Chapter 2 – Rebirth… Sort Of… Continues

Arthur Alexander Montrose.

The firstborn of Maurice and Leila Stroud-Montrose. Heir to the multinational Montrose Corporation. At only twenty-seven years old, he already serves as CEO and oversees the company’s operations.

His father remains on the board of directors, offering his experience as a consultant.

With the height of nearly 190cm, he is taller than most people and he is certainly the tallest in the hospital room.

Looking down with his piercing blue eyes to the nurse that manhandles his mother. He looks calm and collected on the outside, but in the inside he is furious. He sees that the nurse freezes, but does not let go.

He growls, “Let my mother go!”

The nurse gasps and releases Leila’s hand. Arthur can see red hand prints on his mother’s flawless smooth white hand.

His head snaps up, ready to blow, when Leia put a hand on his chest. “Don’t startle your sister.”

Arthur can only exhale his anger.

He takes out his left hand and shows the bouquet to his mother. “I believe this is yours, Mother.”

Leila sighs in relieve when she sees the bouquet and takes it to her hand and smells them.

Arthur looks into Theo’s room. The alarm of the machine is no longer blaring and it’s now back to its steady, rhythmic beep. Even the nurses have calm down.

Theo’s mind is completely blown. Who is this guy? He can calm the storm just by being present! Theo’s eyes flutter unnoticed by the nurses.

Head Nurse Branson approaches to where Leila and Arthur are standing.

“Master Arthur, Mrs. Montrose. No need to panic. Few minutes ago, Ms. Montrose’s temperature climbed up a little. Because of my… I mean our quick response, it has now gone back to normal. We also have notified Dr. Montgomery and he is on his way here.”

Head Nurse Branson is smiling kindly to both Montroses, but especially to Arthur. She knows who holds the power here.

“Oh, thank God!” Leila exhales. She grabs Head Nurse Branson’s hands and shakes them. “Thank you, Nurse Branson! Thank you!”

Leila wants to continue speaking, but Arthur holds her shoulder, and she stops speaking. She looks up to her son. “Arthur?”

“Head Nurse Branson, is it?”

“Yes, Master Arthur. I am Head Nurse Branson. I am the head nurse of this floor and the one solely responsible for Ms. Montrose. I haven’t gone home for the last 24 hours. I was here on the floor, monitoring Ms. Montrose. Nothing escapes me.” Head Nurse Branson answers confidently and proudly.

Arthur doesn’t look at her. He looks pass her head, at Theo.

“Then why is it that you failed to notice that my sister is waking up?” Arthur’s sharp, icy, cold tone cuts through Head Nurse Branson’s pride and confident, like a sword cuts through butter.

Both Leila and Head Nurse Branson gasp. But Head Nurse Branson also loses all the blood from her face. Her head whips toward Theo and she is about to run to her, when Arthur firmly holds her shoulder and forces her to stay where she is.

“Not one step closer to my sister. You go and call Lucas here. Now!” He barks.

Head Nurse Branson swallows and runs out of the room to call Dr. Lucas Montgomery.

Leila is already beside Theo’s bedside. Her tears are streaming.

Arthur approaches her from behind and whispers, “Mother, please don’t cry. You don’t want the first image she sees to be you crying, right?” He gives Leila his handkerchief.

Leila nods furiously, accepts the handkerchief, and wipes her tears away.

Arthur isn’t wrong. Theo is forcing his eyes to open. He needs to see. His eyes flutter a few more times. And finally, they open.

Leila starts to gasp, but closes her mouth with both her hands. She doesn’t want to startle her little princess.

Arthur is also looking at Theo intently. His sister has been in a coma for four weeks. It is enough. Time to wake up, Princess.

The first thing Theo sees is the hospital ceiling. White, clean, and spacious.

What’s that? It illuminates the room. It’s not a candle, but it’s like… a light orb? Huh, they are light orbs. I never thought of using it this way.

Then his eyes move to the two people staring at him. And the first thing he notices –

“Demon!” Theo yells. His voice sounds breathy and soft. But it is clear.

Arthur reacts like lightning. He whips around, puts Leila behind him. At the same time, he flicks his left hand and a beautiful sword suddenly appears. He grips its hilt, ready to defend his family.

Only to find… nothing behind him.

But Arthur doesn’t let his guard down. He slowly steps forward. One step at a time, looking vigilant.

Theo is trying to get up, only to find that he’s being tied down to his bed with ropes of different sizes and colors, hooked to a few funny-looking boxes not far from the bed. One of the boxes produces steady beeping sounds, and most of them have colorful numbers, lines, and dots on one side.

Then Theo looks down at his body. He finds he’s wearing… what appears to be a dress… a white dress with dark blue dots. And on his wrists, there are clear ropes sticking into his skin, hooked to a clear bottle dangling above him on a thin, strange-looking metal pole.

Theo has yet to understand what kind of tortures his body is subjected to. He looks at the woman. She is looking at him with glistening tears in her eyes, lips quivering, holding in. His heart involuntarily melts at the sight.

Arthur, finding no threats, turns around and sees the two most beloved women in his life, looking at each other. He cannot see his mother’s expression, but he can guess. But his sister’s eyes, he sees a mix of confusion, disbelief, terror, but no happiness or recognition.

Alarm bells ring in his head.

Arthur quickly dismisses it. This is my sister, we’re talking about. She’s been in coma for a month. It’s only natural that she’s disoriented.

But Arthur also knows, that ignoring his instincts, are dangerous.

Leila cannot hold any longer, “Sweetheart, are you okay? Do you know who I am?” Leila is not stupid nor ignorant. She can see in Theo’s eyes that she doesn’t recognize her.

Arthur waits for Theo’s answer.

Theo is in dilemma, if he answers ‘no’, he knows the demon will get suspicious. He’s seen the way the demon is looking at him. But if he says ‘yes’, he’s not sure he can trick the demon long enough to escape.

At that moment, Theo is hit with a massive headache.

It is very sudden, nothing prepares Theo for it. His face folds in and he exclaims, “Ah!”

But it is enough to send Leila into panic.

“Sweetheart! Thea! What’s wrong?! Arthur! Call Lucas! Hurry! Arthur!”

Arthur is no different. The moment Theo’s face shows signs of pain, his brain is not functioning well. All of the suspicious and alarm, whoosh, disappear.

He immediately goes out the room and shouts for Lucas.

The whole 5th floor once again descends into chaos.