WARNING: There are mild triggers in this chapter. Suicidal thoughts and a little bit of self-harm.Please, if you can't deal with any of these you need to stop right here. It's just a friendly warning because I care about you.

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My head felt like a sledgehammer had landed on it. Dizzy, I hastily bent over my mother.

"Mum. Wake up mum." I pressed two fingers to her wrist, she was still alive, but barely.

Think, think, think, Aura think...

"Shit!" I swore, fishing out my phone and dialing Winter's number. He answered on the first ring.

"Aura, what's going on?" He demanded, unaware of the panic going through me.

"Mum, she's lying unconscious in the bathroom." I willed myself not to cry, but a tear drop snaked down my left cheek. Mum cannot die, she can't leave me.

"Shit!" I heard scrambling in the background. "Don't move her, I'm coming over right now. Take deep breaths, Aura and call an ambulance." He instructed me before hanging up.

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My mother was rushed into the emergency ward of Patrick Greenwood's Specialist Hospital. No one had offered an explanation for the past two hours. I waited in the hallway with Winter. Our hands were linked together but none of us bothered speaking. At this moment, words would do little to solve anything. He was equally as fearful as I was, though he tried hard not to show any emotion.

He knew what happened to my dad, and he knew I'd be devastated if my mum doesn't make it. God forbid that from happening.

In that moment, I realized a hard truth. I cared about my mother. If I didn't, I wouldn't have been freaking out, I would have been sitting cross-legged in my room watching Money-heist and not give a flying fuck about her, afterall, if she died, all her money will automatically be mine.

But no, I cared too much, that my emotions were disheveled, spinning together so much that bile crept up my throat.

"Mum will be fine." Winter whispered, hugging me closer and brushing away my tears.

Stupid tears.

Outside the hospital, the rains poured down violently, a perfect mix with my tears. I inhaled and exhaled, taking sharp intakes of air that slammed me back into normalcy.

My eyes wandered into Winter's peaceful blue ones. They had the same colour with sone of the rivers in my geography textbook. "Thank you, Winter."

His lips parted in a wide smile. "It's why I'm here, for you, Aura. I messaged Summer and Cole."

"We're here!"

Our heads turned and I almost laugh seeing Summer and Cole rush in through the doors. Summer's hair was in a messy wave around her shoulders. She was wearing a yellow sweatshirt on her blue jeans trousers. Cole was dressed like her, only with a mint green hoodie.

Summer's face held so much tender emotions as she occupied the space beside me, Cole took the place next to Winter.

"Girl," She called, embracing me and patting my back.

"If something happens to my mother-"

Cole sighed. "Nothing will happen to your mother, Aura."

I raised my head from Summer's shoulder. "How are you so sure?"

Winter rolled his eyes and signalled Cole not to say anything. Like hell, I wanted to start a fight just to lift the burden off my mind. My friends were totally aware of my abilities to start fights when I was upset, therefore, they sat with me in silence, only the low hum of the nurses and the hospital equipments interrupted the serenity.

The time read 12:01a.m when a man in white lab coat came up to us.

"Which of you is related to Mrs White?"

My friends glanced at me. I frowned at the doctor. "I am."

He laughed. Wait, why is he laughing? My friends wore equally confused faces. "I meant her real daughter, kid."

What the hell is he high on?

"Need I state it again, I am her daughter. Oh wait, if you don't believe me, we could run a DNA test. This is a hospital right?"

He had the guts to smirk. He fucking smirked. Summer and Cole tried to remain calm. I was running ideas on how to murder the young prissy doctor in my head"I'm going to have to call security."

Winter rose in great rage. "Are you fucking out of your mind? What are you high on? What other form of identification do you need, you piece of shit."

I touched his arm and made him sit. Most times people don't believe I'm my mom's daughter because I shared most of my dad's features and almost none of her's.

Facing the doctor, I smiled. "Now listen here you daft cow, if you don't let me see my mother and I'm going to make sure you lose your licence and her partnership with this damned hospital will be withdrawn too. Go ahead and call the security." I flashed mom's special identity card in his shocked face.

"Oh my goodness, I'm terribly sorry. Come with me."

Grinning, I turned to my friends who gloated at the humiliation. Already, most of the nurses and a few other people were watching.

I nodded, eyes flickering to the doctor's name tag. "So, doctor Jerry, how about we have a chat in your office?"

"Of course." He said through gritted teeth.

According to the test results, mum's sugar levels were below normal, leading to the temporary blackout of her brain. Doctor Asshole said he would do everything possible to ensure my mom's condition was stable. Of course.

