Quote of the day: The universe is a cold uncaring void. The key to being happy isn't to search for a meaning, it's to just keep yourself busy with unimportant nonsense, and eventually, you'll be dead.
It was my birthday btw
[Edward POV]
"What's wrong? What happened? Why am I here?"
I got so many questions after I woke up from my sleep. It took a while for my family to calm down after the 'miracle' happened. I was surprised when they said that my heart stopped, but I wasn't alarmed as I could guess it was a part of the gacha experience.
'I really need to know the schedule of these things.' I scolded inside my heart.
While I was thinking, I found myself in the center of a group hug without my consent. Haley, Claire, Phil, and my aunt suddenly hugged me, while Pepper and my dad waited for their turn after the first group finished.
"I was only asleep." I mumbled, but no one would believe me. They didn't let me get discharged from the hospital, therefore I was stuck there until the doctor could come out with a reasonable explanation of what just happened.
I rolled my eyes and continued sleeping after I was moved out of the ICU ward. The Dunphy's left to get some rest, leaving only my dad and my aunt inside the ward. It's not that they didn't want to stay, but the doctor didn't want the ward to become crowded.
"Edward, did you eat something strange?" The doctor asked the next morning.
"No." I replied honestly.
'Should I just 'Kotoamatsukami' my way out of this? I think that will be too wasteful…right?' I thought secretly while narrowing my eyes at the doctor.
The blonde resident doctor who was checking up on me had no idea that she was in a pernicious position, and continued to question me about my habit and diet, trying to find a clue that could help her in the diagnosis.
"Hmm…" She looked at my dad and aunt before asking hesitatingly, "Did you…had any sexual intercorse in the last 24 hours?"
I snorted, "I wish. But no."
She nodded before scratching her head in confusion, "I still can't figure out what had happened to you. So, I'm asking for your consent to share your details with a good friend of mine."
My dad frowned but I was intrigued, "Oh. Who's he, Dr Isabelle?"
"He's a board-certified diagnostician with a double specialty in infectious disease and nephrology. His name is Dr Gregory House, and he's in town for a seminar."
My dad opened his mouth to reject it, but I interrupted him quickly.
"By any chance, is he from Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital in New Jersey?" I asked the doctor. She was surprised and asked, "You know him?" Even my dad was surprised and looked at me in awe.
"Well he's one of my favorites." I replied with a smile. I turned to my dad and convinced, "Let him come. Only then you'll believe that I was only sleeping. Then, we can go aboard the ship and see the fireworks from the coast."
I didn't try to urge my dad to take me out of the hospital quickly after I learned what happened when I was asleep. It didn't take too much thinking to know how worried that they must've been when I was frolicking with Sage in the gacha realm.
'Hmm..I already miss that girl.'
Also, I really need to stay in the hospital because 2 of my ribs were cracked. Shocking right? It happened during CPR, and it was a common thing in the procedure. And the culprit for this issue? My CPR certified Dad, so I really couldn't blame him.
"Are you sure? Pepper is already suing the hospital after they leaked your condition last night." My aunt said while giving a suspicious look at the doctor. Dr Isabelle scratched her cheek in a guilty manner.
Even though it wasn't her fault, she was still implicated as the person responsible was part of the hospital management, and now the entire group of doctors on the floor was implicated. The hospital's reputation flunked, and Pepper wanted to transfer me away to another private hospital, but I stopped him as I didn't want the hassle.
"It's fine. I trust Dr House." I looked at my dad, and he sighed soon after. "Alright."
Half an hour later, a limping, scruffy-looking man walked into the ward using a cane. He was wearing a simple suit, and went directly to snatch the lab reports from Isabelle's hand as he entered.
"This report is wrong. His heart didn't stop entirely." Dr House caught the irregularity in the diagnosis. "But it was lowered to almost 3 beats per minute. So it's like he's dead, but not really."
"Whoa." I exclaimed subconsciously as I saw his intense style, causing the doctor to turn and look in my direction, "Hi. Dr Gregory House. I liked your rock song."
He offered me his hand, and I shook it, "Edward Newgate. Ask anything you want if that means I can finally go home."
Dr House smiled at me, but I knew that he had an intense distrust in other people.
"Okay, I'll take the challenge. I want to see how long you can stay honest and keep your reputation intact." He muttered.
"Try me." I replied with a grin.
"Have you tried any new, trendy or under-the-counter recreational drugs in the last few days?" He asked.
"I had an aspirin two days ago. That's it." I replied.
"Really? A famous, newly rich young boy, didn't live his life indulging in vices?" He snarked sarcastically.
"Well I'm still too busy for that. Maybe in the future." I replied. My aunt scolded me quickly with a gasp, "Edward!"
"Hmm, that's strange. If your heart didn't slow down to a phase akin to a suspended animation, I would just say you were only asleep." Dr House said after a thorough questioning.
He asked about the material of the clothes I was wearing, whether or not I was bitten by a pet or any insectoids, how many sexual partners I had – which I whispered to him in reply because my dad was still around.
'I WAS ASLEEP!' I shouted in my mind.
