Daughter ✯ Kellic

Chapter One

I am h*cking back. I haven't updated in like a year. sorry. but here it is (:
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(Vic's pov)
"Victor Fuentes?" My head shoots up at my name, the rest of my body following. I hold my breath without any conscious effort, anxious about what news the nurse has to share. Smiling slightly, she motions for me to come over to her, and I oblige slowly. Quietly, she says, "Your brother, Michael, is awake; a little drowsy and slow, but awake. You're all signed in, so if you wish to see him, I can walk you to his room." I nod feverishly in response.

My mouth and throat collectively dry up as I follow her through a hall, past rooms full of sick people. Some of those people are dying, and they won't be able to get help, they won't ever live to see their families again... I'm so relieved that Mike is actually okay; if he wasn't, I don't know what I would do. I know it's a selfish thought, comparing him to everyone who won't be walking out, but consider it a coping mechanism. As we finally make it to his room, she pushes the door open without making a noise, motioning for me to go ahead in.

I step in slowly, unsure if I even want to see Mike in his current state. Even thinking about him lying on a hospital bed, high on medications that are keeping his blood flowing disgusts me to the point of throwing everything I ate back up. I stand beside his bed and tears well up in my eyes at the sight of him, but mostly the IVs in his arms and tubes in his nostrils, flowing down his throat. His eyes are shut, but the rising and falling of his chest is steady, to my relief.

I grab his hand, despising the lack of warmth it brings to my own, and swallow down the lump in my throat. His eyes open and I let out a small sigh, watching as he painfully tries to smile. "Hi, Mike," I say, barely above a whisper. "I know it's kind of a stupid question, but how are you feeling?" The smallest, bitter chuckle leaves his lips and his hand tightens around mine.

"Like shit," he responds, his grip loosening once more. He yawns and sits back slightly, closing his eyes. "I know what you're thinking, by the way, and I don't want to hear it." I gnaw on my bottom lip, figuring he won't want a lecture in his current state. "I'm not going to make any excuses, either. The doctor can tell you everything," he continues, slowing down at the end. His breathing slows as he nods off to sleep.

I nervously glance around at my surroundings, hoping to spot somebody who can explain what happened. The nurse returns to the small room, holding a glass of water in her hand. She smiles apologetically at me and steps closer to Mike. "He fell asleep," I inform her in a mumble. I sniff quietly and ask her where a doctor is, thanking her after she replies. I follow her simple instructions of just waiting for the doctor to come check up on Mike, sitting down in stiff a chair relatively close to his bed.

The doctor, a woman with long, light red hair and pale skin, approaches me with another one of those apologetic smiles, nodding for me to stand up. "Victor?" she inquires. I nod in reply, shaking her hand. "I'm Dr. Victoria, it's nice to meet you. This is your brother, yes?" she questions, pointing the back of a pen at Mike.

"Yeah, we live together," I reply. She nods, a sympathetic look on her face. "I'm not exactly sure what happened, either. I was running errands and when I came home he was on the floor, passed out," I explain, shame creeping into my voice. "So I brought him here, and that's all I know." It's not entirely true, but also not far enough away from the truth for them to hold me if push comes to shove.

"Well, in the time he's been here, we were able to get him on some medication, but it wasn't easy. He had an extreme allergic reaction to the heroin in his bloodstream, and you're lucky he even lived through it. There were other drugs in his system, as well, so we had to pump his stomach. As of now, he's better, just very tired," Dr. Victoria explains, flipping through pages attached to a clipboard in her hand. "My only question is where he managed to get a hold of such heavy drugs." The look she gave me could have shattered diamonds, and it probably didn't help that I genuinely had no clue what she was talking about. Mike isn't the best kid per se, but he isn't a druggie, right?