Lost Hope

TWENTY-FIVE

↻ ◁ II ▷ ↺

There was a dull air in the kitchen the next morning.

The house was quiet, no one was bothering with chitchat. They all seemed to understand the looming threat on the girl's life. Emmet and Isaac had gone out, announcing that they ran out of coffee but it was just an excuse to avoid the dull air. So it was quiet.

Until Henry and Blake heard the unmistakable sound of shattering glass.

Sharing a startled look, they rushed out of the kitchen and up the stairs, stopping at Athena's door. The colour drained out of both their faces when they heard her harsh coughs and dry heaves.

Henry opened the door but, much to his horror, it was locked. 

"Athena!" he called, pounding on the door with his fist. "Athena, open the door!"

It was minutes of loud banging and cracked sobs before the lock clicked. Henry opened the door and gasped as in less than seconds his cousin collapsed and Blake caught her just before she touched the floor. But it wasn't the fact that she passed out that terrified them. It was the blood colouring the front of her grey sweatshirt. The tear tracks on her face. The bleeding wounds on her hands and feet.

"Call an ambulance!" called Blake, fear in his eyes. "HENRY!"

Henry proceeded to do as told, bringing his phone to his ear with shaking hands and giving the necessary details.

𝄞𝄥──────────𝄥𝄞──────────𝄞𝄥──────────𝄥𝄞

Turns out she had a bad case of acid reflux and an inflamed chest. 

Henry thanked the doctors profusely and hurried into the room.

He drew in a sharp breath at the sight of his cousin. She was paperwhite, fast asleep with an oxygen mask attached to her face and a saline tube injected into her arm.

He collapsed into the chair next to her and sighed loudly.

It didn't take long for her to wake up. Their gaze met and she rolled her eyes after a few seconds, ripping off the mask.

"Hey! Hey!" he snapped when she tore off the saline needle as well.

"Get off," she rasped, sitting down, grabbing the glass from the side table and pouring some water in it. She drained the water, grimaced then looked around for her clothes. Someone was kind enough to bring her a pair of light jeans, a shirt and a coat. She grabbed them and walked to the bathroom, blinking away the dizziness. After splashing her pale face with some water and pinching her cheeks, she moved out of the bathroom and to the door, ignoring Henry's calls and pleas.

"Athena!" said Emmet, alarmed. 

"Fuck off," she muttered, narrowing her blurry eyes and dodging a guard. She broke into a jog but Ben caught her around the waist and hauled her up.

"Let me go!" she screamed, pounding with her fists on his back. "Put me down!"

Ben only put her down when he was close to the bed. Athena scowled at him and turned to the nurse.

"I don't want any visitors until I'm released," she told her.

"Athena, please," said Henry but he was ushered out by Ben.

She fell back on the bed and closed her eyes, biting back tears. 

When she woke up after a couple of hours, Henry was pacing by the door.

Pretending she hadn't noticed him, she stood up and walked to the bathroom. When she was back in the room, George was there with a bouquet of daisies.

Athena rolled her eyes, knowing exactly what he was there for.