♪♪ So they pull back, make other plans

I understand I'm a liability

Get you wild, make you leave

I'm a little much for everyone ♪♪

ᴺᴼᵂ ᴾᴸᴬᵞᴵᴺᴳ [Liability] - [Lorde]

══════ ✿❁︾❁✿ ══════ 

 It had been a week since she had woken up and a little over 5 days since she began physical therapy for her legs. The pain of putting pressure on them was harder than what she had done with her hands. The physiotherapist informed her that because they carry all her weight, it would take some time for the leg that has been dormant for quite some time to get used to that.

But that did not make the process any better for her. The pain was excruciating and there were times she wanted to give up, but Petra and a lot of notes from Ronnie, who couldn't come over to the hospital, helped her push through.

"Miss Esmé?" A lady's voice called out to her.

Esmé turned to the direction of the voice and remembered her physiotherapist was standing right by her side. "Yes?" she asked and shifted the crutches in her hand a little so she could get a glimpse of her physiotherapist better.

They had done a session for the day and her physiotherapist escorted her to her room despite the way she refused.

"I said you've improved a lot lately. Quite an outstanding job," she commented with an encouraging smile.

"Thank you." Esmé gave her a small smile of her own and turned back to face the front. They were almost close to her room where she could have a sense of privacy for a few minutes.

The physiotherapist opened the door of her room and the moment Esmé stepped in, the shouts of congratulations filled her ears.

It took Esmé a minute to figure out that almost all the hospital staff were standing in her room with smiles on their faces and flowers in their hands.

Her forehead creased in confusion at what was going on. She turned a little to see a smile on her physiotherapist's face. She realized then that they planned it, and that was why her physiotherapist had insisted on walking her back to her room.

But that didn't help solve the problem of why they were in her room. Esmé looked around to locate any familiar face, but they were so many she couldn't really distinguish any person from the other.

She noticed a man who stood out from the others. He didn't dress like the others, and he had a grey suit on that fit his plump body. Even further than his dressing, his black with minor strokes of grey hair and full whitebeard with the glasses fixed on his face distinguished him from the crowd.

"My, my! Did you see her face?!" A familiar voice shouted. Esmé's eyes snapped toward Petra's voice, a sense of calm filled her on seeing a familiar face. "Congratulations, dearest Esmé," she said with a grin.

"Congratulations?" Esmé repeated in confusion.

"Yes, on the fact that you're being discharged from the hospital." The plump man said and came forward to stand in front of her.

She was getting discharged from the hospital? That was a good thing, wasn't it?

"I know this might feel overwhelming," the man whispered a bit once he stepped in front of her. His eyes moved around the crowd in disdain.

Esmé wanted to nod her head in reply but wasn't sure if that was going to appear rude, so she opted against it.

The man watched her and saw the complete confusion edged into the crease on her forehead and introduced himself. "I'm Chairman Hudgens, the chairman of this hospital." He informed her and stretched his large and rough hands forward.

Esmé's eyes bulged wider in shock. The chairman of the hospital had come to her room? It was all overwhelming. She was someone who didn't even remember her name, and yet the entire staff came to congratulate her for getting discharged from the hospital. How was that meant to sit well with her?

"Hi, sir?" she said unsure of herself. She noted his hand that was still outstretched and immediately rested her right crutches on her body and extended her hand into his nervously.

Chairman Hudgens chuckled at her nervousness and gave her hand a pat before he released it. "Oh dear, it is okay. We're just here to give you warm congratulations on being healthy enough to leave this hospital after five years."

"Oh. Thank you, sir. That is very kind of you," Esmé said with her voice steadier.

But her steady voice betrayed the aching feeling in her chest, the soreness in her throat, and lack of energy she felt inside. She understood it now. They had all come over to greet her with congratulations. They were finally going to be free of the coma patient with no family to pay her bills after five years.

"Isn't this great?!" Petra chipped in, "You're my special patient and Uncle has decided..." A harsh clearing of the throat from Chairman Hudgens cut Petra's statement short. She stiffened a bit and her grin turned into a tight smile as she glanced sideways slowly at Chairman Hudgens.

