Dozing drowsily on a plastic chair in the hospital corridor, Rock had his cowboy hat tilted over his face.
His mud-stained overalls looked completely out of place in the spotless white hallway.
Twenty-four hours of continuous vigil had left him exhausted.
Even the hushed murmur of voices at the nearby nurses’ station sounded like a hazy lullaby.
“That’s the farmer from the cornfield…”
“I heard he ran into the meteor impact site all by himself…”
“Oh my god, are those bloodstains on his pants?”
Their whispers drifted softly into Rock’s ears like feathers.
Dazed, he tried to raise an arm to adjust his hat brim, only to find his arm heavy as lead.
In his twilight haze, he caught the crisp sound of high heels clicking against the floor, drawing closer.
“Shh!
Keep it down!” an older nurse lowered her voice.
“Haven’t you heard?
The blood test results for that blonde boy…”
Rock frowned beneath his hat.
He knew he should wake up, should go warn them to stop talking about Dio’s medical report…
But days of accumulated exhaustion washed over him like a tide, pulling his consciousness back down into darkness.
Until—
“Ahem!”
An intentional cough jolted Rock awake from his half-dreaming state.
He snapped upright.
His cowboy hat dropped to the floor with a soft *clack*, revealing bloodshot eyes and messy brown curls.
Standing before him was the attending physician holding a medical chart, flanked by two embarrassed-looking nurses.
“Mr.
Kent, your son is awake,” the doctor said, raising his voice slightly and casting a pointed glance toward the room.
“He’s just…
a bit restless.”
“Hey!”
With Rock’s keen hearing, he could hear Dio’s weak yet brash voice echoing from inside the room:
“Where the hell is this?!
Who are you people?
Assholes, let go of me!”
That familiar shouting finally allowed Rock’s tense nerves to unwind.
He nodded in thanks to the doctor, then rushed into the room in three quick strides.
Inside, Dio was trying to yank out his IV line, while a nurse beside him scrambled in panic to stop him.
“You brat!”
Rock pinned his son’s shoulders down, his voice trembling slightly.
“Can’t you just behave yourself?!”
“You scared the crap out of me!
Where were you, old man?
Waking up here almost scared me to—” Dio started, looking up.
But when he saw his father’s bloodshot eyes, his arrogant swagger instantly vanished by half.
Turning his head away awkwardly, he muttered, “Fine.
I’ll behave.”
*Thump, thump, thump!*
Hurried footsteps sounded outside the doorway as Martha stumbled into the room. This chapter was taken from g.com without permission.
“Rock, the nurse at the door said Dio woke up!”
“Oh God!
Dio!”
Her chestnut bun, usually pinned up impeccably, now hung loosely over her shoulder.
With tear tracks still wet on her face, the worn woman pulled the blonde boy into a tight embrace, wrapping her arms around him so hard she almost crushed the breath out of him.
Stiffening completely, Dio’s ruby-red eyes widened into saucer-like circles.
“L-Let go of me!
Aunt Martha!”
He struggled in vain, surprised to find that this normally gentle farm woman possessed astonishing strength at this moment.
Just as he was about to call for his father’s help to break free, a warm drop of liquid splashed onto his cheek.
Dio froze.
He looked up to see Martha’s red rims and trembling lips, as well as Clark and Jonathan standing at the foot of the bed.
The former had tears shimmering in his blue eyes, while the latter breathed a deep sigh of relief.
Yet what shocked Dio most was Rock— the man who had always been as steadfast as a mountain, who had never shown a single trace of weariness…
was currently leaning against the wall, looking completely drained.
“Is all this sentimentality really necessary…” Dio muttered awkwardly, but he stopped resisting and let Martha hold him.
He even awkwardly patted her back.
“I’m fine, aren’t I…”
“You silly boy…” Martha said softly, her voice muffled.
“Do you have any idea how worried we were…”
“Dio,” Clark leaned in and added in a whisper, “Mom even fainted yesterday…”
“Clark!” Jonathan cut his son off quickly, but it was too late.
Dio’s body visibly stiffened.
He stared in disbelief at the graying hair around Martha’s temples— that definitely hadn’t been there yesterday.
A strange sensation suddenly welled up inside him, like a lump stuck in his throat.
*So I…*
“Aunt Martha…” He awkwardly poked her shoulder.
“Your…
your hair…”
Only then did Martha look up, wiping her eyes with a handkerchief and forcing a smile.
“It’s nothing, just a few gray hairs.
Compared to that…” Her voice choked up again.
“Seeing you safe and sound is more important than anything.”
The room abruptly fell silent.
Dio lowered his head, his golden hair falling forward to hide his expression.
Only after a long moment did he speak in a quiet, muffled voice.
“…I’m sorry.
Maybe…
I shouldn’t have gone to save them?”
Those words fell as softly as a feather, yet they left everyone in the room stunned.
Martha even stood up in shock.
After all, getting Dio Kent to apologize was harder than making the sun rise in the west.
The next second, Rock stepped forward with long strides and gathered Dio into a tight hug.
Dad was wrong.”
“?!”
This time, it was Dio’s turn to be shocked.
His dad was actually apologizing to him?!
Before he could wonder why Rock was apologizing—
“Dio!”
Clark shouted and joined the hug as well, with Jonathan and Martha crowding in too.
The five of them wrapped into one big group hug by the bedside.
“Alright, alright!” Dio’s voice muffled out from the pile of people, thick with embarrassment.
“You’re going to tear my wounds open!”
The group hurriedly let go, only to see that Dio’s injuries were completely fine; it was just that his cheeks were as red as ripe apples.
He huffed and straightened his hospital gown, complaining endlessly: “This is ridiculous!
I’m not a three-year-old!”
Hearing this, Martha laughed through her tears, reaching out to ruffle Dio’s blond hair.
“In our eyes, you’ll always be a child who needs looking after.”
Just as Dio was about to retort, a knock sounded at the hospital room door.
The attending physician stood in the doorway holding a report.
“Mr.
Kent, regarding your son’s blood test results…”
Discreetly stepping in front of Dio’s bed, Rock asked, “Is there a problem, Doctor?”
The doctor pushed up his glasses, his face a picture of bewilderment.
“The problem is…
there’s no problem at all.
In fact…” He flipped through the report.
“Every indicator is not only completely normal, but even healthier than that of an average person.
It’s practically…”
“A medical miracle?” Jonathan chimed in at just the right moment, a simple, honest farmer’s smile on his face.
The doctor nodded.
“Precisely.
Considering the potential radiation exposure from the meteor, this condition is truly…”
“Thank God!” Martha interrupted loudly, clasping her hands together in prayer.
“It must be a miracle from Heaven!”
“Yeah, Doctor,” Clark quickly chimed in.
“Dio’s always recovered super fast ever since he was little.”
“Alright, alright, everyone.
Please try not to over-disturb the patient’s rest.”
Under the flurry of interruptions, the attending doctor eventually left the room with a mind full of questions.
The moment the door closed, all four people in the room let out a long, collective sigh of relief.
Clearly, regarding Dio’s unusual nature, although Martha and Jonathan usually acted oblivious, they had already formed a general guess.
After all…
How could anyone sit in the living room and pull a blueberry pie out of the oven straight into their hand?!
“You guys…” Dio leaned back against his pillow and suddenly let out a soft laugh.
“Your acting is terrible.”
“Shut it, you little rascal.” Rock ruffled his son’s blond hair, his eyes filled with fond affection.
“We worried ourselves sick over you.”