I Fell in Love with Hope - Lancali

That means I don’t get punished for objectively stupid actions.
Hopping on a step ladder to rob a useless clock from a wall would be
one of them. I look down at the step ladder, then the clock. Would
Eric’s fury and a possible head wound be worth the smile on Hikari’s
face when I present her with tangibly killed time right before our
great escape?
“Sam?” Someone pops out, too tall not to block my way.
“C?”
C passed out a few nights ago. He got discharged and had dinner
with his family. A few minutes after they were seated, C’s eyes rolled
back into his head, and he collapsed from his chair. He woke up a
few seconds later, but the event was enough to startle his doctors
and us.
C’s eyes flick to my bandages while mine flick to the black and
purple splotch spreading from his cheek to his brow.
“What happened to your face?”
“My brother hit me,” he says. “What happened to your arm?”
“I don’t have arms. Why’d your brother hit you?”
“Eh. You know.”
“I don’t know.”
“Ever since I got back, the doctors have been making me do all
these tests, and my parents won’t stop arguing with me about the–”
He taps his chest twice. “–situation, so having heard it all before, I
put my earbuds in. My brother, who I was ignoring, got frustrated,
and frustration is excellent for punching, so–”
“Oh.”
C’s teeth show in delight as if the bruise is something to be flaunted.