The sun shines through the overcast sky and through the hospital window. The light landing gently on Aris's face. His eyes flicker open, the heart monitor ticks up. He takes a heavy breath in, but the dryness in his throat catches him. The dry, chesty cough wakes the man, conked out on the window-side sofa. He rushes to Aris, patting his back and offering him the bottle of water at his bedside table. Aris chugs it down as if the IV drops had done nothing for the several hours he was knocked out.

Aris composes himself, his heart monitor calming down, as he wipes away droplets of water off his chin. He looks at the man, and the ticks spike up. The jade-green eyes look at the heart rate and then back at Aris. He backs away, sitting on the sofa, sighing heavily.

—So this is how you see me?

"Good m—" the man catches himself, looking at the clock. "Good afternoon." The words came out heavy.

Aris studied the man's face. Malcolm looked like he hadn't slept—stubble, red-rimmed eyes, that rough voice of someone who'd been talking too much or not at all.

Aris shifted, wincing as unfamiliar soreness pulled at muscles he couldn't place. Nothing felt right. The clothes weren't his. The ocean-blue walls weren't in his room. Tubes fed into his arm while monitors tracked rhythms he could feel but not understand.

He started to speak, then stopped. What was there to say? Instead, he managed a small nod and tried to piece together how he'd ended up here.

"I wasn't sure you were going to wake up," Malcolm said quietly. He leaned forward, elbows on his knees, hands clasped. "The doctors... they couldn't explain what happened. Or how you recovered."

Aris shifted uncomfortably. The heart monitor's beeping seemed louder in the silence.

"I keep thinking about yesterday." Malcolm's voice was steady, but his knuckles were white. "The things I said. The pressure I put on you, have been putting on you." He looked up, meeting Aris's eyes briefly before looking away. "I told myself I was preparing you for the world. But I was just... repeating the same mistakes."

Malcolm stood, walked to the window, his back to Aris. "My brother raised you for eighteen years without destroying your spirit. I managed it in just weeks."

Is this supposed to be an apology? Aris thought, but something in Malcolm's posture—the rigid shoulders, the careful control—made him hesitate.

"I don't know how to undo that," Malcolm continued, his reflection visible in the glass. "I don't know if I should even try. Maybe the best thing I can do is stay away."

He turned back, and Aris caught something raw in his expression—not tears, but something deeper. Exhaustion. Genuine regret.

"It shouldn't have taken... this to realise." His shoulders drop. "I'm sorry."

He felt urged to say something, but reason fought against him; he didn't have anything to say to White, to someone who was clinging to the Strider legacy. But reason didn't stop his voice, "What was 'this' thing that it took for you to realise?"

Malcolm went rigid, his hands trembling as he stared at something Aris couldn't see. When he spoke again, his voice was hollow, as if he were recounting a nightmare. Aris's lifeless body, the girl bent over his body, and then he lay on the table, conscious but unable to move, before his body gave out again. He didn't want to remember, the guilt crushing him, regret suffocating him, grief fracturing his vision. It also served as the push he needed to tell him, the new start he begged for.

He explained everything he saw; anything prior was still a mystery to him, left to the detectives to deduce.

"You were there for the autopsy?" Aris asked, perplexed.

"I couldn't accept that you were gone until I saw your heart had stopped. I kept thinking maybe— maybe you were just unconscious, maybe I could still..."

Aris sat with that information, letting it settle, then he realised. "Why are you here?"

The answer seemed obvious to Malcolm, but lingering silence felt like otherwise for Aris.

"What do you mean?" Malcolm asked.

"You're the principal... right?"

"Ah, I left it for Ashe to handle. I've been texting her while I was here, but my phone died a few hours ago," he says, looking at the clock. "She should have things handled; if not, I guess Alice is already gunning for my spot," he said, trailing at the end. "That's not important right now, though. How are you feeling? After everything," the careful concern in his voice sounded rehearsed, unfamiliar.

Weirded out by the overly familiar voice, he still answered, "Sore." He takes a deep breath. "and really heavy, like I'm under water. And lightheaded," as he pays more attention to his body, he realises. "And hungry," he clutches his stomach. "Like painfully hungry."

"I'll go get the nurses, then." Malcolm rushes out to call the nurses. The moment the door opened, the noises came in like a wave. It didn't sound crowded, but it felt loud, overwhelming; it made every second feel twice as long. It felt overbearing.

The door shut, and the sudden quiet felt almost as jarring as the noise had been. Aris pressed his palms against his temples, waiting for his heart rate to settle back down.

Minutes later, Malcolm returned with bread rolls in hand and an update that the kitchen staff was preparing something more substantial. As Aris ate, slowly, they found themselves talking—tentatively at first, then with growing ease.

Malcolm watched Aris tear into the bread roll and felt an unexpected lightness in his chest. These were the conversations I wanted to have someday, he thought. After graduation, after he'd found his footing, when we had time.

But someday had nearly become never. How many people plan for later and run out of time? The question weighed heavily on his mind as Aris asked about the changing leaves outside the window.

If something happens to either of us tomorrow, Malcolm realised, at least we'll have had this.

A nurse entered with a double-decker trolley loaded with food. "Just eat what you can," she said, positioning it within Aris's reach and pulling out the adjustable bed table. "Take your time."

They continued talking as Aris worked through the meal—tentatively at first, then with growing comfort. Malcolm found himself sharing stories about his own university days, while Aris described life in Ottawa. Small things, normal things.

