''Well?'' Lovino said, slight fear in his voice. ''Spit it out, bastard!''
Antonio closed his eyes and prepared for the worst. Nothing bad would happen to Feli, right? He will be okay in no time, and we'll get him home soon, Toni assured himself.
The doctor just looked at the two with his sad eyes.
''The patient... is in a critical state. I'm afraid that if he doesn't get the right treatment...''
The doctor didn't have to finish his sentence. The other two got the picture.
Feliciano might die. The cheerful, always happy and energetic italian could die.
But why? Why would he die all of a sudden, just like that? It didn't make any sense... did it?
Lovino felt his blood run cold. It often seemed like he hated his brother, being so cold to him and all, but he didn't. He loved Felicano so fucking much. He now realised he didn't show it enough. Not even nearly enough.
Hearing the news made a part of him regret for always being so mean to the ones he loved.
Just the thought of his fratello's dead lifeless body all alone in a hospital room made Lovino want to throw up.
He covered his mouth and looked away.
''What?'' Antonio said. ''But... he was perfectly healthy when I last saw him! Well, almost! What could have went so badly, that we're not even allowed to see him? Why is there a possibility that he could...'' Antonio couldn't say the last word. It irritated Lovino. Fucking tomato bitch, he thought. Why does he even care? Iẗ́'s my damn brother, not his!
''It might have seemed like that, but in fact, mr. Vargas had been hiding the symptoms for over a month. He told us the truth after arriving here a week ago.
He told us that he had been having painful headaches every day.'' Lovino remembered how a few weeks ago he had caught his brother getting something from the bathroom cupboard, but as soon as he saw Lovino's face, he started laughing saying it was nothing and walked off. Now Lovino realised that Italy had been looking for pain killers. He felt a strange pain in his chest.
''He also had nausea and loss of appetite,'' the doctor said. Antonio remembered how just a few days before Feli was taken away he had brought a beautiful tomato to him, but he had just laughed nervously and said he'll eat it later. Antonio later had found a tomato in the trash can while cleaning. It had made him kind of upset, seeing a tomato in a trash. But it all made sense to him. It all made sense now.
''So'' he said, ''the smile he gave us all that time... it was fake? Just a fake smile to not make us suspect anything?''
The doctor looked sad again. He nodded slowly and fixed his glasses. ''It seems he didn't want to tell you even though he knew he was very ill.''
He had a faint smile on his face when he saw the confused faces of Lovino and Antonio.
''I guess he wanted to save you from the worry. I don't know what he was thinking though... there's no way to hide that forever.
Antonio left out a weak chuckle.
''Yep, that's our Feliciano.'' he said.
Lovino felt strange.
''So? Are you motherfuckers going to tell us what's wrong with him or not?'' Lovino asked angrily from the nurses that had went in and out of Feli's room for the past hour. It was now eight o'clock in the evening and both Antonio and Lovino were getting tired (Lovino was getting grumpier, too.) from all the waiting. Will the damn doctors ever let them know? Or do they even know themselves? Just what the hell was going on in there?
Lovino wished he could even get to see him. Nothing else even mattered anymore. He was so tired and-
A tear fell on his cheek.
What is this?, he thought to himself. Why am I so damn weak?
He just wanted to see his brother again, god dammit.