He couldn't notice any bruise or burn mark on her flawless skin, which looks much paler than he could last remember. And even her figure had become more slender, as the white hospital gown that she was wearing looks very large on her.
His heart started thumping again as a very bad premonition slowly built up in his heart and he slowly turned his attention back to the girl whose tiny sobs have increased.
"W... What is wrong? What happened to her?" He stammered with a thumping heart while walking forward slowly and he watched as she slowly shook her head.
Vivian stared at his expression and slowly bit her lips, then she breathed out a huge sigh. "B... Big brother__"
She didn't get to finish her sentence when her head instantly snapped in the door's direction and she watched as the old couple barged inside the room with anxious expressions while trying to catch their breaths.
Carl who had already reached the bedside and was staring down at the bed in a trance also turned his attention to the old couple after glancing at Clara again, seeing that his intuition was about to become right.
"Let's go outside grandson..."
"Yes, we promise to explain everything to you."
His grandparents sighed heavily after managing to catch their breaths as they also glanced at the girl who was laying on the bed.
"Little girl, go on with what you were doing," The old woman slowly turned to Vivian after walking forward and taking her flabbergasted grandson's hand.
"Okay..." Vivian slowly nodded then carefully picked up the small bottle of liquid herbs from the bedside table before she sat back down on the bed again and her gaze followed the guy as he glanced back at the bed while he was slowly pulled out of the room by his grandmother.
After watching the door closed, her eyes lingered on it for some seconds as another tear slowly trickled down her face then she turned her attention to the girl whose eyes were still closed calmly on the bed.
"Pearl... Big brother is here, don't you think it is time to wake up? " She whispered with a sigh, then carefully uncapped the small bottle before she started applying the medicine on her body.
"He already knows the situation you're in, don't give up, okay? Please..." She softly added after some time as she continued applying the medicines while sniffing back the tears that continuously kept falling from her eyes.
******
Meanwhile, outside the room, Carl continuously glanced back at the door while he was being slowly pulled away as he felt his whole body limp.
His attention turned back to the old couple as he slowly followed them down the stairs while he silently watched them in confusion as many thoughts ran through his head.
After they reached the large living room, his grandmother whose eyes were fixed on him all along while holding on to his arm, teared up again and she sighed heavily.
And his grandfather also sighed, then sat down on the couch and watched as his grandson also sat down with his wife on the other couch while she held tightly to his arm.
"Grandson... We had actually intended to forever keep this a secret from everyone, if there's no progress made in the end," The old man started with another sigh while the old woman slowly nodded.
Carl watched them with the frown still on his face and not knowing the question he should even ask them first, he listened silently as they continued speaking.
"That night, It was a very fortunate thing that your uncle had reached them on time before the explosion could begin. However, when the girls were brought to us the next day, both of them had already lost consciousness."
"Yes... We had planned to send them back after they got better, but then it was only the other girl that woke up and we, later on, found out after from the doctors that she had slipped into a coma, due to some underlying illness."
Listening to their narrations, Carl felt his heart stopped for a second and he watched them with wide eyes while his thoughts drifted back to that night and their last conversation on the phone.
He glanced back at the stairs while his hand trembled slightly as the intuition he had was really right. 'She's really in a coma.'
Sighing inside, he turned back to his grandparents, already anticipating what they would say next and he continued listening to them silently without interrupting.
"The doctors had explained to us that the reason why she became comatose wasn't because of the shock from the explosion, But it had something to do with her brain and some kind of suppressed memories.
They had also said that she had regained them before the explosion could start, and her body could not withstand all the pains that were linked to those memories, that was the reason why her brain had instantly shut itself down."
"Yes, and the other girl also explained to us that she had already fainted before the explosion which was also confirmed by your uncle."
"The doctors had also told us that the highest chance of her to regain her consciousness is within three months and they had used a lot of methods to help her wake up. however, three months went by and nothing happened... there was no progress...
So we brought her back here to continue with the treatments while consulting several specialists as the doctors had finally warned us that there is only a slight chance of her ever waking up again."
Carl continued listening to them silently as all their words slowly sank in and he finally let out a heavy sigh while his grandmother slowly patted his arm with a sniff.
"We had really not meant to keep it a secret from you. But we don't want you to carry hope just as we did... because they had also said that she might give up anytime soon," The old woman talked lastly while wiping her tears.