Aftermath... (Midas/Adella)

(Midas)

I woke up again, but I didn’t care where I was. My mind was still stuck on what I’d just witnessed. They were Romka’s memories with me.

Romka…

All along, that was how she felt. That was who she was. I…never knew. I really didn’t.

Even with all that I had, I was never able to see the full picture. Otherwise, I would’ve understood how lucky I was to have so many people looking out for me.

I felt a sudden lump in my throat. That was when I finally looked around.

I was in the hospital. Despite the curtains being drawn, the sun still filtered in softly from the window.

Tears began to well up in my eyes. I looked under the covers and saw bandages on my abdomen.

I rested my head back on my pillow, those tears slipping down from both sides of my face.

Damn it. I couldn’t hold it in.

I placed my arm over my eyes and allowed myself this one time, murmuring words of gratitude under my breath.

“I love you, Mom.”

“...And thank you, Brother.”

***

I sure was glad that nobody came in during that pitiful moment to myself. Everyone chose to enter about an hour after, when I had long since composed myself.

Adella, Siel, Soren, and Kat all came into my hospital room, each of them looking at me with different eyes and expressions.

“Hi everybody!” I exclaimed, smiling and waving my hand.

“Don’t give us that crap! How could you just go and sneak off by yourself, boy?! You’re lucky you survived! You must be sick in the head!” Siel yelled.

All four of us looked at him with blank eyes. It seemed that I wasn’t the only one who knew that he willingly let me leave the house.

“You’re literally the one who let him leave,” Adella said, confirming my speculation.

Siel gritted his teeth. “You stupid, stupid boy! You had one job, and that was to stay inside!” he shouted at me.

I laughed. “There’s no point. You won’t be able to absolve yourself of the blame. We all know you’re the one at fault.”

He paused, then eventually averted his gaze.

“Well…sorry about that, then. To be fair, I didn’t even know about your whole dying situation until these kids told me.”

“Why’d you let me go, anyway?” I asked.

“...I could sort of tell that you weren’t in control. And I trusted whoever was.”

I raised my eyebrows. So he knew that the silhouette—my “brother”—was actually not an unscrupulous force after all. I’ll admit, he was sort of clever for realizing that.

“To be honest,” I said, “I think you did the right thing. Your judgment can be off at times, but I think it was right to let me leave.”

Siel looked confused. “Why’s that?”

I glanced over at everyone else. They were all confused.

“I’ll fill you guys in later. I’m sort of hungry right now. Do you have anything for me to eat? Any get-well-soon gifts?”

There was dead silence. I see. Nobody cared enough for me to get gifts. Tragic.

“You’re probably wondering how we found you before you bled out,” Soren said.

“Actually, I’m no—”

“Siel actually had a tracker on your phone. He said he handed it to you on your way out.”

I wasn’t really that curious, but it did surprise me a bit. “Wow. I remember that. I really didn’t expect him to be so useful.”

“You just underestimate me,” he said. “I mean, there were a lot of times in the past where I noticed you doing something off. That’s how I ended up coming to the conclusion that there was something else within you.”

He was right, but he was making Soren and Kat a little lost. I could tell by their expressions.

“What are your thoughts on this, Kat?” I asked.

She smiled. “I have none.”

I chuckled. “Fair enough.”

We all talked for a few more minutes, but I felt the fatigue from my injury catching up to me.

With a yawn, I fell back onto the hospital bed. I raised my hand and gestured for everyone to leave.

“You guys can get out now. Shoo, shoo! I’m tired! I want to rest!”

I looked over at Adella.

“Not you, though. I want to talk to you. I have to confess my love,” I said.

She quickly turned red. It was probably the most flustered I’d ever seen her.

“Whoa, you’ve grown up, Midas! Nice job!” Siel exclaimed, laughing as he made his way out.

Soren and Kat both left as well, looking back at us with smiles. As the door closed behind them, I nestled my head in my pillow and took a deep breath.

(Adella)

Midas had just embarrassed me beyond comprehension and I really wanted to smack him for it, but his injury was actually pretty bad. I held in the urge.

He said he wanted to…confess his love for me…

I wasn’t one to get flustered over silly words like those, but it did catch me by surprise.

I looked at him as he lay there on the hospital bed in front of me, smiling mischievously. I could only wonder what he’d gone through that made him end up in this condition. I was curious, but I knew that he wasn’t in the mood to explain right now.

So we could just talk like normal. That’s probably what he wanted.

“Adella,” he suddenly said.

“...Yes?”

“Our kids would be beautiful.”

I laughed. “You said that before. It’s pretty romantic, though, I’ll admit.”

“Really?” he asked, surprised. “Am I getting better at romance?”

“...Not really. But you’re trying, and that’s all that matters.”

“You could’ve just lied to make me feel good about myself…”

I smiled. A short silence fell between us.

“...I was really worried about you, you know,” I said in a low voice.

“Yeah. Sorry about that,” he responded. “I’m alive, though. Just like I promised.”

I smiled. “I’m glad.”

Another silence. This one was a little bit longer.

“...So who’s going to confess first?” Midas asked.

I averted my gaze. “You don’t always have to be so direct. It only makes things harder for us…”

He sighed. “Fine. I’ll go first.”

About thirty seconds of silent staring between us passed.

“...You’re terrible at this,” I said. “Just say it, Midas.”

He smiled. “Do you want me to?”

I rolled my eyes. Before he could do anything else, I quickly gathered courage and leaned in, kissing him right on the forehead.

Another fifteen seconds of silence passed.

It was easy to do it in the moment, but I felt my heart beating really quickly afterwards.

“...Is that good enough?” I asked, trying to seem composed.

Midas seemed really shocked.

“That was my first time ever being kissed by a girl,” he said.

I smiled. “That was my first time ever kissing a guy.”

He took a deep, sudden breath.

“Okay, okay, I’ll say it. Get ready.”

I laughed. “It’s too late now. I basically already said it first.”

“Not if I do this!”

With a bit of force, he grabbed my shoulder and pulled me close.

Then, he leaned in and kissed me directly on the lips.

I couldn’t believe him. My heart was practically beating out of my chest. Once we pulled back, I immediately looked away and caught my breath.

“You didn’t have to be so forward. That was way too forward,” I said.

He was breathing a little hard too.

“Maybe it was, but I liked it.”

We both took about another thirty seconds to calm ourselves.

It didn’t seem like we had anything else to say to each other, so the silence went on for even longer.

But then, Midas spoke.

“Adella…”

I looked over at him. “Yes?”

“I really do think I love you, though.”

A smile appeared on my face.

“Of course. I love you too.”