"Brother... Brother..."Helplessly lying on the cold wooden bed, squeezing the worn-out blanket closer to her body. Lai's hoarse voice echoed in the small, run-down house, desperately searching for her brother. "It's col...d"
"Lai?! Lai?! I'm here, don't worry, I'm here." Teal came running into the room with a bowl of hot porridge and water.
"Hmmm." Hearing her brother's voice, Lai tried to open her eyes and mustered some strength to turn her head towards her brother but failed to move even an inch.
"Did your fever get worse?" He doesn't even need to hear her answer. He can see her body shivering nonstop on the bed.
Teal rushed to her side. "Why didn't you call me earlier." He sat in the small space on the bed and placed the hot porridge and water on the wooden chair.
Hearing her brother's voice, she calmed down a little. Lai glanced at her brother, but she caught a glimpse of his palm moving towards her forehead. She was startled a little, so her body jerked a little.
"I'm... fine." Lai weakly muttered. She doesn't want Teal to worry, or he will buy another one of those expensive pills. With their current money, he will need to work nonstop this week again for them to survive the winter.
This girl!! She's obviously in great pain, yet she is still trying to hide it from him.
Teal gently touched her forehead, but he took it back in a flash when her body jerked a little, and he heard her groan. "Ahhh!"
Her fever is a lot worse than he thought. When his hand touched her forehead, it felt like he touched boiling hot water. If only he had a thermometer, then he could have known how bad her fever was. But with how often Lai gets ill, he can't save money to buy one.
"Wait here. I will go and get your medicine." Teal rushed out of the room as he remembered the leftover pill she didn't need last week.
"I'm..." Lai wanted to say she was fine, but Teal left the room in a flash.
Their wooden house is small, so Teal reached the kitchen in about Twenty steps. He then went to a broken wooden cabinet and grabbed the small bottle of pills inside. At the same time, Teal grabbed the wooden bowl and two white towels beside the bottle. He filled the bowl with water from the faucet and then rushed back to her sister's room.
"Do you have some strength?" Teal sat on the bed and then placed the bowl of water in front of him. He grabbed the damp cloth in the bowl and then squeezed it tight.
"A little." Lai weakly muttered. She wants to get up to show that she's fine, but her whole body feels so heavy.
Teal sighed. "Don't force yourself." He placed one of the damp cloths on her forehead. He then pulled the blanket covering her. He can now clearly see her whole body shivering after removing the blanket covering her body.
Teal hurriedly grabbed the other damp cloth on the bowl and squeezed it tight. Then he gently wiped it on her left arm.
Teal carefully observes her reaction every time he rubs the cloth on her skin. If Teal sees even a twitch on her face, he will pause for a moment. He has a stubborn little sister, after all. No matter how much pain she suffers, she will endure it and hide it from him.
Teal just noticed that the water on the damp cloth evaporated really fast. He isn't even halfway from wiping her left arm. It looks like her fever is higher than usual to even evaporate the water on the cloth in a short amount of time.
Teal noticed that the damp cloth on her forehead also needed to be changed.
"Lai, please tell me if it hurts," Teal begged. He knows that she's used to the pain, but he will never get used to seeing her like this.
Lai looked away from her brother's stare and mumbled. "This is nothing," For her, this much is nothing compared to her brother working nonstop for 15 hours everyday.
"Don't worry about me overworking like last time to save money for winter. In fact, I'm not going to work this morning, and I have good news to tell you later. But for now, you need to eat and drink the medicine." He needs to stabilize her fever first before he can leave her with ease and buy medicine before lunch.
Lai's ears perked up when he mentioned not going to work and good news. She feels upset that she can't spend some time with her brother because of this damn fever.
Teal picked up the damp cloth on her forehead. He then dropped the two towels on the water bowl again, but this time he did not squeeze it tight. Just enough so that water would not start dripping. He then placed one on her forehead again, then continued to wipe her left arm.
Teal repeated this process for about fifteen minutes, then stopped when he saw her body stop trembling and not as hot as before.
"Do you have an appetite?" She can't drink the medicine on an empty stomach, so she needs to eat even a little.
Teal grabbed his two pillows on the floor where he usually sleeps. Then stacks the four pillows on her back so he can feed her.
"Yes," Lai quickly nodded. If she heals faster, she can spend the day with her brother.
"Good, let's eat while it's still hot." Teal grabbed the porridge and slowly fed her.
After eating half of the porridge, Lai shook her head. "No more."
It seems she can't eat anymore.
Teal poured out the last blue pill on the bottle and gave it to her. "Here."
"It's the only one left, so I'll buy more for lunch later." Teal gave her water, then ate the rest of the porridge.
"I..." She wanted to complain about him buying more medicine. But discarded the idea noticing his scary gaze. Lai changed the topic instead.
"The good news??" All this time, Lai has been curious as to why he doesn't have work today. Normally, he doesn't go to work only when he gets really sick to the point where he can't move a muscle.
"Ahhh, right!!" He was really excited to tell her the good news when he woke up, but he forgot about it.
"Hehe, I'll show you something cool." Teal stood up from the bed.
Lai looked eagerly at her brother, who excitedly raised his hand in front of him. As if preparing to show her a marvellous magic.
"Ready?"
"Uhn!" Lai nodded.
"Summon!!" Teal waved his hand in the air to call forth his new power.
Lai watched in awe as something appeared on his Teal's hand out of thin air. It appears to be a black gun that she usually sees from the patrol guard but differently. The one Teal summoned has a longer barrel like a sniper rifle, yet this one doesn't have a scope.
"You... awakened??" One thing she realized is that her brother has awakened.