My Brother

Memories

Estarossa walked up to the reception desk at the Liones Royal Hospital. The lady, who looked extremely annoyed at the interruption of Netflix, glared. "What? Did you think you broke something?"

"No, actually." Estarossa said, annoyed at this woman's lack of manners. "I'm here looking for the room with Meliodas Wrath and Liz Dana please."

The lady rolled her eyes and then looked at them with surprise. "They found them?!"

"Yes. But they're in pretty bad shape. Could you give us the room number?" Estarossa demanded in the nicest tone he could muster.

"383. Wow. That's critical care. Good luck."

Estarossa rolled his eyes and walked swiftly towards the elevator. Zeldris walked beside him. "I hate that lady." Zeldris commented.

"Hey! Don't judge a book by it's cover! She may have more than what we saw to her!" Estarossa said, mock offended.

"Seriously, like that woman is so shallow her book is two lines, and we just read both of them." Zeldris smirked.

"Yep." And they started laughing as the lift went up. They got out and walked swiftly towards 383. It was a large room with two beds that you could view via the large window. Meliodas, looking ill and in pain even in his sleep, was wrapped up in bandages all over him and his shoulder especially. His right arm was in a sling.

Liz was on the other bed. She too was asleep and kept coughing and hacking so much she was on oxygen. All her fingers, toes and lips were blue and the pair of them had on multiple blankets. They had tubes attached to them.

Just then doctor Roberts walked past and saw them. "Are you these children's family?" She asked. They nodded. "Can I speak to you?"

"Sure. I'm Estarossa and that's Zeldris, we're his brothers and we're looking after him." Estarossa introduced.

"I'm Dr Roberts, nice to meet you. Come with me." She led them to a small room that looked kind of like a mini cinema. She gestured to the seats. "Sit."

She took a CD out of a cupboard. "We have a special procedure we use here, where one of our magical doctors go into the patients brain and can record it like it was a movie, seeing exactly what it was like. We recorded the entire week and a half from both, and we thought we'd show you the most important bits."

"Go ahead." Estarossa said shortly. Zeldris just nodded intensely.

"Sorry if the view changes jumping, it isn't the most stable technique. Good luck. This is Liz's."

Dr Roberts put the CD in and skipped along, stopping at important points. Liz ate an apple. She threw up. Meliodas gave her his jacket. She got a cold. It got worse. She started vomitting again. It started snowing. Meliodas built them a shelter. He brings her food. The screen flashed red and blue, indicating her temperature going up and down, and purple for hunger. The screen had a constant blackish tinge to the sides indicating lots of pain. She vomitted blood. Meliodas picking her up and carrying her even though he was ill and injured. Lastly Being handed over to someone, the medic.

"Wow. Poor Liz! I can't believe she had to go through that. That's horrible! And in that bloody forest too. How did she not get attacked by bears and wolves?!?" Zeldris burst out, horrified.

"Just wait. We'll watch Meliodas's next. None of you are squeamish?" She asked. They both shook their heads. Dr Roberts ejected the disk and put in what was presumably Meliodas's disk.

The screen had the constant colours blue for cold, pitch black for pain, and dark purple for hunger. Him splitting his knuckles punching a tree. Meliodas giving Liz his jacket. Finding her food. Helping her any way possible. Him getting just as sick as she was, but hiding it. Him coughing up blood. Him carrying her in the blizzard. The last thing before the CD stopped was him watching her get given medical care and then him falling to the ground, passing out.

"Now for the worst parts." Dr Roberts said and started rewinding the thing to show Estarossa and Zeldris something.

It was several scenes of Meliodas fighting off bears and wolves. There was the footage of him using his powers to reattach his arm. There was also the one where he almost got killed by a bear, which slashed his right side, making it almost fatal if he didn't try and heal it with his powers.

Dr Roberts turned it off. She faced the two brothers who's faces were unreadable. "He's a demon, I take it? Yes, well their injuries are quite grave but they'll both pull through and be out of here in a week. You can sit in and visit of course. They are both in a medically induced coma to help them heal faster. I have to go see to other patients. Have a nice day." And she left.

Estarossa stood up. "Well, let's go visit them I suppose." Zeldris stood up as well and they walked into Meliodas and Liz's room. They sat on some chairs in silence and were like that for a long time. They left for lunch but came straight back.

Over the next week, Estarossa visited every day and Zeldris came straight there from school, sometimes with the sins or commandments but usually by himself.

Liz and Meliodas got given so much flowers and sweets and chocolate and get well soon cards that they ran out of space for them in the room and Zeldris and Estarossa had to start taking them home.

On a Saturday, the nurses took them out a coma. Meliodas woke up first. He sat up in bed, rubbing his eyes. "Whattimeisit?" He muttered. He looked around expecting to throw up blood and be in his little makeshift hut skin the cold surrounded by snow and an ill Liz. Instead he was greeted by hospital walls.

"Where am I?" He wondered out loud. He looked and saw Zeldris and Estarossa watching him. His eyes filled up with tears. "Esse! Zel! I missed you!" Meliodas hugged them tightly. "I thought Liz was going to die out there."

Estarossa frowned at his lack of self care but quickly ignored it and hugged him back. His two brothers were crying, in happiness, hopefully not pain.

"I thought I'd never see you again! I promise I'll never leave you again!" Meliodas cried.

"I missed you too! I was so worried! But don't make promises you can't keep Meli." Zeldris laughed.

Just then Liz stirred. All three heads snapped in her direction. Only Estarossa noticed this, but a black aura surrounded Meliodas for a second and then all traces of cuts not yet healed were gone. The pain previously on his face disappeared.

He jumped out of the bed and rushed over to her. "Meli, where are we?" Liz muttered sleepily.

"Liz! You're awake! We're in hospital. We got found." Meliodas exclaimed, he hugged her and he grimaced when he felt her ribs. She was skinnier now due to his stupidness.

"Really?! Oh hi Zel! Esse!" She exclaimed back, hugging all three of them. Meliodas didn't even wince.

"Okay, back to your bed Meliodas. I've got your lunch." Dr Roberts came in with their lunch.

Meliodas paled slightly as he climbed into bed. "Lunch?"

"Yes. It's macaroni cheese and apple juice. Just eat as much as you can."

"Do I have to?" Meliodas asked timidly. The thought of food made him want to vomit.

"Yes, if you want to get better quicker then you have to eat." Dr Roberts explained, peering at her through her glasses.

"O-Okay." Meliodas stuttered nervously.

Dr Roberts took a plate of Macaroni cheese and a glass of apple juice and it it on the bed tray in front of Liz. "Thank you." She said and started eating, she ate only one piece at a time, but it was a start.

Dr Roberts put the food down in front of a very pale looking Meliodas. "Eat up, dear."

"I can't. I think I'm going to-" Meliodas cut himself off and bolted to the bathroom where he vomitted up the empty contents of his stomach, basically just stomach acid and blood.

When Dr Roberts brought him back to bed, Zeldris asked "Are you okay, Meli?"

"I spent a week and a half in the forest and just threw up my own blood, what do you think?" Meliodas replied sarcastically.

"Well, he's fine."