Jay-Jay's POV
I winced after the IV was inserted back into my hand. With all the commotion earlier, I didn't even realize it had come out again. This time, it hurt more because it hadn't been fully removed—the needle was still halfway inside my vein.
"If this gets pulled out again, we'll have to place it in your other hand," the nurse said as she secured the needle with surgical tape to prevent it from moving.
She added extra tape to make sure it wouldn't come off easily. She seemed irritated since this was already the second time my IV had come loose.
"You should just stick it in her neck so she'll behave," Kuya Angelo said irritably.
Is there even an IV for the neck?
I suddenly felt embarrassed because of what he said. The nurse seemed scared of him, too, because she quickly cleaned up and left without looking back.
Keifer stood beside me, just looking at me. Sir Alvin and our classmates had left for now. Percy went with them, but he said he'd be back soon.
"Cut it out, Angelo," Tita Gema scolded him before approaching me.
She smiled at me at first, but it quickly faded when she noticed my neck. I immediately lowered my head. I had felt at ease earlier, thinking the mark on my neck had disappeared since the Ulupong hadn't mentioned anything about it.
"What happened there?" she asked, reaching for my chin to get a better look, but I turned away.
She immediately turned to Kuya. "Angelo?"
"What?" Kuya replied.
"Why does Jay-Jay's neck look like this?" There was a hint of menace in Tita's voice.
Keifer raised his hand to get her attention. "It was done by my... f-father."
He said "father" in such an unenthusiastic way. Tita Gema's expression immediately changed, and so did Mama's, who had been busy cleaning up the mess on the table. Even Aries seemed alarmed.
I hadn't told them the truth—that it was actually Keigan who did this. I didn't want to say anything because they might think badly of Keifer's brother. After all, he was already going through something.
"How did that happen?" Mama asked, slamming a plastic bag onto the table before stepping beside Tita.
"Long story short, he tried to take my youngest brother, but I think Jay-Jay tried to stop him, and he hurt her," explained the King of the Ulupong.
I winced. That wasn't exactly what happened, but I couldn't contradict him, or else he might be accused of lying.
I saw the worry in Mama and Tita Gema's faces. They looked at Kuya as if waiting for him to explain, but he just shrugged.
"Why were your brother and Jay-Jay together?" Aries asked Keifer.
"He was also hospitalized and stayed here with Jay because of—"
"Food poisoning. Both he and Jay-Jay," Kuya interrupted.
They exchanged glances before Keifer nodded and accepted his cousin's statement. I understood that they couldn't reveal the real reason we were hospitalized. But it was hard to keep lying when we all had different stories.
"Did you ever think that you're putting my daughter in danger?" Mama suddenly said, shocking all of us.
"Jeana," Tita Gema tried to calm her, but Mama just brushed her off.
"Ma," I called out, but she ignored me.
She tried stepping closer to Keifer, but Kuya Angelo immediately blocked her.
"This is clearly a family problem of yours, so my daughter shouldn't be dragged into your mess!" she said angrily, as if Keifer was the root of all our problems.
I held onto the King's hand, and he glanced at me briefly.
"This won't happen again. He just caught me off guard this time."
"It really won't. Because it would be better if you two stayed away from each other. Avoid my daughter so she won't get caught up in your troubles with your father," she continued.
I couldn't help but get annoyed at what she was saying. Since when did she become a model mother? I knew I was in danger, but it wasn't like Keifer wanted this to happen. Even Kuya understood that, yet he wasn't saying such things to me.
"I'll just take Jay-Jay to her Grandma."
"That's not a good idea. She's safer with me," the guy beside me answered, making Mama even angrier.
"Safe? When you're the one putting her in danger!"
"Like you haven't?" I snapped at her. "Aren't you the one who married men who hurt me?"
Everyone fell silent. Keifer's grip on my hand tightened as if he was stopping me from saying more. I just couldn't hold it in. It was so frustrating to hear her talk like that. Keifer was already struggling with his own problems, and now she was adding to it with her harsh words.
"And don't act like you're some perfect mother," I added.
"Jay," Kuya Angelo scolded me.
Mama took a step back, turned around, and wiped her face with both hands.
Every time she did something that angered me, it felt like all the past resentment I had toward her resurfaced. Like a list that, whenever something new was added, all the previous entries came flooding back.
