"Rachelle, go bring your brother to his room." Lynda ordered her daughter who instantly frowned.
Rachelle didn't even try to mince her words and openly showed her displeasure. "He's not leaving yet?"
'She really hates me, doesn't she?'
Lynda swatted Rachelle's arm and clicked her tongue. "Why are you even asking me that? It's already so late. We can't let him drive alone."
"No, Auntie. It's okay." I quickly waved my hand to decline their hospitality because I did not want to stay the night. I've always found it more comfortable to sleep in hospital break rooms than anywhere else if it's not my own bed.
Besides, I could not really tell them that I won't be driving alone since I have Xes with me.
"Are you trying to get into another accident? Go sleep in your room." My father's stern voice put me on edge.
"No, Dad. Sorry. I'll trouble you for tonight then." The corner of my lips lifted to one side in amusement.
Whether it's this world or that world, he still scares me when he gets serious.
It's weird because he never really raised his hands against me. But whenever I did something wrong when I was a kid, one whisper from him would always be enough to make me cry with guilt.
I wonder if it's the same for Arthur here.
[Xes: I told you to stop wondering.]
[Art: Sorry.]
I nearly forgot that she was listening to my thoughts because she's been awfully quiet the entire evening.
"Rachelle, dear. Please take your brother to his room." My father sweetly spoke to Rachelle just like how Dad had always been sweet to Zee.
Rachelle didn't say anything anymore and grudgingly guided me to my room from the drawing room where we had tea and talked about random stuff that my brain failed to process properly. Although I do remember clearly how my father was ecstatic when I told him that I was allowed by the board to take care of outpatients until they decided that I was already 'sound' enough to enter the operating rooms.
When we reached the top of the stairs, Rachelle turned to the left hallway and walked all the way to the end. She then stepped aside while looking at her nails. "This is your room."
I studied her for a while then smiled. "Thank you. Sorry to trouble you."
She lifted her eyes to me with surprise on her face then her expression softened. "I'm sorry for being rude to you when you can't even remember anything."
"Have I done anything that upset you?" Despite how many times Xes reminded me not to pry on Arthur's life, I could not help but be curious about it. Arthur has been comatose for over a year so I found it weird for his sister to be acting this way towards him after waking up with an amnesia.
Rachelle took her time to answer and made sure to keep me on my toes. And just when I thought that she would finally spill the beans, she opened the door to my room while chewing on her bottom lips. "It's nothing like that. Just think that I'm a very foul-mannered person. I was having a bad day so I took it out on you."
'She's just taking her temper out on me? I don't think that's the case.'
But before I could even pry about her excuse, she turned to leave me with my mouth hanging open. I would have tried to catch her if she didn't look like she was sprint-walking, obviously determined to get away from me. She quickly reached her room and I heard the sound of her door locking echo in the hallway.
"I thought we were already on good terms when she said sorry." I shook my head and nearly jumped out of my skin when I turned to go inside the room and found a fair-skinned lady with long black hair and silver almond eyes, standing in my way. "Xes!"
Her small and slender hand reached up to cover my lips as she dragged me inside the room by the collar of my shirt. And I would have found how she effortlessly managed to do that despite the difference in our size but I was still too shocked by her sudden appearance.
Once inside the room, she let go of me and put her hand on her waist. "How many times do I have to tell you that it's Xescilliz and not Xes?"
Completely ignoring her protest, I took a step back to put some space between us. It was an instinctive reaction. Although she's really pretty, seeing her in her black dress and milky-white skin in a poorly lit room gave me the chills because of how out of this world her beauty was.
"Why are you out? I thought you don't want to come out until we leave this place."
She frowned as she stared at the distance between us then she lifted her gaze to me with a serious look on her face. "I think that we have a problem."
I turned on the lamp on the side of the bed which finally illuminated the room then I looked back at her. "Why? What happened?"
"You're not hungry, right?" She bore her eyes on me.
I shook my head, not sure why she was asking me this when she knew better than anyone that my stomach was about to explode from overeating earlier. I could barely swallow the tea that was offered to me.
Then she suddenly declared with all seriousness. "I'm hungry."
An eerie silence clung in the air as we stared at each other without a word. She looked like she was waiting for me to say anything. And I looked at her, wondering what she was expecting me to say in response to that sudden confession.
"Uhm…" I rubbed the back of my neck and tilted my head as I studied her face. "Do you want me to fetch you something from the kitchen? I can probably microwave some of the meat from earlier. Otherwise, there's still some cake if you want to eat something sweet."
She took a deep breath as if trying to calm herself down. She was looking worried which made me nervous. "I'm not supposed to feel hunger when you don't. Something's strange."