[32]

A L A S K A

"Calm down, Sky. He's gonna be fine." Xavier reassured as he rubbed soothing circles on my back.

"Faster, Max! Faster!" I exclaimed, ignoring Xav.

The only thing on my mind was Leo's pained expression when he took the bullet for me. It was like a broken record player, playing over and over again in my mind. My palms were sweaty from all the anxiety and the fear of losing one of the most important people in my life and on top of that it was because of me. If I had just moved out of the way, if I had ducked, if I had done anything then Leo wouldn't have had to play hero.

I'm so angry at him. But mostly at myself. If only...if only...

"We're here." Max breathed out. I jumped out of the car in an instant, ignoring the few other black cars that parked right behind Max's one. They were probably my family or whatever. I I didn't really pay attention to it as I bolted trough the doors and ran down the hallway. Everything was white, just like the last time I was here. It was plain and boring. The smell was still the same old gross scent of disinfectants and cleaning products.

"How can I help you?" an elderly woman around the age of 50 years asked me with a kind smile resting on her face, her hair tucked behind her ear and her chin resting on her folded hands.

"Leonid Ivanov. I need to see him!" I urged, looking at her with a pleading look.

She glanced at the computer and then back at me.

"He's in the ICU, but you can't-" I didn't let her finish and ran off into the direction of where I believed was the ICU.

Last time I was here I saw it when I passed by. On the opposite of it were some restrooms and next to it was a small waiting area. When I rounded the corner I finally spotted the double glass doors, with 'ICU' written on them, that I was looking for.

"Excuse me, can I help you?" a man with a clipboard asked as he approached me. I glanced around the room and when I didn't see Leonid I started to panic again. Maybe he was already in there.

"Emergency Patient! Emergency!" someone suddenly yelled from the other end of the hallway, which made my head snap towards it.

My stomach dropped when I saw the paramedics run into my direction with Leonid lying on a hospital bed. He was attached to some weird looking machine that was beeping uncontrollably and the green lights on it showed a diagonal line. That didn't mean anything good, right? That was some heart monitor or something, so there should be movement and not just a line...Oh god, he's having a cardiac arrest, isn't he?

I froze in my place as the paramedics rushed into the ICU. When they passed me by I felt a wave of air hit my face, which made my hair fly out of place. I turned around just as they disappeared behind the glass doors, but I could still see them.

"Charge the defibrillator to 200 joules!" a doctor yelled.

"Charged."

"And away from the body!"

Silence.

"Charge again!"

"Charged." the nurse said.

"Away from the body!'

One more time everything was just silent.

"Shit. One more time! Come on young man, stay with me!"

"Charged."

"Away from the body!"

Beep. Beep. Beep.

I breathed out a sigh of relief when the sound of his steady heart beat rang out throughout the waiting area.

"Well done." the doctor sighed loudly.

Soon the voices turned into faint whispers as they walked down the hallway, away from the glass doors, and my anxiety rose again. I wanted to see him. I wanted to see if he was fine- No. I needed to see if he was fine. My legs were wobbly as I made my way over to one of the chairs and let myself fall into it. I couldn't throw a tantrum right now or I would be an obstacle for the doctors, which in return would increase the chances of Leo die.

I heard a lot of footsteps rushing my way so I looked up and found them all staring at me. There were so many emotions swirling around in their eyes. It made the air around us heavier and the already small room more suffocating. There was concern, anger, fear, shock, confusion and much more.

"Is he...alright?" Max whispered as he sat down next to me.

"He...he had an cardiac arrest. They got him back after 3 defibrillator shocks." I mumbled as I looked down at myself to find the once black gown coated with blood and dirt. I sighed heavily and looked at Max.

"Do you have some spare clothes?" I asked hopefully. He shook his head and spoke up.

"Only some sweatpants, they're in the car."

"You can have my hood, Sky. I brought it with me when we drove here." Xavier offered, making me smile weakly at him.

"Give me the keys, I will get em." he said and caught the car keys, that Max trough his way, with one hand. Xavier pressed a gentle kiss on my forehead before he sped off to the parking lot.

"Alaska-" my father started but I cut him off.

"Please just shut up. I can't deal with you right now. I don't have the energy to do so. Either you stay or you go. It's up to you." I said calmly although my heart was still aching painfully, my stomach felt like someone stomped onto it and my head felt like someone hit it with a fucking hammer.

"There you go." Xavier breathed out as he came running back into the waiting area, throwing some pants and a hoodie my way.

I quickly got up, gave him a kiss on the cheek and walked off to some restroom. When I opened the door the smell of cheap perfume hit me and I srunched up my face in disgust before I went into one of the many stalls and changed into the more comfortable clothes. It was a real struggle to get out of that gown myself but in the end I just ripped it apart out of frustration.

Poor thing.

Anyways, when I approached the mirror my eyes widened slightly. I looked like a walking corpse or like a revived ghost. My light makeup was a total mess just like my hair, my cheeks were red, my eyes were puffy and my lips were dry. On top of that I was as pale as the wall next to me, which was white by the way.

I sighed as tears welled up in my eyes and splashed some water onto my face, making me cringe at the coldness of the water. But it felt good. It felt relaxing in some weird way. I washed out all the blood from some of my hair strands and tried to get my eyes to return to normal but after some time I just gave up. I was in a hospital anyways. Nobody cared what I looked like.

I took one more glance at my reflection and looked me in the eye. They were dull and empty. The pain and the anxiety behind them was barely noticeable for others.

I shook off my thoughts and returned to the waiting area. I spotted Max in the same chair as before with his eyes closed and his head leaning on Xavier's shoulder, who was sleeping peacefully in the chair next to him. And on the opposite of the room were all of my brothers either sleeping on a chair or sleeping on the floor whereas my father and stepmother were snuggled up close to each other on a small, uncomfortable looking, couch.

I actually didn't expect them to stay, I mean they didn't even know Leo nor did I think they'd care about me that much. However it made me feel warm. The fact that they stayed. They didn't just leave me alone although I offered them that I could go and sleep in their comfortable beds with comfortable clothes and in heated rooms, but no. They stayed...

...for me.
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Hey there, what's up? Here's another update, lmao. I just had motivation to write another chapter so here we are.

Anyways, in the next chap Al's attitude will change a lot...I don't want to spoiler you but be prepared. In this one she was just completely exhausted and tired just like the others, so she didn't have the energy for it yet...but when she wakes up she will...

Anyways, what is your current opinion of the brothers and stepbrothers right in this moment?

Stay safe all of you! Love y'all!!
❤❤

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- L I S A