Chapter 89 Awkward

For Jake's remaining two weeks in the hospital, he spent it either in his own room or his mother's room, but he mainly spent it in his mother's room on the seventh floor. On the day of his departure, he woke up early, got dressed, grabbed a bag full of clothing and other stuff, then flung the bag and his katana Tsubaki over each of his shoulders. Then, Jake made his way down to the seventh floor. He's not sure how long he stayed in her room; he wasn't watching a clock. All he did was hold her cold, unmoving hand as he sat beside her. The only noise heard in the room was the sound of the medical equipment monitoring and keeping his mother alive.

Jake looked and watched as tubes forced his mother to breathe as she was in her coma. The sight of her almost made him cry every time he saw her. He wanted to cry; he wanted to slip away and fall into despair, to be swallowed up by a sea of darkness and sink lower and lower until he drowned under the weight of this extreme pressure. But he wouldn't get the opportunity to, because Tsubaki, the katana, swung across his left shoulder, spoke to him. "Jake," she said in a soft tone, "it's time." Her voice was a life preserver that pulled him up, allowing him to breathe again.

Jake looked at his comatose mother as he was reminded who he was doing this for, what all the scars, wounds, and pain were for. He knew what he had to do. So, after Tsubaki told him it was time, Jake squeezed his mother's hand, brought it up close to his lips, then kissed the back of her hand. Then Jake placed her limp hand back on her bed as he got to his feet. As he leaned over and kissed her on her forehead, Jake turned to leave. Then he noticed something, something that wasn't here the day before: it was flowers. Right next to his mother's bed was a beautiful bouquet of flowers in a gold-colored vase. There was no card attached to the flowers. Jake didn't know who had sent them, but he didn't have time to be lost in thought.

As Tsubaki spoke up again, "We need to get going, boy. You can't help your mother by simply sitting by her bedside," the words resonated with Jake's soul. He knew she was right. Jake turned away from the unknown flowers and began walking out of the room. Before he stepped through the door, he turned and looked at his mother once more. A well of emotions filled his heart, then he steeled himself and walked out of the room.

Jake eventually exited the hospital entirely. When he did, he heard a horn honking at him. When he turned his head and looked, what he saw was a black limousine pulling up. "Umm, is this our ride?" he asked, confused. Then he remembered that this limo looked similar to the ones he saw at the Sullivan's estate.

"What an ugly little thing," Tsubaki said as the limo parked right in front of Jake. When it stopped, the driver-side door opened, and a butler came out. But it was a different butler than Curtis or Popo. This man was taller than Curtis, and he was quite thin. He had dark, curly orange hair, and his face was covered in freckles.

"Are you Master Jake Sullivan?" the freckled-faced man asked. Jake was stunned. He stuttered for a moment. He wasn't expecting to hear anyone refer to him as "master" before. He couldn't find the words to respond, so he simply shook his head, nodding yes.

The butler smiled softly as he said, "Oh, good." The butler proceeded to walk around the limo as he kept speaking. "My name is Jeffrey, and I will be driving you to your destination this fine morning," he said, now on the same side of the limo as Jake but continuing to walk past him towards the rear of the limo. "Please make yourself comfortable in the back with the others. We will be at your destination shortly."

The butler opened the limo's door for Jake. As the boy took a step forward, "others, what others," he thought as he started to enter the vehicle. When he was in, the butler Jeffrey closed the door behind him. Then Jake saw the others the man was talking about. In the back of the limousine, there were two other people besides Jake. Back there, the first was a young woman with black hair that fell onto her shoulders. She sat on the other side of the limo with her legs crossed, with a suitcase next to her. She stared out the window and never looked in Jake's direction when he had entered. The other person was a young man, by the looks of it. He was around the same age as Jake. He wore an expensive-looking black sweatshirt with gray dress pants and shoes that looked even more expensive than the shoes the butlers wore. The young man had piercing green eyes with three ear piercings on his left ear, and he had a familiar-looking hairstyle. It was greased and slicked back. When Jake entered the limo, he noticed the young man had a shit-eating grin on his face," Jake observed. "Well, well, well," the young man said cheerfully, "it's the man of the hour, hell, the man of the century! I'm so honored to meet such a celebrity." The young man extended an outstretched hand. "Nice to meet you, cousin." The word "cousin" gave Jake pause; he was thrown off. The word also bothered the young woman staring out of the window. Hearing the word "cousin" made her flinch a little, but neither Jake nor the sharply dressed young man even noticed. Jake stared at the guy as if he was insane. Then he spoke, "Cous… cousin? What the hell are you talking about?" Jake questioned as the butler, Jeffrey, made his way back to the driver's seat and began to depart. The line of questioning coming from Jake only made the sharply dressed young man laugh. It was a familiar laugh too. "What do you mean, 'what the hell'? I mean, we're all family, man. You're Uncle Bruno's son, right?" he said again.

