The Gold and the Forest

XXXIII

Chapter 33: Wake

☙⚘☘

A hand touched his cool forehead. A soft breath blew against his bangs and fingers brushed the tufts of hair aside to expose his forehead.

It's time to wake up, Cricket.

---

The first thing he heard was laughter. Then he sensed a soft light coming through a window, and the smell of fresh air.

"We did go back to buy that swimsuit for her, though."

"The beach is just a mess of sand. You have to be blasted with water, like with strong water jet streams— because all that sand. It just gets everywhere."

Clan laughed at Min's comment before noticing that Carl's eyelids had twitched. He tapped Min and she turned around and rushed over to the bed, Clan right next to her.

Carl's eyes fluttered open, and he waited for his vision to clear as he took in the sight of Min and Clan. Clan had started tearing up, and Min smiled warmly at Carl.

"Min." His voice was rough.

"The Woofer came back to us." Min grinned toothily and hugged a sobbing Declan with one hand, bumping her side with his. Clan was wiping his face with his sleeve, trying hard not to be too loud.

Carl made an attempt to get up, but felt a numbness in his right arm. It felt a bit dull, and there was a tightness in his shoulder. He winced.

"You messed up the nerves there, they still need a bit to heal properly." Min went over to help him sit up and Clan made a move to join her. She shooed him off to the tissue box. Clan went off to go blow his nose.

Min went to massage Carl's hand, hoping to get some feeling back into it. "You're gonna need some rehab after this." She sighed, hitting his head. "You are lucky though, there are no major complications."

He looked at his hand, and then remembered the touch on his forehead. "Where's Vivien?"

Min gave him a knowing smile. "You woke up the one time she's not here, you know. She went on a walk with your stepfather, she'll be back in a few."

"My..." He started to get a little worried. "...My stepfather?"

---

The sun was brilliant in the blue sky. Vivien had first met Clan's dad in the hospital, and Declan had introduced the two to each other. It was a strange feeling, to have their introductions done in the hospital room of his stepson. She had been holding Carl's prone hand, afraid that his stepfather would ask her to leave. He didn't, he sat in the stool against the wall, faced her, and said:

"Nice to meet you, at last. Though I wished it was under better circumstances."

Tears filled her eyes but she smiled.

They had gone on walks together, talking about the weather, about the job she had with Carl, and today they talked about the future.

"He's bound to wake up one of these days. He's always clung to life stubbornly."

"Stubbornly?" Vivi smiled. "I can see that."

"Carl has..." The father stopped. "He had a lot of things that he put himself through."

Vivi nodded, remaining quiet.

"Losing his mom in his preteen stage, and then getting into... bad business because of me."

She had touched his bare skin, and felt the scars. She never asked him, but she knew. He never told her anything, but it didn't matter to her.

"He could have been angry and destructive, but his mother brought him up differently. She loved him deeply, and it reflects in his nature."

"He protects."

"He's a strange child, that one." He sighed. "Never upfront with his emotions."

"He always muses over stuff by himself, and deals with it himself." He continued. "Even if the world was falling down tomorrow, he wouldn't let you see fear in his eyes."

"I don't know about that." Vivi interrupted softly, reminiscing the fear in his eyes when she first kissed him after work. "I think he's scared of hurting the people he knows."

His father paused, a smile briefing his countenance before he continued walking, his calloused hand brushing against the flowers they passed by.

"Do you live comfortably, Vivi?"

Vivi paused upon his question before nodding slowly.

"Can you help him..." He stopped and turned towards her. "...settle?"

Her mind whirled with that question, wondering what he could possibly mean. And then she smiled, and she laughed, realizing that the stepfather of the boy she loved just asked her to spend her future with his son.

There was a sound of running in the distance, and they both turned to see Declan running towards them, waving wildly.

"He's awake!"

---

"Why isn't Kade with you?" Carl asked while Min was cutting up some fruit for him.

Min let out a repressed sigh and Carl raised his eyebrows.

"The apartment we wanted to keep was bought by his mom. He's going to talk to her." Min's eyes darkened in anger, but also worry.

Carl frowned along with her. "That's not great."

Min arranged the fruit nicely and set it before him, a breath escaping her. "I wanted to go with him, but he said it was something he had to do alone."

The door opened and in burst Declan, the two snapped their heads to the doorway and saw Vivi and Declan's dad.

"Well, I'll take my leave." Min got up with a grin, ruffling Carl's hair roughly before walking over to Vivi, exchanging a few words and a meaningful hug. She gestured to Declan to follow, and the two of them left, mentioning something about cake.

It was his stepfather that approached him first, and Carl felt a bit of shame. He looked down at his bedsheets.

"Look up at me, Carl."

He did.

His stepfather embraced him in a strong hug, and Carl noticed the man was shaking before he hugged him back. He finally pulled back.

"I'm glad you're awake."

Carl could only nod.

"Now," His stepfather said, walking over to Vivi and taking her by the hand. He walked her down with the essence of a bride walking down the aisle to her groom.

She sat by his bedside.

"I want to come back and hear that you have proposed to her." His father commanded, tone completely serious.

Carl gapped and Vivi started blushing at the cheeks. His father had hobbled out of the room before the two could say anything and he had shut the door behind them.

Vivi laughed, her curls falling into her face, and then she looked up into his green eyes who had already been watching her attentively.

"Hey." His voice was soft.

☙⚘☘