"Clover." A harsh sounding voice echoed.
The other 5 people, Junpei, Ace, Lotus, Seven and June, went to go talk in a separate corner of the large hospital room. The eeriness of the room did not help the current situation.
Clover did not respond to Santa's call. Santa sat beside her and hugged her.
"Get. Off. Me." Clover cautioned. Santa did not move.
"I swear, I do not want to be touched." Clover said, her voice sounding lifeless, like her late brother.
"Clover." Santa said, letting her go, but sounding serious, and having the same effect it usually had on Clover. Hope.
"I-I-I just can't believe it…." Clover spat out. Her eyes soon began to fill with tears. Santa wiped them away with his finger.
"You can cry when we have time." Santa said, "But right now, your brother would have wanted us to move on. To live."
He ended with a smile, something Clover had never seen before. His smile was sincere, but sad. He was afraid. Afraid of death. But Clover could not stop. Once the tears began, they could not stop.
"Hey, hey, hey!" Santa yelled. It echoed the room, adding to the stillness of the situation. Clover put her head down.
"I'm sorry…" Clover said. Santa grunted, muttering to himself.
"Look, I didn't mean to make you sorry. I mean, you can cry, but we have to move on. But, I mean…"
Clover elevated her head and smiled. Santa was flustered.
"Thank you." Clover said.
"Huh?" Answered Santa confused. But Clover didn't need to explain herself. Snake had left her behind, she knew it, but his mouth always teased her about how she fancied him. She never thought that maybe Snake saw something with his eyes, something that maybe she couldn't.
"Come on. Let's go." Santa said, reaching out his hand. Clover smiled and took his hand. She knew that this hand was warmth.
Was hope.
But she couldn't hold on any longer. She had to do what was right.
It would be what her brother would have wanted.
To kill his murderers.
To kill her only hope in this bloody Game.
Santa.