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𝑇𝐻𝐼𝑅𝑇𝑌 𝑆𝐼𝑋 ☾
As they finally reached the gym, there was no talk of Anna's wants nor of Bonnie's reluctance to meet them. Instead, they remained happily in a comfortable quietness, the peacefulness between them seeming to calm them both. But Anna could not seem to shake off her thoughts.
She and Michael had been so close to being the second victims of Changretta and had their mother not have made a deal, as the Italian had said, there was no doubt their fates would have been bloody. And Anna couldn't have done a thing to stop it. That thought alone made her stomach turn, and then the sight of the spilt blood- blood that should have been hers- flooded in, seeping through the holes in her mental block. She wanted to learn to defend herself, and something told her that it should be Bonnie to teach her.
"Come on, Bonnie," Aberama's shout interrupted, eyes sliding over Anna to get to his son. "We got the call from Tommy."
Bonnie nodded before turning back. "I've got to go," he said, and Anna could have sworn there was some ounce of regret behind his voice. But Tommy's orders were final, and Bonnie would leave regardless. "I'll see you later?"
She smiled slightly. "Yeah."
Bonnie paused, but upon the second shout of his father, he began to walk backwards, keeping his eyes on her before he finally turned, nodding to himself, pleased.
"Bonnie?"
At the sound of her voice, he turned again and stopped still.
"You're going for Changretta, aren't you?" She held her breath, watching as he nodded. "Get him for me, will you?"
Bonnie chuckled, his dark brows rising, creasing his forehead. She let herself grin, and Bonnie nodded, remaining silent as he joined his father, walking purposefully to keep his commitment.
"Anna! Anna!"
Finn's voice broke out through the gym like the shrill cry of an alarm. Heads turned as he pushed his way into the room, shouting her name. Anna's eye widened in shock. Finn was not the most animated of boys- his expressions were reserved, his voice mostly calm. To hear him shout as such made her fear what could have happened.
Anna darted out between the boxing rings. "Finn? I'm here."
He sighed in relief, placing two hands on her shoulder, panting ever so slightly.
"Are you alright?" she asked. 'Is Michael alright', she'd almost asked.
"God, we've been going mad looking for you. Michael said you stormed off, said you rang someone," Finn said, easing her worry a little.
"You gave me the number and you weren't even here," she said accusingly. The messed up numbers had been half of the trouble.
Finn glared. "We were a bit preoccupied."
"Sorry," she said, guilt settling only in halves. She too had been preoccupied with the worry of Michael and of the fact that nowhere, not even the hospital, was safe for her and her family. But Anna didn't say this. It was nothing that Finn didn't worry about also. "Is everyone alright?"
"Yes. Somehow," Finn said with a laboured sigh. "Tommy sent Mr Gold after him down the road."
"I know. I was with Bonnie when they got the call."
Finn smiled. "Now I remember why I gave you that number."
At first, Anna didn't understand what Finn meant. Then it dawned on her, the awkward convenience of Bonnie Gold answering the phone when only the other day he'd picked her and her mother up from the hospital when it was supposed to be Finn. Her face flushed a deep purple and she nudged his side as he led her toward the entrance of the gym.
"Rotten boy," she teased, shaking her head. "What if I really needed you? What if I was dying?"
Finn shrugged smugly, though it was not unkind. "I'm sure he still would have come," he said. "Come on, Aunt Pol wants to see you."
"Oh." Anna stopped as they reached the car, her hand dropping from the door handle, going stiff as she remembered what else upset her in the first place. "Has she seen Michael yet?"
And tell your mother we have a deal.
"Yeah. She's still at the hospital," Finn said.
"We'll have to go back?"
Finn nodded as he rounded the car again, opening her door, waiting as she climbed in. "You don't have to if you don't want to."
"No, it's alright," she said faintly.
They sat quietly in the car, the roar and grumble filling most of the silence, the air just as loud as it rattled the open windows and tangled Anna's hair. The hospital wasn't far from the gym, as she'd learned from walking with Bonnie. She frowned further at the thought of him now going after Changretta, the man who only an hour ago had threatened her brother, and by instance her too.
"I heard from someone that it's your birthday in a week. Why didn't you tell me?" Finn said as they near the hospital road.
Anna shrugged. "I forgot," she said glumly. "I think birthdays are overrated."
She remembered her last birthday, which was spent mainly in the confines of her bed in the Bagleys' home, with Elliot sitting by her side, promising to look after them when she left. Anna realised she was spiralling again as her face began to hurt from the downwards creasing, and she quickly pulled her thoughts away from them, from how much she missed Elliot mostly, and instead to her mother.
Finn grinned. "Not if you have the right company."
And by the cheeky look on his face, she knew he was planning something.
Everything, thankfully, had been cleaned and moved by the time Anna and Finn made it back to the hospital. Though the blood splatters were no longer there, she could still imagine the dark stain on the wall. A man had died and yet there were perfectly fine. She wondered if anyone had questioned that fact, feared it even.
"Michael. I'm sorry I left you, I don't know what I was doing," Anna said as she hurried past their mother to his side once she entered his room.
"It's alright. Don't worry," he whispered, sighing again as she pulled away.
The room was deadly quiet, only the three of them present. Anna turned to her mother, seeing her tired face. But no regret nor fear was shown.
"Mum," she whispered.
Polly let out a breath of relief. "Anna."
"Tell her what you told me," Michael said as he shuffled to stand on his feet, still having to rest against the bed, his reopened wounds already fixed up and cleaned. He spoke again when she didn't answer, his voice somewhat harsh. "What deal did you make with Luca Changretta?"
"A deal to spare both of your lives," she said, holding her chin up, obviously proud of her actions. But Michael was close to glaring.
"In return for what, Mum?"
This time, even after the prompt, Polly didn't answer.
