Chapter 12 : The blood in my Veins

Next Morning : Amie's House

The soft light of morning reached Amie's face. He opened his eyes slowly, lifted his head just a little... the bruises from last night's beating still ached, now settled as a dull pain in his shoulder.

He got up and walked to the bathroom, stood before the mirror, and looked at his reflection — a bandage rested on the corner of his eye, and the marks of last night's assault were still fresh on his face.

He slipped on his T-shirt, went to the kitchen — boiled some water in the kettle, pulled out a jar of black coffee beans. He toasted some bread and spread jam over it, then sat down to eat. A sip of coffee, a bite of toasted bread.

As he shut the door behind him, he glanced back once — the room looked more like a room now, less lonely somehow.

Stepping outside, his eyes instinctively turned toward Kiara's balcony. It was empty. He didn't think too much of it and headed straight towards the café.

: Kiara & Naaz's Apartment

The first light of morning filtered softly through the sheer curtains in the room. A faint aroma of coffee drifted in from the kitchen.

Naaz was already awake. She tied her hair back, and made herself a mug of coffee in silence. She opened the fridge, took out some bread, and began making eggs.

Kiara was still in bed, but after a few more moments, her eyes slowly fluttered open. She turned to glance at the clock and stretched a little.

Still half-lost in sleep, Kiara emerged from her room — wearing an oversized T-shirt and with her hair tied loosely in a bun, she walked to the kitchen and took a seat on the stool beside the table.

"Coffee?" Naaz asked, handing her a mug.

She slid a plate toward Kiara — toast, boiled eggs, and some lightly sautéed veggies.

A while later, both Kiara and Naaz were ready, bags slung over their shoulders. Before heading to the hospital, they cast a quick glance toward Amie's apartment... and then set off on their way.

At the hospital's main gate, they parted ways and walked toward their respective departments.

Naaz entered the sterile lab section — a world of soft machine hums and the faint shimmer of test tubes. The moment she put on her lab coat, her entire demeanor shifted — laser-focused, hands precise, eyes calculating every step.

Blood samples, DNA strips, chemical reports — everything on her desk was neatly arranged.

Someone called out from the hallway, "Naaz, where's that morning culture test report?"

Without looking up, she replied, "It's on the desk. Double-check and verify."

And then she returned to her microscope.

On the other side, Kiara was in the brightly lit pediatric ward. She put on her nurse's coat, picked up the patient files, and began her rounds silently. And then... she was lost in her work.

Evening – Returning Home

It was evening.

The golden warmth of sunlight on the rooftops of the colony was slowly beginning to fade. The sky had taken on a soft tangerine hue, and a quiet sort of tiredness melted through the narrow lanes.

Kiara and Naaz's duty usually ended by 4 p.m., but today they were running late because of grocery shopping. This time, Kiara was riding her scooty back into the colony—after all, the damages caused by that day's accident had finally been repaired.

Kiara parked the scooty in its usual spot, and Naaz, just for a moment, glanced at Amie's closed door before stepping through the gate of the apartment building.

Naaz removed her scarf—the one she always wore whenever she went outside.

Kiara, who usually wore both a helmet and a scarf while riding her scooty, took them off and placed them inside the vehicle. As she stepped out, her eyes instinctively turned toward Amie's closed door—and she noticed that the door wasn't locked.

Kiara began strolling around the large circular courtyard of the colony. Just than she noticed a few children playing football in the distance. And Amie... he was sitting on a bench nearby, watching them. One child sat beside him, pointing toward the children playing and trying to guide them as they played, occasionally chatting with Amie in between.

It was the first time Kiara saw Amie smiling like that.

She clasped her hands behind her back and, at a slow, measured pace, began walking toward him. She was lost in her own gentle rhythm when—suddenly—a football rolled right into her, knocking her slightly off balance, and she fell.

All the children who were playing burst into laughter.

Kiara, now trying to regain her composure, got up with a playful scowl and picked up the football that had rolled to her side.

"Play properly, will you? That could've hit me hard!" she said.

One of the kids replied, "Sorry, Sis! Looks like it did hit you!"

The rest of them burst into laughter again.

Kiara made a dramatic face and tossed the ball back toward the children.

She looked at Amie — he was laughing softly too.

"Oh! So you do smile," she teased. "Feels nice to see you like this."

Amie tried to hold back his smile. "Oh ! No, no, it's not like that. Come, have a seat," He gestured to the bench beside him.

