Hello, everyone! Guess what? This is probably the first time I've ever uploaded a chapter twice in one day! So proud of myself! I hope it's worth my while. (So far, it is for sure!) Akai Seirei, I really appreciate that you took time to leave a second comment. It seriously made my day. A big reason I'm writing a second chapter in one day. In answer to your question, I've got it planned out so John has three brothers and three sisters. I'm thinking I'll explain that in this chapter, but this is one of those stories that I kind of make up as I go. I have the main points down and some specific goals, like explaining his family to everyone, but I don't always know if it'll pop up in a chapter or not. Anyway, I hope everyone enjoys the chapter, and here we go!
-LizzyLucky
About an hour after John was wheeled into the Emergency Operations room, everyone else showed up. Even Mom and Dad. Their worried faces reflected my own as I watched all of the seats taken by my family. I couldn't help but to wonder what they might have been thinking at the time. So much had happened in the time that John was away, and he was going to come back up, but then he wasn't. We didn't have as much time as we'd have liked to send letters or call. There was so much he didn't know, and there was so much everyone wanted to tell him. To find out that he wasn't coming up after all, and on Christmas of all times, crushed everyone. But then to suddenly have him show up at our door- you'd have thought everyone would be relieved to see him, if not for his injured state. And now we're all sitting in the Emergency room, waiting to see if he's okay. That hurt look in his dulled eyes and those cries that escaped his lips would haunt my dreams more than any of the hauntings had ever done.
I looked around at my family. Sylvia and Joey leaned into each other, wiping their noses and falling asleep. They'd always been kinda what you would expect on a tv show if their mother said they were two perfect little angels. They could be real sweet and all. They really could. They were usually more obedient than the rest of us, and they did what they were told. Usually. But that's just it. They put us boys to shame. Made us look like lazy oafs that didn't listen to anyone and played with our junk all day. And when they could, when our mom wasn't looking, they would pull pranks on us like you wouldn't believe. They were clever and got away with everything they did wrong because they did everything else right. It was this skill, though, that got them where they are now. Five years ago, Sylvia left for college. About one year ago, she came back with a degree. She got a job, bought a house, and found a husband. My 24 year old sister is probably the most successful and level-headed person I know, but she's not in any way insensitive or emotionless. Joey, on the other hand, is a little different. She's only got a year's difference in age, being 23 years now, and she can be very level-headed, but she was always that kind of a girl who was very tomboy-ish and couldn't focus on much for long. She still did what she was told, like I said, but she was lead in pranks and usually preferred playing in the dirt with our dog to sitting inside with a book. She never really got into college, but she's been really handy when it comes to farming.
As much trouble as these two could be when they wanted to, the twins were worse. Kumi and Kaz stuck together like glue and worked together like they were built for it. These two pulled pranks so regularly that if the house was quiet, or if something actually smelled nice, we worried. That's not to say that they were bad kids, just that they found fun out of things the rest of us didn't usually. Usually, even the most extreme pranks were harmless. Sometimes one would get out of hand, or someone would get a scrape along the way, but things rarely got to the point where people were hurt. That was one of their best qualities. They cared a lot about other people's well being. Being only 2 years apart from John meant that through childhood, they were often the kid's aid when he fell down and scraped his knee or whatever. It's so strange to think back to those times. They still are John's aid, I realized. They were there helping John before I could even ask them to, even if all they did was pull the knife out and try to clean it up a little. But that's exactly the sort of stuff they were training to do. When they saw how successful Sylvia was, they decided to go to college, too. They started about a year ago, training to be in the medical field. So fitting. They have their hearts set on being Doctors and think very much alike. They went to the same school, took the same classes, and now this. They still had 3-5 years to go if they wanted to become actual Doctors, but until then, they were doing very well.
Similarly, I myself had gone to college. I left almost immediately after I finished grade school, When I was 19 years. I studied a bit of everything for four years, unsure of what I wanted to do. But I was pretty skilled in everything I did learn, and it payed off well. That's how I got to be a rich man's accountant. Then I got a house and met a girl- Charlotte. Prettiest I've ever known. This was about a year ago. I proposed to her a month ago and I have to say that it went very well. As wonderful as that was, it was hard to keep a smile very long. I was still waiting for John, still wondering if he was okay. He and I had probably the closest relationship of all of us. Yes, there is a 9 year difference between us, I being 28 now, and it was a very big difference when we were little. To think he was only a year old when I was 10. Such a large difference. We always went to different schools and we rarely had time to hang out together. I felt so bad at that moment, thinking back. We never got to spend as much time together as I'd wanted. What I missed, though, was made up for.
