I then rode my trusty Valitha to
the location of the falling star.
I studied it with curiosity, but
it was frightening when it talked.
“Excuse me miss, could you tell me where I am?” Ludwig asked the lady sitting in front of him.
She glared at his eyes in silence, her eyebrows raised. The look on her face was a mixture of surprise and confusion, just like the one Ludwig wore.
“Miss?” He reiterated.
The lady’s face was familiar. Did he know her? Was she perhaps an old classmate? It was possible, but most likely she wasn’t. She appeared to be in her twenties, and from what he could remember he had never met someone like that in highschool.
Who was she?
“Excuse me, are you ok-”.
Ludwig didn’t even get to finish the sentence before the woman lunged at him. She hugged him, grabbing the back of his clothes and a little bit of skin with a strong grip as she got her arms behind him.
“Lwhig. Lwhuhjg! Fightnau yotr atjake!” The woman cried her eyes out. Anything that came out of her mouth sounded like incoherent babbling, “Luwhji, I misds yhfou!” She kept him close with a tight hug while giving fast and short breaths.
What was happening? Everything passed so quickly that Ludwig stood still for a moment trying to understand the situation, while the woman remained crying on his chest. Should he say something? It seemed like she knew him, but he couldn’t really say the same about her.
“Uhh… It’s okay, it’s okay,” Ludwig said whilst patting her on the back, trying to make it easier for her to breathe. The loud cries coming from the lady attracted a nurse to the room.
Ludwig saw her standing next to the door frame when he asked her, “Excuse me, could you help me out here?”
His eyes pointed down at the woman crying like a small child. The nurse stared at him silently, similarly to how the woman hugging him had just done. But instead of throwing herself at Ludwig, she began shouting a name as she went sprinting down the corridor.
“Doctor! Doctor José Luís!” The words reverberated through the hospital’s halls.
The woman against his body started sniffing, also trying to get some deep breaths in and regain her composure.
“Lud Lud, I’m hgapjpy tu see you!” She said, having a hard time speaking due to the teary eyes and runny nose… Wait, Lud Lud? How did she know that nickname? The only one who called him Lud Lud was Laura.
Ludwig grabbed the woman by her shoulders, slowly and gently pulling her away from him. He saw her face, tears falling from her blue eyes, while a vertical scar crossed the right one.
The lady right in front of him had long black hair tied into a ponytail, with a light brown skin which hid her muscles underneath. Solid muscles. She wore a red and long sleeved shirt with some blue jeans. Despite the scar, she was a truly beautiful woman. And now that he was closely looking at her, she even seemed more familiar.
“Um… Are you... Okay?”
Ludwig didn’t really know what to say to the woman. Should he try to calm her? Maybe get her name? He also didn’t know where he was. Should he ask?
“May I know your na-?”
The sound of footsteps interrupted him as they echoed across the hallway, revealing a brown man dressed in a white coat as they suddenly stopped, the duplicates falling quiet seconds later. He was peeking through the door frame when his eyes widened.
“Señor, es verdad!” Said the man with an astonished face. Ludwig faced the apparent doctor, once again not being able to finish his sentence.
What was going on? Why was everyone freaking out?
“Excuse me, Mister Lock?” The doctor said while rubbing his baggy eyes, amazed at what he was seeing. He approached Ludwig almost hesitantly, kneeling down once he was close enough to look at a screen that hung from the side of Ludwig’s bed. How long has that been there?
“Yes?” Ludwig answered, unsure if he was talking to him.
Mister Lock would be his father, not him. He was just... Ludwig. After a few moments of staring at the screen, the doctor looked up at Ludwig and he stood from his crouched position. “Hi... I’m Doctor José Luís Ernesto de La Pradera, but you can just call me Doctor Ernesto.”
Well that was a long name. Did Ludwig know him? Last he remembered, doctor Williams was his family doctor. Doctor José Luís Ernesto… Doc stopped being so careful after getting a closer look at Ludwig. He then ran his hand through his hair, drawing out a long sigh that described exhaustion.
“Buff… We need to inform you about some things. Nurse Johnson, could you please take care of Miss Lock here? I think she really needs to get some rest.”
Miss Lock? Lock was the family name of his father, and from what Ludwig knew, his father didn’t have any brothers or sisters. Was she a family member or just a coincidence? But if it were to be a coincidence, how did she know him?
