"Alex!"
Alex was startled hearing Natalie's voice and almost forgot her situation. She became worried about what could have happened and was about to jump off the bed when Natalie stormed into the room. Her face is bright and smiling ear to ear. She is cuddling something in her arms.
"Look what Simon caught."
Natalie gets near her and shows what she is holding —a brown little bunny with red eyes.
"It's cute!" Natalie exclaims. She can't hide her happiness and fondness for that creature which shows more of her age.
Alex watches how Natalie touches the newfound pet like a vulnerable thing. She can see how loving she is. Alex couldn't imagine if an innocent girl like her getting hurt.
"What do you think we can name him?"
"It's a male?"
"Simon told me so."
"What if we name him after... Simon?" She whispers the last word.
What a naughty girl. Alex can't help but giggle.
"Naughty," she tells her.
Alex doubts if Simon would love to hear his name as a pet's name.
"You should have a good explanation to make if you wanna push that name."
Natalie stares at her for a while then, looks at the ceiling.
"Maybe, because he caught it so, I'll name it after him?" Natalie asks not so sure.
"Or maybe, ask him if it would be okay? He might misunderstand his name when you come calling your bunny."
Natalie has to think again of another reason.
"Why not call him 'Li' instead of insisting on my name?"
Natalie almost jumped. Alex was not surprised. She already saw Simon's silhouette before he came in.
His forehead creases as he glances at Alex.
"Maybe you should make him a nice place to sleep," he tells Natalie and gives her a little head motion to leave which Natalie does without asking. She was just caught and dumbfounded.
Once Natalie was out, Simon moves a little closer and looks at her intently. It looks like he is trying to read her mind.
"I don't want you to get too close with my sister," he says in almost a whisper afraid that somebody out of the room would hear.
She is not surprised hearing Simon's words. His emotions are too transparent which makes it easy for her to predict his actions and she understands why Simon is being protective of his sister. There are only two of them living independently. And Alex is just a stranger who just happened to be with them.
"I don't mean any harm to her."
"You can say that but we don't know who you are. I can't just trust your words, Miss."
She nods, slowly looking straight at him.
Miss. It somehow hurt her.
"I understand."
She was left without any word. What would she expect? A stranger like her is not worthy to trust; she doesn't trust herself. Her past before she came to this place is sure not good. She is just lucky to survive whatever that was.
Natalie is watching Simon quietly in the kitchen while he cuts the meat into thin pieces. He is just doing his daily chore as her older brother but she is a keen observer. Natalie notices that Simon is not his usual self after coming home from a hunt. He seems bothered.
"My bunny's name is Li," she tells Simon. She was finding a way to start a conversation with him.
"I'm glad you didn't name it after me. It would be troublesome for me coming around if you were calling the bunny," Simon comments in his usual tone as he continues cutting the meat. "Tell me," he said after a while of silence. He knows there is something she wanted to say.
"What did you tell her?" Natalie asks directly.
A while ago, when Simon asked her to go out of the room where Alex is staying, she went out but stayed behind the wall. Then, she saw how Alex's face turned dull after whatever Simon told her. Simon's voice was too low for her to hear their conversation.
"I told her to get well as soon as possible."
But Natalie is not convinced. Those words won't make anyone dull.
"I guess, you aren't good at motivating someone."
Simon stops from what he is doing and stares at the wooden chopping board.
"I want you to not get too attached to her. Stay away from her, Talie."
"What? But she is not doing anything wrong," she tries defending Alex. Even Alex has stayed for a few days with them, she can feel that she is not a bad person. Alex's eyes can tell about it because they are so genuine and innocent.
"It just doesn't go that way." Simon looks at her. "She is still a stranger even she is not doing anything bad yet. And we can't just trust someone we saved from nearly her death. We have no idea about who she was or who she is."
"Mm..."
"It is a precaution. We can only trust the two of us." Though they already let Alex inside their house.
"If she is a stranger, why help her then? You could have left her there dying."
"What were you talking about? I may look tough but I'm not heartless, you know?" His sister is one inquisitive talker. She would not let him slip for details. "And once she is well, she will leave for good."
"She doesn't remember anything."
"It's not our problem. We already helped her from being six feet below the ground."
Natalie scratches her nape. Although she has her older brother, she also wanted to feel like having an older sister too whom she can talk about girl things. But Simon is determined to not let Alex stay with them once she is fully healed. There is no way she can stop him if he has already decided about it.
More days have passed. Time is running fast. Alex having limited movements around the house of her saviors sometimes make her disappointed in herself. She wishes she could do more and help these people in return for their good deed to her. But she just can't force a wound to heal fast like an immortal in movies until she came with an idea. When she felt that she can move her wounded leg a bit, she started to train swinging it little by little. She was doing this routine every dawn while the two siblings were still deep in their slumber. It was painful at first but she managed to tolerate the pain and somehow noticed that she has a talent for it. Herbal medicines were also administered to her every day and it helped her wound a lot.
One day, her efforts paid off and can walk on two legs but she prevented putting too much force on the affected one. It may seem healed from the outside but not from the inside. At least, she can already give Natalie a hand in her simple chores like washing dishes, even though Natalie sometimes rejects her offer to help thinking that she is still recovering.
"You're doing it again," Alex getting Natalie's mind from afar.
"Doing what?"
"You are staring at me again. Aren't you getting sick of my face?" Alex laughs, slightly.
"Uh... No! I'm not gonna get sick or tired watching your face. You look like an angel to me and I was thinking if you are a human or an angel who fell from the sky. Then, Simon found you wounded." It was a joke but for a kid like Natalie, it is good as a fantasy.
"Silly. I may not remember who I was but I'm sure one hundred percent that I'm a human and not an angel." Alex doesn't think angels are real but good people like Simon and Natalie exist. They are more than angels to be called. Angels are just fantasies made up by the human mind out of their desperation to live life in joy and peace. "And even if angels are real, they are immortals. They just can't die from a poisonous arrow."
Alex doesn't feel any fear thinking about losing her life, instead, she wanted to reminisce that death brink of her. Unfortunately, her memory prevents her from doing so.