Kiwi and I came up with an idea. She would send me ambiguous prompts, and I'd try writing something based upon it. 3-5 paragraphs or more if I really like the prompt... So... yeah. Hopefully I'll get better at writing this way.
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A thick black cloud of smoke billowed out from his father's room. His eyes widened from the horrifying realization that his sister had gone in there only moments ago. Had his father caused the fire? Was this his plan to finally be free of them both? His shoulders tensed up. He could hear the distinct screams of his sister, followed up by her wheezes, an attempt to clear her lungs of the cancerous ash most likely. Why can't he move? He could save her. He could run in and grab her from their father's grasp. WHY ISN'T HE MOVING?! "I FOUND A KID IN HERE!" Someone behind him shouted. A firefighter judging by the muffled tone of their voice. Before he knew what was happening, he was being dragged away. SAY SOMETHING. SAY SOMETHING GODDAMNIT! YOUR SISTER IS BURNING ALIVE IN THERE AND YOU AREN'T SAYING ANYTHING. THEY WON'T KNOW IF YOU DON'T- "Jack? Jack are you alright?" A soft voice snapped him out of his daydream... Well... More of a nightmare actually. His eyes shifted towards the lady hovering over him. One of the nurses he assumed. There was a police officer standing next to her. Jack nodded. It was a lie of course, but he didn't want to be told everything would be alright. He knew it wouldn't. "Everything will be alright kid," The officer spoke up, kneeling to his level. There it was anyways. "Officer John is going to ask you a few questions okay kiddo? I have to check on your sister alright?" The nurse smiled. How fake. She walked off down the corridor, her shoes clicking against the bleached tile floor. "Listen Jack, we have reason to believe your old man wasn't exactly... Treating you and your sister very well, it would be really helpful if you could confirm that for us?" The officer asked. Yet another fake smile from yet another fake person. Jack didn't dignify the officer with an answer. "Alright, I get it if you're having some emotional struggles right now, I'll ask some other questions okay? It took the firefighters a long time to find your sister, it's a miracle she made it out alive... Why didn't you tell us she was in the building Jack?" The officer asked again. Who the HELL gave this man permission to question his morals? Jack looked up at the officer, his expression unchanging. "Fuck. Off." Jack replied, his voice raspy from breathing in so much smoke. "Hm, for a fourteen-year-old you have quite the potty mouth, didn't anyone ever tell you to respect your elders?" The officer huffed, standing back up. "Let us see, I have a missing mother and a now deceased father, I cannot say either of them have," Jack replied sarcastically. He was done here; he had nothing to say to this man. All he wanted was to protect his sister and leave. "Watch that mouth kid, you'll get yourself in trouble one of these days," The officer sneered. The nurse walked back up to them, her telltale shoe clicks following behind her. God her voice was sandpaper to Jack's ears. "Are you done officer? I need to take Jack to see his sister," The nurse had her stupid smile permanently glued onto her stupid face. "We're done for now at least, I'll come back tomorrow with an interrogation specialist," The officer sighed. He began to walk away, but Jack made sure to send him one last glare in his direction. "Come on bud, let's go see Catherine!" The nurse smiled wider somehow. She held a hand out for Jack to take. Jack ignored her however, getting up on his own. "Do not speak of her as if you know her," Jack growled. "Aw, it's cute to see a big brother so dedicated to protecting his little sister! Well go on then, I'll be right behind you, she's in room 26," Her face had to be made of plastic, botox maybe? Jack turned down the corridor and walked towards his sister's room. Click. Click. Click. The nurse was following closely behind him. Wearing heels on the job had to be against some kind of regulation. Ironically, the corridor made him feel sick to his stomach. White wall, white doors, white overly reflective floor, and my god the bright white lights above him were hurting his eyes. He was incredibly thankful when the little sign that read "Room 26" came into view. "Now you should open the door as quietly as possible, she's resting, and I believe the doctor is in there making some adjustments to make Catherine more comfortable," The nurse hummed. Jack only half listened to her, carefully opening the door. His blue eyes immediately focused in on the random kid standing next to his sister's hospital bed with a clipboard. "David?! What are you doing in here?!" The nurse shouted in a hushed tone. The kid looked up at Jack and the nurse, surprise filling his emerald colored eyes. "Oh! Nurse Rosewell! Sorry, my mom sent me in here to make some additional observations, she thinks since I'm younger I might have a different insight compared to a trained doctor like herself," The kid, apparently named David, explained. He smiled at the two of them, but it wasn't fake like any of the nurse's smiles. It was... Probably the realest thing Jack had seen today. It was comforting in a way. Jack almost felt the need to thank this kid. "Insight or not, you have no reason to be in here! Come with me, we should give Jack here time alone with his sister," The nurse's smile finally left her face. Yet another thing Jack should thank David for. The nurse turned to leave, motioning for David to follow her. "He... Can stay actually," Jack mumbled, getting the nurse's attention. The nurse seemed confused for a moment, before nodding. "Ah, I get it, it's probably better for you to have someone in your age group to chat with during such difficult times, alright, I'll be back in a few minutes, I need to have some words with the doctor," The nurse sighed and left, the door closing behind her with a quiet thud. "Are you sure you want me to stay? I can leave if you want, I don't want to get in the way of a personal moment," David laughed awkwardly. Real smiles and real laughter? That settled it, he had to stay. "I would actually prefer it if you stayed, you are the only person I have met that has not talked down to me so far," Jack chuckled. "I'm just going to nod and hope that wasn't a short joke, anyways, my name is David, I'm the doctor's son, she likes to bring me to work whenever she can since I want to be a doctor when I'm old