Ephemeral

Elder Brother Part 2

I sat down at the dining room table, picking at the salad that the maid had brought over for me. Although the food was vibrant in color, it had vegetables and two different types of cheese along with an orange dressing...all I was seeing was gray.

Everything around me was slowly losing its color.

I was becoming more and more depressed as the seconds ticked, and were wasted away.

My wrist was wrapped in a tight bandage and it was healing according to schedule, at least, that's what the doctor told me every morning when he inspected it. I thought that it was a little obsessive, not to mention excessive, for Aidan to demand that the doctor take a look at me that often.

Then again...it was Aidan.

I wasn't surprised at the possessive things that he does anymore.

The pain was kept away with the heavy dosage of pain medication that one of the maids gives me every morning. It made everything seem far away, and I had gotten very tired and napped most of the day.

I was sure that Dominic was happy to report that to Aidan, since I knew that Dominic was kept around the mansion to spy on me. He was Aidan's right hand man. It was as though Aidan trusted him to look over me thoroughly.

I felt that Xavier was brought on as just an extra safety precaution.

"Good morning, little sis!" Xavier's booming voice came from the entranceway.

Speak of the devil...

I didn't even turn around or lift my head. I didn't want to expend what little energy I had, choosing instead to focus on picking up a piece of lettuce with my fork.

The man gave out a small 'tsk' and then pranced over to a nearby chair and pulled it out. He slammed his body down and placed his hands on the table. He strummed his fingers along the surface causally and unbothered a few times. He was staring in front of him before dramatically darting his head to look at me. 

I tensed at the unwanted attention, not to mention such an exaggerative movement was just a little too creepy for me to handle when I was slightly disoriented. 

"Oh my, that's all you're eating for lunch?"

I shrugged, still picking at it with a fork. I watched the piece of lettuce that I had stabbed with my fork fall lifelessly off of it. My words came out in a low murmur that was barely comprehensible. "I'm not hungry."

"Pain medication will do that – especially at the dose that Aidan has you at." Xavier explained, placing his elbows on the table while his head rested in his hands. I slowly turned to look at him with a raised eyebrow.

What does he want?

"Well, my brother is certainly trying to deter you from trying to escape again..." He let out a small shrug as well, but his eyes were telling me this was all a game to him. "At the dosage that you're at your movements are sluggish – tired -- loss of appetite..."

I let go of the fork in my hands. It clanked lightly against the plastic bowl. I was only allowed to have glass dishware when Aidan was around. I also had to settle for plastic cutlery as well. Anything else could be used as a weapon that I could use against myself or others.

"It doesn't matter anymore." I looked away from him and instead focused my attention at the back of the room...the paint was far more interesting than keeping up a conversation with him.

"Hmm?" Xavier stated, leaning forward on the table. He was in the corner of my eyes, but I didn't even want to look at the brother of the man that took me...