~Saving Aurora~

Nicolas, with the speed of an insane person, drove off to the hospital where a call came in from. Apparently, his sister had drowned but luckily was saved by some guy. His knuckles whitened with the strong grip which he held the steering wheel. Should anything happen to his sister, he would forever blame himself for it. He couldn't handle two people dying on him at the same time.

He pulled up at the mentioned hospital and ran all the way in to see what state his sister was in.

"Calm down, Nicolas." He paused to look behind him. He had forgotten about the girls who accompanied him to the hospital; Dolores and Adelina. They were hanging out together as they usually did when he got a call that had his fingers trembling.

Dolores soon got to him then she dropped his car keys into his hand. "You left this in the ignition. Calm down."

His exhale was shaky, almost bordering on tears. "I'm sorry, I got scared."

"You should be but you would have to pull yourself together if you want to be allowed to see her. Don't let her notice your fears, and don't raise your voice alright?" These were things she had seen her Mom tell people before they were granted access to see their loved ones in the wards.

Like a frightened kid, he nodded before proceeding briskly but more organized as he resume on his way to her ward. He arrived, hesitating to push the door open. Dolores spared him the task as she opened the door to reveal Aurora sitting upright with her hands clasped tightly by Christie.

Sensing visitors, Aurora raised her head to look at them and her features brightened instantly. "Hi, Dolores and you must be Adelina."

Adelina, still processing news of Nicolas having a sister, waved with a bit of uncertainty. She was too shocked for words to say anything at that point. The semblance between the siblings was evident.

Nicolas took shaky steps towards his sister as he came to a bitter realization that she would have slipped out of his fingers had she not been rescued on time. "I'm glad you're okay."

"I'm sorry I--" Christie began but was interrupted by Nicolas.

"It's not your fault it happened. Let's be grateful worse didn't happen. Where is the fellow who saved her?"

"I don't know him. When I came running to the edge of the pool shouting for help, nobody listened at first but someone jumped right in at the exact moment she began to float on the surface. He pulled her out and drove us both here. He left right after I placed a call to you."

Nicolas did a double check, realizing that indeed they were still in their party dress except that Aurora's was folded in a neat pile next to her bed. Their make up was completely wiped on their faces, leaving visible traces of smudged mascara lines down to their cheeks.

Dolores stepped forward. "It doesn't matter anymore. What is more important is you're both safe and well."

Christie shrugged, turning to look at Aurora tenderly. "I guess but I wouldn't be able to live with the fact that I put your life in danger. All for what?"

Nicolas watched his sister's eyes glisten with tears and he knew exactly why. Apart from himself, no one else has shown so much concern about her. None really cared so those words were bound to make her an emotional mess.

"When did the doctor say we could take her home?"

"He mentioned as soon as she was awake and had been checked. She was in the water for a while before being saved." Christie responded with a long yawn. She was tired.

"Go home, Christie. We'll take it from here. Thanks."

"Are you sure? I need to--" She paused instantly as she noticed the look of displeasure he sent her way. "That's fine, I'll be on my way then. See you later, Aurora."

The latter stretched out her arms in a hug and grinned broadly as Christie stepped into it. They held on for quite a while before pulling apart.

"Did you bring a car?" He asked.

"No, we actually had an Uber drive us to the party."

"I'll drop you off then. Come with me." Nicolas instructed. Adelina and Dolores would take care of his sister until he returned to take her home.

°•°•°•°•°

By the time Nicolas arrived the ward his sister was, he was relieved to find her talking with Dolores and Adelina. Her voice was cheery, matching the expression on her face. He stood watching them, not wanting to interrupt their moments together but too late, she had seen him the moment he walked in.

"Speak of the devil and he shows up." She stated loudly.

Two heads whipped around to look at him. Dolores was the first to speak. "You really were mischievous when you were younger and you still are. Nothing's changed."

He laughed, letting the insult roll off his shoulders. His gaze returned to his sister. "Can we go home now?"

"Of course." She dropped her feet from the bed, sitting up. She was no longer in the drab hospital gown but in a gown too short in his own opinion and whose glitter attempted to blind him. The gown was fantastic but he wasn't about to admit that to her.

"You went out looking like that?"

"Yeah, so? What's wrong with it?" Dolores answered before Aurora could open her mouth in response.

Nicolas raised his hands in resignation. There were three girls against him so whatever he wanted to say didn't matter to them. "Whatever, let's leave."

"Don't worry about us. I'm about to order an Uber to take us to the park where we parked our cars. Just hurry and take Aurora home." Dolores replied with a dismissive wave of her hand.

"Did I complain about driving you both there? Come on, I'll drop you off at least. I'm not about to have you both go home alone this late." He pressed further.

Seeing as he left them both with no other choice, they agreed but reluctantly. Left to Adelina, she didn't want to be a bother to him. Stress lines were already appearing on his face causing him to look older than he was.

They filed out of the ward with Nicolas behind them and they ambled out to his car in the parking lot. The sun had gone to bed by the time they came out of the hospital, leaving the moon and stars out to play.

Aurora had gone to sit in front with him but he chased her off to the back seat stating that he was still pissed and didn't want to talk to her yet.

"Then, you'll be sitting alone." Dolores fired back at him. "Learn to stop being a bully, will you? Ease up on her a little, afterall she didn't go to swim by herself."

Even Adelina clicked her tongue disapprovingly.

Nicolas realized he had not a chance against the trio. With a disgruntled expression and a groan, he called Aurora back. At that, she hopped happily back to the front where she could easily torture him.

She leaned forward to turn on the radio, nodding her head in rhythm to a popular song that filtered in. The girls did a little sing along, passing invisible mics to each other every time a new verse came on. The song soon changed to Everything I wanted by Billie Eilish, switching the moods in the car. When it got to the lines,

I tried to scream
But my head was underwater
They called me weak
Like I'm not just somebody's daughter
Might have been a nightmare

Nicolas observed his sister had gone silent. He spared her a glance, catching her fingers trembling slightly with every trace of her initial excitement wiped from her features. Reaching out sideways, he grabbed one of her hands which were placed on her thighs.

She shivered visibly with wild eyes flashing before she calmed down, realizing it was only her brother. She looked down at her hand to see that he had it in the cradle of his own. He squeezed gently as a manner of reassuring her of his presence.

Thankfully, the girls behind seemed to be oblivious to Aurora's silence as they raised their voices, singing wildly. The song soon switched to another song with lyrics that didn't make her flinch in fear like a cornered animal.

The field where the the girls' cars were parked soon came into view but it was a few minutes past nine when they got to it. Dolores got down first, Adelina followed but went straight to her own car while Dolores walked to the driver's side to talk with Nicolas.

"Do not be too hard on Aurora. She just had an experience that had her shaken up. Be nice." She said with a hushed tone but made sure the underlying threats in her words wasn't missed.

Judging by her tone, Nicolas knew she meant every word she said. If she didn't have the heart to follow through with them, Adelina would without hesitation.

He smiled, "She's safe with me. I'm her brother afterall."

"Good." She leaned into the car to drop a light kiss on his cheek. "See you monday. Bye, Aurora."

Aurora waved once then lowered her hand to her thighs as she watched Dolores walk to her car. Her brother's voice pulled her out of distraction.

"Are you okay?"

She nodded. "I am. I just want to go home."

~~~{•}~~~

Forty chapters inna bit and we aren't even near the end
But don't worry... The end isn't so far away

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