#wtwk

His wallet, he had found, was devoid of any cold hard cash. It had been sheer dumb luck that he had brought just enough money to get a bus ticket to the hospital. Unfortunately, he didn’t think enough to buy a round-trip ticket and so in the end, he had no choice but to call his roommate for a ride back.

Speaking of the devil, the hospital doors burst open and he heard footsteps rushing towards him. And then they suddenly slowed before breaking to a complete stop. He looked up.

“Darren?”

“Darren!”

He snorted. Of course he’d bring her along. She wasn’t Darren’s childhood friend for nothing. Groaning, he stood up and smiled weakly at them.

“Zeke,” Darren said, nodding at the tall chiseled male with dark skin. He then turned to the shorter female with dark hair and green eyes. “Colette.”

Zeke, with a worried gaze, cut Darren off. “I told Colette you were at the hospital. We came as soon as possible. But,” He frowned, confused as he scanned the waiting room. “You’re in the waiting room, so you’re not hurt. Which is a good thing but still…”

Just as he trailed off, Colette picked up the rest of the question. “What happened, Darren?”

The brittle smile transformed into a firm line. He kept a neutral expression as he jammed his hands in his jean pockets. “My family was in a mugging.” His voice grew softer. “They found Mom and Dad dead in the alleyway.”

Silence at first. Both of his friends reeled back in shock because that couldn’t have been. Because that kind of stuff only happens in TV shows, right? Colette’s face turned a pallid shade, while Zeke’s breath became hitched in his throat as they gaped at their friend. When the silence had become overbearing, Darren looked away.

The brittle smile transformed into a firm line. He kept a neutral expression as he jammed his hands in his jean pockets. “My family was in a mugging.” His voice grew softer. “They found Mom and Dad dead in the alleyway.”

Silence at first. Both of his friends reeled back in shock because that couldn’t have been. Because that kind of stuff only happens in TV shows, right? Colette’s face turned a pallid shade, while Zeke’s breath became hitched in his throat as they gaped at their friend. When the silence had become overbearing, Darren looked away.

Colette recovered first, closing her mouth. “What?! But they were-“ She took a shallow breath and he could see the gears in her mind cranking. “Oh my god. Darren, I…I…I’m so sorry.”

No more words came out of her. Roughly, she pulled Darren into a hug, wrapping her arms around his torso. Zeke was only a step behind Colette and joined the pair with a bear hug of his own. Darren could feel the stony façade he had put up start to crumble. He hugged the both of his friends even tighter and pressed his forehead on Zeke’s shoulder. His breathing became haggard as he tried to muffle the sobs coming up his throat and stop trembling in his friends’ embrace.

Not that it made much of a difference. Zeke rubbed Darren’s back in soothing circles, while Colette hiccupped and clenched Darren’s jacket in two tight balls of flesh. Darren closed his eyes, letting the scent of Zeke’s jacket and Colette’s hair comforts him.

“The police told me,” He explained when they broke the hug. He eyed Colette watching her rub her slightly red eyes. She blinked repeatedly as if to push back the remaining tears. He wasn’t the only one close to his parents. “That and also Manny’s in the hospital for treatment.”

“Is she okay?” Colette asked, staring at the emergency room doors in anxiety.

He nodded and she sighed in relief. His sister’s condition had been the only good news since the phone call. “Stitches, blood loss, and mild case of hypothermia. The doctor said she’ll be able to go home in a few days.”

“And you, Darren?” Zeke piped up suddenly. Darren’s head snapped over in surprise. “Are you okay?”

Darren hesitated to answer at first. He ran a hand through his hair exhausted. “Honestly, I don’t know.” He admitted. Not good might have been a better answer, but whatever, he thought as he gauged his friends’ reactions. Neither of them moved, keeping their gazes fixed on him. He rubbed one of his eyes. “I just want to sleep.”

His friends exchanged a look. For a spilt second, something that resembled apprehension flashed in both of their eyes. Colette frowned, starting sternly. “Darren-”

He shook his head. At this point, he couldn’t feel anything except numb. Or exhausted either. “The nurses aren’t going to let me stay with Manny for the night, if that’s what you’re wondering,” he murmured. Weary, he shifted his weight to the left and pressed a knuckle against his temple. “And I don’t want to be here right now.”

Another look. And then Zeke sighed, placing a hand on Darren’s shoulder. “Okay, Darren. We can leave now.” He conceded. His hand slid off and fell slack at his side as he tilted his head to one side. “Where do you want to go?”

The answer should’ve been obvious: home. But when Darren opened his mouth to say that, nothing came out. He couldn’t say it because where was home now, anyways? He thought he always had one.

Growling, he shook his head, annoyed at this compulsion. “Let’s just go to the apartment.” His and Zeke’s shared apartment outside of the campus. Yeah, that sounded good enough if only for the bed that awaited him there. “That okay with the the both of you?”

“That’s fine by me.” Colette answered first, worry blazed in her every move.

