The bell had just rung out at a high school in the city, the students filing out wildly into the frigid air. One young girl was called out by a teacher, stopping in her tracks and turning on her heel to enter the building again. "Phoebe, would you mind bringing these to Zeke's house. He's been gone for so long that his assignments are piling up. I think that he'd be better off starting them while he's sick than doing them all at once the moment he comes back." The teacher said, handing the girl a small pile of papers enclosed in a clear envelope. They also scribbled on a small piece of paper and handed it to her. "This is where he lives. Thank you for doing this." They added, sending the girl off as Phoebe looked at the paper with a bit of shock on her face.
"Isn't this..." She mumbled to herself as she deviated from her usual route home, taking a few detours as things caught her attention from behind store windows. First was a music store that was selling a new microphone, the next was a generic electronics store that was advertising the latest VR gear, and the last one was a cafe. The cafe wasn't very populated, but the person sitting by the window was watching a gaming video of an old, 16-bit, RPG that piqued her interest. "Maybe I should play that too..." She thought before shaking her head and taking a look at her phone for directions. A few minutes after that, she arrived at the apartment building that the note pointed out. "It is the same building..." She smiled, going into the elevator and hitting the button for Zeke's floor.
"Alright, just rest, okay? I'll be back with some medicine." A woman's voice came from the other side of the door, a slightly familiar one. As the tumblers of the lock started shifting and the door swung open, Phoebe looked up at the woman standing at the door. "Oh, hello. Have we met before?"
"Uhm. I'm here to give these to Zeke. Is he okay?" Phoebe said, her voice soft and meek as she tried to peek into the apartment. She saw him bundled up on a sofa, a bowl of soup in his hand, and his phone displaying the VOD of Mizuna, Kuma, and Nebby's recent collab. "Oh, hi Zeke." She smiled upon noticing his situation.
"Would you like to come in? There's soup on the stove if you want something to eat." Leslie stepped aside, letting Phoebe in so she could set her stuff on the table. "I'd hate to ask this of you, but can you watch him for a few minutes? I have to go and get some medicine for him." She asked nicely, to which Phoebe looked at the time on her phone.
"I see. Only for a few minutes." She said, glancing at the screen on Zeke's phone every so often.
"My number is on the fridge, call me if something happens..." Leslie said, pointing over to the kitchen before heading out the door. Left alone with Zeke, Phoebe sat awkwardly in the kitchen while watching him watch those Vtubers on his phone.
"So, what did I miss?" Zeke asked weakly, taking out one of his earphones. "I've been gone for a while..." He slurped down the soup and placed the bowl on a nearby table before moving toward the envelope full of things he missed. "That's a lot..."
"Yeah, it is..." The two of them sat in silence, both just unsure of what to do or say next. "What are you watching?" Phoebe asked, walking over to the sofa and peering at the screen more intently.
"They're Vtubers. Kinda like watching live anime." Zeke replied, moving over slightly to give her some space to sit down. "Want to watch too?" He asked, moving the video over to their tv before coughing into his hand.
"... Sure." Phoebe sat down, taking care not to sit too close as to not catch whatever Zeke had. The two of them watched the stream, Phoebe looking at Nebby with more scrutiny than the other two. "Damn... my voice..." She thought to herself, getting up and heading toward the kitchen for a glass of water. As she walked around, a smell hit her nose.
The distinct smell of blood came from a nearby garbage bin, as well as the strange herbal concoction that came from the mounds of paper towels she found tossed in there along with shards of broken glass. Just as she was about to ask about it, she heard Zeke cough again, then again, then again; over and over until there was a loud thud as his body hit the floor. She rushed over to check on him, finding a small pool of blood on the floor as he struggled to push his body off of it. "Help." He said before he felt another bad coughing fit come up and covered his mouth.
Phoebe instantly rushed over to the fridge, looking frantically for the number. She dialed it quickly, Leslie picking up almost instantly. "Hello? Who's this?"
"It's Zeke, he threw up blood!" She said while shooting another glance at him as he trudged over to the bathroom to not make a mess. "What should I do?" She asked, walking around.
"I'm calling an ambulance, just stay there until they arrive. Call me again if something else happens, I'm on my way back!" Leslie's voice was frantic, the sound of her haggard breathing coming through before she cut off the call. Phoebe followed Zeke to the bathroom, seeing him kneeling by the toilet. She placed her hand on his back, patting it gently for the next few minutes before his coughing and puking subsided.
"Sorry..." He mumbled, standing up and washing his face before walking back to the couch to look at the mess he's made, arriving at the same time that a knock came to their door. He stumbled forward, opening the door to the sight of a few paramedics. Phoebe walked up and gave a short explanation of what just happened, the paramedics taking Zeke out and bringing him to the ambulance while keeping a vigilant eye on him and locking up the apartment. As they were helping him get on board, Leslie arrived, tired and panting.