"What's the matter? You look really happy today. What's the secret behind it?" Kiara sat down on the bench next to him.

"Oh no, it's nothing like that. You see this kid here" Amie pointed to the little boy sitting next to him, , "Do you know him?"

"Not exactly, but I often see him around, cycling or running with the others. He's quite a little mischief-maker," she said, smiling.

"Yeah, and he talks in such an adorable and funny way. He's been introducing all the kids playing here—giving them little backstories in his own hilarious style," Amie replied with a faint grin.

"Oh really? What's he been saying? Tell me, I want to hear too!"

"Why not! Okay, so see that boy over there wearing the yellow shirt? Just a little while ago, the ball came to him—and he gave it such a strong kick, like really, really strong—and the ball went flying in the air like a rocket, almost straight into the goal. But you know what?"

Kiara asked, "What?"

"He kicked the ball with such force, but the kick didn't even connect! And then he fell—fell so weirdly, like this, and just tumbled away like that!"

The boy began dramatically demonstrating the scene to Kiara and Amie, reenacting it in his own playful style.

"He kicked like this, and then fell like that, and then landed in this exact position—and turned out like this," he exclaimed, bursting into laughter and clapping his hands.

"He kicked with all his might, but missed the ball entirely," he continued, laughing even harder.

"If that kick had actually landed, the ball would've flown straight to the moon! HAA HAA HAA!"

Kiara said, "But I didn't find that funny."

The boy immediately got offended. "Oh really! You didn't find it funny? So I've been rolling on the road just so you won't find it funny?"

He stood up dramatically. "Now let me show you how you were walking a few minutes ago."

He began mimicking Kiara—clasping his hands behind his back, walking with stiff legs and eyes focused down at the ground.

"You were walking like this, and laughing like this—like some crazy person who laughs without any reason."

"You looked completely mad. And then you were all startled like this—"

He flung all ten fingers wide open and mimicked her reaction while trying to block the football, exaggerating his facial expressions in shock.

Not once, but three times, he re-enacted the entire moment.

"Like this! And this! And THIS!" he repeated, pulling off the same exaggerated expressions.

Then, with a loud flip, he threw himself onto the ground once again, got up while brushing off his clothes, and stood confidently.

Amie was laughing the whole time, watching Kiara.

Kiara, meanwhile, was feeling embarrassed, but she couldn't help smiling. Her smile, however, began fading slowly, as her face started showing signs of awkward discomfort.

But the little boy wasn't done yet.

He once again clasped his hands behind his back and limped around in a mischievous style, acting in front of Kiara and teasing, "Ohhh look at you, you're laughing now!"

Amie, still chuckling, gently pulled the boy close to him. "Okay, okay, that's enough, Little Don. Show's over!"

The boy looked at Kiara and said proudly, "Now do you see if I'm funny or not? I'm the Lil Don of this colony!"

There was a sweet glint of playful revenge in his eyes, as if he'd successfully won back his moment.

"That was very funny," Amie said, still laughing. "Easily the best one so far."

"Yes! Lil Don! That was really funny. I won't mess with you again," she said and, in an overly dramatic gesture, folded her hands in front of him.

Kiara glanced at Amie and said warmly, "You should smile more often, budd... it looks so good on you."

Just then, the little boy interrupted again, "One more, one more—something else just came to mind. Should I tell you?"

Amie gently held the boy's hand and made him sit back down. "Hey Hold on! You're really too funny, Lil'Don."

"Wait, Big Brother! Listen!" the boy insisted, excitement glimmering in his eyes. "That guy... the one who hit you yesterday... he actually likes her!" he said, pointing directly at Kiara.

Kiara looked at him, surprised. "Who are you talking about?"

Without hesitation, the boy replied, "The same one who hit Amie Bro yesterday—he's MoneyBro's younger brother—Maxx!"

"You know MoneyBro, right?" he asked.

"Yes... yes, I do," Kiara answered slowly.

Just then, the boy's mother called out to him from the distance. He yelled back, "I'm coming!"

Turning to them one last time, he said, "I better go, or else Mumma will start her full-on investigation—'Where were you? Why did you go? Who did you meet? What did they say? Then what did you say? Then what did they say? And then what did you say again?'"

"I just can't go through that interrogation, Big Brother. I'm leaving now!" And with that, he ran off towards his home.

