Who: Liam & Madison When: Monday Lunchtime Where: Medical centre What: Liam visits his sister Rating: Probs PG with some swears Status: COMPLETE
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It was fairly obvious to anyone who knew either of them that Liam and Madison did not have the best relationship. Even that was an understatement. Liam knew Madison hated him - she had made that perfectly clear from the day he'd arrived on the island - and he was quite happy to hate her in return, especially when he learned all the best ways to get her riled up. He recalled several occasions when he'd said something along the lines of "go eat a fucking burger or something before you cut yourself on your hips" - which he'd thought was only fair given that she never let him forget that on their first meeting when they were kids, he'd been about three times her weight.
When he was younger he had hated Madison because he believed that her and her mother was what had driven a wedge between his parents, driving them apart and making his own home life more uncomfortable than the expensive toys and furnishings would ever show. He knew now that his father was always going to be a womanising heartless bastard, and his mother was a lonely, spiteful woman who would do anything she could to make his life a living hell without going so far as to give him cause for divorce, and it was Madison's bad fortune as much as his own that she'd been born into such a fucked up family. Still, she made it so easy to hate her.
When Colton texted him with the news, however, he found himself suddenly feeling something he'd never have thought would be possible when it came to his half-sister. He was actually worried about her. Sure, they bickered and fought and hated each other's guts, but when push came to shove, well... she was still his sister. Sure, he had another one, but Jen was long gone off to college and he was unlikely to see her for at least another seven years, if that. She'd certainly cut herself off from her family as soon as she possibly could. Something all three of them had in common.
The words it's not good sent a cold shiver down his spine. Even after he was told that she was being looked after and would probably be all right, he couldn't shake the feeling. On Sunday, he wandered past the clinic a few times, telling himself that he was just taking an alternative route from one place to another, but there always seemed to be someone else in there. He wasn't even sure he wanted to visit. She wouldn't want him there, he was certain.
By lunch time on Monday though, after sitting through both his Fire and Earth lectures without hearing a single word that was said, he had had enough. At least if she yelled at him to get out, he'd know she wasn't dying. He had already lost enough family. Madison was a pretty poor excuse for family, it was true, but some fraternal instinct made him want to see her, to know that she was okay.
He ducked the rest of the Offensive group on the way to the Mess Hall and made his way down to the clinic. No one objected to him letting himself in. When he found Madison, she seemed to be asleep - a relief - so he pulled up a chair and sat beside her, frowning down at her thin face. What an idiot he thought angrily. What kind of stupid person would intentionally stop eating? The idiocy of it made him want to throw something, but he clenched his fists and counted to a hundred until the feeling went away. He stared down at her face. Funny. He'd never noticed before how much she looked like Jen, just darker. Maybe because he'd never seen her face with such a neutral, peaceful expression. Within seconds of talking to him, it always seemed to evolve into a glare or a sneer.
He felt an odd feeling in the pit of his stomach as he watched her, the rise and fall of her chest barely visible under the sheets, her frame pathetically tiny in its outline. He realised that he didn't want her to wake up and shout at him, or look at him with the familiar dark hatred in her eyes. He wanted this moment to stay as it was, peaceful, quiet, almost the way a normal family would visit each other when they were ill. He could almost imagine reaching out to take her hand and telling her everything would be okay, that he would look after her. Only then she would wake up, and it'd be over. Perhaps he should just leave before the illusion broke down around his ears.