Mateo restlessly tossed and turned in his bed, as if having a nightmare. He hit his leg to the wall and eased down for a few seconds, right until the k-pop ringtone buzzed.
The boy immediately shot up and smashed his hand on the reinforced nightstand, where the phone would normally be.
"Ow…Seriously, Izzie! Stop messing with my phone!" Mateo held his now bruised hand.
"First: My previous statement stands – It got you out of bed! Second: You should try to control your strength, reflexes and sudden anger, if not, it will be a lot worse than a bruise, so-"
"Yeah, yeah, I remember – 'Mateo, you will have to come to the Observatory after school hours to improve and control your current 'situation''." The girl's brother talked in his take of Mr. Oz's voice and made air quotes.
"And we have a reason to do so! You smashed my phone because of your 'reflexes' a few months ago and the table with it! We had to secretly create a super strong nightstand to hold your strength and somehow bring it back home!"
"I remember, you don't have to yell." The boy looked away with a bit of spite and guilt in his eyes.
"Ever since you came back those months ago, dad's been checking your temperature every morning because your 'cold' was that bad and we still can't find you in the Dream Realm! Also, let's not forget that your personality got a redo!"
"I know it and fear it! I don't know if I'll ever be back to normal and if the others will start treating me the way they treated me before the accident. What if this never gets fixed?" Mateo hugged his knees.
"Oh…Mateo… I'm sorry." Izzie embraced her brother and he hugged her back.
A moment of silence filled the room.
"So… Can I go to the bathroom now? We have school to go to."
"No, not yet – dibs!" She ran to the bathroom.
"Just hurry up! We'll be late and dad will worry again."
"Got it!" She replied and slammed the bathroom door.
Mateo let out a little smile.
"I know you're here Z, come on out. I won't hurt you."
A little snot slithered out of his old primary backpack on Izzie's side of the room.
"Look, Z-blob, we've been through a lot and you know that I'm not going to do anything bad. Why do you avoid me?" He stepped one step closer to the snot and it shrank back.
"I really should've drawn you a mouth, this conversation would be so much easier if I did."
The blob's eyes showed a bit of trust in them, as if he found something he wanted to see.
Suddenly, the bathroom door slammed open.
"It's your turn, broseph!"
"I'm going. Wait for me downstairs and if you can or… want, please take Z with you."
"Um…" The blob and Izzie shared a confused look. "OK."
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Mateo went down the stairs.
"Hey, dad."
"Morning, Mateo, it's time for your check-up." José stood in the kitchen, with delicious-looking pancakes on the table, which were being quickly devoured by his little sister, and his medical kit in hand.
"Uh… Dad, maybe those check-ups aren't needed anymore, I mean, I was sick only for a day and that was months ago." Mateo scratched the back of his head out of nervousness.
"What do you mean? You could get sick again."
"Keyword being 'could', which also means it might never happen again and maybe you're being a bit… Overprotective?"
José was a bit surprised but realized that his son was saying the truth.
"…OK, no check-ups from now on, but if anything happens, tell me immediately."
"Will do, dad." Mateo jumped off of the few stairs and grabbed a few yummy pancakes.
"You two better hurry or y'all gonna be late."
"On it." Both kids ran out of the house. "Thanks for the pancakes!"
José smiled.