“How are you?” I asked softly, stepping to his bedside.
Noah’s hand twitched beneath the thin blanket. “Kaia…
I’m sorry,” he whispered, voice shaking. “I didn’t know how to show you I loved you. So I stayed away. I thought it was better… but I was wrong. And now it’s—”
“Shhh…” I leaned closer, brushing his hand with my fingertips. “Don’t work yourself up. You need rest.”
His eyes welled with tears. One slipped down his cheek. ” Kaia…” he said again. Just my name. Over and over. Like he wanted to wrap his last breath around it.
2/4
+15 Bonus
I stood there and watched as his lids lowered, lashes trembling once- then still. The machine beside him beeped in a long, flat line.
Doctors and nurses rushed in, their voices sharp and too loud. I quietly stepped back into the hallway.
Asher and Jace were slumped in chairs nearby, eyes downcast, shoulders hunched.
“Are you two alright?” I asked gently.
Asher looked up, forcing a tired smile that didn’t quite make it to his eyes. “I guess.”
I stood there for a moment, unsure of what else to say. Then finally, “I have to go. Adam’s waiting for me.”
I turned, but paused. “Take care of yourselves, Asher. Jace.”
Jace looked at me like he wanted to say something–his mouth opened, then closed. In the end, he just nodded and smiled faintly.
I walked away. Didn’t look back for a more glance.
Adam was waiting for me in the car as usual. “All finished?” he asked softly, his voice warm and low.
I nodded, curling into his arms, letting his strength wrap around me. His chest was solid beneath my cheek, and the sound of his heartbeat pulled me under.
I drifted off somewhere between sorrow and exhaustion.
In the dream that followed, I was fifteen again.
3/4
10
+15 Bonus
It was my birthday. Father and Mother were alive.
Asher had just returned home from university, his suit jacket slung over one shoulder. Jace and I had teamed up to prank Noah with whipped cream, and now he was chasing us down the marble hallway, half–laughing, half -shouting.
The house was full of life and love and laughter.
When I blew out the candles on the cake, Asher leaned down and whispered in my ear, the scent of his cologne faintly familiar.
“Be happy, sis,” he said. “You’ve got us at your back. Just live. Live the happiest life you can.”
I stirred awake just as the car pulled into the airport. Adam kissed the top of my head, and I smiled faintly.
Some memories fade. But others somehow–stay burning.