Her uncle was the chairman of the hospital it seemed, but from the look of things, he did not want Petra to call him that.

"Pardon me," she mumbled under her breath, "I mean Chairman Hudgens has graced us with his presence because you're a VIP patient." She ended with a cheeky grin, her stiffness long forgotten.

"VIP?" Esmé asked and then her mind went back to a few days before when she had asked Petra how they had still left her on life support when she had no family paying the bills and Petra had informed her the hospital took care of that. She didn't fully understand then, but maybe she did now. If Petra was the niece of the chairman, it would have been easy to ask for her to be put on life support.

"Anyway, congratulations on being able to see the world again, Miss Esmé. Good job." Chairman Hudgens said with a curt nod sent in her direction and a small tap on her shoulder before he excused himself.

Every other nurse and doctor present in the room took that as their cue to leave too as they put colourful garlands around her neck and some even gave her flowers which Petra helped her collect.

As they cleared out, Esmé's gaze focused on Ronnie and Kian at the back of the room. Esmé had to do a double-take the moment she saw Kian standing there. After the incident in the theatre room, he had shown he was nothing more than her doctor, asking her only questions he thought were beneficial to her health. She didn't expect him to stand there in her room when everyone was congratulating her.

"Ugh! They're finally gone!" Ronnie exclaimed after the last person closed the door of the room, "I thought I would never get the chance to offer my congratulations to my beautiful pearl!" he added and walked to her to put his on flower crown on her head.

A startled scream escaped Esmé's lips as Ronnie lifted her up with her crutches. He spun her around, shouting his congratulations.

Kian took a step forward on instinct at the startled scream of Esmé but stopped when Petra began scolding her brother.

"Ronnie Wilson! Drop the lady down this minute!" Petra scolded him and hit him.

Ronnie gently placed Esmé's feet back onto the floor from the shock of his sister's hand on his back. He made sure she was perfectly resting on her crutches before he fully released her and abruptly turned to face his sister with a scowl. "How dare you hit your older brother, you Wombat!" he spat out.

Kian shook his head at the duo and moved in the door's direction where Esmé stood. "Congratulations," he offered her, hoping to use the siblings' bantering distraction to get out of the room.

Esmé looked up at him, her eyes widening in shock that he spoke a word to her that wasn't health-related. But thinking about whether her doctor was finally interested in speaking to her was not a priority. She sent him a small smile. "Yeah, thanks." and moved around him to her bed.

Kian watched her in surprise at her response. He did not expect her to accept his greetings with a broad smile either, but as he observed her facial features set downcast, he figured there was something off about her attitude.

Most people he knew were over joyous about leaving the hospital and even felt special if Chairman Hudgens himself gave them farewells, but that wasn't the case for her as he noticed. She looked startled, worried, and sad instead.

He looked at her resign and pass by the siblings, unfazed by their bickering, and make her way to her bed with a long face. There was something wrong, he noticed. His curiosity got the best of him and instead of fully turning to the door to make his great escape, he turned to face her.

"You don't seem happy that you're getting discharged." He focused his eyes on her sharply, trying to figure her out.

Esmé turned to Kian just as she settled down on her bed. His statement surprised her, the other two didn't seem to notice that so he shocked her he noticed.

Happy? They expected her to be happy that she was getting discharged from the hospital. How could she be? She knew no one outside the four walls of the hospital. Where could she get discharged to? The streets?

The siblings stopped their banter right after Kian's statement. Petra narrowed her eyes in confusion at Kian's statement, "Not happy?" she scoffed, "What are you talking about, Kian? Who would not be happy to leave this hellhole of a hospital and finally be free?!"

"Apparently, she isn't," Kian said while he still watched her.

Esmé averted her gaze from Kian. The way he could read her was uncomfortable. She didn't know how she felt about the whole thing and she didn't want to seem ungrateful for what they had done or even clingy for not wanting to leave. She would have just kept the piece of information about her not being happy with herself, but he had to go on and voice out his thoughts.

