~~~ Chapter 7 ~~~
"Sick."
"Sick?"
"Sick."
"Like, temperature sick? Are you dizzy? Do you have to throw-up? Ah, I don't handle vomit very well."
"Of. . . this r-room."
Silence.
"Oh! I understand! Well, I suppose that would make sense; you have been cooped up in this room for a good while, eh? How long has it been? Four, five months?"
"Three."
"Whoa, I was off!"
Aldrich rolled his eyes as his doctor laughed. Time passes at a turtle's pace yet went by so quickly, if that made any sense. What the blond said was true: he was sick of this hospital. They've made great progress with his speech; words were coming easier to him. However, he still couldn't speak in complete sentences, but he was getting there.
The days consisted greatly of the same thing over and over again. Aldrich was getting tired of it, despite the fact that the curly-haired oaf was growing on him ever so slightly. His laughs weren't nearly as obnoxious anymore, he looked forward to his smiles, and he was even smiling more in the man's presence. Aldrich still found the man annoying, however.
Dr. Vargas suddenly snapped, shaking the blond out of his thoughts, and said, "Hey, I know! Why don't we head outside for some fresh air, sounds like a good idea, si?" The brunet didn't even wait for the other's response when he got to his feet and declared, "I'll go tell Elizabeta that we're heading out! Sit tight!" The doctor sent a wink the blond's way.
For some reason, Aldrich's face lit up. He looked away from the door and towards the window to fill his mind of other thoughts. To think, in mere seconds he would be outside and away from this stuffy room. Hell, if he played his cards right, he could managed an escape and leave this place entirely.
Before the blond could calculate his escape route, his doctor returned into the room with the brightening smile. "Alright, I hope you aren't too comfortable because we're heading out to get some sweet vitamin D!"
The blond smiled at the doctor. It was a tiny smile really. Miniscule. Barely able to tell if it was a smile.
Before he knew it, Aldrich was whisked away from his prison and out into the openness of the backyard of the hospital. It was so open and beautiful it almost made want Aldrich cry with relief. But of course he didn't, he was far too tough for silly things like crying. The area had a path in which people could walk and adorned a well kept garden. The birds chirped and the wind whistled. It was much more relaxing than that blasted TV that floated in the corner of his room.
Unfortunately, his fun was limited. He was restricted to a wheel chair that was being pushed around by his doctor while he blabbed away, per the norm. It was almost sad to say that the blond was starting to get use to the constant flow of noise that came from the other's mouth. It didn't annoy him as much as it did before. Definitely concerning.
When the two reached a bench in which Dr. Vargas took a seat in, they stared out at the garden in silence for a moment. Aldrich enjoyed this. Just sitting and feeling the wind in his hair and hearing the birds chirp away. This was nice.
It shouldn't surprise Aldrich anymore when Augustus broke the blissful stillness with his blabbing mouth, but somehow it still managed to catch the other off guard. "Hey, Aldrich?" he asked looking over to the blond.
In response, the German turned his attention to the other.
"I was wondering . . . hypothetically, if I were to invite some people – definitely not my kids or anything like that – would you be upset?"
Unable to respond in words, the blond used his hands. "Who did you invite?" he signed all while pursing his lips and narrowing his eyes.
Before the brunet had a chance to respond a voice broke through the singing birds and the whistling winds. "CHHAAAAAOOO~! GRANDPA ROOOOOOMAAAAAA~!"
The voice was so high pitched that it left Aldrich's ears ringing. He looked around for the source of the screaming when another voice, this one much deeper and scratchy, yelled, "Shut up you moron!"
A smile bloomed on Augustus' face. He sprang to his feet and rushed towards the voices screaming just as loud as the other two, "Over here! Chao~!"
Two figures approached the brunet, both same in stature and build. One rushed the doctor and enveloped him a hug while the other simply stood there. Aldrich saw his doctor pull the other boy over with his huge arms to a crushing hug. The blond could hear the profanity from where he was sitting.
It took a while, but when Augustus finally got back to the bench in which Aldrich was still sitting next to, the brunet introduced, "Aldrich, this is Feliciano," he pointed to one of the young men, "and Lovino!" he thing pointed to the other. "Aren't they adorable?!" The doctor then proceeded to wrap his arms around both boys' necks, bringing them close. Feliciano giggled and hugged Dr. Vargas back while Lovino grunted and yelled at the older man.
