There was once a time in my life when I was confined to bed because of a severe allergic reaction. That day, my mother was attending my sister's middle school graduation party, but because I had school project to do, I didn't attend.
My father was the first to notice my condition and immediately brought me to the hospital. Though it's been a long time since then, the sensation of hospital bed and the sound of IV drip were still vivid in my mind.
That's why the moment my hazy consciousness slowly regained its focus, the first thing I noticed was the sound of the IV drip.
Hospital's white ceiling greeted my vision and the scent of medicine wafted through my nose.
A soft breathing was heard beside me. Turning my head, Ilyas' brown hair was the first thing catching my eye. He was sleeping soundly while holding my hand.
I lightly touched his hair, tidying it up so it wouldn't prick into his eyes. His long eyelashes, fair skin and red lips accompanied by sunlight pouring in warmly made Ilyas look ethereal.
Innocent and pure was the first thing that would cross everyone's mind if they ever saw him at this moment.
"Mhm.."
Ilyas mumbled for a bit, rubbing his emerald eyes. But when our eyes met, his movement halted, his mouth was gaping like a gold fish.
"Thank goodness! You're awake! How are you feeling? I'll call the nurse!"
Now that I realized it, the sun was high in the sky when we finished the gate, but the soft light pouring from the crack in the curtain at this moment indicated an early morning sunrise instead of sunset.
Noticing my gaze out the window, Ilyas held my hand tight – the rim of his eyes started turning red.
"You have been asleep for 2 days. When I saw your wound I really thought you're going to die."
Tears stream down his cheek, with a sob he intertwined my fingers with his, "I told you to take care of yourself more, so why are you getting injured all the time?" He gave me a small glare, "My esper is so damn reckless."
"Ilyas..." Feeling guilty, I wiped his tears. He quietly leaned in to my touch, heaving a sigh of relief.
"I'm sorry."
No amount of excuse could make this situation better, I knew I was careless and that caused problems for myself and my teammates.
"I'm alright now, thank you for worrying about me."
Ilyas raised his gaze. He gave a small smile before rising to his feet. He rummaged through something from his bag and pulled out a squeaking hammer toy.
"Ouch..."
Ilyas smashed the squeaky toy on my head. In reality, it didn't hurt, but I exaggerated my reaction while looking at Ilyas with my most pitiful eyes.
"That's what you get from getting hospitalized. If you're dead, I'll perform an exorcism so you won't haunt us with your recklessness virus."
"Hey, that's mean!"
We both laughed at our own joke before a nurse came and checked on my condition. Though my wound had been completely healed, I was told to rest for one more day before I could finally be discharged.
The door opened with a creak, I saw Wilson standing still on the door – a bag of donuts in his hand. But the moment he saw me, the bag was carelessly thrown on the floor as he quickly embraced me.
He stroked my head, I could feel it trembling. Through his shaky breath, he whispered, "Thank goodness you're awake."
I jokingly teased him, "What do you mean? Even if I look like this, I'm still an S-Rank, of course I won't die that easily."
Wilson sighed in my ear, "You should look at what kind of mess your organs were when the healer fixed you, luckily you did first aid with your ability. You might lose your life otherwise."
"Ahaha… Is that so?"
He picked up Ilyas' squeaky toy and hit it on my head. Gazing at him as if I was wrongly accused, I rubbed my head in confusion.
"Don't do that again, you almost gave me a heart attack."
"Agreed." Ilyas followed with a nod.
Both Wilson and Ilyas seemed to have bonded when I was out cold. They even discussed what to do if I ever get hospitalized again, which I wasn't planning to if I could.
"By the way, what's with the squeaky toy?"
"Ah that, it's used by my family to ward off negative energy. They said people closest to you should hit it on your head because the head is the most susceptible area to generate or receive energy."
"I see…"
Ilyas went on an explanation on how energy and spiritual world unexplored by science worked. I understood the gist of it but Wilson, who's basically a scientist, debated with Ilyas about the basis of the claim. It was an intellectual debate based on each other's beliefs.
Maybe this was why they seemed close to each other. The fact that they could understand each other and tolerate the difference was honestly astonishing.
"What are you smiling that widely for, lil bro?"
"Nothing, it's fun hearing you guys talk."
BANG!
"Ethan!"
The door once again opened, but this time it was so loud that the whole hospital's hall could hear it. The familiar redhead entered with wide steps, followed by Cedric and Shelly behind him.
"You okay?! You gave us real shock you know that?!"
"I told you not to act tough."
"Glad you're fine Ethan."
Each of them gave me a piece of their mind, which I listened to attentively while apologizing.
My teammates seemed eager to scold me for my carelessness so it prompted Ilyas to convince them to hit me with the squeaky toy.
Xain and Cedric didn't hold back in hitting me, the hit was so hard it made me wonder if they broke my skull.
As the sun was rising in the sky, laughter filled the hospital room.
It was a heartwarming day.