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FRIDAY

Mum was staring at the white wall opposite her when the nurses ushered me into her hospital room. She was no longer in her work clothes but changed into a blue hospital gown. Her hair in a messy cascade down her back.

"Good morning mum." I dragged a chair close to her bed and sat.

She smiled, immediately taking my hands. "I'm sorry, baby."

"What are you apologizing for mum?"

I remembered asking her this same question on the day Sven was arrested, the day I nearly jumped, the day Alexander found me. This time around, I was asking, not out of spite but out of curiousity.

Mum's eyes watered. "I'm sorry for not taking proper care of you."

I lifted a brow. "When did you realize you haven't been taking good care of me? When?" It took me a lot of effort not to yank my hand away from my mother's touch.

"Last month, baby. I was thinking about how withdrawn you became, how you spent all the time locked in your room alone or with Winter, Cole and Summer. I thought about the many times a parent or teacher would report your bad behaviour... And then I realised I hadn't been paying much attention to you." My mother said. I could see she was in so much pain, but this didn't quench my rising anger.

"Really touching, mum. I must confess." She frowned at my snarky comment. "I can't say you haven't tried. At least we have a roof over our heads, we're not living like stray dogs. What more can I thank you for?"

Mom winced in response to my well placed sarcasm. "Material things do not matter when it comes to the ones you love, Aura." But you got married to Sven barely a year after dad's death. "I've been thinking of how little you know about me and in my case, I have no idea what you like."

I rolled my eyes but did not reply with a single word. She could say all she wanted but I wasn't forgiving her so easily. Not yet.

My mother pulled open a drawer beside her bed and took out some papers.

"I've decided this Christmas, we'll be going on a vacation to Cuba-" Mum paused to check my reaction. I managed to keep my face unreadable. "Here are tickets for the two of us. Also, I'm taking a break from work, of course I'll be working from home but I'll get to spend quality time with you, baby."

Her last word set my nerves ablaze. I shoved back the chair I was sitting on and stood, abruptly dropping mum's hand. "If you think you can buy your way into my heart with more material things, you're clearly mistaken, mum. I'll never forgive you for leaving me to the mercy of that fucktard, all these years, and you're just realizing I've been neglected? You speak as if you know how much Sven has been abusing me-" Mom's face twisted in utter horror. "-oh, of course you don't. How would you know when work was far more important than your daughter. Even when I got my first period, who did I run to? Lauren! Because you were never around! What you've done is unforgivable, I can never forgive you ma!"

By now my voice was probably sailing through the corridors of the hospital. I didn't care so long as the pent up energy dissipated. Mom had tears pouring from her eyes, face buried in her hands.

I should have been sympathetic, but no, I wasn't. She had to feel every single pain I was in right now. It tit-for-tat.

A baby-faced blonde nurse swam inside the room and gripped my hand. "I'm afraid you need to-"

I shoved her to the side."Leave me the fuck alone. I'm leaving anyway. Here's your change of clothes, mum." I made sure mum tasted ever single dose of biterness in those words and after meeting her sorrowful gaze for one last time, I tumbled out of the room and stumbled blindly along the hospital corridors, my backpack bouncing against my back.

All I needed right now was to get away from this entire shit situation. Bouncing on my toes in the car park, I checked my phone, it was 7:30a.m.

Although mum's car was parked a few meters away, I couldn't drive. Not with these nerves hanging insanely high. Not with my anger. I could kill myself accidentally. Or wait, what if I killed myself intentionally?

My teeth pressed down on my lips until the metallic taste of blood mingled with my saliva.

I paced around the car park, hands diving wildly into my hair that I forgot to put up in braids this morning. Fuck!

It all didn't make sense. She's apologizing? After all these years? Like hell, I will not forgive her. It's just like Sven appearing with an apology, I'll stick a knife in his throat before I forgive him.

Knife, knife, knife!

Cut, cut, cut!

A chant began in my head, driving me crazy. The monsters again. It's them.

Sinking to my knees, I pressed up against one of the cars there, sobbing bitterly till the sense of time passed. Time trickled slowly. I even heard some cars drive away. But I had choosen the car in the upper end of the car park. No one will find me here.

Razor, I need to cut!

I scratched at my wrist furiously until there were blood marks there. I scratched until a pair of masculine legs stopped in front of me. The person crouched.

Raising my teary eyes, I saw Jordan.

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Phew! I hope Aurora gets through. Please, do not judge her for acting this way. She's in a lot of pressure right now. Let's cross our fingers and believe she'll be fine.

What does Jordan want now? Will he help? If he does? How will he help?