In the living room, her paternal grandmother, Nadia, was amidst a small mountain of laundry, folding towels with precise corners. The large TV was on, playing a drama, its light casting soft shadows across her focused face.
"We're home,". Cathy announced, her voice warm as she slid her shoes off.
Vera followed, placing her bags down. "Hola."
Bella bounced in last. "Emily! Abuelita! By the way… where's Bro?".
Emily looked up from her phone, grinning. "Where else? His room of course,".
Cathy's eyes swept the room, a mother's automatic headcount. Her gaze lingered on the closed door down the hall. "Where is Sael, Nadia?".
Nadia looked up from her folding, a soft smile on her lips. "He is in his room…. Probably working on his big project… like always,". She said it with such certainty and pride that it brooked no further question. Of course he was working. Their genius was always working these days.
The shopping bags were forgotten on the floor. Vera moved to help Nadia with the laundry. Bella hopped onto the arm of the sofa. Cathy leaned against the doorframe, enjoying the sight of her family. Nadia paused her folding, her hands resting on a soft sweater. She took a slow breath, and a beautiful, radiant blush crept up her neck. She looked… incandescent.
"There is something I wish to tell you all," she began, her voice soft but clear, carrying a tremor of happiness.
All eyes turned to her. Emily muted her phone. Nadia's smile widened.
"Sael and I… today… we…" She didn't need to finish. The look of utter bliss on her face said it all. "He has claimed me… We are truly one, now…".
"Oh!" The reaction was instantaneous. A collective, gasped filled the room.
Emily clapped her hands together, delighted. "Babushka! That's amazing! Finally!"
"¡Felicidades! I'm so happy for you grandma!". Bella beamed, hopping off to give her grandmother a fierce hug.
"Oh, Nadia… my boy… I'm so glad. So glad he's making you happy…". Cathy's hand flew to her heart, her eyes glistening. She moved forward and took Nadia's hands—her mother-in-law's hands—squeezing them tightly.
"Finally! It is as it should be," she said, her voice thick.
"The man of the house, taking care of his woman… This is a good day for all of us,". Vera wiped a tear away, her expression one of deep satisfaction.
The apartment was filled with a palpable, shared joy.
"And that is not all," Nadia said, her voice bubbling with pride. "His talents… they never cease to impress me; He is a musical genius as well! He showed me, earlier… He has another channel, where he posted himself playing music…".
"That VTuber account, right? With the piano? You saw it, grandma?". Emily's eyes went wide. She vibrated with excitement.
"It's awesome! Look! I was his first subscriber! The song he played… It was so beautiful it made me cry…. He really has my musical talent,". Nadia held out her phone. The family crowded around, watching the anime avatar play with heartbreaking beauty.
The joyful energy from Nadia's announcement slowly settled into the comfortable hum of evening routines. The mountain of laundry was now a neat series of stacks. The bags were finally put away, their contents—a new shirt for Sael, some kitchen gadgets Vera had wanted, a sleek sports bracelet for Bella—now part of the home's ecosystem.
"I'm going to take a quick shower…I really need to feel refreshed….". Cathy stretched, the emotional high of the last hour giving way to a familiar weariness.
"Yeah, me too,". Bella agreed, following her step-aunt down the hall toward the bathroom they often shared.
"Emily, can you peel the potatoes? Nadia, is the rice ready?". In the kitchen, Vera tied an apron around her waist, the familiar ritual of preparing dinner a grounding force. Her commands were gentle, born from years of managing the chaotic symphony of their family meals.
Emily hopped off her stool and grabbed the peeler. Nadia moved to the rice cooker, giving the contents a stir. The scene was one of perfect, practiced domesticity.
But as Vera chopped onions, her rhythm began to falter. Her eyes kept flicking down the hall toward Sael's door. It was still closed. The house was filled with the sounds of sizzling oil, running water from the shower, and the low murmur of the TV, but his room was a pocket of silence that felt increasingly heavy, increasingly wrong.
The conversation from the car echoed in her mind. Rapid change… joint pain… hormonal swings… keep an eye on him.
"This is silly,". She put the knife down, wiping her hands on her apron. As she muttered to herself.
'He's just working at this time….'. But the instinct, the one that had cared for him as if he were her own since the day her sister Cathy had brought him home, was screaming. It felt too quiet. For far too long.
"I'll be right back,". she said to no one in particular, her voice slightly tight.
She walked down the hall, her footsteps soft on the worn carpet. Cathy and Bella emerged from the steamy bathroom, their hair wrapped in towels, faces flushed and fresh.
"Mom, does this shirt make me look—" Bella began, but she stopped when she saw her mother's expression. Vera wasn't listening. Her entire focus was on Sael's door; her brow furrowed with a worry that was now fully formed.
