not sure where he was going with this.

“Can you go track down where Carlos and the police are?”

“Yeah, I can do that. Understood.” Fawn saluted and flew off.

Reginald arched an eyebrow, unsure about his plan either. “Um, what—?”

Richard took out his phone and dialed up some numbers. After a few beeps, someone picked up the line. Kelly and Ken’s voices rang through the phone. Richard explained to them the current situations at hand, to which they voiced their concerns through the speakers.

“Is Mindy ok?” Kelly asked.

“Yeah, she’s resting inside as we speak,” Richard replied.

“That’s a relief. So, what’d you need from us?” Ken questioned.

“Ken, I need you to call for some reinforcements. We’re going to need all the help we can get.”

“It’ll take a while to recruit, but I’ll do my best.”

“Kelly, can you do me a favor and track down everyone else from your computer?” Richard asked.

“Sure, you can count on me.”

“Great, thanks. I’ll see you guys later.” Richard hung up and sighed in content. Before he told Reginald about his plan, Fawn came back to the area, fiddling with her arms and shaking.

“Guys, we got bad news!”

“Fawn, calm down and tell us what the matter is,” Richard said.

“How can I be calm when there’s a planned attack coming our way?”

“Say what?” Reginald gasped, backing up and hitting himself against the wall.

“Yeah, you know that evil guy those cops were chasing?”

“Uh-huh...”

Lily slammed open the doors and power-walked toward Richard and Reginald.

“Guys, we have a problem!” She exclaimed. Her eyes got watery as her voice trembled.

“Lily, what’s wrong?” Richard asked, his hands getting clammy.

“Hurry, inside!”