Aliiah. The surprise child our parents had 9 years ago. For the first 7 years of her life, she had no one to play with. Most of us were in middle or high school. Except John. John was 10 when she was born. There was a larger age gap between John and Aliiah than there was between John and I, but he spent every second he could with her. The rest of us were older than him. We did the hardest of any work that was assigned around the house. He usually got away with doing nothing when we were told to go work in the fields or to tidy up the house. He was smart, too. And with the rest of us always so distracted, the rest of us being the older siblings, he had nothing to do. His homework was always done and his room was always cleaner than clean while the rest of us were busy doing chores or out with friends. For the first 10 years of his life, he literally just had nothing to do. The other kids teased him for being skinny and having bright, blonde hair. He was at home all the time. I could only ever imagine how lonely he might have been. But when Aliiah came along, all he did was play with her. Even through grade school. Every second of his free time was spent with her. He fed her as an infant, taught her words as a young child, pushed her on the swings and showed her how to ride a bike. They did absolutely everything together. And John was protective of her. Very protective. He would physically beat someone down if it meant keeping Aliiah safe. That's not always a big thing, but this is John we're talking about, and when it's innocent little John, beating someone down is a big thing. He's just about as protective of Aliiah as could possibly be. The exception? Me. Don't you touch my brother or you're in BIG trouble.
That being said, I was surprised at myself for how cool I'd been. My brother leapt into our house with a stab wound and something behind him. I didn't know what this something was, but it hurt my brother. It tried to kill my brother. The sudden thought had my blood boiling and my fists shaking at my sides. Fear didn't even cross my mind. Even with the things that happened at our house every night, whatever was chasing my brother suddenly didn't seem the least bit scary. I didn't care if it was a pack of ravenous, man-eating wolf-mummies, I was going to find it and I was going to kill it. Barehanded.
My mind flew back to the present world as the nurse that I spoke to earlier walked out of the set of double doors looking bright.
"What's happened? Is he okay?" My mother was up before I was, clinging to a tissue and walking up to the nurse.
"I have very good news!" She exclaimed.
"John is just fine. Considering How deep the stab wound is, he is probably the luckiest person I've ever met. None of his vitals were hit. The only wound is on the outside, what you could see." She explained. Our mother looked relieved and dropped her arms with a small smile forming on her face.
"That's not to say it wasn't uncomfortable for him, though. He has a number of stitches and, I'm sorry to say, is in a lot of pain. He'll need to stay for a few nights, then come back probably about a week later to remove the stitches, but otherwise, all is good."
"Okay. Can we see him?" Our father walked up behind our mother and put a hand on her shoulder.
The nurse nodded and led them through the doors, but put her hand out to the the rest of us. It made sense to me that the 9 of us couldn't all go in at once.
I plopped back down in my seat and let out a breath I didn't know I'd been holding. John was okay. He was alright. Relief came the same way a wave crashed into a cliffside. I felt so much calmer now that I knew John was okay. This crazy panic for my brother's life was gone and done with.
But now that it was, a new one rose. What had happened? Why was he even here in the first place? Didn't he have a case back in Japan with the SPR he'd told us so much about? There were so many questions racing through my mind I thought I might explode. This all felt so weird. There were so many questions I had to ask him and just not enough time for anything. Now that he was here, I wondered if he would stay and help. We had too many things going on, and we could really use it. He was the only person in our family that became an exorcist, surprisingly enough. And, thus, he was the only person we knew who could help us. We tried calling in someone else, but nothing happened when they came. So they would leave, thinking that the exorcism was successful. Or if they stayed long enough for something to happen, it all came so suddenly that they were gone by the morning. We couldn't find anyone.
I looked at the clock to find that it was already almost 6 o'clock in the morning. We'd been up the entire night, and even so, I felt ready to stay up the next 12 hours.
Although feeling ready wasn't the same thing as being ready. I found myself slipping out of the waking world as the clock twisted into itself and the room seemed to fade from existence...
Urg… Okay, I did write a second chapter in one day. Very good! But gosh, I've been so tired lately… The joys of being a high school student. Oh, I don't want to go back to school tomorrow… Erm… Yeah… I wrote it, but I decided to cut it a little short of where I wanted it to be. I tried to make sure it didn't seem rushed or anything. I seem to have problems with that when I write, especially when I'm tired and other things suddenly become three times more interesting, for whatever reason… So, yeah, hope you enjoyed, hope you'll be here next chapter! G'night!
-LizzyLucky
