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"MARGOT..."
Augustine's voice was soft and broken, his frail body covered by the blanket he was covered up in. His lips were dry and cracked, the five-year-old's body rejecting any food or fluids he tried to push down. At this point, his death was inevitable. Heaving, he let out a dry cough, a few trails of blood falling down his chin. Margot flinched a little, her tiny hand resting on his shoulder. Jean was somewhere in the room, but he was awfully quiet, allowing his presence alone to be of comfort to the twins. "Yes, Augustine?" Margot replied, moving her hand from his shoulder and moving closer to where he was laying. "What is it?" "I hope you get to see dad someday," Augustine sighed, looking over at her with his grey eyes that were exactly like her own. "I hope he's a good person. Or at least, tries to be. Sometimes it's hard to be a good person." "Why's that?" Margot asked, not understanding. He traced small patterns on the back of her hand, his eyes droopy and unfocused. "The world isn't a nice place sometimes." Augustine cleared his throat, his other hand coming up to scratch his throat. He was so pale, it pained Margot to see him like this. Her second half. "Some people turn bad because of it, don't you think?" Margot pondered on his words, the wisdom he had reaching far past someone of his age. She couldn't really understand what he was saying, but she knew she would someday. "I bet your dad is a really cool guy," Jean spoke up, plodding over to them and sitting at the end of Augustine's bed. "Probably in the Military Police." "No, the Scout Regiment. The Military Police are boring," Augustine argued. "Jean, if you join the military police, you can't marry my sister. She needs someone interesting." "I'm not going to marry Margot, Gus!" Jean turned bright red, looking away to hide how flustered he was. "Don't be weird." "You're going to come to my wedding, aren't you?" Margot asked. She still had a shred of hope that Augustine would pull through and make it through his sickness, even if everyone else had given up. Even he had given up. But he managed a small smile, pushing away the tears that tried to fall from his eyes. "I will. Although, you won't need to get married if you have Jean and I," Augustine played along. "We can just make fun of Jean for the rest of our lives, because he's stuck with us." "Hey!" Jean pouted and Margot giggled, putting her arm around his shoulder and giving him a brief hug.
