NOVEL NEXT Chapter 8: Chapter 8 Consequences
As soon as I see the Cooper residence, I approach the Garage/Room slowly, amidst the darkness. I slowly open the side door of the garage, not turning on the light as I search for the Emergency Medical Kit. To be honest, if my constitution wasn't above 6, I would have passed out due to blood loss on the way home.
"Connor?" I hear a sleepy, almost inaudible voice coming from my bed, and the garage lights come on, revealing a figure wrapped in sheets, holding a blue teddy bear in their arms, flipping the switch.
"Who!?" I quickly go into alert mode at that voice, drawing the pistol from my waist in that direction.
"Connor, it's me, Missy. I had a nightmare! I wanted to sleep with you," says Missy, holding the teddy bear while rubbing her eyes sleepily.
"Missy, what a scare, I thought it was a thief," I breathe a sigh of relief as I tuck the pistol away (out of habit). "Don't startle me like that again, Missy, I have a weak heart," I quickly add in a playful tone.
"Are you going to scare thieves away with a toy gun?" asks Missy, intrigued by my strange behavior, but quickly noticing the wound on my shoulder. "YOU'RE BLEEDING! WHAT DID YOU DO THIS TIME, CONNOR?!" Missy shouts with concern in her voice.
Despite being a child and unlike her twin brother Sheldon, Missy doesn't have a high IQ, but she has a high EQ (emotional intelligence) due to her mother's long neglect during her childhood due to her excessive care for Sheldon. So she lacks a certain paternal love that made her mature prematurely.
As a traveler between worlds and knowing the series' plot, this was something that left me intensely dissatisfied, so when I traveled to this world, it was something I promised myself, to take care of little Missy as if she were a daughter I never had, because considering my age in my past life, I currently have a mental age of (40 years).
So for Missy, I'm like a super-protective older brother, which quickly made her attach to me from an early age. Although in this world Missy doesn't need as much attention from her family as in the previous world, she still maintained a high EQ.
So shortly after she saw my blood-soaked clothes, she became worried. "Missy, there's no need to shout, it's nothing serious!" I reassure her, moving my shoulder up and down to show that I'm fine.
"Don't try to fool me, Connor, I'm not a child anymore! What did you do to get like this?" says Missy, with a lower voice, quickly getting out of bed and grabbing the medical kit I dropped due to the scare.
"It's nothing serious, just a fight," I say, passing by Missy, and sitting on my bed and taking off my blood-soaked shirt, while I grab some sutures and gauze from the first aid kit that Missy was holding.
"Don't try to lie to me, this obviously wasn't just a fight," says Missy, pointing to my shoulder and huffing coldly, "and besides, this isn't a toy," says Missy quickly grabbing the gun from my waist.
Missy, like a true Texan, can differentiate a real gun when it's in her hands.
I quickly take the gun back from Missy's hand and say, "Okay, okay, this time you caught me, it wasn't just a fight, I don't want to talk about it anymore, okay?" I apologize to Missy while furrowing my eyebrows due to the excessive pain.
Puff, Missy huffs coldly as she rolls her eyes at me, then helps me remove the bullet lodged in my shoulder.
"aaargh," I quietly scream in pain, sweat dripping from my forehead to my cheeks and chin.
"Stop screaming, you wimp, it's just a little pain," says Missy while bandaging my shoulder with gauze in a cold tone, obviously upset that I lied to her.
I roll my eyes at her, a little pain? It's because it's not you, "aaargh," I whisper as she finishes bandaging.
She gives me a questioning look, "No, Missy, this is personal, I can't talk to you about it," I quickly retort before she can open her mouth.
She opens her mouth and closes it with her hand raised, but when I say that, she quickly speaks in a concerned tone, "You, are you going to keep hurting yourself like this?" she says, giving me a pitiful look.
I take a long sigh and say, "Most likely, daughter, you have to keep this secret for me and not tell anyone, can you do that for me?" I say in a reassuring tone as I stroke her cheek and fix her golden hair.
Soon an internal struggle began within little Missy's heart, a mixture of concern for the only person in the family who really cares about her and telling her mother this secret. She quickly decided the former. For Missy at this age, her cousin Connor was her safe harbor, where she could be a spoiled little girl she always wanted to be with her parents, but couldn't because of little Sheldon.
"Okay, but you owe me a favor, and I want to learn to use this," says little Missy, pointing to the gun I left beside the bed.
I sigh and say, "Okay, but not right now," I say as I pat her head, which is quickly slapped by her small hand, "Don't mess up my hair," says little Missy, pouting.
HA HA HA, I laugh and say, "Okay, then you're going to tell me about your nightmare," I say as I cover myself with the blankets, leaving a space for little Missy to lie down.
Soon Missy cheers up, running into the blankets to tell me about her nightmare, which made her come to my room.
With the voice of little Missy and mine conversing, she fell asleep softly. I stroke her hair, thinking if I really had a daughter, I would want her to be like little Missy.
I turn off the lights and lie down to sleep.
End of Chapter -