chapter 44
Avira
When Zoan told me he doesn’t feel pain, I didn’t think it was serious enough to have a medical name like congenital insensitivity to pain, and I definitely didn’t know it could be such a huge problem.
He could die because of this. He will never know when something goes wrong in his body. Because of that, he has private doctors who perform full-body checkups periodically, and I wasn’t aware of it until this incident.
Now, because of this issue, his recovery has become an extremely difficult task. He has opened every wound at least twice. He is on the verge of developing a serious infection, and I feel like I’m on the verge of dying from helplessness.
At this moment, he is literally tied to the bed. I don’t feel good seeing him like this. And neither does he, he hates it because it triggers his traumas.
Today, Uncle Maksim, Aunt Savi, and Kaz are here. Uncle and Aunt have already left the ward, now Kaz and I are sitting beside him.
“It’s been four days, right?” Kaz asks me.
I nod.
“And if he stays like this, he’ll recover from this tough phase in ten days?”
I nod again.
“I’m not staying like this for ten days,” Zoan frowns.
I sigh. “Staying like this is better than dying. I know you hate it, but there is no other choice.”
He close his eyes, still frowning.
“He is hating it so much that it’s showing on his face,” Kaz mutters.
The ward door opens, and Leo enters. He looks at Zoan with a frown. “Why is he tied like this?”
“He opened his wound on his stomach again. There are signs of infection growing. If he opens it again, the infection will spread enough to kill him,” I tell him.
All this happened this morning.
Leo sits on a chair near Zoan’s feet. “For how long does he need to stay like this?”
Zoan mutters without opening his eyes, “Ten days.”
“So you’ll be staying like this on my wedding day?”
Zoan opens his eyes. “No, I will be there.”
Leo smirks. “Let’s see.”
Kaz raises his brows. “How?” he asks Zoan.
“I heal quickly.”
I caress his head. “That’s good, you won’t have to stay here for long and we’ll go home.”
“But no matter how quickly he heals, he won’t be in a condition to attend a wedding,” Kaz says.
“He has strong control over his body. He can regulate his temperature, heart rate, blood pressure, oxygen level, metabolism. He’s never tried rapid healing before, but it’s not impossible for him. I want to see if he can do it.”
Kaz chuckles. “I used to think he had twenty eyes that keep watch over everything, an inbuilt system to record surrounding data, and reaction time measured in picoseconds. Now I know how all those superhuman actions happen. The man upgraded his body.”
“You all went through the same sort of training. Don’t you all have these abilities?” I ask them.
Leo laughs. “Zoan trained to become superhuman, we trained to become strong humans. There’s a difference.”
Kaz nods. “We can kill ten men, not thirty, and that too with three bullets in our bodies.”
I look at him. “You are not a superhuman, and next time you try to act like one, I will beat your ass. Every time you leave the house, there will be ten big black cars following you, just like Leo.”
He nods.
Kaz laughs. “I can’t believe I’m witnessing Zo becoming such an obedient good boy.”
The door opens again, and Pa enters. “Ok, children, leave. I want to spend some time with him.”
Pa, Ma, and Wen had come the day after the incident.
We all get up and leave the ward. I overheard their conversation yesterday, they talk like old militants who have fought many wars.
I stayed in the hospital the whole day, but Wen told me how Pa was singing songs about how Zoan did all that action.
He had been scolded by Ma for feeling proud and not worrying, but according to Pa, there was nothing to worry about.
He has been like this always. He has seen a lot in his life.
He was the most feared mafia king of California.
He left that life after Aunt was born. He was only soft for Aunt, with Daddy, he was the same as he was with Zoan and Leo.
When Daddy used to get hurt during training, Pa used to call it the glory of a man, and Ma would fight with Pa over it.
I reach the sitting area of Zoan’s ward. This place is kind of suite-like. Zoan’s ward is one room, there are two other rooms, one for sitting, the other a proper bedroom. There is also a kitchen and living room.
All my stuff is in the bedroom, but I don’t sleep there, I sleep in Zoan’s room on the couch.
My parents, Ma, Uncle Maksim, and Aunt Savi are sitting there. We also find our place and sit.
Soon after, Wen, Uncle Alessio, and Aunt Pheny also come. Wen and I walk into the bedroom.
“Mom and Dad also know about you and Zo,” Wen says.
My head snaps toward her. “Since when?”
“It was Mom and Aunt’s collective plan to tell Uncle that they think something is going on between you two. Although they didn’t expect Uncle to react like that, because for them it’s not a big deal.”
I hadn’t gotten the time to talk with Mom about it.
“And how was Uncle’s reaction?”
She shrugs. “Have you ever seen Dad reacting too strongly over anything? But I think he isn’t against it, or he would have said something to Mom at least.”
I sigh.
I get up from the bed. “Wait. I’m damn sure they are now talking about this.”
We walk out of the bedroom and lean against the wall near the sitting room. Its door is open, and their discussion is clearly reaching us.
“I see no problem in it,” Uncle Maksim says. “In fact, it’s best. If I had a daughter, I would have raised my son-in-law right in front of my eyes.”
Ma’s voice comes. “The children will get bad looks from people in our circle. I just hope they won’t be affected by it.”
“Zo gives no shit about people. Avi will feel bad, but I’m sure it won’t be that bad,” Leo says.
He is right. I’m a very thin-skinned person, people get under my skin very easily. Even if someone has nothing to do with me and they say something bad about me, I start feeling bad.
Zloban
The visiting hours have ended. Now it will be just my Dove and me. She told me everyone’s reaction to our relationship. I don’t really care what people think, but she cares a lot.
“I will need a thick skin,” she mutters, kissing my forehead. “So I won’t feel bad when someone makes a face about us.”
I chuckle. “You can’t have a thick skin, Dove.”
She lifts her face. “Why?”
I want to hold her so badly, but my hands are tied. She can only touch me above the neck, and that’s not nearly enough for me.
“Because you are like this. What did you do when you once got trolled on social media?”
“I stopped giving a shit.”
“No, Dove. You quit social media. When you don’t like something, you distance yourself from it. If someone says something about us, you’ll never speak to that person again, that’s what you’ll do.”
She pouts and pokes my cheek. “That’s what weak people do. I want to become strong.”
“Do you know how much your being so emotional contributes to your writing? I love my Dove with her spilled emotions, and everyone who matters loves you the way you are. So you don’t have to change. I will simply kill whoever makes you feel bad.”
She rests her forehead against mine. “You can’t kill everyone.”
“I can,” I murmur. “Happily.”
She kisses my lips. “But I won’t like it. I don’t want anyone to die because of me.”
“Then I’ll have to kill them without telling you.”
She purses her lips. I lift my face and kiss her pursed mouth. She holds my head and presses it to the pillow. “Keep your head here, don’t move it up.”
“Then keep your lips on mine.”
She smiles and kisses me.