The nurse nodded before helping the woman, who was still crying, out of the room. She resisted a bit, but the nurse was able to make her stand in the end. The both of them left the room shortly after, only leaving Doc and Ludwig. The coated man then approached the chair that was nearby, dragging it across the floor until he sat next to Ludwig.
A few moments passed by, but the atmosphere in the room remained the same until Doc finally decided to break the silence.
“Like I’ve said earlier, I’m doctor Ernesto, and you sir are in the Grassland Hospital,” he said with a calm and smooth tone despite the obvious fatigue. “Please, do not panic. I’m sure you have many questions. Do you want to ask them, or just listen to what I have to say?”
Ludwig did. He had so many questions. Too many. What happened? Why was he in the hospital? Who was the woman that was crying? Why did he have a beard?
“I have too many that I don’t know where to start,” Ludwig said.
“Well, that’s simple. From the beginning. Where else can you start?”
Ludwig nodded slowly at the humorous attempt.
“Yeah, you’re right.” He took a deep breath before slowly letting it out of his body. “Why am I here?”
Doctor Ernesto paused for a moment.
“You had an accident,” Doc finally said. “A car accident.”
“A car accident?”
Ludwig didn’t remember getting into one. In fact, now that he was trying to, he didn’t remember what had happened before waking up in the hospital.
“Yes,” Doctor Ernesto said. “It was some time ago, but from what I can remember, you were apparently driving through your neighborhood and, at some point, you accelerated to high speeds. The next thing was you crashing into another vehicle.”
Ludwig clenched his fist, catching the bed sheet between his index and middle finger. Anger, or what could be better described as a crude imitation burnt inside him.
He should have been furious with himself, yet he stayed extremely calm, as if nothing could bother him. Could it maybe be the shock? Ludwig hoped so, because he wasn’t feeling anything, and in a weird way, that pissed him off. Shouldn’t big emotions happen after big events?
Doc’s talking made him remember a bit of the event. He had been practicing for his driving test since his father had asked him if he wanted to practice a little, that maybe getting some experience with his old man would help… Wait… His father!
“My father! I was with my father at that moment! I-Is he okay?!” Ludwig asked nervously, showing some kind of emotion other than doubt and fake anger for the first time since he had woken up.
Doc looked him straight in the eye, then lowered his vision to look at a clipboard with some papers attached to it. The exhausted man of medicine left the clipboard above a tiny bedside table, then rubbed his hands, trying to do something that would ease his obvious discomfort and exhaustion.
“Your father…” He began. “ He survived the car accident.”
Ludwig sighed in relief.
“Ah. Thank god!” Ludwig practically screamed as he swallowed the knot in his throat. “Where is he now?”
The doctor stopped the hand movement and raised his vision. There was some doubt in those weary eyes.
“I’m sorry to say this but... Your father, he passed away.”
Even though doctor Ernesto’s words were intended to be filled with empathy and condolences, his voice, more than anything, sounded greatly tired, which in turn made his words sound cold and empty.
“What?” Ludwig asked, surprised.
“He passed away three years ago due to liver failure,” Doc said as he fist clenched a little.
Ludwig closed his eyes, feeling nothing but shock. All the previous thoughts that he had had were now gone. His father was... Dead? That meant he would never see him again, that he had just lost something precious and there was nothing he could do about it. It was sad. Depressing. Horrible.
Then why did he feel nothing? He loved his dad. He adored him. Then why? Why didn’t sadness fill his head? It wasn’t because of the shock. Even if he were to be deeply shocked, he would still feel… Something. Instead, he was calm. No. Emotionless.
There was only one thing in his mind. Death. Neither the word nor an imaginary corpse that would represent his father’s. Just death. The plain concept of death flooded his mind, the idea, what it meant, the loss of life. There it was, alone in his head, almost as if he had already experienced it.
Ah, right. He had experienced it. His mum had died a year ago.
Ludwig was… Tired. He had just woken up and yet, he felt like he had been without sleep for several weeks. His head was almost empty and yet, it felt like it was going to explode. But the most annoying thing of all were the questions, trying to get inside. Those damn questions which didn’t leave him alone, Itching his brain, trying to get his attention.
And they eventually did. He had lots of questions, too many to contain. Ludwig wanted to ask them all, and at the same time he wanted to speak no more for the rest of his life. A very unpleasant contrast that solved nothing.
