Care For Me ✔️

T H I R T Y - N I NE

As I'm about to respond, the door to our hospital room is aggressively opened— hitting the wall in the process causing Jack and I to flinch, before large smiles break out on our faces as we gaze at the intruders.

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My small body is engulfed in warmth as five of the seven intruders pull me into a group hug. Jack receives the same treatment from the other two.

"We missed you." Luke and Atlas say in unison as they pull back from the comforting hug.

"Yeah Lil— we've been so worried, we wanted to call but Enzo and Elliot wouldn't give us Jack's number." Bella tells me, her brown doe eyes filled with sadness as she stares at my small figure.

"I can't believe no one told us you were in hospital! Leo I could kill you." Maya all but shouts as she glares daggers at Leo, the latter giving her a bored look.

She's always so dramatic.

"I did tell you." Leo responds.

"No you didn't, you told Em and he won't tell us what happened. So care to explain? We've spent this past week being so worried, Milo never told us where you and Jack were until yesterday." Maya states as she turns her beryl gaze to me.

"There's a lot you guys don't know Mi." I whisper softly. My eyes lock on Emilio's figure as he stands next to his older brother— his kind eyes filled with guilt.

"Can you tell us Lil? Only if you want to? Emilio said that him and Enzo have a rough idea, but that it's not their place to say?" Bella asks me softly.

Do Emilio and Enzo know the full story? I look at Leo with a questioning gaze, he meets my eye and walks over to my bed side leaning down so his lips are level with my ear.

"They obviously know you're our sister, but they don't know the full story as to why you guys are here Lil, just that you and Jack had issues at home and ended up in the hospital." He whispers to me.

I nod at Leo before I turn my gaze to Jack, silently asking him if he's okay with me sharing our story. He gives me a small smile before taking my small hand in his own.

"You guys might want to sit down." Jack tells our friends.

Our brothers stand by the window, giving our friends room to sit down. Mi and Bella sit on my left whilst Atlas and Luke sit by my feet, as Elliot, Enzo and Emilio squeeze onto Jack's bed.

"Where to begin." Jack laughs causing me to roll my eyes at him as I bite back a grin— he's such a goof.

"The beginning would be great." Maya states sarcastically as Jack flips her off.

"Jack don't flip off a twelve year old." Grey scolds.

Causing Maya to grin and Jack to roll his eyes. "You're kidding Grey, she deserved it!"

Grey raises an eyebrow at Jack, causing the latter to mumble a small sorry— before he whispers to Maya— silently enough for Grey not to hear. "You're a little shit."

"Whatever blondie, can you tell us now?" Mi states causing me to roll my eyes at her impatience.

"We got shot, Lily is Leo's twin, Zac is our new guardian. The end." I gape at Jack, that's one way to tell the story.