50 Aya Or Ava? (2/2)
Hope gave some money from his pocket to an old woman there, sitting on her legs. Her clothing had holes all over. Hope then came back to us with a thin smile.
That was the most genuine expression I had seen on his face since that morning. For some reason, I was moved by Hope, producing a few notes from my pocket and donated to the old woman. Aya did the same too.
Hope raised an eyebrow at me. ”Why Ava?”
I gave him a big smile before answering his question. ”Because Papa did so.”
”I see,” said Hope.
He turned his back against me and proceeded to walk into the store.
My chest felt tight when he did that. The Hope I knew would never do that. He had no emotions whatsoever. His attention was never on me that whole time.
'Why are you so sad about that? He left you alone once, you know?' said a voice far in my mind.
”But... I love Hope. He's the only one,” I mumbled.
I woke back to reality when Aya poked at my cheek. She squinted at me.
”You see, Ava, It's not good for you to be feeling down like this. I don't know what Hope was like before. But since Daddy brought him back with him two years ago, his eyes were no longer bright. Daddy... did a lot of things to him. But I never knew what it was,” said Aya.
”Feeling down, huh?” I repeated.
Aya gestured for me to go into the convenience store and I did so at whim.
We bought a few kinds of stuff, mainly foods and drinks. Aya suggested a park not far from where we were at and went there.
”There are not that many people around as I thought,” said Aya. She sat on the gra.s.s, overlooking the clear river and both Hope and I sat next to her.
”You're not gonna eat that, Papa?”
Hope had a bag of chips in what was left of his right hand, but his mind was elsewhere.
”Usually, Ava,” said Aya. ”I played with the toys that Mommy bought for me whenever I was not needed. And I've seen what she did to people she had no use anymore.”
I s.h.i.+fted my attention towards Aya. ”Are you the last Aegis User before I came here, Aya?”
”No. Before you, Miranda's the last one. About four years ago, I think,” she replied.
I frowned. ”Wait, so at what age did you become an Aegis User?”
”Six years ago, I suppose. At that time, I was... six years old? Yes.” She nodded at her own statement.
Aya was the youngest Aegis User if she was six when she became one. If I remembered correctly, Alicia and Bart experimented on my body four years ago, which meant Miranda and I were the same.
And yet I never knew about it until two years ago.
”Papa...” I muttered. My hand shook his shoulder but he remained silent, eyes on the river. ”I should've been with you, Papa. You will not have become like this.”
Aya munched on a whole waffle and looked at me. ”But the same thing could also be said in your case Ava. If he was with you, I'm sure you would become a different person than you are now.”
She said the right thing. Both me and Hope should be there for each other. Losing either one affected us tremendously.
”Papa?” I said.
He dropped his bag of chips and tilted sideways a bit like he was going to drop on the ground anytime soon.
”PAPA!”
Hope fell onto the gra.s.s with his eyes wide open, unconscious. I tried to wake him up by shaking his body vigorously, but it was futile.
”Ava, I'll get help!” offered Aya.
”Please!”
She got up and ran to a couple down at the river.
”Papa... wake up,” I muttered. My eyes were tearing up at that point, afraid I would lose him again. To meet him like that, not being manipulated by anyone was a dream. A miracle that I had wished for as long as I could remember.
The day that he and I would become a real family.
I wanted it to happen. I really did.
”So please, wake up, Papa.”
. . .
An ambulance came for Hope and brought him to the nearest hospital. Of course, Aya and I were there along the way.
I waited outside of a ward where Hope was being treated. Aya tried to say something to me but my ears refused to listen.
I was too nervous. Panic and fear overwhelmed me.
A doctor walked out of the ward after a while and approached both of us. His eyes were grim.
”Papa! Is he alright?!” I immediately asked.
The doctor put up a smile, however, I knew all too well that Hope was in a bad condition.
”Are you one of his family member?” asked the doctor.
”Papa!” I repeated. ”Is he alright?!”
”He's stable now. He's alright,” said the doctor.
I let out my breath at that good news. ”Can I meet him?”
”Sure. But, he seems to be...”
”Beaten up? Tortured?” continued Aya.
The doctor jerked his head back. ”Er, yes.”
I pushed past the doctor that was still talking to Aya and marched through the ward's door. ”Papa!”
Hope was at the bed, looking out of the window. Two nurses that were there walked out when the doctor gestured for them to do so.
I quickly reached out for his hand. It was still cold. I called out his name several times, and yet Hope did not respond. His eyes were fixed on the sunset outside.
The hatred that I had kept inside started to pour out.
”Why...” I muttered.
The doctor was reluctant to come near me and I glared at him. ”Tell me everything. What is his condition right now?”
Aya nodded at the doctor and he rubbed his forehead. ”His condition, like I said before, is stable. But his inner organs are in bad shape. A few bones in his ribs were broken. He suffers from malnutrition. And due to that, there are not enough nutrients to make up for his deficiency in red blood cells. He suffers from anemia.”
I took in the information bit by bit, and rage welled up inside me. ”Then?”
The doctor glanced at Aya and she nodded again.
”More importantly, his heart is battered up,” the doctor continued, ”there were a few amateur... st.i.tches applied to it. It can be said that his heart was punctured by a sharp object before. And there's also a crack in his skull. But because of all that...”
”He should be dead, right?” I said. ”He's not because of Bart's subpar regeneration ability bestowed upon him.”
The doctor seemed to know about Aegis Users since he obeyed Aya. Perhaps he worked in the military headquarters once.
”Yes.” The doctor looked back at the closed door and sighed. ”Sir Bart's Aegis helps him in that regard. And since his crystal no longer embedded inside that boy, his body can only keep him alive long enough.”
”You mean, he will...” I muttered.
”Don't worry. He's no longer in danger. He just needs to eat properly and have a lot of rest from now on. In the future, perhaps I will make him undergo a surgery to replace his liver. Other than that, he should be fine,” said the doctor.
”Thank you,” I said.
”Just doing my job. Now, I need to apply some nutrition liquids into him. So, if you can...”
”Okay. Thank you again, doctor,” I said, making my way to the door.
”You're welcome.”
I gazed at Hope's figure one last time and turned towards a corner once I was out of the ward.
”Ava...” said Aya.
”I'll kill them.”
”Huh?”
I glared at Aya and she backed off, realizing I was not in the mood to care for what she had to say.
”Daddy and Mommy have that controller, Ava,” said Aya. ”But if you run away now, I promise I won't tell anyone where you go.”
”No.”
”Um, what do you mean?” asked Aya.
We were out of the hospital and I turned to face Aya. ”I'll destroy that controller when the time comes. And for that to happen, I need to be as close to Alicia and Bart as possible.”
”Oh, okay.” Aya fidgeted at her jacket, refusing to meet my glare. ”You're scary right now, Ava.”
”Is that so?”
I walked briskly up ahead of her so that she did not hear what I said.
”I'll kill them... I'll kill them,” I said under my breath.
”I'll make them pay.”
”I'll kill them.”
”I'll slice them into pieces.”
”I'll carve their hearts out.”
”I'll kill them...”
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