Eddy slowly regained consciousness and opened his eyes to the sight of a rotating ceiling fan, its blades forming a hypnotic pattern. He was in a hospital room, and by his side, his sister Maggie sat, engrossed in a magazine.
It had been five days since their harrowing battle with Jeremy's possessed form, and Eddy was far from being at full strength. If it hadn't been for his specialized technique, he would surely be dead. Such was the incredible resilience of Eddy Lawler, the 3rd elder in the Holy exorcist Guild.
Noticing his faint movements, Maggie turned to him. She made eye contact with his wide-open eyes and trembled in astonishment.
"You're awake!" she exclaimed, throwing herself onto him and wrapping her arms around him in a tight, emotional hug. Eddy groaned in pain, and Maggie immediately pulled back, her face filled with worry.
"I'm sorry. Did it hurt?" Maggie asked, her voice laden with concern.
"A little bit." Eddy replied, massaging his bandaged chest, still in pain from the intense battle.
Maggie sat on the bed, taking a brief sigh of relief before scratching her head as she spoke.
"Honestly, it's getting a little too much. This job of yours just gets more and more dangerous every day. First, a few patches, and now this."
"You don't have to worry about me." Eddy said as he pulled the blanket off, revealing his heavily bandaged and patched body.
The battle he had endured was anything but simple, and it was a miracle he was still standing after the punishment his body had taken.
"Of course I do. I might be your little sister, but I can't sit still and watch you put yourself through this pain." she scolded.
"I'm an exorcist. I was just doing my job. What would you rather have me do, Maggie?"
"There are a lot more jobs out there that don't require you to put your life on the line. Putting your life on the line in the name of protecting me or creating a future for me is completely absurd," Maggie exclaimed.
"Maggie—"
"First a bandage on your head, and now I get a call in the middle of a school day telling me that you're in critical condition and being taken into surgery..." She cut Eddy off, her hands squeezing in frustration.
"Maggie—"
"You don't have to be so reckless for me. What if you didn't survive? What if you had died—"
"Maggie!" Eddy cut her off. She stared down at the ground, her face covered with a gloomy expression.
"If you died, I... I... I can't live with myself knowing you died trying to keep me safe." Maggie added, her gaze still casted to the floor.
Eddy sighed heavily and as he raised his gaze to the gradual rotating ceiling fan above him.
"We've had this conversation a thousand times, Maggie. I have to be an exorcist. I don't do it for the money, nor for righteous ideals. I do it for us."
"That's not right.... You quit school because you couldn't pay both our tuitions, and now you're forced to put yourself at risk, like some kind of chess pawn, just for money!" she exclaimed.
"How do you think this makes me feel? Knowing that I'm the reason you're in this current state?!!" she added, as a tear drop rolled down her cheek.
"I... I... I just don't want to lose you. I don't want to lose anyone else, not anymore."
"I see..." Eddy muttered, as a gentle smile drew on his face as he glanced at his wounds.
Despite his hospitalized condition, He groans aloud as he attempts to stand on his feet, in spite of the aching pain in his chest.
"Eddy!" Maggie exclaimed, surprised by his sudden movements, which seemed impossible for someone with his injuries. She stood up almost immediately, grabbing his left hand and shoulder, in an attempt to help him back to bed.
He however, raised his pain to her, gesturing to her to let him go. She stared at him, amazed at his resolve and quite frankly, stupidity.
Though far from fully recovered, he was determined to stand on his own feet.
"Eddy." she muttered. Hesitating for a second, she finally let go of him and takes a few steps back from him.
Eddy, with great effort, stood on his feet and immediately grabs his chest, groaning in pain. He stared absently at the wall in front of him, a smile slowly forming on his face as he retracted his hand from his chest.
"Do you remember the story Mum used to tell us every night before we went to bed?" he asked.
"Of course I do. I could recite it." she replied.
"Could?"
"Well, it's a little blurry in my head, but I remember most of it."
"Far, far away, there lived a beautiful princess who spent most of her nights in a castle and a knight who was deeply in love with her. But as the law of the land decreed, their love was forbidden. If the law was broken, the knight would be condemned to rot in a cell like some kind of bandit. One fateful day, their mighty kingdom was attacked and fell to the invaders. Only the knight and the princess stood, surrounded by hundreds of men. In the end, the knight slaughtered the entire enemy fleet, just for her, the princess, the love of his life." Eddy recited.
"You remembered it all?" Maggie asked, astonished at the vividness of his memory.
"I'm the knight, and you're the princess. Whether I stand faced with a thousand men or a thousand possessed, I'll slaughter every last one of them. Even if I'm wrong, even if I stand as an enemy of humanity, I'll overcome every obstacle to create the perfect world for you." Eddy said confidently.
"If I have to go through these trials to protect you, I will." he added, turning to her.
"That's what it means to be your big brother."
He walked over to her and warmly embraced her tightly, asserting his love for her.
"I'll never let you go, I'll never let anything harm you, and I'll never let you be alone. I promise."
Filled with emotion, Maggie wrapped her arms around him, tears streaming down her cheeks as she holds him dearly.
"I love you." she muttered, shutting her eyes.
"I love you, Maggie." Eddy replied back, hugging her tighter despite the pain in his torso.