Jayjay'sPOV
Two more days had passed since Keifer woke up in the hospital.
Earlier today, Section E had barged in to visit him again, and as expected, they ended up getting us all in trouble. The head nurse was practically fuming with rage because of how ridiculously noisy they were being. I mean, come on—it's Section E! If they aren't making a total mess and causing a scene, then who else will?
Okay, maybe I'm being a little overdramatic, but honestly, she really didn't need to yell at them at the top of her lungs like that. Luckily, thanks to Ci-N—since this hospital actually belongs to his family—that brat somehow managed to talk his way out of it and save everyone from getting kicked out by security.
Before they left, I explicitly told those idiots that they could come see Keifer once he gets discharged and moves back to the mansion. I knew their true motives anyway—they only came to the hospital to skip school and raid the snack tables. Classic ulupongs.
After they finally left, Keifer drifted off to take a short nap. I took the opportunity to head into the washroom to take a long, warm, relaxing shower.
Stepping out of the steam-filled bathroom, I dried off and saw Keifer still fast asleep on the narrow bed, his dark hair messy against the white pillows. I walked over to the side of the bed and leaned down.
"Keif, wake up," I whispered gently, reaching out to shake his shoulder softly.
His long, dark eyelashes fluttered once, and his eyes slowly unsealed, locking that dark, intense gaze straight onto mine.
"Five more minutes, wifey..." he rasped out lazily.
Before I could even respond, he reached up, wrapped his arms tightly around my forearm, and pulled my arm against his chest. I let out a soft, helpless sigh and ended up sitting down right on the edge of the bed beside him.
Noticing me sit, Keifer shifted his body, wrapping both of his long arms securely around my waist and resting his head right on my lap, burying his face into my lap like a cozy pillow.
"Why are you being so lazy lately?" I asked with a soft smile, reaching down to gently ruffle his soft, messy dark hair.
"I'm exhausted..." he murmured into my lap.
As soon as those words left his mouth, I burst into a quiet laugh. Keifer tilted his head up slightly to look at me with a mild glare, before letting out a soft sigh and resting his head right back down on my lap.
"I know, I know," he grumbled softly. "All I do is wake up, eat, sleep, wake up, eat, take medicines, sleep, wake up, eat, get checked by doctors, and then go back to sleep. But it's still exhausting."
Even with his head buried against me, I could practically feel him pouting like a child.
"What do you want me to do then?" I asked softly, my fingers running through his hair.
In response, he tightened his firm grip around my waist, pulling himself even closer. "Just stay here," he mumbled against my clothes.
"But I need to go out and buy food, idiot," I argued gently, though there was zero anger in my voice.
He just shook his head repeatedly against my lap, hugging my waist even tighter as if to anchor me to the bed. I sighed and finally gave up trying to move, leaning back slightly and letting him have his way. Truthfully, I actually loved it when Keifer acted like this—vulnerable, clingy, and completely soft only around me.
"My giant baby," I whispered warmly.
I leaned down and pressed a soft, gentle kiss onto the top of his head. Almost instantly, I felt his lips curve into a wide, bright smile against my lap.
I kept running my fingers gently through his hair, playing with the dark strands while listening to the quiet hum of the hospital room. After a few minutes, a steady, rhythmically soft snoring filled the silence.
"Keifer?" I called out quietly, tilting my head down.
There was no response, just the steady, slow rise and fall of his breathing. I shook my head with a quiet smile—he was fast asleep again.
I gently and carefully lifted his head from my lap, resting it softly back onto the pillow, and stood up.
I headed down to the hospital cafeteria to grab some food for myself. Tita Gemma had already sent over some homemade soup and a few other dishes for Keifer—I honestly wasn't even sure what all of it was, but it looked healthy. Earlier, Aries, Percy, and Kuya Angelo had dropped by once with their girls, but since Keifer was fast asleep at the time, they decided not to disturb him and went back.
Carrying the food back to the room, I pushed the door open, only to see Keifer sitting up and leaning back against the wall. The second his dark eyes landed on me, he immediately pouted like a little child who had been abandoned.
"Now come on, eat," I said with a smile, setting the food containers down on the side table.
He didn't move an inch—he just sat there, staring straight at me with that childish, sulky look.
I looked back at him and couldn't help but laugh. "What?"
"I said five minutes," he grumbled, his voice full of mock betrayal.
"And you got fifteen minutes! Ten extra minutes!" I argued back playfully, but he still refused to touch the food.
Suddenly, he squeezed his eyes shut and held his arm. "Ahh... Jay, my arm hurts."
I stared at him, completely unbothered. I knew for a fact he was acting. "Stop acting, Keifer."
"No, it actually hurts! Feed me," he demanded softly, looking up at me with those dark, pleading eyes.
"No way. Eat by yourself," I said, crossing my arms.
"Then I'm not eating," he declared, crossing his arms stubbornly and turning his head away like a total brat.
I let out a helpless sigh, picking up the bowl of soup Tita Gemma sent and scooping up a portion with the spoon. I held it out in front of him, and the moment I did, he satisfiedly opened his mouth and took the bite. But as soon as he swallowed that single spoon, he reached out, took both the bowl and the spoon from my hands himself, and started eating on his own.
