EXISTENCE: Recovery

CHAPTER 16: Decision

Juan sat in the bed, drying himself off. He thought back to the last fight he had with Taylor, and remembered the look on his face, when Juan began to overtake him at that last second. He remembered the look was one of pain and uncertainty, but a little hint of thrill. It was a look he had seen before, on a face that looked quite like that one. He sat still and began to recall the fights he and his friends had with Ethan, the look on his face when they saw Gabriel deal with him. 

They do look oddly alike...but Ethan never once claimed he had family.

He got up slowly and stretched, making sure to stretch his arm out as well. He turned around and saw the girl in the wheelchair keeping still, holding a number of folded clothes, a look of awe on her face.

Juan looked down, remembered he was not wearing a shirt, and blushed. "U-uh, is there anything you n-need?"

The girl quickly flushed and fumbled the clothes she was holding onto. "U-u-u-uhm!" She dropped the clothes on the floor. "Oh, come on...stupid, stupid, Safa!" She seemed to really be beating herself up about the mess.

Juan knelt down and picked up the clothes, one by one, and placed them on Safa's lap. "So, your name is Safa? I was wondering when I would get the chance to ask. I had to thank the person who was laying out these clothes for me, y'know."

Safa nodded quickly. "Uhm, yes, I had to help! Seeing as how, y'know, you definitely need it."

Juan smiled. "You're one to talk, pushing yourself around on a wheelchair and all."

"Um, that's...that's true, but, I've been like this my whole life! So I have seniority, in a way."

Juan grinned. "Well, thanks for giving me a hand, Safa."

The girl giggled. "I'm happy to help, Juan! Uhm, do you think you could put Taylor's clothes over there?" She pointed to an empty bed on the other side of the room.

Juan gingerly picked up the clothes and set them on Taylor's bed. He gazed at the bed, his thoughts dwelling on the potential connection between Ethan and Taylor. 

Are they really related?

"Juan?"

He snapped out of his thoughts and quickly turned to Safa. 

The girl tilted her head. "Is everything okay?"

"Sorry, I was just thinking about...older times."

Safa wheeled over closer to him. "If it's not too much trouble, could you tell me about...your life? Your story?"

Juan raised an eyebrow. "Huh?"

Safa thoughtfully played with her hands. "It's just, when you were still asleep, I wondered, 'what must have happened? Does he have friends? Is there a whole life he must have led that's different from all we've ever known?' Taylor and I, we grew up here in Algeria...this is all we really know. Then you came from who knows where, being carried in here by 'Ami Tarek. All he'd tell us was that you weren't from here, and that you needed rest."

Juan walked over to his bed and sat down. "It's a hell of a story, g."

"G?"

Juan smiled. "It's what I call people I like."

Safa blushed.

Juan looked up at the ceiling. "I guess I should start with the obvious...Tarek."

"My uncle?"

Juan nodded. "I don't know what's going on with that Taylor, but I can tell you for sure, there's no way he's Tarek's son."

Safa looked thoughtful. "I...thought as much."