Cousins (4) - Evan's POV

My mom's hands shook, watching my sister suffer and cry out in pain for hours. I struggled to stay inside the same room, and felt extremely guilty Rika looked miserably tortured, begging someone to save her. Her desperate wet eyes, flushed red skin, she wheezed for more air. She dizzily stared at us, sometimes shrieking when a sudden wave of agony hit her. My eyes glistened as I noticed my dad blinking tears, wondering why nothing was helping her. Like my parents, I have never seen anyone this sick before, questioning if this was an ordinary fever.

None of us ended up sleeping that night, and got the chance to rest when Rika fainted. My mom urged me to go for breakfast while she remained inside the room to take care of her. Arriving at the dining room, it was clear everyone had heard Rika's tormenting screams and pleas. The whole table was silent, even Adam, the mischievous one who never stopped running around. Adam turned to me, and tugged at my shirt, "is Rika really sick?"

"Rika will get better soon," I lied to comfort him.

I wasn't sure if Rika would recover anytime soon. My dad punched 9-1-1 multiple times, wondering if we should send her to the hospital, but was unable to make the call. I winced when the sounds of shrieking entered my ears, loud enough everyone nearly stopped eating. How could anyone believe it started with a single sneeze? No one questioned the claims of Luke and Alex anymore, frequently mentioning her ill health.

Unable to tolerate the noise anymore, Luke and Alex quickly cleaned their plates before leaving the table. Since my appetite washed away, I followed them, finding them knocking on our door. I opened the door for them, finding her begging had escalated. Instead of looking for our parents, Rika reached out her arms, whimpering, "Luke, Luke? Alex?"

"I'm here, Rika," Luke immediately dashed towards her.

Answering her calls, he pulled her inside his arms, rubbing her back to calm her down. My mom took this chance to lean against the wall, taking a break for the first time in hours. Almost amazed when the crying stopped within a few minutes, light words of encouragement working on her. My mom gave up, asking them, "will you be taking her to the first district now?"

"We can't take her anywhere now, she will die from the travel," Alex blamed us.

"Are you even her parents? If we didn't think of checking up on her, she would have died by the next morning," he terrifyingly revealed.

"Is she that sick?" My mom's voice wobbled.

"This is not a normal fever. It's a life threatening one," he emphasized.

Taking Rika with them, they left the room, leaving a sense of emptiness to my parents. I knew my parents had tried their best as I had helped them throughout the night.

It couldn't be helped that the house was inside a gloomy mood for the rest of the day. The walls were very thin, letting others know what was happening in the other rooms. My parents were filled with more guilt when listening to Luke's heart wrenching voice, "I'm here to save you. You're going to get better soon. You know I never break my promises to you."

"I'm visiting the closest villa to bring more medical supplies," Alex tried to assure him.

"I'll continue what I can do on my end," Luke let him go.

I followed my mom rising to apologize to them, knowing this wouldn't have happened if she let her visit their villa. I wondered why she paused when she was in front of their door, soon realizing she was watching them through a slight opening. It was hard to enter, staring at Luke close to breaking down as he tried to lower her temperature by wiping her with a wet cloth. Eventually, wiping his beautiful tears, moving onto feeding her a powdered drink.

"Please eat," his voice trembled.

He was the same age as me but was completely different. Luke never took a break, persistently spoon feeding her, his shirt dirty when she coughed some out. Noticing her condition slightly getting better, he continued to comfort her, rocking her back and forth in his arms. When I found someone standing behind us, I stepped away from the door, realizing Alex was waiting for us to move out of the way. Slowly discovering my mom and I had been standing here for around half the day when checking my phone.

I placed my hand on my mom's shoulder, hinting to her we should leave, but she remained in her spot. Oddly, the door was kept faintly open, allowing us to continue watching. My mom covered her mouth to hide her surprise when Alex began to pull out the medical supplies from his suitcase. There were sophisticated machines, tracking her heartbeat and condition, analytical graphs appearing on the screens. IV needles instantly connected to her, having many bags hooked onto it. This made my sister appear more ill, Alex making their room resemble a hospital.

"Your daughter is really sick," grandma stood behind us.

Maybe everyone in our family was worried for Rika, there was an entire crowd, all of us gathered in the same place. The sounds of her sufferings this morning were frightening, resembling those who were painfully dying. My aunt apologized to my mom, "I should have taken better care of Adam. I didn't think his light cold would impact her this badly."