Doc looked at Ludwig, his eyes and voice conveying his exhaustion, “Do you need a moment?”
Of course he needed a moment! He had just informed him about the death of his father! Had he been desensitized by the years he had worked as a doctor?! How could he be so…?!
Ludwig took a deep breath.
It was not really the moment to get angry. As he opened his eyes, he thought about the words that the man in front of him had just spoken.
A long time ago? Had Ludwig been… Asleep? In a coma? How long was ‘a long time ago’ anyways?
“No,” Ludwig whispered. For some reason, that was a lot harder than what he had anticipated. Not feeling emotions made things harder to understand.
He did want that moment. But maybe... Maybe getting everything out of his system would make him feel better, or at least make him feel... Anything. Plus, he needed some answers.
The lack of knowledge about his situation was getting at him.
“I noticed I have a beard now,” Ludwig managed to say, his voice failing him a couple times even though he was hollow inside. “How long have I been...”
It was tough. He knew why it was, but at the same time, it was confusing. His peaceful state blinded him somehow, making him know without knowing, feeling without feeling.
Ludwig swallowed the lump in his throat.
“How long have I been in the hospital? How long have I been, “asleep”?''
Doctor Ernesto licked his dry lips, whilst he looked at the window, composing his thoughts in front of this unexpected situation for everybody.
The look on his face made it obvious that he didn’t know if it was right to tell Ludwig. There was doubt, and maybe a hint of empathy after all. The coated man thought long and hard, but made a decision in the end.
“As of today, we are on October fourteenth...”
He had been asleep for a month?!
“... of the year two thousand forty-three. You have been asleep for, roughly, fifteen years.”
...
“I know it is a long time but-”
“Could you please leave?” Ludwig interrupted Doc, his words finally filled with a slight anger.
“Um…” Doc looked at the screen located to Ludwig’s right before continuing with his answer, “Sure,” Doc said after checking everything was in order. He got up from his seat and picked up his clipboard, and as he was about to leave the room said, “I’ll come back later.”
Doctor Ernesto then left as silence stepped into the room.
Ludwig didn’t know what to do nor what to think until a discarded thought came back.
Ah. He forgot to ask Doctor Ernesto about the crying lady. Was she... Laura? Probably. No one else called him that or even knew about the nickname. There was also the family name. Now that he was thinking about it, she resembled Laura a tad too much. And of course, it now made sense time wise. He almost felt indifferent towards the idea. Fifteen years… His baby sister was now a grown up woman. A beautiful one, in fact. She really took after her mother in appearance.
This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.
Oh, and Jonna? He was nothing more than a three year old baby the last time he saw him. That would now make him... Eighteen or nineteen years old. Damn. How old would that make Ludwig? He was born on November nineteenth in the year two thousand eleven, so… Almost thirty-two years.
Even though he had been struck with many surprises way too fast since he had woken, Ludwig was strangely calm. That enervated him, yet the calmness weakened his anger, making the unending loop continue. He looked in the window’s direction, through which he could see the entrance to the hospital from above.
It had a main white road that led into the hospital, probably twenty five feet long and six feet wide. Grass, trees, and bushes stood beside the entry, six street lamps illuminating it with a warm, orange light. The window was positioned so that Ludwig could only see the entrance, the street, and three buildings on the other side.
The structures to the left and to the right were fairly similar. Three or four story buildings colored with shades of gray with windows at every floor.
But the one in the middle really stood out. It was a short and wide building with Japanese style doors and ceiling with a purple and blue neon sign on top that said ‘Fusion 日本語イタリア語’.
Yeah, this certainly wasn’t his neighborhood. Or maybe it was. Who knows? A lot can change in fifteen years. His life certainly did.
Ludwig sat still. Everything was silent except for the wind, waving the treetops…
And it was simply too much.
He looked at the hospital’s entrance and let time pass. After a few seconds, maybe minutes or even hours, the sound of an ambulance emerged, growing bigger and bigger. A moment passed and the ambulance got next to the hospital based on the intensity of the siren. Ludwig examined both ends of the street below, searching for the ambulance, but he found nothing. It was weird, the sound came from this side of the hospital.