I shook my head at his ridiculous antics and sat down to start eating my own meal.
"Keifer, you're getting discharged today," I mentioned between bites.
"Finally!" he let out a dramatic, long-overdue sigh of pure relief.
"So after eating, go get freshened up," I instructed, and he nodded obediently.
"Okay, okay, my love," he murmured sweetly, making a warm smile spread across my face.
After finishing his food, he went into the washroom to clean up and change into fresh clothes. When he finally came back out, he walked straight over to where I was sitting, sat down right beside me, and immediately clung onto my arm like a possessive koala.
"Now what?" I asked, looking sideways at him.
He didn't answer with words. Instead, he simply leaned over, cupped the back of my head gently, and pressed a deep, tender kiss onto my forehead.
His lips lingered over my forehead longer than usual, and when he finally pulled his face away, I looked straight into his dark eyes. Why on earth did my cheeks feel like they were sitting directly on top of a hot stove?
To hide my burning face, I immediately hugged Keifer from the side, wrapping my arms tightly around his waist and resting my head against his side. He wrapped his long arm over my back, letting out a low, amused laugh as he looked down at me.
"Now look who is clinging," he teased smoothly.
"Okay, fine then! I'll go," I said, instantly loosening my grip and trying to remove my arms.
Before I could back away, Keifer reached out with his free hand, caught my arm, and placed it right back around his waist, refusing to let me go.
"So, is my wifey mad, sad, or upset now?" he asked softly, looking down into my eyes.
"I don't know..." I muttered against his side, because honestly, I really didn't know. Inside, I felt a chaotic mix of guilt, happiness, and lingering anger all at the same time.
Wanting to shift the heavy mood, I leaned upward slightly and pressed a quick kiss on both of his cheeks.
Keifer's face lit up instantly. "So my wifey's mood is good today," he teased, a wide grin spreading across his lips. "One more, please, please, please?"
I shook my head firmly.
"Please?" he begged, looking at me with those stubborn, dark eyes.
"Shut up," I said, bringing my free hand up and hitting his chest lightly. "If you hadn't just come back from a five-day coma, I would have hit you way harder."
I pulled back from his side and stood up from the bed. "Now come on, I've already called the driver. We're going home."
Instead of standing up, Keifer just sat there and shook his head repeatedly, looking like a stubborn kid who refused to leave a toy store.
"What?" I asked, getting a little annoyed because he wasn't actually saying anything. "Don't you want to leave the hospital?"
"No. I want my kiss," he said, pouting like a total toddler.
"Oh, so my giant baby is being stubborn now?" I asked, speaking to him in the exact same tone you'd use with a two-year-old kid.
Keifer let out a dry, annoyed sound. "Tss."
"Oh! There it is!" I exclaimed, pointing at him.
Keifer looked up at me, completely confused. "What?"
"Do you remember when I used to call you the King of Snakes?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.
He gave me a slow nod.
"And snakes make a sound like tss!" I declared, breaking into a laugh.
Keifer's jaw literally dropped in utter disbelief. "You're calling me a snake?!"
"Yup!" I nodded, laughing even harder at the baffled look on his face.
"Jay, now you're literally bullying your own husband," he muttered, shaking his head, but a reluctant smile tugged at the corner of his lips as I stood there laughing my heart out.
After laughing my heart out—or as Keifer put it, bullying my own husband—we finally gathered our stuff and headed down to the car since the driver had arrived.
We both got into the backseat, and the driver started the engine, smoothly pulling away from the hospital gates.
While looking out at the passing streetlights, my mind drifted back to earlier. When Kuya Angelo and the others had visited the hospital, Keigan and Keiran had come along with them too. Both of them had stayed behind while the rest left, only heading out after Keifer woke up.
They had shifted back to the mansion now, but I vaguely remembered Kuya saying something about the underground—or whatever that safehouse setup was. Either way, I knew that wherever Kuya had placed them was the safest spot for them, and Keifer knew it too.
As I sat there overthinking all the chaos of the past few days, a wave of heavy sleepiness suddenly washed over me.
I shifted on the leather seat and rested my head against the cold car window, but it was so uncomfortable that I frowned immediately. Wait a second... why am I leaning against a cold window when I literally have a warm husband right beside me?
Without hesitating, I slid closer across the seat toward Keifer. I curled up comfortably, shifted my weight, and rested my head straight onto Keifer's lap.
Keifer looked down at me, a soft, fond smile breaking across his face. He leaned down and pressed a tender kiss onto my cheek, followed by another lingering kiss on my forehead.
I giggled softly at his affection, reaching up to wrap both of my arms tightly around one of his, holding onto him like a blanket.
Keifer gently began running his long fingers through my hair, slowly soothing away all the lingering tension. The sheer exhaustion from the last 7 agonizing days finally caught up to me all at once. My eyelids grew impossibly heavy, and right there in the backseat, wrapped in his warmth and sleeping on his lap while clinging to his arm, I peacefully drifted off to sleep.
The End 🌸.
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