Chapter 101: Strenuous or Not Strenuous

The air in the room was taut. Jack, Chad, and Stacy were standing around the room quietly as Nelly worked. Neil sat in the middle of the room, his head was lowered like a scolded child. Nelly’s movements were mechanical and there was no emotion on her face. Nobody dared say a word or even make a sound.

Neil winced as she stitched up his wound. “So you can feel pain,” she deadpanned. Neil smiled sheepishly. “Don’t be angry,” he tried soothing her but she only added speed. “Have mercy,” he said but it only exaggerated her movements, making him scream at the end of the sentence, pulling the word longer than he intended.

Jack lowered his head to stifle a laugh. Nelly caught the action out of the corner of her eyes. “And you,” she turned her attention to Jack. He straightened his body immediately. “I offered to help. He insisted on going alone,” he said, pointing an accusing finger at Neil.

“Not helping, Jack,” Neil groaned. “Can’t he tell the truth now?” Nelly scolded, making him snap his mouth shut immediately. “Do you really think that you are invincible? You just woke up. Didn’t I tell you that you can’t strain your body?”

Neil pressed his lips into a thin line, trying hard not to scream as his sister worked on his wound. Sweat beaded on his forehead.

“Did I say so?” Nelly pressed. Neil could only give her a firm nod. “Then why did you do it?” The three audiences watched in sympathy as Neil struggled. “I’m just..” He paused to take in a deep breath. Jack shook his head, trying hard to get his attention but to no avail. Neil wasn’t even looking at him.

“..going to the loo,” he groaned. Nelly stopped abruptly. “Then, why are you downstairs?” Her eyes narrowed dangerously at Neil. “I was talking to Henry. He’s downstairs, so I thought that,” his voice faded out, “maybe I can go down and say hi before going back to the room.”

“And how’s going all the way down the stairs doing to your wound?” Nelly continued her actions, causing Neil to grit his teeth. “I slipped. It’s an accident,” he said through his teeth. Nelly gave him the side eye. "It's not strenuous."

He was lucky Nelly just concluded her stitching. Her eyes widened at him. He immediately knew that he got the answer wrong.

“What do you mean not strenuous?” She snapped, causing his freshly stitched wound to throb and he winced at the intensity. “If it isn’t, why would your wound reopen?” She had both her hands on her hips.

“I..” Neil was raking his head to find a suitable answer when his eyes finally met Jack’s. He was standing behind Nelly, out of her sight. His expression was grave as he shook his head. Neil snapped his mouth shut. It’s better to listen to Jack. Those years of survival around the girls in his orphanage wasn’t nothing.

Nelly didn’t notice their interaction as she was busy disinfecting and cleaning up. “What? Cat got your tongue?” Neil’s brows furrowed in distress. He looked to the three people in the room, desperately looking for help.

Nelly caught this action and immediately turned to look at those three. They averted their gazes immediately, suddenly finding the planks, the walls and the ceiling very interesting. “So?” Her attention was fully on him now. “I.. I don’t know,” Neil said. “If your actions are not strenuous, what’s the reason it reopened? Is it my stitching skill that’s the problem?” Neil’s eyes almost bulge out. “No.. um.. ah…,” he tried to come out with a response but his mind came out blank.

“Maybe it’s the thread!” He blurted out in a hurry, making Stacy facepalm herself. Chad shook his head while Jack feigned a cough to hide his laughter.

“I chose this batch,” her voice was too calm, “there’s no quality problem.”

She was looking at him with folded arms. He knew that it was his turn to speak next but he didn’t know what to say. It wasn’t a question. How would he answer it?

She raised her brow at him. Neil opened his mouth only to close it again.

Finally, his head bowed in defeat. “I’m sorry,” he said the only thing he knew. He had heard their mother say that when their father got physical and wasn’t settling at shit. His father used to scold him when he did that during his abuse. “Men don’t bow. Men don’t apologize. Remember that!” He used to tell him before going back to beating him up with the excuse of making him tougher.

Nelly sighed. “Take care of it from now on. Overexertion will cause it to reopen. Remember that. It includes going to the bathroom, or even sitting up on the bed.”

Neil nodded a few times. “Noted!”

“Let’s get you back to the room,” Nelly offered. Jack stepped out instead. “Let me. You should rest,” his tone was overly gentle. With that said, he immediately took Neil’s arm and draped it over his shoulder. Stacy and Chad exchanged glances.

Nelly was still worried. Chad took Neil’s other arm. “Jack’s right, Nelly. You should rest. We will make sure that he won’t use even an ounce of energy.”

Neil’s brows furrowed. He opened his mouth to protest but Jack jerked in his direction, making him wince. “Let’s go,” Jack said quickly.

That left only Stacy and Nelly in the room. “Let’s go back and rest,” Stacy suggested as she gestured towards the door. Nelly simply nodded and followed her out the room. Stacy had noticed her swollen eyes the moment she appeared frantically after hearing that her brother fell down the stairs. It was obvious she had been crying.

“How are you doing?” Stacy broke the silence as they were ascending the stairs.

Nelly paused slightly before continuing to her room.

“Not so good,” she replied after a long pause, her voice small.

“Do you want to talk about it?”