We'll Be Fine

In a room that was in disarray, one could find shards of glass from a broken vase scattered on the floor.

The scent of cigarettes could be smelled all over the room, and gray clouds of smoke danced slowly in the air.

Natasha could be seen sitting on the floor, leaning against her bed; beside her, an ashtray sat on the floor with cigarette buds lying in the middle, surrounded by ash.

Her eyes were puffy and a little droopy, indicating that she was crying earlier. She had a cigarette in her mouth, and as she pulled on the cigarette, one could see the tip lit up with an orangish glow.

She raised her right hand, placed the cigarette between her index and middle fingers, and took the cigarette from in between her lips. She exhaled a puff of smoke and watched as the gray smoke slowly danced in the air as it swayed to and fro.

She looked at this with eyes filled with sadness and longing.

Her thoughts brought her back to her teenage years. She was about 16 at the time she picked up the habit of smoking, and her grandfather had found out. He had just come back from one of the trips he usually takes; they usually range from two weeks to a month, and unfortunately for her, the trip he had just gotten back from was one of the shorter ones.

She remembered how much he scolded her back then, and she remembered how annoyed she was at him.

She chuckled at the distant memory of her and her grandfather.

'Come to think of it, I was a bit rebellious back then.'

She thought to herself with a slight smile on her face. As she was about to take another drag of her cigarette, she remembered her little brother. He was closer to the old man because of his talent for martial arts.

He would only need to be shown something once before he could immediately learn and replicate it.

'I should go and check on him. The death must be hitting him hard as well.'

She thought to herself as she placed the cigarette in the ashtray, stuffing it out. She got up and looked around the room. Seeing the mess she had caused, she let out a heavy sigh and stretched her arms.

'What time is it?'

She thought about it and started to look for her smart phone. Turning around and looking at her bed, she could see it lying in the middle of the bed.

She picked it up and turned it on, checking the time. However, what she had seen caught her by surprise.

'It's almost midnight? I guess I lost track of time.'

She placed her phone back on the bed and headed to the bathroom to wash her face. After washing her face, she went toward Jon's room and knocked on his door.

Knock

Knock

"Jon, are you okay?"

She asked after knocking, but she didn't hear anything.

'Could he be sleeping? It's almost midnight, so it is a possibility.'

She thought as she grabbed the doorknob of the room door and twisted it.

'Its open.'

She thought as she slowly pulled the door open and peeked inside. What she saw had her eyes widening in shock. She saw her brother lying on the floor; his eyes were closed, and he was breathing a bit heavily.

"Jon!"

She shouted his name and ran towards him. She kneeled down to wake him up, but when she touched him, his body was a bit hot to the touch.

"He's hot."

She muttered to herself and used the back of her hand to feel his neck and forehead, and he was burning up. 

'Is it a fever?'

She thought to herself and looked down on his face, and she saw sweat running down his face. The sweat looked dark and murky in color, but she didn't give it much thought because she noticed subtle traces of tears beneath his eyes. 

'Did he get sick by crying too much?'

Her heart ached at the thought as she used her thumb to wipe away the tears beneath his eyes. Jon was a bit more muscular than the average teenage boy, but she still managed to pick him up and place him on his bed.

She exited the room to prepare a warm cloth and container filled with water, along with a bag of ice.

When she returned, she placed the bag of ice on his forehead and started to wipe the sweat off his body.

'You are the only remaining family I have left in the entire world. I'll make sure nothing happens to you, and no matter what, I'll do everything to protect you.'

She thought to herself as she continued wiping the sweat off his body.

"Don't worry, we'll be fine."

She muttered that as she continued to look after him, and she stayed by his bedside the entire night, watching over him.

***

Jon woke up in the morning with his mind in disarray; he couldn't remember what happened to him before he blacked out.

He sat up on his bed with a hand over his head because he felt a mild headache that was slowly fading. He slowly recalled the events of what happened last night as his mind cleared and his headache faded away.

'Thats right, I took the serum last night.' 

He thought to himself, and just as he was about to examine himself for any changes in his body, he heard a small grunt and felt small movements at the side of his bed.

