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♠ D r o w n e d ♠
Will studied on his computer, the charts laying out on top of his keyboard and he marked it with a blue mark for Calliope and a yellow mark for Caesar. Their Intelligence grew more week by week and he wondered if they would beat the human intelligence. His attention was caught by the commotion upstairs in his father's room.
Banging and shouting was heard and he immediately dropped the small notepad he had in his hands. Rushing up the stairs he called for his father, "Dad?"
And just as he entered, he saw the lamp colliding on the floor, shattering with a loud thud. The nurse was terrified as she kept a safe distance from Charles, "Anne, I'm sorry." Will apologizes.
"I can't do this anymore." Anne finally spoke after regaining her breathe. "He belongs in a home. This is no way for him to live." she cries, leaving the room in a rush.
"No way to live." Charles repeated, trying to get ahold of reality but it kept slipping away. He sat down on his bed, looking at the slit wound opened on his palm, blood dripping out, "No way- no way to live."
He mumbled to himself as Will watched him longingly to retrieve the man his father once was. "What happened?" a voice whispers and his eyes landed on the little girl by the door, peeking her little head, "Miss Annette ran out." she informed what she saw briefly before coming to her granddad's room, hearing the commotion.
Calliope walked in the room, noticing the slash on her grandfather's palm. "Granddad hurt." she whispered as her eyes widened.
"Shh, shh, go play with your brother," Will beckoned, not wanting her to worry. He didn't want her or Caesar to see him struggle, it would be too much for them. "go on."
"Is granddad going to be alright?" Calliope pressed on, determine to get an answer before she obeys her father's request. "He will be. Go on, go play with Caesar. I need to rush to work." he says bandaging his dad's wound.
"What?" her grey eyes observed him as he worked on Charles' wound. "But it's Sunday Branch, we never miss Sunday Branch."
Will sighed and looked at her, "I know, honey. But this is urgent. Granddad needs his medicine. Remember what I always tell you?"
She simply nodded, reciting the words he taught her, "Family comes first."
Will nods, "And above all else," he moved towards her and kneels, placing a kiss on top of her head. "I need you and Caesar to watch him while I'm away. I'll call the babysitter, okay?"
Calliope nodded but soon frown, folding her arms. "But I'm not a baby."
"You'll always be my baby." he said, ruffling her hair and moving over to his dad to help him lay on the bed so he can rest. "Go on and play with Caesar. I'm sure he's lonely."
"Okay, yes." the girl replied with a subtle nod and left. She ran down the stairs and into the kitchen, searching through the fridge. She finally found the maroon chocolate plastic wrap but it was out of her reach.
Calliope sight before grabbing one of the chairs of the dining area dragged it beside the fridge. She climbs and took her chocolate, closing the fridge door, placing the chair where it was.
She hears hooting behind her and turned to see her older brother, well, older by a few days of course. Caesar jumps up and down joyfully, "Chocolate, chocolate, chocolate! Want some! Want some! Please?" Calliope giggled at him and took out the wrap, breaking it into half and giving him his share of half.
"Hey!" called Calliope as Caesar chews on his chocolate bar, "Wanna play extinction?" he grinned and they rushed upstairs to their room to play their favourite game.
__________
"Oh no!" Caesar screeched loudly, signing, "The sheer agony! My friend has been struck by a meteor!" the ape shakes his sister for her to wake but she didn't budge. "What will I do now? What will I do? Oh the horror! My friend the platypus-" he was cut off by his so called dead friend, her head bobbing up and glaring at him. "Hey, I'm not a platypus, I'm a dinosaur!"
Caesar stopped fake crying. "I thought you said you were a mammoth, what gives?" the two were caught in a slight disagreement as they tried to remember which historical creature they were playing. "I thought I was a sloth?" Caesar said, tapping his chin to remember.
"I'm not a sloth. I'm a-" Cal's words were caught in her throat. "I actually don't remember what I am anymore." she signed while speaking.
"Oh forget it! This game is hopeless." signed Caesar and moved from his sister's laying body on the floor, jumping on the bed and swinging to their window to look at the kids playing outside. He heard a shuffle heard the bed creak and decided his sister was laying on it. "Kids, still okay there?" the babysitter asks after hearing the sudden fall of quietness.
"We're fine." Calliope called back, letting her body fall on the bed. She felt the bed sink as another weight leaped onto her own making her open her eyes quickly. Caesar signs, "He's back!" he led her to the window to look at the view of their backyard.
Where, sure enough, they saw their dad leaving the small house. Caesar grabbed Cal's arms and placed her on his back, making a mad dash for downstairs. All the while, she was trying to register what was going on around her but quickly wrapped her arms around her brother's neck so as to not fall off.
The two siblings made it to their granddad's room, where they suspected their dad to have gone. They saw Will whisper to his father, "I'm going to make you better, dad." and opened a syringe, injecting it on Charles wrist.
The children watched attentively and Will soon noticed them. He puts his finger on his lips, gesturing them to be quiet. They nodded, doing the same gesture and soon decided to go to their room.
"Is medicine going to help granddad?" Caesar signed to Will as he puts the two inseparable siblings to bed. "Yes," Will nodded, "yes, it will."
"He won't need a nurse to look after him then, right?" Asked Calliope, looking up at her father, grey eyes filled with a glimmer of hope illuminated by the moon. He hesitates for a while before shaking his head, confirming his answer.
"And everything will be alright!" Caesar pant-hooted as he sighed joyfully. The ape was always joyful, so was his sister. "Yeah. Now, go to sleep you two." he turned the lamp off.
"My nigh-light!" Calliope's breathing quickened and in panic of how dark it turned. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry." apologized Will, opening the night-light. The room vibrated in a light shade of blue, illuminations similar to that of the ocean and Calliope sighed, lying back next to Caesar.
"Night night." Will climbs down the steps of the attic, "Night night." Caesar signed while Calliope spoke. The two siblings brought their foreheads together, touching and closed their eyes as sleep took over them. Hopefully, the medicine will help granddad get better, was Cal's last thought before drifting off into a peaceful slumber.