He raised his vision from the street onto the sidewalk, lifting himself up a little from his bed as well as making the sheets ruffle. There were people walking on it, but the majority stood still, looking up to the sky. Ludwig followed the gaze of the pedestrians, curious at what they were looking.
A floating ambulance with a sunken roof and a broken side was in the air, raised by two figures. One of the figures was positioned on the front of the vehicle, using every part of its arms and a little bit of its chest to hold it. The other one was glowing in yellow light and directly below the car, using both of its hand and back to lift it. Both the vehicles and the figures gently descended from the sky. Just as the ambulance landed onto the black street, two paramedics burst through its back door, carefully lowering a medical gurney with a laid down person on top. Even though the paramedics were now well gone inside the hospital, one of the figures which had lifted the ambulance across the sky stood still, looking in their direction. The figure glowing in yellow light approached it, putting a hand on its shoulder. After a few moments, both figures flew off into the skies with the destroyed ambulance.
That paralyzing calmness evaporated in a matter of seconds.
“Ha… Ha ha. Ha ha ha ha!”
Ludwig laughed maniacally after a slow start, the small dimension of the room giving it some echo to the shrieks.
“I get it!” He said while laughing. “I get it! This is just a bad joke! Some kind of bad dream! Of course, very funny! But I would want it to end, please,” Ludwig said to the empty space, waving his index finger back and forth. His mouth then flew off into his arm, biting it.
Pain sprouted from it, but he only reacted by biting it harder and harder, until blood came out, finally stopping at the crimson sight. Ludwig grabbed his hair, pulling some of it, as he hunched down, tears falling from his shut down eyes. He began crying, the vanished emotions now abruptly and frantically growing inside of him, hitting him one after the other.
“FUCK!”
—-----
A ringing phone woke Laura up.
For a moment she thought it was a normal day, that she was in her bed and someone was calling her for her car extended guarantee. Her calmness ended rather quickly and abruptly as some of the events from the prior day rammed into her head.
She extended her right arm to pick the phone up from the bedside table. Looking at the screen, she saw someone was calling her. The name ‘Jonna’ appeared at the bottom half while the top had a profile picture on it, an image showing a young teen under a tall tree.
Laura pressed the green icon at the left, then swiped it up.
“Hello?” She said slowly. Her voice had a sleepy tone to it.
“Sis?” Said the voice coming from the phone. It sounded worried.
“Jonna, hi. Yeah um...”
“Are you okay? Where are you? You said you were going to call me by six a.m!”
What time was it? She looked at the superior right corner and saw that it was ten a.m.
“Ah, shit. I’m...I’m sorry I ah… I got hurt and had to go to the hospital and…” the face of Lion Fist, surrounded by fire and smoke popped into her head, “... Some things happened-”
“ARE YOU OKAY?”
“Yeah, yeah. I’m fine. I’m fine. Look, I have to take care of something. I’ll call you later, I promise.”
“Don’t do anything stupid!”
“I won’t. I promise everything is and will be fine.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
“Okay… I love you.”
“Love you too,” Laura said, looking at the ceiling.
She then hung up.
Laura looked at her pants. They were resting on the metal frame of the bed, next to her feet. She rubbed her eyes and gave out a long sigh. Exhaustion weighed her down. Yesterday she had woken up early due to a day full of monotonous patrols, followed by an operation late in the night which resulted in her taking a beating by a crazy teen. At least she was able to test the new suit.
Ah, her head was such a mess. Laura raised it to look at the room directly in front of her, past the open door. She pulled the white sheets away as she got up from the bed. She then walked towards the main area after putting on her red shirt, her pants and some black shoes. Laura had spent the night at the Oak Room. Basically a room designated to hospitalized heroes. although it was frequently used by the hospital’s staff as a break room. After all, it was the best place to have a good rest with some privacy. Plus, it had a coffee machine, which was also Laura’s next stop.
At the same time as she reached for a cup, Laura heard the sound of keys unlocking the main door to the room, located to her left. Doctor Ernesto was the one to open the door. He closed the door after getting in, dragging his feet through the room, almost falling on top of a chair shortly after. Laura looked at him while pouring her coffee.
"Good lord, Doc!” She said once she turned around. “Are you okay?"
Doctor Ernesto had a dark look on his face. His eyes looked even more tired than the last time, and his brown skin was now pale. He was keeping his head from falling thanks to a tight grip to his hair. He tried to sigh, but gave up halfway. Too tiring, it seemed.