Kiara turned to Amie and asked, gazing at him with concern, "You didn't tell me about this."

Amie replied softly, "Even I just found out now."

"No," she insisted, her voice laced with worry, "someone hit you and you didn't tell me?"

"I thought he was just some random bully," Amie explained casually.

"Oh really?" she asked, still trying to process it all. "And he likes me? What was he saying?"

"Yeah, I guess he likes you," Amie said with a teasing grin. "Why else would he have hit me so hard?"

"But you just said... you found out only now?" Kiara asked with curiosity, her brows gently raised.

"No, I mean... I didn't know he was MoneyBro's brother," Amie replied, trying to explain.

"He likes me," she said in surprise, almost as if she was speaking to herself.

"Yeah, that punch pretty much said it all — looked like he was in love," Amie remarked with a subtle smirk.

Kiara began to feel irritated by where the conversation was heading, and she quickly decided to change the topic.

"And this kid—such a mischievous little devil, talks so much," she said, trying to shift the mood.

"You're just like him, aren't you?" Amie turned to her with a soft gaze, as if admiring her in that very moment.

"I don't talk that much. And definitely not so much nonsense," Kiara replied with mock offense.

Amie looked at Kiara, and Kiara looked back at him.

"Do I really talk that much?" she asked, a little unsure.

Amie, still looking at her, nodded slowly — with such an innocent expression, it made her laugh.

And then both of them burst into sudden, genuine laughter.

Kiara asked, "How's your pain now?"

Amie looked puzzled for a moment. "Which pain?"

And within a second, it clicked.

"Oh, right! I completely forgot about that... It's almost like it disappeared," he said, slightly surprised.

"That's good! That's really good," Kiara responded with a smile.

"And how's your job going?" she asked.

"So far, everything's going great. What about you? How's your work? You work in the hospital, right?"

"Yeah, I'm a pediatric nurse. Even today went well," she said with a light nod.

"Oh really? What happened?" Amie asked calmly.

"Nothing special, but I don't know why... today, you know... I just felt good from inside."

"Hmm, I know exactly why you're feeling good today," Amie said with a teasing grin.

Kiara gave him a playful shove. "No, no, it's not what you're thinking, okay..."

"Hmm hmm," Amie said, teasing her gently.

"So... do you like someone?" Kiara asked, a glimmer of curiosity in her eyes.

Amie drifted into deep thoughts for a few moments, lost in silence, unable to say anything.

"No... there's no one like that," he finally replied.

"Then... what kind of girls do you like?" she continued, smiling playfully.

"Ahmm... how do I even answer that? I've never really thought about it," he replied with a faint chuckle.

"Seriously?" Kiara raised her brows.

"Do you have a girlfriend?" she asked directly, without hesitation.

"Mhmm... I find all this stuff pointless. In the end, none of it really means anything," Amie said, brushing it off.

"Mhmm... so what kind of guy do you like?" Amie asked her in return.

"Hmm... well, I haven't really thought about it either," Kiara began softly.

"But I do want a complete family. I want a good life. I want to live my whole life with someone who is caring, who understands me, someone who can truly see things for what they are. I want both health and wealth—and a partner who stands with me through everything," she explained.

"Hmmm, that's nice... You think long-term," Amie said with a thoughtful nod.

"What do you expect from your life?" Kiara asked gently.

"To be honest, I don't expect anything—from my life, from people... not even from myself. And I'm not the kind of person anyone should expect anything from," he said quietly.

"Did something bad happen to you?" Kiara asked, her tone softer now.

"Hmmm... My family threw me out of the house. When your own people don't trust you, what expectations can you possibly have from the rest of the world?" Amie replied.

"But... didn't you also steal? That's wrong too," Kiara said, carefully.

"Yeah, that's true. That was my fault as well," Amie admitted without resistance.

"Okay... can we talk about something else now? I don't want to talk about this anymore," he said, trying to shift the heaviness in the air.

"Alright, fine then. Tell me—why are you back so early today?" Kiara asked curiously.

"Usually, I get free early anyway... around 3 or 4 in the afternoon," Amie replied.

"After that, Steve comes in, and he takes care of everything."

"Oh, so Steve works there too?" she asked, intrigued.

"No, actually—he's Mr. Ray Frost's nephew. Mr. Frost is one of the owners of the café. The café is owned by two brothers, and they both manage it in shifts," Amie explained.