It didn't take June ten minutes before returning to his car. He had made the call and had saved those that they could. The people only needed to wait for the ambulance and fire department to arrive. June didn't want to get held up by the police, so he sped away even before they came into the scene. As for those who might recall him, he was going to leave them to themselves.
The two people arrived at the hospital just before visiting hours were over. June just took a look at Pete from the window and saw that his vitals were rather good. His brother would be taken to a recovery ward the moment he woke up.
"Pete…" Lantis murmured as he watched the sleeping man. "Your mother had given you beautiful names, and yet you decided not to use them."
"I like my name, too, but once people started saying that Neptune and Jupiter are for girls in high school, things would have to change. My old manager also said that I shouldn't use a girl-sounding name if I want a good impression." June chuckled as he pocketed his hands. "I can't stop those girls from calling me June… it's better than those thugs calling me Uranus for some reason."
Lantis only responded with a soft grunt. Humans did belong in different spectrums, one of which gravely annoying to the demon.
The demon was about to reply, only to notice the change in Pete's breathing. After a few more seconds, his eyes began to open. Pete moved his eyes to recognize the ICU ward, mumbling a cuss as if he didn't wish to wake up here. Perhaps, being inside a hospital ward spelled trouble for him.
Instead of coming to speak to him, June went to alert the nurses and went to make a call to his mother. Even if she didn't have to come there immediately, June still wished to let his mom know that Pete was already awake. However, the older brother still saw the other man trying to fight the nurses and the doctors. When their eyes met through the glass, Pete suddenly stopped and glared at him.
June only pursed his lips before hanging up. They still needed to arrange a recovery ward for Pete. After that, he would just stay in the lobby until his mother came to visit. As for speaking with Pete alone, June knew that it was not for the best. That brother had long resented him for leaving them.
"You don't seem to be happy, June." Lantis leaned on the same wall behind June, the actor mirroring him so that they were next to each other.
"I'm happy… I'm just not fond of what happens next. Pete would surely spit at me. He might even revolt about the fact that it's my money that was used to make him survive." June raked a hand across his hair and only brought his phone back to his face. "We don't have the best kind of relationship."
His phone had been getting vibrations from notifications. When he took a look, they were notifications from articles that had his name on them… or tweets that had his name in the tags. For some reason, he was borderline worried. He clicked on the tweets and saw how many people tweeted and commented about what happened just earlier.
[June saved me!] [I saw June Verrier tonight, and he was pulling me out of my car.] [#JuneIsAHero?] [I thought I hallucinated JV saving me. I did not.] There were so many that June didn't know which one to respond to first. Though they barely took photos of his face clearly, they had shots of his silver Audi.
[@JuneVerrier: I saw the jam, so I helped. I hope everyone is well and accounted for.]
He was stuck to just sending a tweet. He was even hesitant in adding the tags in case he came off as pompous. After all, if someone wanted a quotation, they would probably hunt down his account. At the moment, he should just make sure no one was dragging him about it being a stunt.
Lantis was the one watching the ICU for him. When the doctor came out to speak to him, Lantis cleared his throat, attracting June's attention. The doctor only smiled. "Mr. Verrier, your brother seems to be in a good condition, and his body is healing well. However, he seems to be having maladaptive thoughts about waking up in a hospital ward. We have to sedate him during his transfer."
"It's okay. He was drunk and got attacked before the accident. He might still think that he's in danger." June only let the doctors do what they liked. After all, he couldn't control his own brother. It was best if Pete just chose to be good and recover like a normal person.
By then, maybe, June would offer to box with him on a ring. That would satisfy Pete.
…
June was still stuck watching over Pete in his recovery ward. The patient was restrained, but he was sleeping soundly on the bed. Everything was normal. The only strange thing was that Lantis had lined different brands of iced coffee on their little table. Was he hoping that June would drink all of those? He was not even a black coffee kind of dude.
The actor, however, was going through the articles and his own emails while lazily pouring the canned iced coffee into a mug lent to them by the hospital. He also had Lantis get someone to buy full-cream milk and whipped cream as they spent the night in the recovery ward.
"Why did it feel like someone fanned the flames?" June read through all the published articles about the accident, along with the posts on social media. It was easy to tell that someone had decided to spread the word. "…can Reese produce photos of his foretold future?"
"Sweet child, such things are child's play to the right demon. What you should question is what they sell to buy the demons over. Xylos is powerful, but for him to stick with such a plain, remotely ambitious person, Reese must have paid so much."
June pouted as he brought the coffee to his lips and drank the dessert he made in the mug. "I didn't even pay you with anything, yet look at the miracles that you have already done for me. Maybe some demons are just too bored and sick of overly delusional people."
At this, Lantis chuckled. "How unpalatable of an opinion. I, for one, am not sick of the overly delusional, am I? Let us agree to disagree."
"Don't fight me. You are sick of people who thought dead chicken can make you forcibly break storms." June laughed as if he won something, moving to the side to pocket his phone while sitting down. He then refilled the cup with coffee and milk. With a stirrer, he mixed the two before squeezing whipped cream on top. He even squeezed some into his mouth. "Wait, I think I know what I'm paying with…"
"Sanity?" "Glu…! Gluttony…"
June frowned at Lantis, the demon only chuckling behind his bottled iced tea. The actor then shook his head before feeling his tummy. "I have been eating a lot since I met you. I should hit the gym soon."
His eyes sharpened toward Lantis. "Maybe I should eat you first."
Lantis chuckled some more. "Sweet child, please, I am worth more calories than what your puny human body can handle."
Before June could say something in return, his phone rang with another notification. It was a direct message from Prudence. June only frowned at it as he clicked it open.