"Jay . . ." Tita called out to me, sounding as if she pitied both of us.
"Keifer, leave the room," Kuya ordered.
I didn't want him to go. I knew they were just going to gang up on me. I gripped his hand tightly, facing him while shaking my head repeatedly.
"Let him go, Jay," Kuya told me.
I reluctantly let him go. He smiled to reassure me that everything was fine. But I couldn't accept that.
Keifer left the room as they wanted. And I was right—they were planning to gang up on me. Tita immediately approached to sit beside me, but I lay down and covered my head with a pillow.
Mama's lectures came one after another. She kept repeating that I was hard-headed, that I was desperate for a man and couldn't stay away from Keifer, that I wanted to get into trouble, and even asked if it was my dream to play tag with death—which I almost answered with maybe.
I didn't know why she was suddenly acting this way when she was fine with Keifer before.
With everything she said, I didn't even realize I had fallen asleep. Since when did my mother's scolding become a lullaby?
I woke up feeling someone adjusting my blanket. When I opened my eyes, Aries was the first thing I saw. Our eyes met, so I immediately pulled the blanket up to my neck and turned away.
I heard the toilet flush, followed by the sound of the door opening and closing. Whoever had been in there seemed to have let out their frustrations, given the terrible smell that spread through the room.
"No one go in there for now. It's lethal," Percy's voice said, sounding amused.
"Fck. That smells like a rotten corpse," Keifer complained.
"The smell is giving me a headache," Yuri added.
"Open the door and get that smell out of here," my brother ordered.
Someone opened the door, but it didn't stay open long because people outside started complaining about the stench coming from the bathroom. I discreetly covered my nose. The smell was unbearable.
I know my breath stinks, but not to the point that it feels like something repulsive is happening inside his mortal body, and it only decided to come out now because it was waiting for the right time.
Someone opened the window, and they frantically fanned the smell outside. I felt like my stomach and body ached because of the stench. I quickly sat up and fanned myself to clear the odor around me.
Why does it feel like the smell is sticking around?
"Are you okay?" Yuri asked as he approached, pinching his nose.
I shook my head. "The smell is hurting my nose and head."
He took the pillow from behind me and used it as a fan to disperse the odor faster. I even used my blanket.
"Maybe we should buy an air freshener," Keifer suggested.
"Sure, go buy one," Percy said, but Aries immediately pushed him.
"You buy it. This is your fault, so you should be the one resolving this."
Percy pouted but walked out with a frown. However, he stopped before opening the door.
"Aren't you guys coming with me?" he asked, sulking.
"NO!"
"NO!"
"NOPE!"
The three of them answered in unison. He clutched his chest as if he were hurt. Then, he turned to me.
"You come with me, Jay," he invited, but Keifer quickly blocked him.
"You can handle it. You're a grown man."
"Grown man? I'm still a kid. I'm only two years old," he denied, making me pause.
Two years old? Jerk!
"Yeah, 2 x 10," Aries replied.
"I'm still a baby. Aren't I your baby?" He suddenly pouted and stomped his feet like a child.
I wanted to smack him for acting like that. He looked like a giant baby. Yuri and I exchanged looks, both feeling awkward about Percy's behavior.
My stepbrother finally stopped when there was a knock on the door, and it opened. A male doctor and two nurses entered. I felt embarrassed when they covered their noses. The smell Percy released still hadn't disappeared.
Yuri moved away from me after putting the pillow back behind me. This wasn't the doctor who had been checking on me since I arrived.
"How are you, Miss Mariano?" he asked as he approached and gently touched my chin to tilt my head up. One of the nurses checked my IV drip.
"I'm going to check your neck," the doctor informed me, but I noticed Aries and Keifer suddenly stepping closer.
They both looked at me before giving the doctor a sharp glare. I glanced at Yuri, but he also seemed ready to pounce on the doctor.
What's going on?
I suddenly winced when he pressed on my neck. I could feel his hand, but it didn't hurt as much as it did before.
"On a scale of 1-10, how painful is that?" he asked.
"Six or seven," I answered.
"How about now?"
I was puzzled because it felt like he was just holding my neck, not really doing anything. There was a slight discomfort, but nothing unbearable.
