Author pov
In the morning kiefer kissed on jay jay forehead.
He said
“Kiegan will be here later.
I am excited for you to meet him.”
Jay simple nobbed in reply.
Kiefer left early.
Around 7 am.
Jay jay thought he had some work.
But in reality he was going to take revenge from his uncle.
He was going to make him regret
But jay jay knew nothing.
Jay pov
The room was too quiet.
The beeping of the machines was the only sound.
Beep.
Beep.
Beep.
It matched my heartbeat.
Slow, tired, and a little broken.
My mom had gone home for a few hours to check on Mia.
Dad was at work.
Even the nurse only came in once every hour to check my IV and leave again.
I hated this.
I hated the silence.
I hated the smell of antiseptic.
I hated how my own thoughts were so loud in here.
I pulled the blanket closer to my chest and stared at the ceiling.
White.
Boring.
Painful.
My head still hurt.
A dull ache that pulsed behind my eyes no matter how many painkillers they gave me.
But that wasn’t what really hurt.
_Where is he?_
Keifer.
He was there when I woke up.
Dark circles, messy hair, same shirt.
He looked like he hadn’t slept in days.
He was the one who cried.
The one who fed me porridge like I was five.
The one who stood outside my window at 2am in the rain with Mia’s soup.
“Get some sleep, Jay.
I’ll be here.”
He said that.
Before he left this morning, he squeezed my hand and whispered,
*”Keigan will be here later.
He’ll check on you.
I’m excited for you to meet him.”*
He said it like it mattered.
Like meeting his brother was a big deal.
And I was excited too.
Excited and nervous.
What if Keigan hated me?
What if he blamed me for what happened?
No text.
No call from Keifer since then.
Was he okay?
Did his uncle do something?
Did he get in trouble because of me?
The thought made my stomach twist.
I squeezed my eyes shut.
“Stop it, Jay,”
I whispered to myself.
“You’re being stupid.”
But I couldn’t stop.
Every time I closed my eyes I saw it again.
The headlights blinding me.
The rain on the road.
His hands shaking on my face, so cold.
“Don’t close your eyes.
Jay, look at me.
Stay with me.”
“Please.
Don’t leave me.
Not like this.
Please.
I’m begging you.”
The door creaked open and I sat up too fast.
My head spun and I had to grab the bed rail.
But it wasn’t him.
Just a nurse checking my vitals.
She smiled softly and left without a word.
The disappointment sank heavy in my chest.
I was alone again.
I picked up my phone from the side table.
The screen lit up.
No new messages.
The last one was from Mia: _”Get well soon ate.
I made soup.
Kuya Keifer said it’s your favorite.”_
My thumb hovered over Keifer’s name.
I typed _”Is Keigan coming?”_ then deleted it.
The minutes dragged.
I started counting the tiles on the floor.
24.
Then 24 again.
I was so tired of being alone with my thoughts.
That’s when the door opened again.
He was tall.
A little shorter than Keifer, but he had the same sharp jaw, the same cold eyes.
Black pants, white shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows.
He looked so put together it was annoying.
Like he walked out of a magazine and into my hospital room.
He stopped in front of my bed and stared at me.
No greeting.
No smile.
Then he snapped his fingers right in front of my face.
“I’m asking you,” he said, voice flat.
“Are you Jay?”
I flinched.
“Yes, I’m Jay.
And what about you?”
He tilted his head.
A small smirk.
“I’m Keifer’s brother.”
Keigan.
So this was him.
I sat up a little straighter.
My heart was weirdly fast.
Keifer said he’d be here.
And I was excited to see him.
“Okay,” I said softly.
He didn’t say anything else.
He just pulled out his phone and started typing.
Like I was boring.
Like I was a task he had to check off.
The silence was awkward.
Worse than before.
At least the machines made noise.
Then his phone rang.
He answered without looking at me.
“Yeah?
Come here.
I’m at Keifer’s friend’s place.”
He hung up.
A few seconds later, the door flew open with a bang.
“KUYA!!!”
A small boy came running in at full speed and jumped on Keigan.
Literally jumped, arms and legs.
Keigan stumbled but didn’t fall.
He just looked exhausted, like this happened every day.
“Get off,” he muttered.
“No,” the boy said, grinning with all his teeth.
“I missed you!”
Keiran.
He was small.
Messy hair, loud voice, and a smile that wouldn’t quit.
He was wearing a hoodie that was way too big for him.
He couldn’t have been older than 9.
“Kuya, I missed you!” Keiran said, squeezing Keigan tighter.
Keigan finally shoved him off gently.