Ronnie and Petra moved closer to the bed. Their eyebrows drew together in worry that showed their resemblance with each other. Esmé might have laughed at that moment about how similar they looked to one another, except they directed the worried glances to her.

"Hey what's going on?" Ronnie asked her. His husky voice sounded calm.

Esmé's eyes shifted between the two siblings and the last focused gaze on her and knew that she needed to tell them how she felt, "I'm sorry if it feels like I'm ungrateful for all the things you guys have done for me. I'm not ungrateful. I see why you'd think it's a joyous occasion to leave the hospital, but there is really nothing to be happy about being discharged from the hospital for me," she tried to explain but her statement only caused Ronnie's eyebrows to squish further together, Petra's eyes narrow further and a frown edged onto Kian's lips in confusion.

"What are you talking about?" Petra asked and settled by the side of the bed Esmé sat. "Not being confined to the hospital and being able to eat anything but hospital food is definitely something to be happy about, isn't it?"

"I have nowhere to go from here once I'm discharged. I don't remember anywhere or anyone," Esmé said, reminding them.

Petra's mouth formed an 'o' when she finally understood the reason for Esmé's sad looks, "Oh silly you Esmé, you didn't perhaps think we were just going to abandon you just because you were leaving the hospital, did you?"

"You wouldn't have shocked me if you did. I mean, you've all done your part in helping me get to this stage. It ends somewhere, doesn't it?"

Kian nodded once. That was his cue. He wasn't interested in dragging the relationship to one outside the hospital, which was what Petra had in mind.

He moved to leave, but Ronnie moved also to stand in his way. Sending him a quick smile before focusing back on Esmé, preventing him from leaving without making a scene.

"My, my. Esmé Black, you silly thing. You still don't understand the meaning of friendship, do you?" Petra said with a grin.

"It means you are not getting rid of us even if you want to, right Kian?" Ronnie added with a smile and a challenging look sent his way.

"Right," Kian uttered through gritted teeth, sending a narrowed look to Ronnie.

Esmé appreciated their words, but the question was still there in the air and she voiced it out, "So where will I stay outside of the hospital?"

"You can stay with me! I'll be glad to take you in, pearl!" Ronnie exclaimed enthusiastically.

Kian scoffed at the absurdity of the statement, "Is that supposed to be a joke?" he asked Ronnie at the same time Petra exclaimed, "Absolutely not!" she gave him a look of disgust at the mere thought.

"I'm being serious! Why can't she stay with me?"

"Because that needs an explanation?" Petra muttered in disbelief, "The fact that you think I'll let Esmé anywhere near your house makes me question your IQ. Do you think I want her to listen to you bring home five different girls per week instead of getting better? Think again, mister."

The new piece of information startled Esmé as she chuckled. She figured he was a flirt but not so much a womanizer. "Does that really happen?"

"Yes," Petra said without hesitation. She turned her back to Ronnie, shoving away his suggestion and thought and didn't notice his mouth and 'No' to Esme and shake his head.

Kian was almost seeing how the direction of the topic was going, and he wanted to be out of the room before they made the worst suggestion. So he prompted the only obvious solution to the problem, "Since Ronnie is a no, no then she can definitely stay with you Petra, you're her best friend, aren't you?" he said and couldn't help as his tone added the last part in a mock tone.

"Me?" Petra asked and shifted her head back a little like the thought was idiotic. "How can she stay with me?"

Esmé was confused at the statement Petra made. She looked like the thought of Esmé staying with her was such a terrible idea, and yet she also didn't want her to stay with Ronnie. She got the reason but now that she looked at Petra and saw the look on her face she wondered if that was just an excuse. Was she that much of a burden?

Kian noticed the change instantly the moment Petra talked. He saw Esmé watch Petra closely and noticed just how Petra's words played and played in her mind. He smirked at the sight and turned to an oblivious Petra, "Wow Petra, you just spoke of how you want to be friends for life, yet the thought of her staying with you is that bad, you don't think twice to reject it?" he said all the words he figured were going through Esmé's mind.

Petra's breath hitched at Kian's interpretation as she glared at him for interpreting her words like that.

