Keifer POV
The TV was on, but no one was really watching it.
Some random show played quietly, colors flashing across the screen, laughter canned and hollow. Jay was stretched slightly sideways on her bed, leg propped up, eyes pretending to follow whatever was happening on screen. I could tell she wasn't focused. She kept sighing like the air personally offended her.
I leaned back against my pillows, arms crossed, feeling that dull, heavy ache that reminded me I was still here. Still breathing. Still lucky.
For a moment, it was peaceful.
Too peaceful.
The door swung open.
Noise poured in like a storm.
"BROOOO."
"WHY DOES HOSPITAL FOOD SMELL LIKE SADNESS."
"I'M TELLING YOU THE MALL WAS CHAOS."
Section E.
All of them.
Jay's head snapped toward the door, her eyes lighting up despite herself. Felix and Calix were already arguing about who almost fell down the escalator. Edrix was talking too fast. Drew and David were laughing about something that clearly wasn't funny but became funny because they were laughing.
Yuri walked in shaking his head. "Never letting you people out together again."
Eman pointed at the TV. "Why is it always on something boring when people wake up in hospitals?"
Jay smiled, then caught herself and went back to frowning. "You're all loud."
Felix grinned. "Missed us."
They crowded around, some sitting on chairs, some standing, some leaning wherever hospital rules were being quietly ignored. The room felt smaller. Warmer.
Alive.
Angelo came in right behind them, arms crossed, that look on his face that said he was already tired.
"We went to the mall," Aries added proudly, appearing beside him. "And no, before you ask, nothing caught on fire."
Jay raised an eyebrow. "That's your achievement for the day?"
"Yes," Aries said seriously. "It is."
They started teasing her immediately.
"You should've seen Felix trying on shoes."
"I wasn't trying them on."
"You cried."
"I did not."
Jay laughed, then winced slightly and grabbed her leg.
"I want to go home," she complained. "This place smells like medicine and regret."
Angelo didn't even look at her. "Stop complaining."
Jay gasped. "Wow."
"You're staying for a week," Angelo continued calmly.
"A week?" Jay shot upright. "Angelo, that's unfair."
"You were chased," he said flatly. "You were injured. You're staying."
"But then I'll only have four days before school," she argued. "Four days!"
"You'll survive," he said. "Barely."
She opened her mouth again.
"Jay," Angelo warned.
She closed it, crossed her arms, and stared at the wall like it personally betrayed her.
I smiled without meaning to.
An hour later, the door opened again.
Aunty Gemma came in with Hex.
Hex walked in like he owned the hospital corridor, hands in his pockets, eyes already scanning the room. When he saw Jay, he nodded once. When he saw me, his gaze lingered longer.
"You look less dead," he said.
"Thanks," I replied. "I think."
Aunty Gemma fussed over Jay immediately, adjusting her blanket, scolding her gently for moving too much. Jay complained under her breath but didn't pull away.
Time blurred after that.
Talking. Laughing. Someone stealing a chair. Someone else getting yelled at for it.
Then, about two hours later, the door opened again.
Victor walked in first, hands in his jacket pockets, eyes sharp as ever. Right beside him was Keiren.
Hex straightened instantly.
Keiren gave a small nod to the room, polite, calm, composed like he always was. His eyes flicked briefly to Jay, then to me, then back to Hex.
Hex didn't say a word.
He just walked straight to my bed and dropped into the chair beside it dramatically.
"This guy," he said, pointing his thumb toward Keiren without even looking at him, "is a liar."
Keiren raised an eyebrow. "Good evening to you too, Charles."
"Don't," Hex snapped. "He tricked me."
Jay perked up. "Tricked you how?"
Hex leaned closer to me like he was sharing classified information. "He made me agree to something without agreeing."
I blinked. "That sounds illegal."
"It felt illegal," Hex said.
Keiren folded his arms, completely
unbothered. "You agreed to a hypothetical."
"A trap hypothetical," Hex argued.
Victor chuckled from the doorway. "You fell for that?"
Hex shot him a look. "You're not helping."
Jay laughed, full and bright this time. "Wow. Someone finally outsmarted you."
Hex pointed at her. "You're injured. Stay out of this."
Keiren smiled faintly. "You'll be fine. It's just a short appearance."
Hex groaned and leaned back in his chair. "I hate all of you."
Watching them like that, arguing over small, stupid things, it hit me quietly.
This was good.
This noise. This chaos. This teasing.
It meant we were still here.
I glanced at Jay. She caught my eye and rolled hers dramatically, but her smile didn't fade.
For the first time since everything happened, my chest felt lighter.
Maybe healing didn't start with silence.
Maybe it started with people refusing to leave your side.