"Just a thirty six hour shift again,” he said, trying to emulate sarcasm. “Hey, could you serve me one too?" Doc said while pointing at the coffee machine.
“Black?”
“Yup.”
Doctor Ernesto laid his head on the table next to the chair he was sitting on.
“Did you get any sleep?” He asked.
“Yeah but, the important thing here is if you got any sleep. And by the looks of it, you didn’t.”
“There was an explosion near Sting Street. There were too many injured people. I couldn’t leave them. They needed me.”
“They needed help, not you. Do I have to remind you that you are not the only medical potens here anymore? You have partners now. Trust them.”
“I do trust them…” Doc said.
“But?” Laura said.
“It 's just… My power.”
“What’s wrong with it?”
“I can do so much good with my ability, but only in a short period of time. I fear being late. Explaining to a husband that his loved one died because I arrived a second late. To a father that his kid won’t be able to walk again because I decided to take another coffee,” he said, sinking his head into his arms. “It’s just… Time is so fast and… I need every advantage I can get.” His voice sounded muffled by his arms.
There was a pause between the two of them. Only the coffee being poured into a cup could be heard. Laura put doctor Ernesto’s cup on the table, in front of him, blowing her own and taking a sip after.
“No one can outrun time.” Laura then said. “Some will have a bigger head start than others, but time will always catch up to them. Without exception.” She rested her free hand on his shoulder, which caused Doc to raise his head in response. “Besides, how much time are you going to lose if you don’t take care of yourself?”
Doc sighed, ”You’re right. Thanks, Laura.”
“No problem. Now, how about you get some rest?” She said as she was turning around.
“I will, but not now.”
Laura snapped her head back, giving him a cold gaze.
“It’s just one more patient,” he rushed to say. “I just have to check him. Make sure everything is ok.”
Laura let out an irritated sigh, “Fine. I’ll believe you because I have to make some calls.”
She walked to the door, but Doc got up before she reached it.
“Actually, can you come with me for this last one?”
Laura turned her head, looking a bit confused.
“I don’t think you got the chance to welcome him properly.”
Oh.
Jonna’s call and her conversation with doctor Ernesto had made her forget Ludwig. A wave of nervousness and anxiety entered her body, forcing her calm state to go.
“Ah. Right,” Laura said, trying to sound calm.
“Well then, let’s not delay it any longer,” Doctor Ernesto said, exiting the room with his cup of coffee in one hand. “I believe it was room one hundred and thirty seven?”
“Ye-Yeah.”
“Great.”
He marched out of the Oak Room, Laura walking behind him after locking the door.
Ludwig’s room wasn’t very far from where they were. They only had to go left, keep going straight for a bit, go upstairs with the second staircase to the right, and once on the second floor, turn one last time to the left, after that, they only had to check the room number. But thanks to her numerous visits, she knew Ludwig’s room was next to a huge drawing of Rocky John. The size of the painting did the man justice.
As they were going upstairs, Laura tried to calm herself.
Why was she so nervous? Her brother, who was once believed to remain in that state for the rest of his life, had woken up. It was a miracle. Everything would be fine. No. Great. After some days at the hospital, he would come to live with her. They would be able to go on a walk, just like they used to do. Meanwhile, she could tell him how a man gone mad tried to knock out Bryan with a frozen brick of milk, and how that made him create somewhat of a hate towards milk and... How she was a superhero.
Anxiety and nervousness crawled back, reclaiming Laura’s thoughts. Her chest turned heavy as she started to hyperventilate more and more, her footing getting looser.
“... Hundred thirty three, one hundred thirty five… One hundred thirty seven! Here.”
Laura looked at Doctor Ernesto. It appeared that he hadn't noticed Laura's struggle due to how he walked with a mixture of both exhaustion and calmness. She tried to enter as well, but stopped before she could peek through the door.
Doubt paralyzed her.
How would she tell him? Would he complain? Would he be angry? He wouldn’t. The Ludwig she knew wouldn’t do that. But what if he had changed? What if she had changed? She wasn’t the little girl she once was anymore. The little girl who Ludwig knew. She was now an adult, a hero. She had grown, fell in love, fought… Killed. She was a potens.
Just like Master Mind.
Fear crept her body at the sudden thought.