When he looked where it was coming from, he could see Natasha kneeling at the side of his bed with her head resting on her arms as a makeshift pillow as they rested on his bedside.

'When did she get here?'

He looked at her puzzlingly as she started to shift, indicating that she was about to wake up. Her eyes slowly opened, and she blinked a few times as she slowly sat up. She lifted her head and let out a small yawn.

She then looked up and saw Jon staring down at her as she yawned, which seemed to catch her by surprise.

"Good morning."

Jon said to her with a small smile as he saw the surprised look on her face. She quickly regained her composure and replied to him.

"Good morning."

She said as she stood up from where she kneeled and stretched her hand over to his forehead to check his temperature. Seeing her actions, Jon couldn't help staring at her with a puzzling look.

"What are you doing?"

"You seemed to come down with a fever last night, so I'm checking your temperature. So stay still and don't move."

She said this as she placed the back of her hand on his forehead. 

'A fever? Could that be a side effect of taking the serum last night?'

He thought to himself as he remembered the intense amount of pain he felt after taking the serum.

"You seem to be feeling a lot better than last night. But just to be safe, I'll have you stay home today. I might be overreacting, but I've never seen you get sick before, so I was a little worried."

She pulled away her hand as she said that to Jon, and he looked at her with a raised brow as if she had something strange.

'She's actually allowing me to skip school?'

Jon thought to himself as he stared at her with a mysterious look. Seeing the look in his eyes, she continued.

"And besides, I'm sure you could use a little time to yourself to get your thoughts in order after what happened."

Jon could see a somber look on her face as she said this. He sighed and thought about the things he heard from his grandfather's message last night. Pondering if he should let her know, just as he was about to make a decision, her voice broke him out of his thoughts.

"By the way, What's going on with your eyes? Are you using contacts or something?"

"Hmm? What are you talking about?"

Jon replied to her with a raised brow, confused about what she was implying.

"Your eyes—they look brighter and more yellowish?"

She said the last part in confusion, as if she found it hard to describe what she was talking about. Jon looked at her puzzlingly before turning his head toward the mirror in his room to get a good look at his face.

What he saw in the mirror were dark, goldish-looking eyes peering back at him. 

'Could this be another effect of the serum? Now that I think about it, everything looks much clearer to me.'

It's not as if he had poor eyesight before; in fact, he had great eyesight, but now everything seems much clearer. The difference between his previous vision and now was akin to someone who had poor eyesight their entire life and finally started wearing medicated glasses. He could even see the small words on the lotion bottle and other various things he kept on his dresser.

"It must be the lighting."

Jon said to Natasha, and she looked at him with a puzzling look before she shrugged.

"Maybe, or it could also be that I didn't get enough rest last night."

She said this while turning to leave, but before she left, she turned to Jon and looked him in the eye.

"I'm late for work, so you'll have to prepare your own breakfast this morning. I'll call your school and let them know that you won't be coming in today, and if you still feel sick, don't hesitate to call me and let me know."

"Are you still going to work today?"

Jon asked after hearing what she had to say. In his mind, she should be resting and taking her time to mourn.

"I've done enough crying already, and I need to do something to take my mind off his death. You'll be fine while gone, right?"

Jon didn't know what to feel about her going to work so soon after hearing about their grandfather's death, but he couldn't stop her. He let out a heavy sigh and answered her.

"I'll be fine, and I'm not a baby; I can take care of myself."

"You could have fooled me."

Natasha let out a small laugh as she said that and exited the room. Jon's brows twitched as he watched her exit the room.

"Whatever."

He muttered under his breath as he got out of bed, and when he stood up, he looked down at his hands as he closed and opened them repeatedly.

'How could I be sick? I feel better than ever!' 

He hadn't done anything significant as yet, but he could feel that his body was way stronger than it was yesterday.

'Natasha going to work may not be a bad thing. When she leaves, I can test the changes the serum has made to my body.'

He thought as he started to stretch his arms. He heard his joints pop, and his body felt lighter and more flexible.

'I can't wait to test out my body.'

Groowwllll~

The sound of his stomach loudly grwling interrupted his thoughts, and an intense wave of hunger hit his body that made his new-found strength seem like a lie.

"Let's get something to eat first."