"Kian?" Ronnie said with a slight questioning tone. Kian used his head to point in Esmé's direction to explain who had taught like that, hoping that Petra would understand without him spelling it out loud.

Petra's gaze shifted to Esmé and her eyes widened as she took in the subtle sad and betrayed look on Esmé's face that could easily be missed. "Shit. Esmé that was not what I meant," she explained. She took hold of Esmé's hands.

"You don't have to explain yourself to me." Esmé fixed in quickly, wanting to remove her hands from Petra's hands. She hated how she was feeling weak because Petra didn't want her to stay with her. Petra had tried for her and if she didn't want to share her private space with her, she could understand, right?

"Yes, I do," Petra said firmly, not letting go of Esmé's hands, "You need to understand. I live with my parents and younger brother. And Lord knows, they can be oppressive, and that's saying a lot coming from me." 

Ronnie snickered behind Petra. "Oh let mum hear you say that about the family."

"And who's going to tell her, you? You want mum to know you invited a young woman to live with you all alone? How did that work out for you the last time?" Petra retorted and glared at him sideways.

"And you think she'd believe you. Dearest sister, I'm the golden child. Mum would never believe you over me."

"Maybe but dad would take my side and mom loves proof, I'll give her that proof. You know I always find them," she countered with a wide grin that seemed to shut him up.

"Whatever."

Petra focused back on Esmé. "Of course, I would love to stay with you but I'm still a proud father's child and besides leaving the hospital happily has the perks of eating great food outside, if you come to stay with me, I'll be subjecting you to eating food worse than that of the hospital or just eating junk food."

Esmé felt bad that she had misjudged Petra. It was just with her situation; it was hard not to think Petra had had enough and didn't want her cramping up her personal space.

Her eyebrow furrowed at Petra's last statement. Ronnie caught on to this and further explained, "There's not a single soul that can cook a damn thing in my house."

"Oh," Esmé said. She thought of what other option there could be. She could look for an apartment, but she didn't have the money to get one. And she also didn't think it was that easy to find a house. What were they going to do now?

Petra popped a grin instantly as if she sensed the question in Esmé's mind.

"Then where can she stay?" Ronnie asked as he placed a finger under his chin, deep in thought.

Kian watched as Petra turned to look at him with her crooked grin. A grin he knew she wore when she was on a mission. He frowned in confusion while he tried to figure out what she was up to. It didn't take him too long to put the pieces of the puzzle together.

His expression hardened immediately. "Not going to happen," he said in a hard tone, completing it and sending the thought out of her mind. Or so he thought.

"What will not happen?" Esmé asked, her eyes shifted from the hard look on Kian's face to the challenging grin on Petra's face.

Ronnie looked between the two of them too. His interest picked as he wondered what his sister was up to again.

"I think what he meant to say was, that's the best idea. And that is you staying with Kian."

Esmé's eyes widened in shock at the suggestion. Best idea? More like the worst nightmare. She shook her head discretely to Petra to tell her what a terrible idea it was, but Petra wasn't focusing on her.

"Hey wait a minute! Kian is a single guy staying alone too. How is Esmé staying with him the best idea, but her staying with me is the worst?" Ronnie said acting offended.

"It's not the best idea, and it's not happening. Petra, don't push it," Kian said and narrowed his eyes at Petra.

"How about we go talk about this like civilised people in your office, Doctor Lincoln?" Petra drawled out with a sinister grin plastered on her face.

"There's nothing..." he said, but he didn't continue as Petra pulled him out of the room straight away. But she sent a wink to Esmé before she left.

Esmé and Ronnie shared a puzzled and panicked look, and then they turned back to the door. What was she going to do? 

══════ ✿❁︾❁✿ ══════

Pe-e-etra? Mind sharing with the class what you're up to?

How's it going, guys?

So tell me guys do you think it's odd that Petra as old as she is, is still living with her parents or is it perfectly normal? 

Hoped you enjoyed the chapter. Well dig in deep and tell me what you thought about the chapter and what was your favourite part? 💭

Till next week! 💕