"One or two."
He let go and took the chart from the nurse beside him.
"Your pain tolerance is unusual. You're too young to be experiencing this," he commented, making me frown.
"Excuse me?"
"Your perception of physical pain is either delayed, or you have a high tolerance."
I nodded as if I understood, even though I really didn't. I just pretended so Doc wouldn't feel bad—poor guy, if he's the only one who understands what he's saying.
Yeah, really pitiful.
"Maybe because I fight a lot," I joked, but he shook his head.
"I doubt that's the only reason," he said, still looking at my chart. "It could be due to trauma. There are cases where trauma alters a person's pain perception. Although there's no proper study, and it's just a theory, we can't rule it out."
Out of everything he said, only one thing stood out to me.
"Are you saying I have trauma that caused this pain... thing?"
He closed the chart and faced me. "No. That's not what I'm saying." He pointed at my IV drip. "That's your last one. After that, we can remove the IV." He looked at me again. "When was the last time you drank water?"
I shook my head. "Not yet, they told me I wasn't allowed to."
"According to your chart, you were given the go signal to drink and eat earlier," he said, pointing at the paper in his hand.
I gaped. I was allowed to drink water a while ago, yet my cousin stopped me like I was asking for an illegal substance. It was just water!
"M-My cousin said..."
"Angelo? Don't listen to him, he's not a doctor. I don't even know how he became a CEO when he's such an idiot," he said bluntly.
My cousin? An idiot?
"That's really coming from you, Lucius," Keifer commented.
The doctor, Lucius, just laughed. I kept looking back and forth between them. I glanced at Yuri and Percy, who were also staring at them. It was obvious they all knew each other. It even seemed like Lucius was close to Kuya Angelo since he had the guts to call him that.
Even Tiger and Sir Alvin never said anything like that about him.
Lucius chuckled. "What do you expect? I'm a Peralta, after all." He handed the chart back to the nurse beside him. "Tell Angelo to see me in my office. We have something to discuss."
He looked at me and smiled. "You can go home tomorrow."
Then he turned and left. One of the nurses gave Aries some instructions before following the doctor out. As soon as the door closed, I bombarded them with questions.
"Who was that? How does he know Kuya? Why did he call Kuya an idiot? Is he related to Ci-N? Why was he the one checking on me today? Where's the doctor from yesterday?" I fired off, but none of them answered.
Aries just went back to fanning the air out the window. Yuri started fixing my bed. Keifer was about to walk away, but I grabbed him.
"Answer me first!" I demanded, annoyed.
"That was Angelo's batchmate. They had a falling out, but I don't remember what it was about. I think he's a distant relative of Ci. I don't know why he was the one who checked on you today, but maybe the doctor who attended to you yesterday wasn't available," he answered, sighing as if exhausted.
Was that tiring?
"So Kuya and he were enemies, huh? No wonder he had the guts to talk like that."
I thought they were close friends—closer than his friendship with Sir Alvin. Turns out, they were at odds.
"I'll buy you some food. Anything you want?" he asked.
I was about to point at the food on the table that Percy brought earlier, but I immediately withdrew my finger when I saw nothing left but trash and used utensils.
Wow, that was fast.
"Beef pepper steak," I said with a smile.
He smiled back at me. He leaned in as if to kiss my forehead, but a pillow suddenly hit his face.
"This room is so dusty," I heard Yuri say behind me as he dusted off my bed.
His dusting was so intense that the bed shook with every slap of his palm against the mattress. He really seemed to have a personal grudge against the dust.
The King shot him a glare. I thought he would retaliate, but he just placed the pillow back on my bed, smiled at me, and said goodbye. He called Percy to go with him.
"Buy an air freshener," he told my stepbrother.
"You do it. You got this."
"JUST BUY IT!" Yuri and Aries shouted at him in unison.
Percy scowled and stomped off after Keifer, looking like a child who didn't get his way. The King had no choice but to drag him by the collar.
Once the door closed, the three of us fell into silence. Yuri went back to fixing my bed.
"Okay, you can lie down again," he said with a smile.
I smiled back. "You look exhausted."
He ran a hand through his hair and wiped his face. That's when I noticed—he wasn't wearing his glasses. As he bent down, I caught a glimpse of his hair color. It was different.
