Nadia's POV

I blinked as I looked around. The room was white and empty. I walked forward and suddenly a door appeared in front of me.

I looked around and everything was still the same. Empty besides the door before me.

I placed my hand on the doorknob and opened it.

Before me was the hospital room. Cassandra's hospital room.

I watched myself beside her bed. I watched her hand move. I watched her mouth open. I watched as I got excited, hoping she'd wake up. I watched as Mateo walked in. I watched as Cassandra flatlined.

The doctor and nurses rushed in and tried recitation. Eventually, they gave up and called it.

Suddenly the room shook and I was back in the empty white room.

I sat up on my bed and breathed heavily. My forehead was wet with sweat. I looked around my room and found my digital clock.

01:34

Mateo slept quietly beside me and I recalled everything that happened yesterday.

I sighed and got up from bed. I knew I wouldn't be able to sleep so I wanted to make tea.

Leaving my room with the aim to go to the kitchen. I somehow ended up in Cassandra's room.

Her covers were still laid from the morning she left for school. Her desk had all her art supplies from pencils to oil paint we picked up from a second-hand store to the tablet Mateo had got her.

I walked over to the desk and lifted the tablet. I smiled at the lock screen, it was a selfie we took one movie night.

I swiped the screen and the passcode screen came up. I guessed and surprisingly it was right.

Our mom's birthday.

I opened the tablet and sat down on the floor next to her desk. I swiped through her drawings, marvelling at my sister's talent.

Art was her hobby but she used it as a coping mechanism as well. She used to sketch a lot as a kid but it picked up after both our parents passed.

I ended up in a folder named DeeDee. That was the nickname Cass used for me when she was a kid. My mom would call me Dia and Cass picked it up from there.

I smiled and opened the folder. Inside was a set of pictures that I hadn't seen. A few of them were portraits from pictures she took of me. Others were of me working at the kitchen table. Others were of me while baking.

There was even one of Mateo and I in the kitchen when I made pasta. It had a picture next to it, the exact moment from that day.

The last one was a blow to my already shattered heart.

It was a drawing of Cassandra and I. She was an angel with big wings and a halo. She was embracing me as I had tears going down my face.

It will be okay ♡

It was written above her signature and the date.

The date.

"What are you sketching?" I asked watching her shift in her seat.

"It's a surprise. You'll see it soon,"

My knees buckled as I fell to the ground. My tears began flowing down my face in a warm stream.

I remembered the look in her eyes. The sad smile she had when she told me that I'd see it soon.

She knew.

For so long, she knew that she didn't have much time left.

How didn't I notice? She's been showing signs for so long and I just brushed them off.

My sobs became uncontrollable and my chest started getting tighter. My breaths are now being caught in my throat.

"Nadia. Hey, hey. It's okay, I'm here. You're safe," Mateo spoke as he sat down on the cold floor in front of me.

My brain was becoming foggy and I felt myself heating up.

"Look at me,"

I lifted my eyes to his and tried my best to see through the glossy coat of my tears.

"Good, now let's breathe together. In through your nose, hold, now out through your mouth. There you go,"

We repeated the breathing technique until I calmed down.  The more times I exhaled, the more open my airways felt.

I could now see better and I looked at Mateo as he wiped my cheeks dry. His fingers moved so delicately across my cheek.

"There you are, I thought I lost you for a moment," Mateo smiled and I smiled back softly.

His eyes drifted down to the tablet in my hands and slowly removed it from my grasp.

Wiping down the screen since it had teardrops, he looked at the sketch.

"Wow, she had such great talent,"

I hummed and I moved closer to Mateo. I watched as he went through the sketches under my folder.

He stopped on the one of him and me in the kitchen. He smiled and traced the details of the sketch.

"Let's get you some tea and back to bed," he helped me up and we walked out of Cassandra's room. He gently shut the door and took my hand in his.

We entered the kitchen and I watched as Mateo moved around my small kitchen. He wasn't wearing a shirt so his back muscles contracted and relaxed as he reached for mugs.

The kettle had gone off and he poured water into the two mugs. He looked through my tea cabinet and pulled out a box of chamomile tea. He placed the sachets into the separate mugs and pulled out the honey, drizzling a generous amount into the tea.

He handed me my mug after stirring the honey. I thanked him but it came out as me mouthing it because my voice doesn't seem to work anymore. 

We sat on the couch and drank our tea in silence. It wasn't an awkward silence, it was peaceful. It seemed like both of us were deep in our thoughts. I could tell that Mateo was thinking about something because his eyebrows were slightly drawn together.

He did that when he was working or staring off into space like now. 

I pulled my attention back to my cup and sipped on the warm goodness. It helped calm me back down and by the end of it, I was ready to sleep. 

Mateo had washed our mugs and walked us back to my room. He got in bed first and I followed suit.

I snuggled into his chest and his arms wrapped around me. He placed a small kiss on my forehead and I listened to his heartbeat slowly start to slow. 

I lifted my head and stared up at Mateo while he slept.

My mind started racing while I watched him. I haven't let anyone be this intimate with me in years. I didn't mean sexually. I meant emotionally. Emotional intimacy is much deeper than people make it seem nowadays. His presence started bringing me peace. A thing many men and people couldn't give me.

I decided to stop overthinking things and enjoy the moment instead. Placing my head back onto his chest, I felt myself drift off into a peaceful sleep.