As Aris finished the last of the soup, their conversation naturally wound down. Malcolm glanced at the clock, knowing he'd already stayed longer than planned.

"Before I go," he said, his tone shifting slightly, "there's something you should know about who's coming to see you."

Aris gestured to him to go on as he swallowed the soup.

"You've shown you aren't on the best of terms with the rest of the family," he said carefully. "Neither am I," he whispered audibly. "But they did come to check up on you."

Aris thought about it, his vow, and the people he would be facing. "Lilith can come; the rest can go check themselves into the stock exchange."

Malcolm was tempted to ask for the reason behind the decision, but his time was up. "I'll see how long I can keep them."

Aris watched him walk out, the sounds of the halls still overbearing, but at least he braced for it this time.

He set the bowl aside, contemplating how to act on his promise. He habitually brought his knees to his chest, but he stopped halfway because of how sore he still felt, like his body had been tenderised. He tried stretching his legs, trying to tolerate the pain so he could get up and walk.

He tried to stand, gripping the IV stand, but his legs gave out and sent them both tumbling.

As he tried to get up, footsteps approached.

"Still learning how to walk?" a familiar snarky voice comments. "Can't believe you're getting beat by a child still."

He looks up, seeing his sister, dressed in all black and hair dyed black.

Aris groans in pain as he tries to get up, "You're lucky I can't throw you out the window myself."

"If you want me to leave so bad, just say so," Lilith raises arms in mock surrender as she walks away.

"HEY!" Aris calls out. "I taught you how to walk! You owe me!"

She stopped in her tracks, looking down at him thoughtfully, "I don't know if I do now who's gonna help you when you're 80?"

"Still you! You know what Mom said about treating your brother with respect. Now stop being difficult and help your favourite brother back up."

"I don't know about favourite," Lilith hummed thoughtfully, "maybe third fave? That sounds better, I think."

"Well, I'm not seeing any other brother here, so I think I'm the best one here."

"Well, Zephry doesn't have to be here to be the best."

The banter between the siblings continued, with Lilith forcing Aris to beg to get up.

"Sike! You a bum if you think you're actually my favourite." Aris brutally retracts

"Okay, I'll just pull you down again and—"

"I'm kidding!!! Obviously! God forbid a man makes a joke, sheesh."

"Can't believe I leave you alone for like a month, you're already in the hospital. Told you that you should've brought me with you, bum."

"Erm, actually, 2 months," he says with a nerd voice, fixing his imaginary glasses.

"Doesn't make you less dramatic. What happened anyways?"

Aris paused, his expression tightening as he tried to parse the events for his baby sister. "Well, you see, when scientists and science nerds meet and they get together and science and when doing science, accidents happen."

"Uh-huh, accidents, science." Lilith looks him head to toe, "freaky ahh."

"No, no, not like that."

"It's fine, I'm sure mom will be ecstatic to know a grandchild is on the way." Lilith tries to get up to tell their mother, but is pulled down by Aris.

"You are not lying on my name!"

"Or what?" Lilith tries to shimmy her way out.

"I'll eat you!" Aris opens his mouth wide as he pounces on her.

He bites her cheek softly, while Lilith squeals in pretend anguish. She goes from flailing her arms to wrapping them around Aris.

Aris pulls away instinctively, feeling a sudden surge of pain. "Gaaah, you're so vile it hurts," he says with a pained voice, trying to brush it off. Lilith goes in for another hug, and Aris reflexively avoids her. "Ahhh, you're killing me!! Literally." his voice comes out hollowed out. "For real though, it actually hurts... all over."

"I didn't even do anything, so dramatic," she complains, pouting. "You never hug me."

"Never?"

"Never ever!!!"

"I did once when you were like six."

"That doesn't count, I'm older now, so I need a refresh!"

"Eh? Aren't you like 10? You've had enough for a childhood."

"I'm 14!"

"Eh? When was this? We're ageing 4 years in two months now?"

"Bitch!" Lilith smothers Aris with his pillow.

"I'm telling mom you said a bad word!" Aris pulls in Lilith, pulling her into his armpit.

"Ah! Get away!"

The door opens, and siblings freeze. A blonde woman welcomes herself in, Elise.

Lilith springs up, out of Aris's grip, with glee. Aris buries himself in the pillow, not wanting to witness the scene that is about to unfold.

"Oh em gee! Is this the girl you've been doing science with?!"

"No, Lilith. Go away." his cries come out suppressed by the pillow.

"Oh! So you're two-timing!"

"I'm lucky to be one timing, ya bish"

"Ooo, I'm telling mom!"

"I don't even know you, fam. You ain't telling my mom crap."

"So Ari's girlfriend, what's your name? And what's the name of your first child gonna be?"

Elise breaks into laughter. "I'm Elise. Who are you?" she asks, panting.

"I don't like this stranger," Aris shouts from under his pillow.

"I am Miss Lilith Strider, but for you it's Lily. I am going to start my own make-up brand that Ari will pay for," she stuck her tongue out while pulling down her eyelid. "And he'll be paying for all of our sister bonding time!"

"Ahaha, that's up to him really," Elise replies.

"See Lilith, it's not your money."

"We'll see when Mom sees Elise." Lilith gave Aris a conniving grin.

Aris mouths out curses at Lilith, and Lilith sends some back.

Lilith makes her way out, but before closing the door, she says, "Don't have too much fun, heehee."

"You never told me you had a funny sister," Elise says.