All of us looked at each other, sympathy on our faces. We just stood still, letting silence surround us.
“Sorry sir, Eion is just… being Eion…” There was more to it just by Luke’s tone of voice.
Eion’s dad shook his head again slightly, his actions limited as needles and pointy things were stuck in his arm. “I’m used to it. He’s my son after all. He really does hate me… I just wanted to see his face, it was the main reason why I ordered him here….”
I averted my eyes and stared at the floor. The silence surrounding us was not entirely deafening as there was the constant sound of the machine, showing Eion’s dad’s heartbeat. But it was an empty silence. Just empty.
“Well, I gotta go and pee haha,” Leroy suddenly spoke up, breaking it. He started to walk off and opened the door when he stopped.
“Look… who we got here,” Leroy said. His eyes widened as big as saucers, and he swallowed down.
“Who was it?” Emma piped in, curious about who was the person at the doorway. He pushed Leroy aside who was blocking the way, standing hard as a statue.
“Oh,” Emma said, not at all surprised at the person. “Why won’t you get inside and join in the fun?” I hear her saying that to the person.
Heading towards the door, I peeped and saw someone. Alas, Eion! What a nice grand entrance, just at the right time!
I snorted at him, “Psh, you were going after all. You should have said so.” Smirking, I turned to announce it to the guys since they can’t see what’s happening from their line of view, with the bed all the way to the corner of the room, far from the door. “He came.”
“Who’s him? Eion?” Hannah asked. They all rushed into the door. I nodded my head in their direction and turned back to look at Eion.
Eion crossed his arms in front of him, looking at us blankly. He scoffed. “Well, I didn’t come here for him, I just happened to pass by and decided I could… check. Nothing more.”
So he’s worried after all.
We grinned at them.
“Oh, stop those excuses. We know it already.” I interjected.
Luke patted him on the shoulder, “C’mon don’t be shy! Greet your dad!”
Luke just beamed, either ignoring Eion’s deathly glare or just so used to it and didn’t even care. Wow, the power of cousins’ bond!
Luke pushed Eion to enter the room. Eion almost fell from the unexpected shove but he stayed still, not moving one step.
We stared at him, waiting for him to walk. He just raised his eyebrows.
After a minute, he was tired from our heated stare and he finally gave in. “Fine.” Sighing, he took a step and headed towards his dad’s bed.
But he stopped just a few distances on the foot of his bed. “How are you dad?” He asked blankly.
There was an awkward pause, but Eion’s dad was quick to react. “Is this really my son? Wow, you guys can make him follow? I can’t even do that…” He exclaimed, chuckling. “Well… It’s nothing serious.”
I looked at them, this feeling again… there was something more to them that happened in their life and was left as an elephant in the room.
All of us went still, not even bothering to move towards them. Instead, we just stood still at the doorway. We need to give them privacy. And from the looks of it, it seems that they rarely get some father-son moments.
“C’mon guys,” Hannah said in a low voice. We nodded understandingly and rushed outside. We waited outside, looking at the floor.
It wasn’t really that long. Not even a minute when Eion’s face appeared, his expression not changing. What did they talk about?
“Come inside. The old man wants to tell you something.” He said. We did as he told, entering again his room and stood beside Eion’s dad’s bed, watching him carefully. What did he want to talk about?
He clapped his hands together, getting our attention. “Now that settles it. I have called all of you because I want you, Eion’s friends, to have fun during your stay here. Go and take a rest at our resort. Eion, accompany your friends.”
Eion grunted in reply and walked away.
Wait, what did he say? A rest? Resort?
“Well, we should go then,” Luke spoke up, motioning us to follow him. He wasn’t at least surprised at this, while I, Emma, Leroy, Dax, and even Hannah gawked at each other.
“Yes, you should. There’s no time! Remember you only have two weeks for your winter break. Discover this country’s secrets.” Uncle Adam winked at us. “This is where I met Eion’s mother.”
****
When we got to the lobby downstairs, Eion was leaning on a wall.
I thought he left already?
We just looked at him in shock, studying him carefully. He kinda got hard to read this time… Yes, he was hard to read when I first met him but this time, it was different. Maybe it’s because of what he talked about with his father?
He waited for us to reach him and when we did, he snorted at us, “What are you waiting for? The moon?” He asked sarcastically.
“What?” I asked.
“Dad said I should take you to our resort. We better leave now.”