Say Goodnight

Chapter 12

"...Gil," Ludwig's voice was like a whisper, soft and cautious.

Gilbert's ears perked up to the delicate voice and looked away from the yellow ladybug that he watched walk across the window. Even though it was like a feather dropping, he could hear anything Ludwig said, sound or tone didn't matter. He was always by Ludwig as a compass is to north. 

It's been two days since the surgery, still Ludwig laid weakly on the bed with his head slowly sinking into the puffed pillow and his eyes staring into the unknown as though he could see the whole universe. Gilbert stuck to him the whole two days, he wanted to be there for his brother and he couldn't forgive himself if he left his brother alone in the large room with strangers.  

The green blanket- that replaced the stiff white blanket- wrapped around Ludwig's legs, tightly, and his hands disappeared under the blankets with only his head visible. 

Gilbert smiled gently at him, moving closer to him. "You okay?"  He sat by him, a hand resting on his leg. 

Ludwig moaned,"I'm bored," His head wobbled to the side, leaning on his shoulder. 

He chuckled, "What'd you want to do?" 

"Read," 

Gilbert stood up and walked to a bag that leaned on a chair. He dug through it, searching for the perfect book, and he walked back, a smile creeping upon his face. 

"Is this alright?" He held the book close to Ludwig's eyes. It was his favorite book that Gilbert loved to read him to sleep. 

Ludwig squirted at it. His eyes weren't swollen anymore, yet he couldn't see it well. 

"Ja," The corner of his lips lifted, a rare sight after the surgery. 

Gilbert felt his heart warm at the sight. He always encouraged his brother to smile more, to laugh more, to be more carefree. He'd see that Ludwig would hold back his laughs at jokes, not smile brightly like he could, or run around like most children his age. He was a quiet and stern child, nothing like the students in his class who Ludwig called 'childish'. 

Gilbert loved to lift the corner of his lips with his finger, showing an artificial smile and an angry Ludwig. That usually caused a frown, puffed cheeks, eyebrows creasing on Ludwig's face.  

Gilbert snuggled close to him, he squeezed in between Ludwig and the bed's rails. He carefully turned the page, the pages were fragile from baby Ludwig chewing on the sides. 

Ludwig felt comfortable with the sound of Gilbert's haunting voice. His voice was rough, but Ludwig never heard anything softer. Nothing could cause the same fuzzy feeling in his chest that Gilbert did. Nobody could compare to him. 

Ludwig's head raced as Gilbert flipped the page, reading the words that Ludwig couldn't comprehend. Unlike usually when he could simply find out the meaning immediately, he couldn't understand anything that came from his mouth, just gibberish. 

He tried his best to understand, yet his mind was tired, over-worked. 

Ludwig's eyes drooped, blinking quickly and drying out. His mind spiral into a sleep state while his eyes struggled to remain wide. 

After the surgery, he slept more and more each day, he tried to fight off the sleep, but it always won. 

Ludwig's eyes shut before he could process it, and - before he could open them- he fell into a deep sleep. 

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Ludwig opened his eyes, blue eyes explore the room. Still being drowsy, he didn't know the room.