You know how dyed red hair looks fake, unlike natural red hair like the kind Scottish or Russian people have? His hair color was a mix of both—the artificial red I had always seen on him and a more natural reddish shade.
I reached out to touch his hair, but he must have noticed my intent. He quickly moved away, looking at me in confusion, as if I were some kind of germ he had to avoid.
"Why? What's wrong? Is there something in my hair?" he asked, flustered.
I found his reaction strange. I only wanted to touch his hair, but he acted like there was some big secret hidden in his scalp. I remembered Keifer's reaction when I once tried to comment on Yuri's hair.
Keifer had looked like he was stopping me from digging too deep or asking anything about Yuri's hair.
Are you hiding something in your scalp?
"N-Nothing, it's just dusty," I said, but I knew he didn't believe me.
His hair wasn't made of gold, but he was acting like he was protecting it from being stolen. Would I be able to pawn it if I managed to grab some? Maybe lice would be happy living in it, given how much he treasures it.
"I will j-just clean my hair," Yuri muttered before walking out of the room.
I thought he was heading to the bathroom, but then I remembered Percy's leftover "demon" was still in there. It was better for him to fix his hair elsewhere. I fanned myself with my hand. The cold air from the AC had disappeared since the window was open. I glanced at Aries and noticed he was looking at me. We quickly looked away from each other. He kept fanning the air out of the window. The smell was still there, but at least it was bearable now. Damn my stepbrother's stomach—it was like he had a rotting animal hidden inside.
"Go home," Aries said without looking at me.
Who was he talking to? Did he have an imaginary friend by the window now? I didn't respond and just pursed my lips. Why was he telling his new friend to go home? That was creepy.
"I'll stay at Kuya Angelo's unit instead."
I knew he was referring to me, but I still didn't answer. I was going to keep pretending he was talking to an invisible friend.
"I'll talk to Kuya and get your stuff."
Go ahead, Jay-Jay, act like he's not talking to you.
"You'll be better taken care of at home," he continued.
But I kept ignoring him. I didn't know how long I could keep it up, but I had to. This was for the best. I didn't want to add to his pain. It seemed like he noticed my avoidance. He let out a deep sigh.
"I know the truth, Jay," he said, making me glance at him.
He stopped fanning and faced me. I suddenly wanted to run out of the room.
I had a feeling I knew what "truth" he was talking about. Did I have a choice here? Truth or dare? Why was it only truth?
"You remember that night? The night we both suffered because of that guy? He kidnapped us and tried to separate us… and then things happened."
His voice was calm as he spoke, but I wasn't.
I immediately covered my ears. "DON'T REMIND ME!" I screamed at him.
Everything came rushing back. A dark room, scattered objects, the stench of the place, broken glass, and flowing blood. And Aries—lying on the floor, clutching his wound.
I didn't want to remember. I didn't want to relive it. I didn't want to think about it ever again. That was why I didn't want to see Aries. Aside from the guilt, I couldn't bear to look at his face and remember him in that state—struggling to breathe.
I couldn't take it. I didn't want those memories to keep haunting me.
I jumped up and tried to run out, but he grabbed my arm. I struggled, but he held onto both of my shoulders.
He forced me to face him. I broke down in heavy sobs.
"I-I'm sorry... I didn't mean to do it. Please believe me—I didn't want to stab you," I cried, about to kneel before him, but he stopped me.
Shock and concern flashed across his face, but my guilt overwhelmed me.
"How much do you remember? But Kuya Angelo said..." He didn't finish his sentence.
I didn't understand what he meant. I just kept crying and apologizing. Because of me, he would suffer for the rest of his life. He wouldn't even be able to move properly anymore. I had marked him forever.
"I-I didn't mean to d-do it... I had no c-control..."
He stared at me in silence, listening to every word I said. I thought he was angry because he wasn't saying anything. But then, little by little, he pulled me into a hug.
"Sshh... I'm not mad. Kuya isn't mad at you," he whispered.
But I knew my apologies weren't enough. I knew he should still be angry. He had every right to resent me, curse me, and humiliate me. He should hate me. He should never forgive me.
I sobbed even harder because I felt like he was being too kind. And me? All I had ever given him was pain.