She was ten steps away.
Then five.
Her hand rose, ready to knock gently, to call his name softly.
The silence was shattered.
A raw, guttural scream of pure agony—"AAHHHH!!"—ripped through the apartment, followed instantly by the sickening, heavy THUD of a body hitting the floor. It was a sound of absolute, unadulterated suffering.
Vera's blood ran cold. For a fraction of a second, she was frozen, her mind refusing to process the sound. Then, pure instinct took over.
"¡SAEL!".
She exploded into motion, throwing his door open so hard it slammed against the wall inside. The scene that greeted her would be seared into her memory forever. Her boy, her hombrecito, was on the floor. His body was not limp, but rigid, arched in a terrifying, seizure-like contortion. Every magnificent muscle he'd gained was locked in a vicious spasm, straining against his skin. A low, continuous growl of pain was forced through his clenched teeth, his eyes wide and unseeing.
"No, no, no, mi amor, no…". She fell to her knees beside him. Her first instinct was to hold him. She slid her hands under his head, cradling it, pulling him onto her lap, against her chest. His skin was burning hot and slick with sweat. He was trembling violently.
"CATHY!" she screamed, her voice a blade of pure panic. "CALL AN AMBULANCE!".
Cathy appeared in the doorway, Bella right behind her. Cathy's face, moments ago relaxed from her shower, drained of all color. The sight of her son in such a state was a physical blow. She stumbled, her hand flying to her mouth.
But where Vera's reaction was to comfort, Cathy's was to stay calm. The fear was there, a cold knot in her stomach, but it was instantly encased in a shell of fierce, maternal necessity.
"Vera, easy! Bella, my phone! Now! Emily, get his health card from my wallet! Nadia, the keys! Move!".
Her sharp orders broke the paralyzing horror. Bella scrambled. Emily darted into her mother's room. Nadia, her face ashen, snatched the car keys from the hook by the door.
"We're not waiting for an ambulance in this traffic,". Cathy declared, her mind racing. "We'll take him. Vera, help me lift him. Gently!".
Together, they slid their arms under Sael's shaking body. He was heavy, solid, but their combined strength, fueled by adrenaline, lifted him. Vera kept his head cradled against her, whispering. "It's okay, my strong boy…. I'm here, Hold on for me."
"We've got you, baby…. Mom's here, just hold on… Just stay with us.". Cathy supported his torso, her voice a steady, loving counterpoint.
They half-carried, half-dragged him down the hall. Nadia held the apartment door open, her hands shaking. Emily and Bella ran ahead to the elevator, their faces pale with terror. The entire operation was a terrifying, yet precision-executed, rescue mission.
The drive to Saint Grace General Hospital was a blur of honking horns and run red lights, a nightmare journey that ended with Vera screeching the car into the Emergency Bay.
"SOMEONE!!! My son! Help my son! ANYONE!!!" Cathy yelled as she burst through the automatic doors.
The triage nurse took one look at Sael's writhing form and his obvious gender, and her professionalism snapped into hyper-focused urgency.
"Male patient! Wing Three! Now!".
He was whisked away from them on a gurney, through swinging doors that slammed shut, leaving the five women in a cold, sterile waiting room, clutching each other.
Inside the Intensive Care Unit of the Male Wing, the atmosphere was starkly different. The room was used so rarely it had an almost museum-like quality. The all-female medical team, while impeccably professional, moved with a sense of heightened, clinical fascination.
"Vitals are extremely elevated… neuro activity is off the charts… it's like his entire system is overloading…". A young doctor placed sensors on his chest, her touch efficient but at the same time extremely curious.
"Wow… I've never seen a male patient this young in this hospital… like ever,". A nurse adjusted an IV, her eyes widened, as she looked at him up closely.
"Damn! This one, is hot AF!… and that bulge… that Is what I call, a man". she whispered, clearly appreciating the magnificent specimen of a male before her.
"Oh… he was definitely, the prime specimen,". Everyone agreed with the nurse, that were clearly stunned by the boy.
All of them worked around him, not just as caregivers, but also as scientists presented with a rare and fascinating specimen. And also, as a woman, their touches were probing; their murmured consultations filled with terms about hormone levels and male-specific physiological responses.
And through it all, Sael was awake. His eyes were slits of white, flickering open to the blinding lights and unfamiliar faces before squeezing shut against the relentless, shredding pain. The real world was a distant, terrifying dream.
The only constant, the only thing that was real, was the voice in his head, a calm, digital metronome against the chaos of his nerves.
"[Synchronization at 92%... The pain is a sign of successful integration; you must remain conscious. Stay with me, Sael. Stay awake.]".