To Move On (Part 1).
David turned on the side-turn signal and turned off the main road into the clinic grounds. "The closer we are to the place, the darker your face is. You can even scare Ashley with that look," the man looked sympathetically at his brother who was sitting in the passenger seat.
Daniel rolled his eyes, "What does my face have to do with it? I just didn't get enough sleep, okay? You know, talking to our mother is quite a quest! Have you no shame after all? Look at you, sitting here, looking so happy! What's most irritating is that I can see pink clouds around you," the elder Anderson folded his arms over his chest and turned to the window.
Chen Lee along with his wife and son went on vacation to China and took Sean with them. David seized the moment and cut his workday until lunchtime so that he wouldn't let Elena go off his arms for the rest of the day.
These couples in love! Like brother, like Armand - it is just impossible to look at them!
"They've set up a kingdom of rainbow unicorns here when there's so much to do," Daniel muttered to himself.
After the events in Peru and the subsequent electromagnetic flash, many people went to clinics with complaints about their health.
Fortunately, the energy shield that Marcus installed worked, and the consequences were not as fatal as expected. They were able to avoid a global energetic, economic and medical apocalypse, but those whose health was weakened felt ailments.
It took a month to process all complaints. Thanks to the database collected by MarcTechnologies, the organization of medical care went without incident or delay. During this time, Daniel almost did not appear at the clinic where Rick was.
The health of the VIP patient was no longer threatened, and he was confidently on the mend. The professionalism of the clinic's medical staff was sufficient, and the constant presence of Corey and Ashley served as excellent moral support.
And today was the day that Rick was finally supposed to be discharged.
"By the way, after talking to you, mother called me back and told me some unexpected news," David parked his car near the main entrance and turned off the ignition. "Are you going back to England?"
Daniel swore to himself, "I knew this woman couldn't keep her mouth shut!" the man ran his hand through his hair and stared thoughtfully at the windshield in front of him, "I also want a vacation, I deserve it. I bought tickets for today's night flight. My absence is unlikely to cause a collapse. All this nervous work negatively affects my flawless appearance. Look, I even have a wrinkle on my forehead!"
Daniel leaned over to his brother and jabbed a finger in his forehead, demonstrating evidence of the accumulated stress, "I'm going to our father's country house. The Internet does not work there, nor does cellular communication. Nature, silence, beauty! I will sit on the bank of the river and fish."
David tapped his brother on the forehead and looked at him with a look full of skepticism, "Fishing? Are you serious? In thirty-five years you have never willingly gone to that house. Don't mess with my ears! Decided to run away?"
"Huh? Who do you think I am? I'm not a teenager anymore." Daniel pulled the door handle to get out of the car, but David was faster and locked all doors.
"Have you talked to Corey?"
"David, what can we talk about?! We broke up two months ago!" the elder Anderson exploded. He did not expect that his younger brother, who was usually indifferent to Daniel's personal life, would suddenly decide to talk heart to heart. "She has Rick. He needs her. Corey is a wonderful woman and deserves to be happy. I'm not so selfish as to impose my feelings on a person after what she went through."
The man reached for the dashboard, pressed the button that unlocked the doors, got out of the car, and walked briskly to the main entrance. He wanted to get things done here as soon as possible and get away. Preferably to another continent.
David sighed and followed his brother. "Being selfish in the fight for your happiness is sometimes not so bad," he caught up with Daniel at the entrance to the clinic, "Corey is not a porcelain vase that can crack from your pressure. It's one thing when Rick was in a coma, and his life depended on her presence. Everything is different now. You can play on equal terms."
Both men walked confidently down the corridor, attracting the attention of the nurses and visitors in the foyer. But, to the great regret of the women, none of the brothers deigned them even a glance.
Daniel put his keycard to the lock on the door that led to the service entrance. "I'm not sure that I want to play, David. We've already lost too much. A month passed, and Elena's hair remained white as if she had turned gray in an instant. I know she doesn't care, and she tries to be strong. But I don't want to bother her with worrying about Corey."
They went out into a long, bright corridor that connected the main building of the clinic with another building, where the wards of special patients were located. A glazed wall, with tall floor-to-ceiling windows, overlooked a cozy indoor garden for walking.
"What does Elena or Corey have to do with it? I'm talking about you! Stop worrying about the well being of others, think about your own interests!" David really wanted to hit his brother on the head with something heavy, so that he would reduce his nobility by at least a half.
"Ahaha, sorry. Apparently, my older brother complex is stronger than I thought. I even gave you the biggest pieces of cake as a child."
"Yeah, and if you remember, I didn't eat them and gave them to our dog. Because it was not what I wanted," sighed David, "It's enough to decide for others what is best for them. Let them decide for themselves."
Daniel slowed his pace, put his hand on his brother's shoulder, and broke into a satisfied smile, "How did you grow, my baby? You make such serious speeches with concern about me! Daddy is about to cry a mean tear."
He stretched his lips to the top of David's head, but the man pushed Daniel in the side with his elbow, "Don't even think about kissing me, you pervert!"
"Ahaha, my brother, you are such a tsundere!" Daniel laughed and wrapped his arms around David. [1]
"Idiot, I don't understand what you're talking about, but stop shaming me! There are cameras!" David resisted with all his might, but Daniel could not just miss the moment to cuddle his brother. His baby boy was always too serious.
"Do you remember how I put our neighbor's dress on you as a child? You were so cute!" the elder Anderson's loud cackle rumbled down the empty hallway, "I took a photo and showed it to the girls in the class. Then they gave so many sweets to my "little sister" as a gift, ahaha!"
"You are still alive just because I don't remember it!" But David perfectly remembered that symbol of his shame, a photo of the three-year-old him in a girl's dress, which their mother showed to all her friends until the boy became ten years old, and he stealthily burned it in the yard.
Daniel's laugh cut off abruptly, he froze and stared out the window. David followed his brother's gaze.
In the inner garden, illuminated by the midday sun, two people were standing. The man was covering the fragile woman, his head was lowered to her face. The woman's fingers tightened on the sweater on the man's back. She was practically invisible behind his broad chest as if they had merged into a single whole.
Daniel let go of his brother, straightened his coat, "I guess my presence is no longer required. Give my thanks to the director of the clinic for the excellent work," he turned and walked in the opposite direction. Coming here was a disgusting idea.
"Hey Dan," David shouted at him, took the car keys from his pocket and tossed them to his brother, "I heard the weather on the beach is great for surfing today."
"What damn surfing are you talking about? Mid-February," Daniel grabbed the keys and smiled, "Thank you." He silently waved his hand and hastened to leave this place.
David leaned against the wall and stared out the window. He was not a fan of meddling in other people's affairs, and having heart-to-heart conversations was also not one of his strong traits. But he knew how precious happiness is when a loved one is around.
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[1] tsundere is a Japanese term for a character development process that depicts a character with a personality who is initially polarized warm/soft, cold, temperamental, hotheaded (and sometimes even hostile) before gradually showing a warmer, friendlier side over time. (Wikipedia)