Chapter 7: A Sister

NYTI Chapter 07: A Sister

As the sun slowly sets, Lianne hurries home. She felt very anxious as she got closer and closer to their house. The abrupt hang-up call from her little brother had made her overthink all the possible things that might have happened, like a premonition that something had gone awry. She couldn't shake off the feeling of unease that had settled in her stomach.

She felt anxious as she held the doorknob. She noticed that the door was locked. Her worry lessened slightly, but her fingers still fumbled with the keys in her haste. As soon as she opened the door, she quickly entered and looked for Justin.

"Justin!… Justin!"

She keeps calling out his name as she looks around. Her heart dropped when she saw Justin on the floor. He looked unconscious, and her panic intensified.

"Justin!" She called as she made her way to his side. She kneels down and checks on him, all the while gently tapping his cheeks. He is sweating a lot, and she heard him groan. After a while, his eyes started to flutter. She quickly checks his temperature using the back of her hand. She compares it to her own temperature. She realizes that his is much higher than hers.

"Goodness! It looks like you have a fever." Justin tries to look up despite his eyeslids feeling heavy, then he groans in response. She helped him up and laid him on the couch since he was too heavy to carry to his bed.

"Sis..." he calls out as he tries to keep his eyes open.

"Yes, it's me, Justin. Wait a moment, let me warm up some water to wipe you with."

She removed her sling bag and put it away. She heats up some water and looks for towels while waiting. After finding some towels to use, she finds the thermometer to take Justin's temperature.

As she waits for the temperature to be taken, she wipes his sweat with a towel. After the thermometer beeps, she checks the number shown.

"Oh, it's 40. 3 °C."

She went and prepared the warm water in the basin and wiped Justin with the towels soaked in warm water.

She asked worriedly as she wiped him, "When did you start not feeling good?"

"I am not sure this morning," he said with a quivering voice. He started to tremble, so she wiped him faster and got him changed into a new set of clothes.

"You should eat medicine, then go to sleep." She walked toward the cabinet where the medicine is kept, then grabbed a glass of warm water.

"Here, take the medicine. Let me help you up." She helped Justin sit up and made him drink the medicine, then let him sleep, hoping that he'd feel better soon.

While letting him sleep, she decided to cook porridge for Justin, making sure to add nutritious ingredients to help Justin's speedy recovery.

"I'm sure he'll need more energy when he wakes up," she mumbles to herself.

She carefully prepared the ingredients for the porridge, soaking a mixture of glutinous rice and plain rice for at least an hour. She used the clay pot and cooked the soaked rice on low heat as she stirred it occasionally. She takes out the whole chicken.

"They call this a whole chicken, but it has no feet and no head," Lianne says as she washes the dress chicken. She laughs at her own comment.

She prepares another pot and boils the chicken with lemongrass, ginger, and some condiments for taste. She checks on him from time to time to make sure he is fine.

She constantly stirs the rice she is simmering while waiting for the chicken to soften. After an hour or so, the chicken softens. She takes it out and cools it down. She then shredded the boiled chicken that had finally cooled down. She fried the shredded chicken meat with some garlic and onions. She then added it to the rice that had already become porridge. She constantly stirs it as she adds little bits of water and lets it simmer for a few more moments.

After a while, the porridge was already done. She went to check on him, and it seems that he is still sleeping soundly. She couldn't help but worry about his health. He has become sicker these past few months. So she decided to let him sleep while she reviewed her study materials.

The empty open space in the covered gym was busstling with the students as they worked on decorating the place. Still, despite the student's presence, the silence is evident, with only the sound of the music coming from the speaker.

"Are you sure it's okay for you to be here, Lili?" Henna, a classmate and the president, asked with concern.

Lianne smiled sweetly at her before nodding. "Yes, of course. Besides, who else is going to help you guys decorate this place?"

Henna's facial expression shows sympathy, as she gave her a forced smile.

"Well, I appreciate the thought, but I heard that your brother is sick. Is it okay for you to leave him alone?"

Lianne looks at her for a little before going back to pinning the synthethic leaves on the cloth. "It's fine; he's already a lot better than before, and I'm just letting him rest just to be on the safe side. Besides, he's already old enough to take care of himself," she assured her.

"Now that I noticed it, why is it that there's only five of us here? Where are the others? I was sure I sent everyone the message to show up and help with the decorations," Henna commented as she crafts fake rose flowers using the bulk of tissue.

"Well, you know those guys. They probably overslept or were stuck in traffic, as usual," Mark replied, laughing along with the others around.

"Hell, yeah! That's probably their excuse when they arrive," Jun interrupted.

"Oh great! Who was supposed to bring the white sheet for the roof?" Kianna asked. "I already finished putting up the strings where the cloth roof will be laid; now I just need to put up the cloth so we can start decorating it as well," she complains, clearly irritated that their work doesn't seem to be moving on. They have been there since 8 o'clock in the morning.

"Oh! Rudy was supposed to bring them, but I suppose he's late... probably stuck in traffic?" Junn says as he looks for his phone. "Wait, let me send him a message."

"Why don't you help me make these fake rose flowers first? You can spray colors on them," Henna says to Kianna. Having not had that much choice, Kianna walks towards her.

"Yeah, great idea! Where is the spray?" she asked. Henna pointed to a paper bag left on the other table.