What if he hated her? For not saving her father despite being a hero. For not waking him up earlier. For being like the villain who put him in a coma.
There were people who thought of potens as abominations, monsters capable of changing reality. There were people who feared them, hated them for that. Would Ludwig be like that? Laura had to lean on the wall to avoid falling. What if-?
“Ok mister Ludwig, um, are you ready to- Dios! What happened to your arm?!” Doctor Ernesto yelled from inside Ludwig’s room.
Laura’s nervousness, anxiety, doubt and fear all vanished. Well, they didn’t disappear. They had been overshadowed by something way bigger. Her concern over her brother.
She ran into the room, making her slightly lighter to arrive there faster.
Once in the square-like space, she could see Doctor Ernesto grabbing Ludwig’s right arm, which was covered in dry blood, and inspecting the
wound. Ludwig also had some blood in his mouth, cheeks, and beard.
“What happened?” She asked.
Ludwig looked at her.
“I just… Got angry and… Bit my arm. I wasn’t thinking.” Ludwig had both an embarrassed look on his eyes and a fake smile.
“We can already see that,” Doc said. “It is going to hurt a little.”
“What is going to hurt?” Ludwig asked Doc as he looked up at him.
The blood in Ludwig’s face began to move, going from his chin to his neck. Even though she had previously seen Doctor Ernesto’s power, it was still fascinating. The blood moved slowly through his face and neck. Then, it diverted its path and began moving to his right arm, on top of his sanitary gown. As soon as the blood stained the gown, it joined once again the largest pool of blood. It kept its steady and calm pace until it reached the wound in Ludwig’s arm. Once there, it made his way into the interior of Ludwig’s arm through the bloody marks of teeth.
From the change in Ludwig’s expression, Laura guessed it hurt. To finish the treatment, the skin closed itself in a weird and quick way. Almost like the backwards motion of something being cut. Doc let Ludwig's wrist go, who then touched his arm where the wound had been, slightly impressed.
“So, you are one of those super-powered people, huh?”
“Yes? Is there a problem with that?”
Laura’s anxiety began to build up…
“No. It 's just… Weird. Superpowers were something born from the imagination of people. Something that didn’t really exist except in books, movies and media. And, by your reaction, they now seem so… Normal.”
…To slowly fall back in with her other emotions. Her previous concern for Ludwig wasn’t as big as it was just a second ago. But, still, some of it remained in her mind. Although it was now focused on his emotional and mental state.
“Ah. Right. I... Didn’t even think about that,” Doc said.
Laura hadn’t thought about it either. Even though powers had been around for only fourteen years, they were now ingrained and accepted by people. Even more in people who had powers, like Laura or Doctor Ernesto, and were a part of their daily life. Nevertheless, that didn’t mean it had been an easy process.
“Well, I’m sorry to change the subject like this but, I need to double check some things, to ensure everything is okay. Would you mind answering some questions?”
Ludwig took a deep breath through his nose, “No. Go ahead.”
Doc sat on the chair next to Ludwig.
“Before that, could you…”
Doc threw a pen at Ludwig before he could end his sentence. Ludwig was surprised, but was able to catch it due to the fact that it was traveling slowly through the air.
“...Hand me my pen back?” Doc said with a slight grin on his face. “It seems your reflexes are just fine.”
“I don’t think that’s how you test someone’s reflexes,” Ludwig said.
“Yeah but, where would be the fun otherwise?”
Despite the image that someone like him normally showed, Doctor Ernesto wasn’t the depressed and serious type. He prefered being the fun doctor, or at least tried to. The frequency in which he took long workshifts made him look like the former, but he could be quite goofy sometimes.
This was an attempt at it.
Ludwig handed the pen back. Doc then checked his clipboard as he wrote something on it.
“Ok. You can also speak without a problem, right?” Doc asked, looking at Ludwig. He nodded back at him, which made him write something else on the clipboard.
“Is there any part of your body that’s difficult to move around?”
Ludwig moved a little bit around to check his body, “Everything feels alright.”
“Good. Do you have a problem with any of your senses?”
“No.”
“Ok.”
Doc continued filling the paper attached to the clipboard. After a moment, he flipped the page and moved onto the next one.
“Now, have you felt stronger than usual? As if, abnormally strong?”
“No… Why?”