“You’re 9.
Act like it.”
“But I’m your favorite,” Keiran said shamelessly, climbing onto the chair beside the bed.
“I don’t have favorites.”
“Liar.”
They were bickering like brothers do.
Pushing, shoving, rolling their eyes.
And for some reason, watching them made my chest ache.
I had that too once.
With my kuya.
Teasing, fighting, then sharing food.
Then Keiran turned to me.
His eyes went wide.
“Oh!
You must be Ate Jay!”
He said it like he’d been waiting to meet me.
Like I was a celebrity.
I smiled.
“Uh…
yeah.
Hi.”
Keiran came closer and sat on the edge of my bed without asking.
His legs didn’t even reach the floor.
“Kuya talks about you a lot,” he said casually, swinging his legs.
Keigan choked on his own spit.
“I dare you to say that in front of him,” Keigan said through gritted teeth, but his ears were red.
Keiran just laughed.
“What?
It’s true!
He’s been checking his phone every 5 minutes since yesterday.
Even during Uncle’s meeting.”
At the word _Uncle_, the room went cold.
My face burned.
“He…
he was just being nice.”
“Sure,” Keiran said, nodding seriously for a 9 year old.
“Very nice.
Staying up all night, standing in the rain at 2am nice.
Bringing you soup nice.”
I looked down.
My hands were shaking under the blanket.
Keigan noticed.
His expression softened for a second before he covered it up with annoyance again.
“Enough,” he said to Keiran.
“She’s still recovering.
Keiran immediately switched gears.
He looked at me, serious now.
All the playfulness gone from his 9 year old face.
“How do you feel, by the way?”
“I’m fine,” I said quickly.
“Just a little headache.”
He nodded.
“Good.
Because if you weren’t, Kuya would’ve burned down the hospital looking for the person who did this.”
“Keiran,” Keigan warned, voice low.
“What?
It’s true!”
“I’m not going to say sorry for being loud,”
Keiran added, grinning again to lighten the mood.
I laughed.
I actually laughed.
It felt foreign after the last 24 hours.
It felt good.
But then the laughter faded.
Because I realized something.
Keifer wasn’t here.
The room got quiet again.
Keigan leaned back in the chair and sighed, running a hand through his hair.
“Where is he anyway?”
Keiran shrugged.
“Dunno.
He said he had ‘things to handle’.
Probably Uncle stuff.”
He said it lightly, but I saw the way his small shoulders tensed.
“Is he…
okay?” I whispered.
My voice came out smaller than I wanted.
Both brothers looked at me.
Keigan’s face was unreadable.
Keiran’s smile faltered for just a second.
“He’s fine,” Keigan said finally.
Too quickly.
“He can handle himself.”
But his voice didn’t sound convincing.
And Keiran wouldn’t meet my eyes.
I nodded and pulled the blanket up to my chin.
The room was quiet again, but this time it wasn’t lonely.
Keiran was telling stupid jokes about how Keigan used to cry over cartoons.
Keigan was pretending not to listen but I caught him smiling twice.
And me?
I was in the middle of two brothers who were nothing like mine, but somehow felt familiar.
After about an hour, Keigan stood up.
“We should go,” he said.
“You need to rest.”
Keiran groaned.
“Five more minutes.
Please?”
“No.”
“Fine.” Keiran slid off the chair.
Before leaving he turned back to me.
“Don’t worry, Ate Jay,” he said softly.
No teasing.
No grin.
Just a 9 year old trying to be brave.
“Kuya will come.
He always does.
Even if he pretends he’s too busy being scary.”
Keigan ruffled his hair.
“Let’s go.”
After they left, the room was quiet again.
But this time, I wasn’t scared of the silence.
I looked at the window.
It was starting to get dark outside.
I thought about what Keifer said this morning.
*”Keigan will be here later.
I’m excited for you to meet him.”*
And I was.
Because if Keifer trusted him enough to send him, then maybe I could too.
Because for the first time, I believed he’d come back.
Keifer.
And I’d be waiting.
Hello 👋 my cupcakes.
How are you all.
And forgive your author please.
I literally forget about the friendship day.
I didn’t even celebrate it with my best friend.
I was quite busy.
So happy belated friendship day
Forgive your author.
And you all are my friends.
Because each person of you supports me.
And due to all of u I am here posting my book.
Thank u
A a big thanks for the votes
I have a request.
I want that u all comment me.
I will love if you all will comment.
Please comment and let me know how was the chapter.
And also give me some suggestions.
Eagerly waiting for your comments.
Thank u
Comment it and let me know.Like it ?