enough," David greeted. "Nice to meet you, my name is Jack, although I wish we were meeting under better circumstances." "Heh, yeah, come on over here, your sister is in stable condition, but she's exhausted! She'll probably have to sleep for awhile in order to get some strength back," David gestured for Jack to come closer. Jack couldn't help but notice how much nicer the room was than the corridor. Sure there was plenty of unsettling medical equipment scattered around the place, but there seemed to be a few personal touches here and there that made the room cozy. Jack walked up to his sister's bed, hovering over her. The smell of fire hit him first. She smelled like smoke and ashes. Her face was scarred by burns. The sick to his stomach feeling came back. He hated seeing his sister like this. He was so focused on the scars, that he almost didn't notice that her hair had been cut shorter. Long black locks now stopped at her shoulders. "Was her hair like that when she was brought in?" Jack asked. "No, the tips of her hair had been singed pretty badly, we cut it shorter to avoid further hair damage," David replied. A silence lingered between them for awhile. "So... How old are you guys?" David asked, desperate to break the silence. "I am fourteen, my sister is twelve, you?" Jack didn't take his eyes off of his sister. It was nice of the other kid to try and take his mind off the situation with light banter, and he figured it would only be polite to humor him. "Thirteen." "And you are that short?" "Hey! This is a perfectly normal height for a boy my age! You're just tall!" "Actually, my height is the normal height, you are just short." "Oh whatever!" David pouted, crossing his arms. Jack glanced over at David. After everything he had been through, this blonde kid with his stupidly adorable pouty face was a welcome distraction. For years upon years Jack and his sister had suffered constant abuse from their terrible father, and now he was gone and they were both stuck in a hospital for who knows how long? Might as well make the best of it Jack supposed. "Thank you," Jack smiled. David's head tilted to the side, a sign of confusion. "What are you thanking me for?" "For being you I guess, your personality is quite refreshing," Jack shrugged. David's face turned bright red, the freckles on his face standing out and his eyes sparkling with something unknown to Jack. God would it be possible for him to just marry this angel so he could just see his smile everyday? "Y-You're uh... You're welcome," David stuttered out, averting his eyes from Jack. "Hey... If you two are gonna have sex can you maybe do it on someone else's hospital bed?" A raspy voice chuckled. They turned to see Catherine's tired face. She had a small grin tugging at the corners of her mouth, and her eyes were lidded. "Oh! You're awake! I was told to give you this!" David jumped down from whatever he was standing on and ran over to a corner of the room, returning with a glass of water and a pill. "What's that?" She rasped. "A pain pill, you were stuck under some rubble, so when your nerves wake up you're bound to have some pretty bad body aches, might as well get ahead of the game, besides, you sound like you could use some water," David giggled. Catherine tried to squirm her arms out of her blanket, freezing upon feeling a sharp pain shooting up through her arms. David seemed to understand, putting a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Don't put any unnecessary strain on yourself, here, open your mouth," David sighed. Catherine hesitantly did so and allowed David to place the pill on her tongue. He held the glass up to Catherine's mouth, and allowed her to sip from it. The cool water sliding down her throat felt incredibly relieving, and she savored the feeling. "You seem to have changed ages doc, and you went through a sex change?" Catherine chuckled. "My apologies, allow me to introduce myself, my name is David, I'm the doctor's son, my mom wanted me to give her my insight on your injuries or whatever," David explained. "And you decided the best way to do that was to seduce my brother?" Catherine smirked. "P-Pardon?" David squeaked. "That is enough Catherine, did you wake up only to tease the poor guy?" Jack rolled his eyes. "Well, no, I heard your voice and forced myself to wake up, I'm glad you're alright, I was so worried! They wouldn't tell me anything!" Catherine frowned. "They needed to focus on you, I am fine, a few scrapes and alot of smoke in my lungs, but compared to you I was completely unscathed," Jack replied. "Dad... He... He pulled me into his room and started choking me and he dropped a cigarette and I tried to tell him but he-" Jack quickly silenced his sister with a hug. Catherine pushed through the pain and managed to hug her brother back. Salty tears slid down her face and caused some of the burns to sting. She could care less. "He is gone now Catherine, he was unable to escape the fire," Jack explained. "We... We're free?" "We are free, and as long as I am alive I promise I will not allow anyone else to hurt you," Jack vowed. They seperated after a good five minutes. Catherine went to wipe the tears from her eyes, but she was stopped by David. "I wouldn't do that if I were you, you don't want to irritate those burns too much, here," David reached over with a tissue and dabbed a few tears off of Catherine's face, being mindful of her burns. "Gee thanks mom, or... Brother-in-law," Ah yes, Catherine's smirk was back. Jack flipped her off. David looked at each of them, confused yet again. "I'm sorry...?" Jack took a mental note to start comparing each face David made in order to figure out which one was the most adorable. "Ignore her, she is clearly dazed from all of the fumes she inhaled," Jack lied. "The only thing I'm breathing in is sexual tension," Catherine winked. "Go back to sleep," Jack frowned. "While I am not entirely sure what is going on, I have to agree with Jack, you should get a full 24 hours rest," David sighed. "Okay okay, I'll go to sleep so you two can make out in peace, hey David, take care of my brother would you? He could use a sub in his life," Catherine laughed, drifting off. Jack's gaze shifted back over to David. His eyes were wide and he seemed incredibly flustered. Now that was a nice expression. "You are quite lovely when you are flustered," Jack complimented the blonde. "S-Shut up," David covered his face with his hands, embarrassment taking over. Maybe a few days in this chemical bath the public called a hospital wouldn't be so bad.