"You're a good kid, surprisingly." Dr House muttered with a trace of worry. "You said you just moved back into your house? Mind if I look around?"
"That's impossible-" My dad wanted to stop the madness, but I interrupted, "Sure. You can go there with my aunt."
"Ed. This is highly inappropriate." My aunt protested. Her reaction was normal for Dr House, but my attitude towards him was greatly surprising for him.
"It's fine. He's not trying to hurt me. He's just trying to find the answer. So let's cooperate." I muttered. 'So that I can go home soon.'
"If you want to go home, you can go home." Dr House suddenly said, surprising all three of us. "Your body is quite healthy, and there's actually no reason for these guys to keep you here. All the examinations are done, so yeah. You can go."
"Really?" My eyes lit up as he said that. Dr House added, "But! You need to wear a heart monitor for at least 3 days, even when you're at home, so that we can get a clue of what's happening inside your body."
"Alright." I agreed with the requirement instantly.
As he helped me wear the mobile heart monitor, he explained, "This thing will beep if your heart slows down again, or if you have an intense heart rate. So don't exercise for a few days, and keep yourself calm."
"Wait. I'm not going to be here in 3 days." I muttered as I looked in my dad's direction.
Dr House nodded in understanding and said, "It's fine. You only need to send the result to the hospital afterward. It doesn't matter where you'll be. I can refer you to the nearest hospital if it's really necessary."
"Alright then. Thanks a lot Doctor." I said with a smile. Dr House smirked and left, leaving his contact number behind.
After changing my clothes, I was escorted out of the hospital under the guard of 6 bodyguards. Although, we went to the parking lot first as I boarded the SUV there, so the strict guarding was a little bit much.
"Hmm?" I suddenly turned my head as I could feel a gaze coming from afar. However, I couldn't find the culprit for it.
"What's wrong?" the bodyguard asked me.
"I don't know. I just felt something nostalgic." I muttered as I gazed toward a huge cement pillar. I didn't investigate as I thought it was a stray paparazzi that managed to break through the net, so I just left the hospital quickly.
My aunt told me afterward that Dr House had examined the entire house for toxicity and other harmful substances when I was finally discharged. I wanted to watch the scene, therefore I checked the hidden CCTV I had installed, while eating ice cream straight out of the tub.
"Come over."
"No."
Haley replied decisively after I video call her using the laptop, however, she was smirking afterward, signifying she was joking. She was on her bed, with a face filled with fatigue and sunken cheeks. Her eyes were a bit puffy, which made me feel a bit guilty from how much she had cried last night.
The reason I was speaking to her like this was because I was grounded by my guardians until the doctor could come out with an explanation.
For now, they were calling my condition the 'Sleeping Beauty Syndrome', and it wasn't decided yet whether the condition was harmful or negligible for my body.
"Come on. It's the 4th of July and I cannot even go to the parade." I said pitifully, trying to earn her sympathy. She then shook her head and said jokingly, "No…I don't think I will come over for the rest of my life."
I flashed my puppy dog eyes, "Pretty please?"
"Uhh… Damn it, why are you so cute? Alright-" While Haley was pretending, suddenly her laptop was snatched and the screen was replaced by Claire's image. "Edward. What are you doing?"
"I want to go to the parade, but I'm on house arrest. So I want to invite Haley here." I said casually to Claire without flinching. She was taken aback before saying, "Alright. I'll come over-"
"No need. Haley is fine." I interrupted her. "She's my 'sleeping pill' after all. It's just patient care Claire.You don't have to worry."
"I would worry! Especially since I'm going to leave my teenage daughter with a hot guy." Claire blurted out.
"Mom. Ewwww." I could hear Haley's voice coming from afar. Claire turned sideways and said, "You know what I meant."
"But he's broken." Haley retorted. "He needs my help. And I don't want to go to the parade without him."
"Yes Claire, I'm broken- Wait, I got another call. Text me if you're coming Haley. I'm not decent." I muttered as I was only wearing a robe at the moment.
"Not decent? Are you nude-" The excited Haley snatched back the laptop from her mom, and before she could peek at the screen, I cut the call.
…
[General POV]
"So no one wants to go to the parade?" Claire asked in a helpless manner. "Luke, you too?"
Luke shrugged and said, "It's not fun to go there without Edward. We promised to play with the fireworks together."
Claire smiled helplessly as she rubbed Luke's head, feeling that her son was pretty cute.
[Luke's commentary]
"Of course we didn't make any promises. Edward told me that he has installed the new playstation at his house and bought a zombie game that we can play together. I was looking forward to it all week."
"So I was planning to go there today, but he got into the hospital last night. But he still let me play by myself."
[commentary ends]
Phil was a bit sad, but then he had a great idea, "Well Alex is going to the parade with Finneas, Haley and Luke want to go to Ed's. So why don't we bring our barbeque ingredients and fireworks, and we all go there this evening?"
Claire shook her head, "We don't know what's wrong with Ed. I don't want him to get fatigued and pass out again. Haley told me he had been working continuously before it happened, so I want him to get some rest."