Doc ignored Ludwig’s question, “Have you felt something weird since you’ve woken up?”
Ludwig hesitated in giving his answer, meanwhile, Laura had caught on what Doc was doing. He was checking any early signs of an awakening. In other words, if Ludwig had developed a power.
“No… I’m sorry, why are you asking this?”
“Last question. Were you telling me the truth?” Doc said, locking a firm and cold gaze with Ludwig. The latter looked confused, but didn’t break eye contact. After a few moments, Doc was the one to break eye contact.
“Don’t worry. I was just messing with you,” he said while chuckling.
Ludwig just winced at the comment.
“Okay,” Doctor Ernesto said, looking at the screen located at the right side of Ludwig’s bed. “I think that’s all. Thank you for your cooperation, Mister Lock.”
“Just call me Ludwig.”
“Sure. Well then, Ludwig, I’ll see you on a later date.”
Doc got up from his seat, turned and walked to the door.
“And you,” he said to Laura as he reached the door. ”Don’t come back with injuries like the ones from today while I’m not here.”
She cursed to her insides as Doctor Ernesto put a hand on her shoulder, leaving the room shortly after.
Laura, who had been next to the door frame, looked at Ludwig. He looked back at her.
“Laura?” Ludwig asked, as if he didn’t know who he was looking at.
“Yes?” She responded.
Ludwig smiled lightly in response to the answer.
“Wanna take a seat?” He said, tapping the chair which Doctor Ernesto had used.
Laura walked to the chair, sitting down after a moment’s worth of consideration. Her nervousness and anxiety began to sprout once again from her interior while her mind began creating doubt. She could feel-
“What was that about you being hurt?”
Ludwig’s question brought her back from her thoughts. It wouldn’t do any good to think about that stuff, but now she had another problem. Was she going to tell him about the previous night? Make something up? Laura would feel better telling him the truth, but that seemed impossible right now.
“You know, I just… Got burnt.”
She instead opted by telling him the truth. Just not the whole truth.
“Oh. Was it with the stove or something like that?
“Just… Something really hot …Touched me.”
“That’s what normally happens when you get burnt,” he said while laughing lightly.
“Ha. Yeah I guess you’re right.”
God, this was worse than she had expected. She knew that her anxiety and nervousness would make it difficult, but not antisocial-teen-difficult.
“It… It looked like you knew the doctor. Do you know each other?”
“I uh… I know him from work. He’s been attending me for, uh, three years now.”
“Ah. Got it.”
…
What now? It was obvious that the atmosphere wasn’t the best. Maybe telling him that her little sister was a superhero whose normal Tuesday consisted in not being hit by flying cars, wasn’t the best idea at the moment. Nonetheless, a doubt crossed her mind. Would she be able to tell him about who she really was at a later date?
Probably not. Still, she didn’t believe in herself to tell him about it now.
“Did you say anything?” Ludwig asked.
“No. Why?”
“I just thought I heard someone talking, that’s it.”
Another unnerving moment passed by.
“I- I should call Jonna,” Laura said. ”He’s been worried for a bit.” She then stood up and walked to the door.
Ludwig grabbed her left arm, making her stop in the spot.
“Please. Don’t.” He paused, giving the words time to sink in. “This is also difficult for me. I mean, look at you.” Laura turned to see her brother. “For me, it’s like my ten-year-old sister grew fifteen years in a day.” He then scratched his head while looking for words. “I know it’s hard,” Ludwig said, looking at himself. “Just talk to me. Tell me what happened. What have I missed?”
“Do you mean, about what has happened to the world these last ye-?” Laura asked, barely holding her tears.
“No,” Ludwig said with a calm voice. “About you. What has my little sister been up to these last years? Fill me in. What have I missed?”
Laura walked back to her seat and sat down, which was enough for Ludwig to let her arm go. She stayed in silence for a moment, recollecting the little amount of coherent thoughts that circle around her brain.
“Well, nothing really happened while I was in elementary school. But after that, I picked up the violin.”
“Is that so?” He sounded genuinely surprised.
“Yeah. I even won a competition once. Although, it took seven tries for it to happen. I also started…”
Laura’s anxiety and nervousness began to fade.
Maybe she had been too pessimistic. Maybe she just had a rough week which resulted in her being paranoid. Maybe it could work.
Maybe everything could be like before.