Hellscape.
A white ceiling, a constant beeping sound, and a slight pain in his right forearm. He also had a breathing device attached to his face.
He moved his eyeballs to scan his surroundings. An ECG machine, Blue sheets on his bed, and his sister, who was resting her head by his side.
The beeping sound increased. His heart rate shot up.
She had grown up to be just how mother used to look in her youth. A tear appeared in his eyes, as this was the first time he had seen her in 6 years.
He tried to raise his hand place it on her head.
'I am sorry.'
He was trying his best. But his emotions easily overwhelmed him.
He slowly moved his hand on her head, caressing it with utmost care.
'I am sorry for everything.'
6 years of life, and he had no part in it. He was hoping that she would hate him forever and leave him to rot alone. He was hoping that she could live a life without him.
But apparently, she didn't want that.
'Click!'
The door opened. He hurriedly took his hand back, and looked towards the entrance.
"Michael, are you awake?"
It was Cory. He gave his sister a glance and softly called out to him.
Michael formed a fist with his hand. Slowly, he raised his thumb.
Cory smiled.
"Idiot."
He placed the bouquet on the nearby table.
'Tap.'
His footsteps alerted Nora. Her ears perked up, and she opened her eyes.
Soon after, she raised her head and looked towards the origin of the sound.
"Who are you?"
Cory scratched his head.
"N-Nora. Nice to meet you. I am Michael's friend, Cory."
Nora scanned through her memories for that name.
"Cory?"
A school friend of Michael. They had never met before this, because Michael hadn't introduced them yet.
She looked back at her brother, who had closed his eyes. He was going to avoid confrontation until the very last moment.
"He is sleeping right now. Can you wait outside?"
Cory looked at his friend, who was busy play-acting. He took a hint and said,
"Sure. I will be outside."
He turned around to leave, but then he thought of something.
"Excuse me."
He had to figure out what she was doing here.
"What?"
Her tone was hostile
"C-can I talk to you about his condition?"
She raised an eyebrow.
"I will not be leaving his side until he wakes up. We can talk later."
He made another attempt.
"I have to tell you something important about him as well. If he wakes up, he will never let me speak about it."
The eyebrow descended back to its original position. She slipped into a deep thought.
'If it is something important...'
A loud and audible sigh, followed by an affirmation.
"Give me a few minutes. I will meet you outside."
He nodded, gave his lying friend a glance, and left them room.
Nora got up from her chair. Her eyes were swollen, her hair was messy, and her face was pale. She went straight towards the washroom to groom herself. After fixing up the mess, she came out of the washroom and went straight for the door to exit the room.
Michael opened his eyes.
'You can't run from her anymore.'
She was here now. He had to deal with it.
'When she comes back, stop pretending.'
He promised himself.
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"Speak."
She was in no mood for idle chit-chat. Cory tapped the chair to his side and said,
"Sit."
She rolled her eyes, and took a seat in 2 chairs away from him. He couldn't care less, and began his explanation.
"First of all, you shouldn't be here."
His first sentence was direct. She responded curtly with,
"I know. But I need to be here."
Her grandma had warned her of the consequences of her actions. If she wanted answers from her brother, she had to be prepared for the fallout
"I don't know if you know this, but your brother will never accept this situation. I am not trying to be rude, but he has suffered a lot to keep you out of his life."
She smirked with sarcasm and said,
"And you have been helping him in that?"
He was concerned.
"Nora, you have to understand. This isn't the same Michael that asked you to go away. He has been through a lot, and he has been through most of it alone."
Nora was furious.
"He is my brother. He made the wrong choice once. I will not let him do that again."
"Wrong choice?"
Now, Cory was angry.
"You think that his choice of keeping you away was a wrong one?"
"Was it right? Do you know something I don't?"
Cory had to hold back. He couldn't do this. It wasn't his right.
"I know a lot of things that you don't know, that no one else knows. If I had the power, I would make you eat your words. But I can't do that, and I know that he will never tell you anything. I don't believe in god, but I will pray that one day, he tells you everything he has been through. Everything that has contributed to turning his life into the hellscape that it is today."
His eyes were red. He had been trying to support him in whatever way he can, but he knew that Michael was never going to be the same. No friends, no family, no one to rely on, and problems that no one should go through.
Nora didn't say anything to that. She could feel the pain in his voice. After a moment of silence, she stood up and went back to the room. She needed answers, and only her brother could give them.
Cory watched her walk away. His mind was also a mess right now.
"Why did I have to be his friend?"
He slumped on his chair, his mind going back to the first time they met.
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'Swish!'
A three pointer. The kid who made the shot turned around and said,
"Fall back!"
He was the first to get to his part of the court. It was an interschool competition, and his team was up by five.
"Come on! Put in more effort!"
The coach of the visiting team wanted to win this. Both these teams weren't good enough to make the nationals, but competition is competition. No one likes to lose.
One the other side, the coach of the home team was drawing up his plays. He knew if his boys put in the required effort, they should be able to win this without any problems.
The visiting team's turn to attack. With 3 minutes left on the clock, they were going to go all out for the next few turns.
"Cory!"
One of the boys passed it to the Point Guard of the team, Cory Adams. His height was around 5'3, and his shot was the most elegant on his team.
He caught the ball, and faced his mark.
"Iso!"
He knew that he couldn't pass the ball. The captain of the home team was on him. He decided that the best course of action would be to take the shot. In fact, he wanted to take this shot.
He dribbled the ball back to the three point line. After getting behind it, he looked straight into his opponents eyes. Right as their eyes met, he pretended to drive towards the lane, but he was aiming to cross his opponent and shoot a clean three.
Fake step, Crossover, and shoot.
The ball was released from his hand. He was confident that it would go in.
'Bang!'
A tight slap on the ball. His opponent was in the air, and hand had swatted the ball with enough power to send it flying towards the visiting team's bench.
His confidence was shaken. Not only had his opponent recovered in time, he also had enough skill to block the attack without any error.
After that event, he continued to stare at his opponent, while the captain of the home team didn't even spare him a glance. He walked back to his side of the court and grabbed an energy drink to hydrate himself.
It didn't take long for the opposing team to stretch their lead to 10 after that. The game was over, and the home team had won with a decent margin.
After the match, Cory took an initiative and walked up to the captain, who was busy packing up his stuff.
"Hey."
He awkwardly called out to him.
The kid raised his head.
"Hello. Do you need anything?"
Cory offered a handshake.
"Well played."
Michael raised both of his hands and said,
"I can't shake your hand."
Cory frowned.
"Why?"
Did he do something to offend him?
"I just took off my socks. My hands stink."
The kid answered.
Cory looked at his hands and let out a chuckle.
"Can I ask for your name?"
The kid smiled and said,
"Michael Baker."
He picked up his kitbag and stood up.
"Cory Adams. It was nice playing against you."
Michael gave him a thumbs up and said,
"Same. You shoot well."
He complimented him.
"Michael!"
There was someone calling for him.
"I have to leave now. I hope we will play against each other again."
He gave him a two finger salute, and walked away.
The first meeting. He was a reserved, but good person.