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Chris can feel his anger radiate off the stark white walls of the hospital corridor. He can barely hear the beeping of monitors and machines over the sound of his ears ringing. He footsteps heavy against the old, stained vinyl flooring. He can hear Jill’s voice faintly in the distance as she follows him, urging him to take a deep breath and to calm down. You can't help her when you're in one of these moods , her words do little to tame the fire that Chris can feel inside.
He comes to a halt outside the door with C. Redfield marked on the front in a black marker. The door is open a crack, and that’s when Chris sees her for the first time since getting the wounding call. His sister, his baby sister , is lying in the hospital bed. She looks so small in his eyes. Her body is battered and bruised, and Chris feels sick to his stomach.
He opens the door slowly so as to not startle his sleeping sister. Her face is bruised and swollen. There is a brace keeping her broken ribs in place. He takes a seat by the bed, and notes that it is evident that someone else has been sitting by her side, instead of him, and his rage returns tenfold. As if sensing his presence, Claire opens her eyes.
“Hey Chris.” She whispers.
“Claire.” He growls, yet relieved to know that she is conscious and lucid.
“What’s wrong?” She says, her voice hoarse. Chris scowls at her, just like he used to when he was mad at her back when they were much younger. “Hang on, are you mad at me? Why, what have I done?”
“Claire,” Chris hissed, “how come I had to hear from Leon that you had been rescued and in the hospital, almost a week later. How come you told him and Barry not to call me?”
Claire avoided her brother's gaze, so that’s why he’s in a shitty mood , she thought to herself. She hadn’t seen her brother so angry in years. She tried to think back to the last time she saw her brother in such a state. Was it that time in high school he caught her trying beer in the backyard with her friends? Surely it had to have been before then, though she wracked her brain and couldn’t think.
“How am I supposed to feel when I get a call from Leon saying that he’s sorry he didn’t tell me sooner, but my sister is in the hospital in a critical condition? That you told both him and Barry not to tell me. God, Claire!” Claire noticed that her brother had started to cry. She had only seen him cry a handful of times; their parents' funeral, when he saved her in Antarctica, the day Jill jumped out the window with Albert Wesker, the day that Jill was officially declared dead, the day Jill had been saved. Sure, there had been a few other days, yet those were the worst days.
“Chris, I’m sorry.” Claire mumbled.
“You are the only family I have left Claire, why did you do this?” Chris’ voice broke, sending Claire to burst into tears like a volcano eruption. Guilt settled on her chest in a crushing weight. She thought she was doing the right thing by him.
“You have enough going on in your life right now. You’ve got plenty to worry about with Jill and getting her better. The last time we spoke, you told me that you were losing sleep because you were so worried about her. I didn’t want to add to your load. That’s why I made Leon and Barry promise not to tell you.”
Chris felt the anger deplete from his body. His baby sister wasn’t a baby anymore, she hadn’t been for a long time, something he struggled to remember. All this time he thought he needed to protect her, and here she was protecting him so that her brother could protect Jill.
“Don’t worry about me Claire. I am here for you. I can be here for Jill and still be there for you. You might not know, but I’m pretty strong. I can take whatever you give me, so please Claire, give it all to me. Don’t keep things like this from me.” Chris’ hand found Claire’s and he held it gently, noting how cold it felt.
“I’m here for you too Chris, even though you don’t want to believe it. I may be your little sister, but I’m all grown up, you don’t have to do this alone any more. Chris, I love you, please don’t forget that.”
“I know Claire. I love you too.” Chris felt the last of his anger melt away, and all that remained was a warm fuzzy feeling to remind him that he was lucky to have Claire as his baby sister.