"Yeah, but think about how sad he is. He was looking forward to this day, to see the fireworks, the parade, But now, he's being grounded and treated like a weak man. I know Ed, and I know how much he hates being treated as a burden." Haley interjected quickly.
"Wait. Really?" Phil asked in realization.
Haley nodded and said, "Didn't you notice? Anyway, he's not going to rest even if we told him too. So let's just go there, and we can keep an eye on him."
"But his dad is there. Even his aunt will be there." Claire tried to reason.
"Yeah but can they honestly stay with Ed all day in his room to keep an eye on him?" Haley said, trying to get inside Claire's head. Claire widened her eyes in realization before saying, "She's right."
"It's settled! Let's have the 4th of July celebration at Ed's place!" Phil announced in excitement.
…
At a cafe in a town nearby, Camila was sipping a cup of tea while sitting facing a woman in a floral dress.
"You're not going to meet him?" Camila asked.
Miranda shook her head, "No. I don't have the strength to do it."
Camila squinted her eyes, "So you're going to keep stalking him from far?"
"Maybe." Miranda sipped her tea and answered non-committedly. "You should go back now. Don't let him out of your sight."
Camila nodded, "By the way, did you bring what the doctor wanted?"
Miranda took out an envelope and slid it over to Camila, "The family's history of disease. I went back 4 generations. There's only one person with a history of heart problems from the result."
Camila shook her head in annoyance, "It's your dad. Damn it. Even after he's dead he keeps causing problems. That Diablo."
[Edward POV]
Something strange happened. Instead of her entire family, only Haley appeared at the house.
"I thought-" I muttered, confused. I peeked outside the house after I opened the door, but no one else was there.
"Well they ARE coming. My dad and your dad want to have a barbecue. They are moving Jay's grill here." Haley muttered as she carried a food bag in her hand.
"Ahh. I see. And what's this?" I asked with my eyes glued on the bag. I was a bit hungry, and the smell from the bag wasn't helping.
Haley blushed immediately and said, "Well…I…when you texted me that you were coming home, I wanted to cook something for you. So I learned how to- No, it's silly-"
Before she could change her mind, I grabbed the bag immediately and said, "This is for me right? No take backs!"
"Wait. It was the first time I cooked! So I don't know if it will taste good!" Haley was embarrassed and tried to snatch the bag, but I tiled my arm to get the bag out of her reach.
"No. Take Backs! Besides, I'm starving. I'll go put this in a bowl-"
"Wait. Let me do it! Youuuu…" She grabbed my hand and pulled me to the couch before dropping me on it, "You sit here and rest. Don't do anything…" She then blushed and went to the kitchen before coming back 5 minutes later with a hot bowl of soup.
"Oh, chicken soup. Nice." I muttered as I tried to grab the spoon, but she stopped me. She hid her embarrassment and avoided my eyes before saying, "I'll feed you."
*Beep* *Beep* *Beep*
Suddenly, the heart monitor sent out an alarm, causing Haley to be shocked. She placed her hand on top of my chest and said hurriedly, "I'LL CALL THE DOCTOR-"
The alarm stopped as I calmed myself down. "No. It's fine. You just made my heart race for a bit." I muttered in embarrassment. Haley was taken aback and pulled her face away, before she blushed red. "Oh." She muttered flatly.
We couldn't look into each other's eyes, and I could feel that my heartbeat was racing again, therefore I changed the subject, "So, the soup?"
"Oh right. The soup." Haley muttered in realization. She then grabbed the spoon, and gently blew at the hot soup. My eyes were glued on her face, and honestly, I couldn't look away.
Before she could feed me, she hesitated, "This…will make the heart monitor beep again right?"
"There's a possibility." I muttered knowingly. "But don't you dare stop."
She blushed and then gently pushed the spoon into my mouth. I smiled as I ate it, and then the heart monitor beeped once more.
*Beep* *Beep* *Beep*
Haley was startled again, and she hurriedly said, "Don't think too much. I'm just feeding a sick person. Calm your heart down."
I smiled wryly and said, "Can you grab me a cup of water? You, not being here…might help me calm down."
"Okay. You should eat it by yourself first." She blushed and went to the kitchen obediently. As I saw she had disappeared, I stuck my tongue out and whimpered, "SALTY! SALTY! SALTY!"
It was like she had boiled the soup using ocean water. I couldn't help but send her away and grabbed my laptop bag to grab the bottle of water inside. I washed my mouth quickly, and then I heard her shouting, "Ed. Where's your cup?"
"Inside the top left drawer." I shouted back. Then, I grabbed the bowl of soup, and decided to down it all in one shot before the taste hit.
"God. Help me." I prayed before I did it. Haley then came back and saw that I was eating the soup deliciously. Her eyes brightened and she smiled, "Were you THAT hungry? There's still some more left if you want it?"
"???"
I grabbed the cup of water from her and acted calmly, "Yes please." I gave the bowl to her and asked for a second serving.
She smiled and skipped to the kitchen with a hum while I muttered sadly, "Now I know why she gave me the 'Kotoamatsukami'. It's to hypnotize myself so that I can finish the soup."