Darren forced a smile. “Good. You can stay the night, if you want, Colette.”

“Was planning on that anyways.” Playfully, with slightly watery eyes, she winked, earning a chuckle from Zeke. “You can’t get rid of me that easily.”

Snorting, Darren rolled his eyes. “You wouldn’t let me, even if I tried.”

“And you wouldn’t want to either.” Zeke added, snickering. He wrapped an arm around Darren’s neck. “C’mon,” Zeke motioned at the pair of automatic doors. “Let’s go home.”

At first, he couldn’t breathe. It had to be some kind of really bad joke, right? He let his temper flare (and without any regret too, because you just don’t go around telling people that), demanding to know if this was some kind of sick joke.

It wasn’t.

His head throbbed as he stumbled against the coffee table, where the phone sat. The ground beneath began to spin and struggling to keep his balance, he swiftly pulled out a chair to collapse on. The officer on the other line kept talking, but Darren barely remembered the rest of the information. All he could think about was how his family was gone, gone, gone. 

That, of course, all flew out of his mind when the police mentioned his sister. Mana had been found unconscious and bleeding in her father’s arms. The police had handed her over to the hospital for treatment.

Darren couldn’t remember another time when he had run so fast. At the slightest mention of his sister, he had bolted out of his apartment to take the next bus to the nearby city. Never mind that he forgot to take a jacket, he was lucky that his wallet happened to be sitting in his pocket so he could at least pay for a bus ticket.

Which brought him to now. Sitting in the waiting room on one of the hard cushioned chairs, while waiting for a doctor to come out. Anxious, he had his arms crossed while he took an occasional glance at the emergency doors.

“Mr. Darren Evans?”

He looked up, hands gripping his knees like a lifeline. “That’s me.”

"I'm Doctor Pence." The middle-aged man introduced himself, offering Darren a handshake. "I was one of the doctors operating on your sister.”

Darren tensed and stood up. Trembling in trepidation, he swallowed his next breath. Dread filled his stomach. Oh god. Please. Please god, please don’t take anyone else from me. Please. “My sister?”

A smile dawned on the doctor. He wiped a hand across his sweaty forehead. “It’s alright son; your sister is going to be fine. She’s a stubborn one, that one.”

Releasing the breath he hadn’t realized he was holding, Darren sighed and sank back into his seat. Relief hit him like a fresh breath of air as he let his shoulders fall, his body going lax. Tiredly, Darren leaned forward and clenched his temples.

“Thank god.” He glanced up at the doctor before raising a brow. “Can I see her?”

The doctor nodded. “Of course. Follow me; you’ll have to be quiet though. She should still be sleeping.”

He raised a brow, wondering if the doctor thought he was some kind of two-year old. It didn’t matter enough though. In trepidation, Darren followed Doctor Pence down the narrow hallways of the hospital. They had passed countless hospital doors before the doctor finally stopped at a particular one to the right. Room 324.

Doctor Pence motioned for him to go in, but Darren wavered. “Aren’t you going to tell me about what you…” He trailed off, before taking a deep breath. “Surgery on her. The police told me she needed medical attention when they found her.”

The doctor shook his head. “If she had been found any later, I imagine things would’ve been worse. She’ll be fine with a few days of rest. But if you really need to know…” He glanced down at his clipboard, flipping a page over. “Your sister had a cut across her face, so she did lose some blood from that. Cut was deep, but it’s nothing stitches can’t fix. I’m afraid she’ll have that scar for the rest of her life though.”

Darren bristled, anger bubbling at the thought of his parents’ murderer attacking his sister like that. How dare they? He grit his teeth, his nails digging into the flesh of his palms. “Anything else?”

“A mild case of hypothermia, but other than that, nothing too bad. I’d like to keep her here for a couple of days to keep an eye on her mental health.”

His shoulders sagged and he nodded weakly. “…Fine. And thanks, Doctor Pence.” With a grim smile, the doctor nodded before opening the door for Darren.

She looked tiny in the hospital bed. His sister’s face was pale, but she was still breathing. He could hear the heart monitor that she was hooked to. His eyes trailed the path of the oxygen mask that covered his sister’s face. Staring at his sister’s body, Darren stiffened, frozen at the door. The time slowed for a moment before he stumbled forward. Pulling up a chair, he cradled her hand between his own two. It was tiny just like his sister.

“Mana?” He whispered, afraid to break the silence. As if answering his call, she groaned, eyes struggling against the artificial lights of the hospital. Blinking, she turned her head slightly towards Darren. “Hey sis,” He greeted, smiling softly. He reached a hand out to brush her bangs aside. Her forehead was warm to touch. Disoriented, Mana opened her mouth, but before she could say anything, Darren shook his head.

“You don’t need to worry about anything. Go back to sleep. I’ll be here in the morning.” He murmured in Vietnamese, their mother’s native language. Clinging onto her brother’s words, she yawned and nodded off seconds following. Darren squeezed her hand and leaned over the bed. He kissed her forehead.