"Hey! Anyone seen any ribbons?" Mark asked.

"Ribbons? They're probably in those blue plastic crates," Lianne answers, pointing at them.

"Why did they need to have an acquaintance party when when we were freshman there wasn't such a thing?" Kianna complains as she can't stand the terrible odor of the spray paint she's using.

"Well, there was supposed to be one, but they were so busy that they canceled it. And for your information, I don't know as well, but our course adviser demanded that there should be an acceptance party this year since it didn't happen before," Henna sighs as she replies. She can remember how she was informed by their course adviser about the event.

"Ugh, and our adviser doesn't even come and provide us support," Jun commented.

"Yeah, I know, right? Like, maybe send us a snack or something," Kianna says, then she laughs.

"All your thinking is food," Mark says.

"But hey! At least it would have been helpful to us, duh," Kianna rebutted.

"Yeah, right, but you think she will give some? She's so stingy, and she's so grumpy all the time, except if our department wins on something," Jun says.

After that, they focused on each other's tasks.

"We're here!! Sorry we are late."

"We brought the snacks and drinks."

"Ugh! Finally! I thought you would never arrive!" Henna exclaims as she focuses on her work. The three who just arrived laughed.

"We got stuck in traffic, and there was a long line at the store," one of them explains as they put down the things they bought on the empty space on the table.

"Wow! You already finished that many tissue flowers!" Jack exclaimed, impressed by their efficiency and dedication.

"What? There's not that much; why don't you come here and help us out?" Henna says as her hans are busy making one.

"Sorry, I wish I could, but I suck at crafting, so I'm going to go help put up the cloth to cover the ugly sight of the gym's roof," Jack says as he points at the roof.

"Yeah, yeah, go ahead then so we can pin the fake vines for better photos later when the event takes place," Kianna says as she sprays the crafted tissue roses.

Jack then heads towards the ladder to set it up and start covering the unsightly view of the gym's roof. Once he reaches the top, he begins unfolding the large, cream-colored, light fabric cloth. He rests the light fabric on the strings that Kianna placed before. As the cloth gently drapes over the roof, Jack proceeds to make sure that the cloth is evenly spread and secured in place.

"There, it's all done. Now the roof is covered. It looks so much better now." The cloth adds a touch of elegance to the overall appearance of the place.

They continued to work on decorating the place before the event. After a few days of working on it, the place was finally transformed into a beautiful and inviting space. The students who attended were amazed by the transformation and complimented the organizers.

The students who worked hard for the event's success were thrilled to receive such positive feedback and felt a sense of pride in their hard work paying off. The event was a huge success, with everyone enjoying the beautiful and inviting atmosphere that had been created.

After the party, Lianne stayed behind to help clean up and make sure everything was in order for the following day.

"Lianne! You should go home and rest. You've done enough," her friends and classmates insisted.

"But," Lianne replied, "I don't mind staying a little longer."

"It's fine, we can handle things here; we heard our younger brother was still resting from being sick," one of her friends says.

"But," she insists.

"It's fine, you should go home. We can handle things around here, and besides, there are not that many things left to do," Henna assures Lianne with a smile to convince her to go.

Lianne gives Henna a grateful look but hesitates for a moment before finally agreeing to leave. "Okay then. Thank you," she says as she gets ready to leave.

As Lianne stepped out of the decorated gym, the night air felt cool against her skin, a stark contrast to the warmth and bustle inside. She took a deep breath, feeling a mixture of relief and exhaustion.

The walk home was quiet, allowing her mind to reflect on the events of the day. Concern for Justin lingered in her thoughts, but she trusted that the care she had provided would contribute to his recovery. The success of the event and the positive feedback from attendees brought a sense of accomplishment, even as weariness settled into her bones.

As Lianne approached her house, she noticed the dim glow emanating from the windows.

"Is he asleep?" she mumbles to herself as she finds her keys in her bag. She carefully unlocked the door and cautiously entered just in case Justin was indeed asleep, but then she heard a faint sound from the living room.

Justin was awake. She saw him sitting on the couch with a slightly improved complexion.

"I'm home. How are you feeling?" she asked, her eyes reflecting both concern and relief.

Justin managed to manage a weak smile. "Better, thanks to you. I don't know what I'd do without my big sister."

Lianne chuckled, a mix of gratitude and sibling affection. "Well, you better not find out. Now, did you already eat?" she says as she glances at the wall clock, noticing that it was already nine o'clock in the evening.

"No, not yet. I was waiting for you since you didn't tell me anything about your plans for dinner, so I waited for you, sis." He spoke in a little softer voice, almost mumbling. "And I thought we could have dinner together tonight," he replied with a hint of embarrassment in his voice.

Lianne laughed, finding Justin's action adorable. "Okay, then let's go and have dinner," Lianne says as she places her bag on the couch.

"Oh! I already cooked dinner; we just need to reheat it." She smiles.

It's a good thing that Justin didn't grow up as a lazy person, and he knows how to do things at home. They moved to the kitchen, where Lianne reheated the chicken dish that Justin had cooked.

As they sat at the table, the atmosphere shifted from worry to comfort—the quiet acknowledgment of familial support. The two of them enjoyed their meal, cherishing the warmth and security that came from being surrounded by love and affection.