Regulus
Regulus hated butterfly effects. They seemed to follow him around, and had since he was little. For example; once, when he was around seven, Regulus got the flu for the first and only time in his life, causing him to miss school, and miss being next to the world trade center on September 11 2001. they moved to North Carolina shortly after that, Walburga thought that the move would prevent incident, turns out the Appalachian mountains weren't the best place for that.
Regulus had gotten up before his usual time, as he had to go to the school early to prepare everything for the field trip that day, which James would be joining him on later in the afternoon after his shift ended.
When he'd gone to pick up his phone off the charger as he headed out the door, he'd realized that it wasn't there, up on further inspection he discovered that it was in his jacket pocket from the previous day and completely dead. 'ok,' Regulus thought, 'i'll charge it in the car.' he told himself as he left the house.
He'd gotten in his car and pulled out of the driveway, turning onto the I-75 highway towards the school when his ear had started to ring, loud, high-pitched ringing in his ears, preventing him from hearing anything. Suddenly, Regulus had gotten rather nauseous and lightheaded, he knew what was happening. Blackout. In his defense, Regulus had tried to pull off to the side of the road, he'd just been unsuccessful.
When he'd woken up next, Regulus was in an unsettlingly clean hospital room, laying on a bed that reeked of latex and bleach, and wearing a hospital gown. The sky outside was bright and cheery, Regulus turned his wrist over to check the time; 2:30. He'd have to call his boss and explain the situation later, Regulus had spotted the "Call Nurse" button on the wall and had debated pressing it to ask them to call James, Regulus decided against it. Why ruin James' day because of some stupid crash?
Regulus turned his head to the side, taking in the view from the hospital room. damn it, he thought to himself, silently praying to whatever deity was listening in that insurance would cover this.
A nurse knocked on the door before entering, she was wearing standard hospital scrubs with a name tag that read: "Alice. L.", The woman approached Regulus' bed, stopping a few feet away and looking at him with pity. Regulus decided the second he registered the emotion behind her eyes that he hated her.
"Ah, you're awake. Lovely." The woman said in an overly-sweet voice, as if she were talking to a child. Regulus hated her further. couldn't she tell he didn't want her pity?
The nurse approached his bed further, carrying a tray of hospital food, roasted chicken breast, peas, chili, and jello. The smell of the cold chili, the way the chicken looked, the jello, all of it made Regulus want to vomit right there but he nodded his head and muttered a thank you before taking the tray and placing it on his bedside table.
After taking the tray of food, Regulus turned back to the woman, "Will you call my husband and tell him what happened? I'm sure he'll be worried." Regulus asked, not making direct eye-contact with the nurse and instead choosing to examine the intricate lines in the concrete walls.
"'Course I will. Anything else you need, dear?" The woman asked, seemingly undeterred by Regulus' bitter attitude. Regulus shook his head, anything to get her out of the room, and let his head fall back onto his pillow, sighing quietly as he closed his eyes. The nurse finally seemed to get the hint, shuffling out of the room and shutting the door behind her. Regulus picked at the food for a little while, debating whether or not to eat it, when that voice slithered into his head again, invading his thoughts. 'Pathetic. a car crash? really? the noble Regulus Arcturus Black-Potter being hospitalized by a car crash! well, I guess mother was right, you really are worthless.' it sneered, that awful, high-pitched voice. Regulus groaned, he hated that voice.
'you don't deserve it.' The voice stated simply, 'i mean, honestly, can you imagine how worried James will be? why would you do that to him? making him worry and run after you. you like the chase, huh?' The voice was slowly becoming louder and louder, chastising him and consuming his every thought, morphing into his mothers voice, echoing throughout his mind, 'god, Regulus. why do you do that? you try your absolute hardest to make sure that you aren't the reason someone smiles! you're so negative, Regulus.' Regulus covered his ears, the voice echoing, becoming multiple peoples, each fading in and out of focus, sounding foggy and muffled. 'You're gaining weight, Regulus. you need to eat less.'
Regulus rolled his head to the side, staring out the window and completely ignoring the tray of food next to him. "Shut up." Regulus muttered to himself as he closed his eyes and tried to sleep.