Chapter Nine :
Chapter Title : A Brother Too Late
Notice..
This is a work of fiction. It should be noted that events and characters are fictional. Any resemblance to real persons or events is purely coincidental.
.....
The smile on Annalisa's lips faded as quickly as it had appeared.
Without a hint of haste, she slipped the stolen keycard beneath the thin mattress and smoothed the bedsheet over it.
She was safe for now.
She leaned back against the wall, closing her eyes. Yhe hardest part wasn't stealing the card, it was pretending nothing had happened afterward. Patience had carried her this far.
It would carry her the rest of the way.
The corridor outside remained unusually quiet. Only the distant squeak of a trolley echoed through the ward before fading into silence.
Then...
Footsteps sounded, they were slow and easured. They were d
rawing closer.
Annalisa opened her eyes.
Someone stopped outside Room Seventeen.
A soft electronic beep followed, the lock disengaged.
The heavy steel door creaked open.
She straightened instinctively before forcing herself to relax.
' Another routine visit?'
No something felt different.
She lifted her gaze toward the doorway.
For a brief moment, she forgot to breathe.
Standing there was a man she hadn't seen in five years.
Liam.
The corners of her lips curled into a faint smile not one of happiness. It was one of irony.
Liam stood by the door, unable to take another step. Annalisa didn't even bother looking at him.
Her fingers rested lightly on the edge of the bed, hiding the keycard beneath the mattress.
Five years.
Neither of them had imagined their reunion would look like this.
"...Anna."
She slowly lifted her eyes.
"Don't." One word and nothing more but Liam understood immediatel.
"I need your help." But still spoke
The room fell silent Annalisa looked at him for several long seconds.
Then...
"Help?" Yhe single word carried neither anger nor surprise.
Only disbelief.
"You came here..."
"...to ask me for help?" Liam gave a slow nod.
"Yes."
She took one measured step toward him.
Then another, each step echoed softly against the tiled floor.
By the time she stopped, barely an arm's length separated them.
She looked into his eyes as if searching for something.Then she spoke.
"Tell me, Liam."
"What gave you the confidence to walk through that door?" He frowned.
"I..."
"No."
She raised a hand, stopping him.
"I asked a very simple question."
"What made you think..."
"...you still had the right to ask anything of me?"
Liam lowered his head. "I don't have that right."
"Correct." Her answer came without hesitation.
"You don't." Silence settled between them once more, she circled him slowly, like a predator studying prey.
"You disappeared."
"You survived."
"You lived." Her footsteps stopped behind him.
"We..."She paused. "..didn't."
Liam closed his eyes. Every word struck him harder than the last.
"I know."
"No." She shook her head.
"You know nothing."
"If you did..."
"...you wouldn't have walked in here expecting an answer." Liam turned to face her.
"I never expected forgiveness."
"Good."
"Because you won't get it." Her voice remained calm almost gentle, which somehow made it even colder.
"You know what's funny?" He remained silent.
"For five years..."
"I wondered what I would do if I ever saw you again."
Another step."I imagined killing you."
Liam's breathing caught.
She smiled faintly.
"Then one day..."
"I stopped."
He looked at her, confused.
"Do you know why?" He couldn't answer.
"Because I realized..."
"...you weren't worth hating." Those words landed like a blade driven straight into his chest.
Hatred meant someone still mattered.
But indifference, meant they no longer existed. She looked him directly in the eyes.
"You died the same day Liora did."
Another long silence.
Then, almost casually, she asked,
"So..."
"What exactly do you need from a dead girl's ghost?"Liam opened his mouth...
But no words came. He searched for something, just anything.
Something that would make her listen.
Instead but what he was found only silence.
Annalisa watched him for a moment before letting out a quiet sigh.
"So that's it."She turned away from him.
"I thought you came prepared."
"I did."
Liam's voice was firm this time.
"I know I have no right to ask anything of you."
"I know I've already lost the privilege of calling you my sister."
"But I'm asking anyway."She stopped walking. Not because his words moved her.
Because she wanted to hear just how far he was willing to go.
"If you refuse..."
"I'll accept it."
"If you want me dead..."
"I'll accept that too."
"But before you decide..." He took a slow breath.
"...hear me out." A faint smile appeared on Annalisa's face.
It wasn't warm, she wasn't mocking.
It was the smile of someone watching a condemned man plead for a sentence that had already been passed.
"You still don't understand."
She turned to face him.
"You think this is about revenge."
"It isn't." Liam frowned.
"You think I'm angry."
Another step.
"No."
"You think I hate you."
She shook her head.
"I don't."
The room became painfully quiet.
"Hatred is reserved for people who still matter."
"You..."
Her eyes met his.
"...ceased to matter five years ago."
Those words struck deeper than anything she had said before.
Liam's shoulders sagged. Not because she had insulted him but because he believed her every word.
He looked at her for a long moment before asking quietly,
"Is there..."
"...anything I can do?"Annalisa stared at him, then smiled a beautiful smile one completely devoid of warmth.
"Yes."Hope flickered in Liam's eyes but lasted less than a second.
"You can leave."
Silence.
"You've already wasted enough of my time."
She walked past him without another glance.
As she reached the window, she spoke one final time.
"Oh..."
"If you're expecting me to forgive you before you die..."
"Don't."
"Regret is a far more fitting punishment."
The room fell silent once more. Liam remained standing where he was.
Unable to move nor was he able to speak, for the first time, he understood he hadn't come to save his sister.
He had come to meet the woman who survived her.
The room was silent.
"...Annalisa." Silence returned.
Liam lowered his head.
"I came to apologize." But Annalisa refused to response. "I know I don't deserve forgiveness." Still nothing.
His heart sank, because he realized that she wasn't ignoring him, she simply didn't care.
After what felt like an eternity, Annalisa finally spoke.
"Are you done?"
Liam froze.
"I..." She looked at him coldly and expressionlessly.
"If you're done..."
"...leave."
The words hit harder than he expected, he forced himself to stay.
"I can't."That made her raise an eyebrow.
For the first time since he entered...
She actually looked at him.
"Why?" He took a slow breath.
"Because if I leave today..."
"...I'll regret it for the rest of my life."
Annalisa's expression remained unchanged. "That's your problem."
She walked past him.
Stopped beside the window, sunlight filtered through the iron bars.
Freedom was so close, yet so far. Behind her, Liam clenched his fists.
"I know you hate me."
She didn't turn around. "Hate?" Hearing that word a faint smile appeared.
"You think too highly of yourself."The smile vanished.
"I don't hate you."
"I don't think about you." Silence swallowed the room.
Liam slowly lowered his head.
For the first time he realized something terrifying.
Hatred meant he still had a place in her heart.
Indifference meant he had already lost it.