He says"Hi."

15

Marcus' POV
I was waiting in Ana-Lia's room, an ice pack in hand. My mind was wandering for a bit until I was alerted by the swing of the door. Through it came none other than the patient of the night.

"Hey, the ice is nearly melting get your ass over here."

"Tch. Yeah yeah." She replied.

She walked forward and sat beside me, gingerly offered her newly splinted hand. I carefully took it and gently placed the pack on the effected area. This earned me a 'hiss' from Ana-Lia.

"You good?" I asked, still focused on applying the correct amount of pressure.

"Yeah." She strained.

Silence basically engulfed the room. So I decided raise a topic of discussion while we were waiting for the recommended 'ice time' (10-20 minutes) to be up.

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"Lia?"

"Hm?" She replied.

"So, I know you don't really like talking about it, but why do always freak out so much around doctors?"

"Why do you ask?" Ana-Lia asked as she began to tense up.

"Uh, let me think..." I said feigning thought.

"How about the fact that me and Kate had to stop you from killing the doctor a few minutes ago?" I started.

"He was shifting my bones around, Marc. I am pretty sure that's a normal reac-"

"Well, how about when I simply mentioned calling the doctor when you first got injured and you said, You know how I feel about doctors..." I interjected.

"Well... I..." She attempted to explain before ultimately giving up.

Ana-Lia went silent, only a sigh escaped her mouth as a sort of 'response'. That silence a few moments until...

"Whatever, Marcus. Just think of it as something similar to Batman hating guns or some shit." She replied, clearly annoyed.

I could not help but chuckle a little at this.

"Okay. Number one, don't you dare compare yourself to the dark knight. And two, come on. Stop pretending like it's nothing. You do not have to protect me from the fact that your head is a little messed up. I already know it is." I said.

Ana-Lia let out what seemed to be a grunt of defeat. At the same time slumping her shoulders and bowing her head slightly.

"Ugh, I don't know okay?" She began, speaking much softer than normal.

"I mean, I know I've been anxious around doctors for as long as I could remember but I don't know where it came from."

I nodded as she spoke.

"And it got so much worse after..." Lia paused for a second.

She inhaled sharply and her breath went shaky as she exhaled.

I gripped her shoulder with my free hand. And waited for her to compose herself.

"It got worse after Dad died, I mean sure I was afraid before. But, he would make things easier... He always made sure that I felt safe before the doctor did anything. And now that he's gone,.. I feel like that level of protection is gone too. So in a way it could be some sort trauma based... thing. I don't know what to call it, but I know that I am absolutely sick of it."

She finished, a single tear fell down soon after.

We remained in a comfortable silence for a good few minutes. 'Ice-time' had already ended and I was busy lightly dabbing off any melted water from Ana-Lia's wrist and hand.

I was bit lost in thought when I was interrupted by a soft chuckle coming from none other than Lia. I looked up at her in confusion.

"What's so funny?" I asked, sporting a soft smile of my own.

She let out an exasperated sigh and then answered.

"It's funny, you mentioned earlier that I don't need to protect you, but I feel like you guys have been protecting me a lot more... I am a complete joke of an older sister." She said, bowing down her head in disappointment.

"That is not true and you know it..." I said, looking at her.

"We're all just taking turns protecting each other and right now it's your turn to have an arm around your shoulder." I continued, doing the exact action I mentioned.

Lia looked at me, a thankful smile was plastered across her face. I pulled her in and wrapped my arms around her. She reciprocated and quickly relaxed into the embrace.

"Thanks Marc." Ana-Lia mumbled.

I smiled at this and broke the embrace.

"Anytime, Lia." I replied.

I felt the familiar embrace of exhaustion slowly absorbing me, at the same time a small yawn escaped my mouth. With these two factors I had expertly concluded, that I'm dead tired.

As a result, I decided to take my leave. I took the (now half melted) ice-pack and sauntered out of the door. Ana-Lia and I had exchanged our good nights before I closed the door.

I quietly made my way to the kitchen and a walked to the fridge. After putting the pack in the freezer, I headed back upstairs towards my bedroom and got ready for bed. I had finally finished, I flopped roughly onto the bed getting a few light bounces as a result. I closed my eyes and took a few deep and slow breaths. I finally felt relaxed enough to allow sleep to take me away. And with that I had bid consciousness a temporary farewell.