Seeing that Zia was about to keep talking, Elara shook her head, a smirk tugging at her lips. She bent a little and lifted her effortlessly off the ground. She then gave her nose a playful pinch. "Zia, we seriously need to do sothing about this little spilling machine of yours."
Zia pouted imdiately, her lips stretching so far forward it looked as if a bird could comfortably land on them. She shook her head repeatedly. "Not . Not ."
"Frostiebun." A voice suddenly called from afar.
Carris looked up almost instantly. His gaze landing on Tonio who was now approaching them with a huge bouquet of flowers pressed against his chest with one arm. A dium paper bag hanging from his other hand.
"I heard you have a match this evening. Why are you here?" Carris asked, already stretching out a hand toward the flowers. "Thanks anyway. I really appreciate all this."
"Get the fuck..." Tonio cursed while imdiately slapping his hand away. "Why would I bring anything for you?" He turned toward Elara instead, a small apologetic sulk on his face.
"I’m sorry Frostiebun, but I have to leave now because of the match. I got these in a hurry." He muttered, handing the bouquet and paper bag over to her.
Elara accepted them with a small smile. "Thanks."
Before Tonio could turn around to leave, Carris suddenly grabbed the back of his sports jacket and pulled him back. "You’re in a hurry because you’re already late, idiot." He mocked.
Tonio’s eyes instantly reddened with frustration as he glared at him.
"Whatever," Carris said again. "If you get too much distracted and got a hit to that ugly face of yours, don’t expect any of us to visit you in the hospital."
With clenched teeth, Tonio grabbed his wrist and peeled his hand away from his clothes. The expression on his face clearly said:
I’ll deal with you later.
He let out a snort and hurried away, completely ignoring the caras flashing around him. Carris watched his retreating figure before clicking his tongue.
"Hopeless."
–
Later that night after the event had finally wrapped up, Elara inford Ziva that it was ti to leave. As they approached the car, Ziva headed toward the driver’s seat and placed the flowers and bag beside her, while Elara carefully carried Zia, who was already nodding off from exhaustion.
The little girl barely opened her eyes as Elara settled her into the back seat. Only after making sure she was comfortable did Elara close the door and move to the passenger side.
A few monts later, the car started and slowly pulled away from the noisy venue. And for the first ti all evening, Elara was finally able to breathe properly. Her lips tightened as she stared out the window.
Ziva glanced at her briefly from the corner of her eye before returning her attention to the road. "Need so water?" she asked quietly.
Elara shook her head in refusal, not saying a word. But after a long while, she finally opened her mouth, her gaze never leaving the view outside.
"Let’s take Zia back to Crelou." She said in a low voice. "And after that..." She paused, her fingers tightening in her lap. "Drive to Lorien."
Ziva’s expression went still for a small second, then she gave a small nod in understanding...
After dropping Zia off with her mother, the car drove toward Lorien and soon stopped in front of a large white dical building. Elara picked up her phone and turned to Ziva.
"You can leave. I’ll stay a while," she muttered calmly.
Ziva pulled her hand away from the steering wheel and took a long look at her. "Okay." She said in a simple tone, reaching out and squeezing Elara’s hand gently. "Trust . It’ll be fine."
Elara nodded in acknowledgnt and opened the door.
"Call when you’re ready," Ziva said after her.
Elara gave another small nod before stepping out and closing the door gently behind her. "Goodnight," she murmured. Then, without waiting for a reply, she quickly turned and walked toward the hospital.
Ziva watched her back for a long mont as she walked away. Then she took a deep breath, started the car, and drove off smoothly.
When Elara entered the building, the nurses behind the reception desk nodded politely at her while she nodded back before continuing forward. She moved through the familiar hallways and soon stopped in front of a door tucked among dozens of others.
204
She didn’t linger outside for too long. Placing her hand against the access panel beside the door, she waited for the soft beep. The lock clicked open instantly. Without wasting another second, she pushed the door open, stepped inside and closed it behind her.
The room was dimly lit but she could clearly make out the outline of the figure lying on the bed. The soft beeping sound of the machines beside him was the only thing breaking the silence.
Elara walked forward slowly, her feet feeling strangely heavy as she approached the bed. She pulled the chair closer and placed it beside him before sitting down. Then she rested her phone on her lap. Lifting her gaze, she stared at the sleeping face before her.
Her chest tightened with that familiar uncomfortable feeling. "I got nominated again," she finally muttered after a long stretch of silence. "For the second ti."
As expected, her words were t with silence.
"You should wake up, you keep missing everything" she continued anyway, her lips pressing together. "You were supposed to see all this." She bit down hard on her lip until she tasted blood.
"Grandpa... Things shouldn’t continue like this."
Still no reply. She had expected that... always expected it. But sohow, it still hurt every single ti.
Elara raised her phone and stared at the dark screen for a long mont. A self-mocking scoff escaped her lips as it reflected a faint glow from the room.
Nine months.
The words felt strange even to her.
It still felt as though everything had happened yesterday. Sotis she would wake up and completely forget. Then her eyes would land on the cigarette packs stacked carelessly on the locker in her room and everything would co rushing back again.
The fact that nothing had changed.
The mory of that day remained painfully clear. The day she kept replaying in her mind over and over again...
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