The two boys were twins, no doubt about that. They were both: average height, same light brown eyes, same tanned skin, and had short brown locks. However, there were some noticeable differences between the two young men. Feliciano had lighter color hair than his brother (and some weird hair-curl thing going on that the blond didn't want to question) and his features were lighter and he definitely smiled more. The other boy, Lovino, had hair that was just one shade darker than his brother (and the odd curl on the other side of his head) and a permanent scowl on his face.
Aldrich simply nodded his head in greeting.
Feliciano's eyes lit up and he asked, "Oh, so this is your patient?"
"The one and only!" Roma boasted, even thought it wasn't really something to brag about.
The one named Lovino narrowed his eyes at the blond and said in his low scratchy voice, "The bastard looks familiar."
Augustus squeezed the boy's head between his arm and body. "Lovino, that wasn't very nice."
"What?!" he choked out, "I just said he looked familiar!"
"But we don't call people by such rude names!" Dr. Vargas countered. The doctor turned to his patient and continued to him, "I'm sorry about him. I have no idea where he gets that dirty mouth of his."
Aldrich motioned with his hands saying, "It's fine."
The three of them talked and even asked Aldrich the occasional question. The German did his best to answer their questions, but some required him to sign his responses in which Roma translated. Lovino mostly brooded in the background and Feliciano didn't seem to have an off button. Roma smiled lovingly at the two as they talked and even argued with one another. Aldrich will even admit that it was nice, but he will defend his odd behavior with the fact that meeting anyone new after all this time is a nice experience. The blond watched fondly at the family. He wasn't jealous for he had a family quite like this one, but not as boisterous. It really was nice. There was no other word for it and no other way to explain it.
After a half an hour, Augustus instructed that it was time for Aldrich to head back indoors to rest, much to the blond's distaste. Feliciano was sad to see the duo go and even Lovino looked a bit disturbed. The four parted, the blond and brunet heading back towards the hospital and the brothers walking towards the parking lot.
While Dr. Vargas was pushing Aldrich back towards his prison, he said under his breath, "You know, they aren't even mine." He talked just loud enough so only the two of them could hear, just in case.
Aldrich adjusted himself in his chair and looked up at him over his shoulder. "What?" he managed to say. Behind him, Roma's eyes were distant. He had a sad smile upon his face and his breathing was deep like he was sighing with every breath.
"Those two, they aren't my children. We aren't even related," Roma explained.
The blond's eyes widened, but he didn't say a word.
Augustus sighed and continued, "You see, they're mother was a good friend of mine – great friend even. She was just like her boys: full of energy, stubborn . . . she was really happy all the time. She could light up a power plant with just her smile . . . However, she fell ill years ago. One of her last wishes was for me to take care of her children, who were three at the time. I promised, of course, but I only made that promise thinking that it was just her being paranoid. We all believed that she would get out of there, beat the sickness . . ."
He paused.
He took a few slow paces forward.
Aldrich waited.
Roma sniffed before he muttered, "The last thing she said to me was to always keep smiling."
The brunet wasn't even sure the other heard what he said. Aldrich head though.
Roma blinked rapidly then continued in a louder volume, "I've been taking care of her kids ever since. I don't have a clue where they adopted the nickname 'Grandpa Roma'. I mean, I get 'Roma', but why 'Grandpa'? I mean, I'm not that old!" The Roman laughed. He was trying to desperately hard to make the situation light. Every time he talked about this – which wasn't even often – he got teary eyed, much to his embarrassment.
"I know I said that they were my sons," he went on, "but it just feels right to call them that considering I practically raised them. I know they really aren't but it really feels like it . . ."
Aldrich didn't know what to say. All this information was just being thrown at him. He didn't pry for the information, but here it was begin given to him. It was such a personal matter, he knew just from the waver in Augustus' speech.
The blond faced forward and didn't comment on the matter. It wasn't that he didn't have anything caring to say, it was just he couldn't think of anything to say.
What does one say when a practical stranger tells you their life story?
Hey guys! It's been a while! :)
I'm sorry to say that this isn't the best chapter. I could've revised it and make it more detailed, but then I would be delaying this more than I already have. But none the less, I'm satisfied.
The next chapter is will be more of a filler chapter then I think we're coming to a close with this story. *shrug* I suppose we'll just wait and see.
Also, thank you all for fallowing, favoriting, and commenting on this story. I want to get better at thanking you all with a personal PM! I'm making that my goal!
I hope to see you all next time, which will hopefully be sooner than the last.
((Don't forget to leave a comment ;P))