The next morning, our entire family was surprised when Rika's condition improved enough to join us for breakfast. Her eyes were clear, her pale face fuller in color, smoothly breathing without any trouble. However, we knew she was still ill, having a small bottle in front of her, replacing her meal. Similar to when she got injured during the competition, not able to disgust any solid food. Instead of touching her drink, she watched us eat, her eyes glimmering with envy.

"Three sips Rika, the usual amount," Luke pushed the bottle closer to her.

"I told you I'm not feeling hungry," Rika puffed her cheeks.

"You should listen to Luke, Rika," grandma supported him.

"He's overreacting like usual! It was just a light cold," she tried to defend herself.

The whole table went silent again, disagreeing with her. Rika took her fever very lightly, like she didn't know she nearly lost her life yesterday. My youngest cousin, Adam, even found her being stubborn. Having no other choice, Luke began warning her, "every minute you refuse to take one sip, I will increase the number you have to take."

"I don't care, you're always so nagging," she mumbled.

"Your fever was really bad yesterday," Ally commented.

"It wasn't that bad. I always get them, and I've been through worse," Rika revealed.

"Is this what you meant by her fragile health?" My mom feared for my sister.

"It happens very often, the reason we try our best to prevent them from getting worse," Alex answered.

Rika crossed her arms as if she felt betrayed, staring at the bottle, not listening to anyone supporting Luke. Displaying a new side of her that was more childish than Adam. Luke sighed before he started to bribe her, negotiating they could extend their stay. Rika smiled as she attempted to regain the rest of the month, using her ill health as leverage. Turning to study the others to see if I was the only one surprised, I realized everyone else was equally stunned.

"Although I will be adjusting our stay to its original length, as soon as you refuse to drink the supplements, we're returning to the first district," Luke gave into her.

"You're too generous with Rika," Alex groaned.

"It's not like I'm going over the promised month," Rika refuted.

However, the day onwards, Rika was strictly watched by the both of them. Luke led her further away from my cousins whenever she was less than three meters away from them. Although I could understand he didn't want her to catch another fever, it was a little extreme. He was treating my aunt's family like they were dirty and lesser than them, people he disapproved. Rika appeared extremely annoyed as he wanted her to wait for him to sanitize everything.

He thoroughly wiped the furniture, chairs, and seating that my aunt's family used before he allowed Rika to use them. Eventually, this extended to everyone else in the family, including my parents. But after Rika's fever, we struggled to say anything, and held in our feelings. The only other person Luke trusted was Alex, his cousin, who equally helped him wipe everything. Nobody was allowed to touch Rika except for them.

"You're going over the line!" Ally exploded.

"Just as you guys take a shower and a bath everyday, we also take a bath everyday," she pointed out.

"Is your bathtub even clean? We saw mold growing around the previous week," Alex ridiculed.

"Let's see the place you use then," Ally was curious.

When my aunt's family was led to the bathing area they used, they became speechless. They had no choice but to admit the bathrooms we used were dirty. Compared to their sparkling jacuzzi, spotless marble tiles, and dazzling clean shelves filled with luxurious bathing products. April's eyes were full of envy, whispering, "can we bathe here from now on?"

"People from the first district come from another world," grandma tried to console them.

"We know you're wealthy, but there's no reason to treat others this way," Ally refused to stay silent.

"We have a reason. The people inside this house are carrying a unique virus about to start an epidemic in this district. Rika's life was threatened for the same reason and we spent the entire night trying to find a cure," Luke surprised all of us.

"An announcement will be coming out soon," he added from our silence.

None of us believed them, the crazy story they used as an excuse. Rika sat on the couch, and Alex sat beside her while they watched TV together. Another thing I noticed from the past week was how Luke and Alex tried to control nearly everything Rika could do. She was never allowed to watch any shows they disapproved of, the screen was instantly switched off. When Adam and April enjoyed their cartoon shows, Rika was immediately dragged to her room, and wasn't allowed to join them.

On the current screen, headlines about signs of an upcoming epidemic in our region were the raging news. My aunt and uncle watching the same newscast was stunned, discovering Luke was telling the truth. It was no wonder he didn't want Rika near us. Further into the story, a joint venture done by the Roselia and Monete families managed to find a cure to prevent the spread. Many praises for the two families for donating a grand amount of money for the cause.

"We can supply you with the vaccines faster than the general public," Alex offered.