"Zeke!" She rushed over before being stopped by one of the paramedics. "I'm his sister. Let me come too!" She asked, moving over to get on board. She sent a glance over to Phoebe, who was watching from the side while still clutching her phone. "Come on!" She said, extending out her hand to help the girl get on board. The paramedics let Zeke, who was surprisingly calm about this situation, lie down as they monitored his body, the young boy falling asleep during the ride. Leslie and Phoebe sat idly, both at a loss for words before Leslie took in a deep breath. "What exactly happened?" She asked, having calmed down a tad and having a much more somber voice than before.
"I don't know. I was just talking to him one minute, then he started coughing and blood started coming out and..." Phoebe, in contrast, was still very much shaken by what she'd witnessed. She gripped her phone tighter, it and her hands shaking with how tight she was holding it. Her breathing was ragged until Leslie put a hand on her shoulder.
"Thank you for being there. I don't know what would've happened if he was alone." She whispered. "Now relax, okay. Everything seems to be fine. Sorry about dragging you into the ambulance, I guess the adrenaline got to my head." She added, remaining quiet until they reached a nearby hospital, and Zeke was rushed to get checked. Left waiting, the two of them took seats across from each other in the busy afternoon hospital. "Thank you again... I never caught your name."
"Phoebe..." The young girl calmed down, now going through her phone to go call her sister.
"Leslie, it's nice to meet you. You're a lifesaver." Leslie smiled, going on her own phone as Phoebe went a bit further away to avoid disturbing anyone else with her call. Leslie stared at her screen for a few minutes, long enough for Phoebe to come back and take a seat closer to her to see what she was looking at. "How am I supposed to word this?" She muttered to herself, typing a message on her phone before deleting it again.
"Who are you messaging?" Phoebe asked, pocketing her own phone as she gripped her sleeve.
"Just my friend. I... I just don't know what to say." Leslie sighed, deciding to keep most of the details out of the text. "Something came up..." She muttered as her fingers tapped on the screen. She leaned forward, resting her head on her hands as she anxiously waited for something to come up. Phoebe watched as Leslie tapped her toe against the tile. "What am I going to do?" She asked herself, her voice losing some of its power as she took in a deep breath. Phoebe swallowed some of her fear, moving to an even closer screen to tap Leslie's shoulder.
"Uhm, do you know the person living on one of the lower floors. Her name is Betty." Phoebe said, looking out at the end of the hallway. "I only met her recently, she's a nice person."
"Why did you meet with Betty?" Leslie started thinking, looking at the teenager, and analyzing her mannerisms and voice. "Are you one of the vtubers that came over for the collab?" She whispered, watching her shrink back into her seat. Phoebe nodded, looking around the hall at the small tv that was mounted in one corner that was put there to show some entertainment for the people in the waiting hall. "Isn't that the music video? You guys are getting around..."
"Yeah... every one of us is growing quickly. Even Mizuna-san, err, even Betty is getting a 3d model soon." Phoebe looked up at the video again as the 3d dancing section started playing. She leaned back with a somewhat content smile as Leslie let out a long sigh.
"Don't remind me, she has so many feathers that it's going to take me weeks to do them the way I want to." She groaned, getting the attention of the younger girl as Phoebe put two and two together.
"Oh right!" She said as the door opened and Leslie's name was called out. She took in a deep breath as she got up, hands slightly trembling as she opened the door and went to talk with the doctor. Ten minutes passed, then twenty...
"It's not going to get better any time soon." The doctor said, breaking the bad news to her. "His immune system is weaker than normal and the cold isn't helping. For now, have him take this and come back if things continue like this. Just wait outside for him to wake up." Scribbling something down and handing it off to her, the doctor took another look at Zeke's information and frowned as Leslie went back into the hallway.
"Leslie! What happened? Is everything okay?" Betty ran up to her, immediately grabbing her shoulders and shaking her slightly. "Where's Zeke?"
"He's just sleeping. He's fine, but..." She looked down at the prescription. She let out a short sigh as she bit her lip. "How am I going to..." She mumbled to herself as Tabatha and Phoebe walked up to them. The four of them sat around until Zeke came out, yawning as he walked toward his sister. "Come on, let's go home. Thanks for coming to see us, and thanks again, Phoebe." Leslie put up a strong front, leaning down to whisper something into Phoebe's ear. "If something like this happens when Zeke goes back to school, please call me." She pleaded, looking her in the eyes. The young girl nodded. "Your things are still at our apartment, right?"
With that, the five of them left the hospital just as the sun started setting. "So you're Leslie's younger brother that Betty kept talking about. Hello, I'm Tabatha, it's nice to meet you." She waved as they approached a busy bus stop.
"Oh, hi. It's nice to meet you." Zeke, still slightly drowsy, looked up at her as the bus started to close in on them. Just as they were about to board, a voice caught Tabatha's attention.
"Verdan? I'm a big fan."