The girl staring out of the window flinched, yet no one noticed. "I'm Nolan's son, which makes you and I cousins," he then outstretched his hand again. As Jake got settled in his seat, he reached out his own hand and shook the young man's hand. While they shook hands, Jake could tell the similarity between this guy and Nolan; they did look alike, of course the choice in hair styles but the faces were nearly identical, this child of Nolan looked like a young version of his father minus any facial hair. "My name is Adonis," the young man said, still shaking Jake's hand. "Nice to meet you," Jake put on a forced smile as he said, "Yeah, it's nice to meet you too." After the meeting between the two was over, Jake sat back in his seat, placing his bag and Tsubaki down. "So, you guys are going to the academy too?" Adonis shook his head as he opened the mini bar and poured himself a drink. His action had Jake bewildered by the young man. "Wait, how old is this guy?" For reference, Adonis was only 16, but similar to his father, he didn't care. After Adonis poured his drink, he took a sip then spoke, "Of course we're going to the academy. We do come from a military family, you know. The academy is like a rite of passage." Adonis took another sip of his drink as he crossed his legs. The environment made Jake feel a bit uncomfortable yet curious. "If you guys are going to the academy, then why didn't I see you at the exam?" Adonis had just finished taking another sip as he chuckled. "Oh, that's simple. It's because of our family." Jake was confused, so he cocked his head to the side as he looked at Adonis. Seeing the confusion on his face, Adonis chose to elaborate. "Those that come from influential families like ours can get into the military academy or most educational institutions with a simple recommendation." 

Hearing this made a small pit form in Jake's stomach. "You're telling me I got my ass kicked and nearly died when they could have just given me a recommendation?" Jake felt slighted, mixed with numb pain coming from his body. While looking at his slightly irritated face, Adonis could tell what Jake was thinking. He said nothing about it, but it made him snicker. The three sat there in the back of the limo in silence. Jake could tell by the way the girl sat that she wasn't open for conversation, so he didn't attempt it. The first to eventually break the silence would be Adonis as he poured himself one more drink. He had a devilish look in his eye as a small smile started to curve his lips. He bounced his eyes to Jake, then to the girl, then back to Jake again. He came up with a funny idea. "So, cousin," he said, taking a sip of his drink, "tell me, have you got to meet Uncle Bruno yet?" The girl flinched again slightly. Jake didn't notice, but Adonis did this time, and that tiny smile was growing more. Jake shook his head, "No, I haven't, before today I hadn't really met any other Sullivan besides your dad." Adonis shook his head as he sat back, "That's a shame, a real shame. All kids should have the opportunity to meet their long-lost parent." Adonis angled his head and looked at the young woman staring out of the window. "Hey, NoNo," he said, "why don't you introduce Jake here to Uncle Bruno? You'd be the best person for the job." Jake was confused and looked at the girl, but she didn't move or say two words. She continued to stare blankly out the window. In Jake's confusion, he asked a question, "Wait, why would she introduce me?" Adonis turned and looked at Jake, smiling at him. "Well," he said, rubbing his hairless chin, "how can I put this? You see, you two are my cousins, but you two aren't cousins, you get what I mean." Jake was puzzled, but as he digested Adonis's words, the pieces of the puzzle were coming together. Adonis could see his brain working, so he made it plain and clear. "Jake, I'd like you to meet Nora Sullivan, Uncle Bruno's one and only daughter. She was his one and only child before you came knocking on our doorstep." Jake's face went pale as he began to feel a little hot under his clothes. "They were…They were…"

"Hey, Nora," Adonis spoke. "Stop being so rude and say hello to your older half-brother, Jake."

Eventually, Jake looked at the girl again, looking at her with new eyes. She was his sister. He had a sister. The thought seemed insane to Jake, impossible even, but it was just confirmed to him after the shock and nervousness wore off.

Jake looked upon his sister, and when he did, he noticed a change in the girl. She was still sitting with her legs crossed, head angled towards the window, but she was no longer looking out of it. She had turned her eyes in Jake's direction, and the two made eye contact. When they did, Jake was reminded of what Zack had told him before the second phase of the exam had started about being able to read someones eyes without them having to use words. What Jake read in Nora's light brown eyes was nothing but contempt and hate. They only locked eyes for a brief moment; then she broke and returned to staring at the window, and besides Adonis's small snickers, the remainder of the drive was silent.