Come Closer

Chapter 1

“Ring ! Ring! Ring! Ring! ”

Breaking the silence of the house, the sound of the ringing of the phone was heard. Avelyn, who had been sprawled on the sofa, got up and picked up her phone, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

“Hello!”

She answered, still groggy. But, upon hearing what the person on the other end said, her eyes widened. “I’m on my way.” She ran out of the house, into the rain, briefly stopping to get the keys of her car and forgetting to take her coat with that.

11:30 p.m.

Avelyn looked at the time anxiously. ‘Two hours have passed’ she thought. She was sitting beside the emergency room, rubbing her face which had dried tears, with shaking hands. She leaned back, resting her heavy head on the wall behind her, and gazed at the white ceiling. Her jaw tightened. She had done crying, and she didn’t have any intend to cry furthermore. Till the next news arrives, that is.

You may ask what has happened to her. Well, it is not pleasant. The call was from the hospital, informing her that, the car her parents and sister had traveled in had crashed down a slope, and her parents and sister had admitted to that hospital. The accident had happened only a mile away from home. They were so close to their home, yet the fate had had plans for them. One more mile, they would have been home. But they never got to pass that one mile.

Soon after coming to the hospital, Avelyn had been informed that everyone was in the emergency ward. Half an hour passed and she no longer had her parents with her. She knelt to the ground in front of their covered bodies, and cried and cried and cried. Amongst all these, the fear of losing her sister enveloped her, and she had weakly returned to sit beside the emergency room, hoping again and again, that her sister will survive.

She stared at the clock at the end of the hallway.

11:35….11:43….11:58….

The time ticked.

Finally, the door to the emergency room was opened, and there came her sister, lying on a stretcher. She internally relaxed a little when she saw her sister’s face was uncovered, meaning she was alive. She looked at the nurses move her sister to another room, and starter to follow them.

“Can you please come with me miss?” A nurse asked Avelyn. Nodding, she turned back and followed the nurse, to the doctor’s office, who was in charge of her sister.

“Please, take a seat miss.”

“Thank you.”

As Avelyn complied, the doctor started to describe her sister’s condition to her.

“Miss. Lyena is just in an unconscious state after the accident, and you don’t have to worry Miss…?”

“Avelyn”

“Yes, Miss. Avelyn. We have treated her wounds, and treated her excessive blood loss. Nothing is fatal for now. Your sister is lucky to survive with only a few injuries. She’ll have to take some medicine for a month or two, and the nurse will provide those.”

“Thank you Doctor. When can I get her discharged?”

“You can get her discharged tomorrow after the checkups, if there was nothing wrong with the reports.”

There they stood, clad in black, in front of their house, which felt empty and isolated after the guests had left attending the funeral of their parents. ‘Now it’s just us here’ both of them thought. The cold wind made them shiver.

Avelyn sighed. “It’s not good for us to stay outside. Let go in.” She took Lyena’s hand and walked in. They both looked around their home.

Lyena took a deep breath. “I miss them” she looked up at Avelyn, tears brimming her eyes. Avelyn sniffed, and looked at Lyena. “Me too” and she hugged her sister. Their sobs echoed in the house, as they sat on the ground, letting their sadness take over them.