Chapter 37

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"You're sister?!" I asked shocked.

Elliot didn't say anything else, just grabbed my hand and led me out to a parked car.

"Seriously you're sister? As in sister, sister? Like a female offspring by your parents? Like-"

"Amira, shut up." Elliot gripped the wheel tighter and sped the car up.

I shut my mouth and stared straight ahead. After my initial shock, now I was too confused to speak. That's why I didn't say or do anything when Elliot parked the car at some old age home.

"I thought your sister was around your age?" I said following him into the building.

He gave a small nod to the receptionist who smiled at him sadly as he walked further in. We headed up the stairs and past many bedrooms filled with old people talking to one another or watching tv.

He stopped at a door that was closed and had a private sign on it. He hesitated slightly before he threw the door open.

The room filled with light as he flipped the switch and I saw a girl laying on the bed. She had really pale skin but I attributed that to the lack of sunlight and her diminishing health. Her long back hair flowed down past her shoulders and reached her finger tips.

"How is this possible?" I asked taking a seat on the bed beside her.

"Joshua told you that Pearson molested and killed her but the truth is he tried to kill her, he just wasn't successful. She's been in a coma for over sixteen years and shows no sign of waking up. The doctor says I should-"

His voice caught and I looked over to see him crying looking at his sister. I got up and walked over to give him a hug.

"I'm so sorry Elliot."

"You wanted to know why she's here right?," he pulled back so he could look at me, "It's because we didn't want Pearson finding out about her. If we kept her in a hospital, he'd somehow realize she was still alive and try to kill her. The last place he'd look is in an old age home, so here she is, my baby sister Kathryn."

He gently took hold of his sisters hand and planted a kiss on it. "I've signed the papers last week to let her off life support, this is my last day with my sister."

"Elliot, I didn't know-" I started

"Of course not, we kept it from you", he cut me off as he continued to look at his sisters peaceful face, "I never bothered telling you because you were going to leave one day anyways. But now that I'm officially losing my sister, I can't imagine losing you too."

I can't imagine the pain Elliot must be going through right now. It's hard losing someone but when it happens, it usually occurs in a moment. Elliot has slowly been losing his sister everyday for the last sixteen years. The pain behind that is incomprehensible.

A knock came at the door and I turned my head to see all the guys slowly shuffle in, even Cameron. One by one, they took their turns saying goodbye. Joshua leaned down to plant a kiss on her head and when he caught my eye, I saw his eyes were bloodshot.

The doctor entered the room and slowly started unhooking the machines from her and turned them off. They rattled and her heart monitored started beeping loudly before the long flatline sound resonated through the room.

Elliot broke down crying and Lucas had to help him out of the room. We all just stared at her and although I didn't know her, I could have sworn in that moment she looked peaceful.

Everyone slowly walked out of the room and I saw Cameron nod at me before he left as well. I was left with Joshua who still hadn't moved or said a word.

"She was ready to go."

I lifted my eyes from Kathryn to Joshua. 

"Kat has been ready to go for some time now, she couldn't say it but we all knew. Elliot just couldn't let her go, none of us could. With her still here, we felt like Pearson hadn't completely destroyed everything, that one day she'd wake up. But then last month the doctor told us she would never wake up and the only reason she'd still be here is because of the life support system. Elliot had to make the hard decision of letting her go and I don't think my friend will ever recover from it."

I didn't know how to respond to that but I couldn't help voice my question. "When did you come visit her?"

"Whenever you'd go to bed, stay in you're room all day and even when we told you we had 'business meetings'. We were here, by her side."

He walked over and caressed her hair before pulling the white blanket up over her.

"Pearson has taken everything from all of us, now it's finally his turn."

*******************************
With finer tuned focus, we all went back to the penthouse and devised a plan for Pearson.

Everyone put aside all their issues and feelings to focus on our common enemy, River Pearson.

"Alright Amira, send the message." Johnathan said once his computer was set up.

I sent the typed message and we watched as Pearson grabbed his phone to read the message. He sprung off the bed as he read and reread the message. He let of a shout of finally before he put the phone to his ear and started talking to someone. We didn't get to know what
he was saying or who he was saying it to because he walked out of the room.

"Okay so the jackass fell for it, that means we have over thirty hours to prepare everything. Everything get showered and dressed, we'll head out after that." Joshua nodded at us before walking out of the room.

Cameron and I walked back to the room where he went to take a shower first while I headed to the balcony. Joshua was also out on his, staring out past the mountains.

"I've been waiting for this day for over sixteen years, I can't believe it's finally here."

"I can't think about anything but the plan right now, how I'll feel when this is over is a whole other story." I breathed out.

The temperature had dropped considerably and I had a small fear that it would make this even harder.

"We'll be right there, you don't have to worry about anything."

I snorted. "The only one who needs to worry is River Pearson."

I heard Cameron call my name so I headed back in and took a long shower. When I was ready, we headed back to the board room where the rest of the guys were waiting.

They were all dressed in their snow gear and had bags full of the necessary equipment.

"Amira, you ready?"

I looked at everyone who were watching my every move. I nodded my head and grabbed my bag.

"Ready."

Everyone followed suit and started walking out of the room.

"You guys go ahead, I need to speak to her." Joshua said stopping me in my tracks.

Cameron hesitated but I gave him a slight push and he walked out.

"Her? Wow you can't even say my name now?"

"I don't want to fight with you princess," he said coming around the table, "not anymore. I want to keep you safe, I can't stand the thought of you getting hurt."

My heart rate picked up despite how angry I was feeling. "Why?"

He smiled and looked down, shaking his head. "Oh princess, don't ever change."

I was confused now and told him so.

"Doesn't matter right now, just don't do anything stupid. I don't know what I'll do if I los-." He stopped talking and stared at me with so much intensity that I squirmed in my spot before grabbing my bag and high tailing it out of the room.

We met up with the guys and the lobby and started the long trek up to the mountains. We were walking to the weather station but Joshua stopped us and had us walk further ahead until we reached a big cabin.

"I had this built years ago for emergency purposes, I figure what better time to use it." Joshua shrugged his shoulder as he opened the door.

He flipped the switch and the room instantly lit up. It had a large kitchen off to one side that was connected to a dining room. There was a living room off to the other side equipped with a fire place, large screen TV and a pool table.

We had to light the fire quickly because of the freezing temperature. I fell on the sofa and laid my head back.

"Okay, why don't we get a few hours of sleep before starting our preparations. Pearson won't be here until seven so we have plenty of time."

Everyone filed up the stairs as soon as Joshua mentioned sleep. Cameron went as well after I said I'd be up later.

I was planning on sitting by the fire all night as I thought through the plan but Joshua grabbed my hand and dragged me up the stairs. He took me to the furthest room near the back and pulled me in.

He lit a fire in the room as well while I stood in the middle of the room confused.

"Why am I here?"

"Because you need sleep." He stayed like it was obvious.

"I can sleep fine in my own room." I said crossing my arms.

"Not without nightmares you can't. So for once, probably the last time, just shut up and sleep here." He poked the fire and moved the wood around to create bigger flames.

"I don't want to." I said stubbornly.

He came over and stood in front of me. "Why, you don't trust me?"

I turned to leave but he grabbed my arm and pulled me back in space. I tried to pry them off me but his grip was tight.

"Funny, because you're still wearing the ring, my ring."

I looked down to see the ring shining in the dark. I dropped my hand to take it out of his view.

"What are you so afraid of?" He asked suddenly.

I stared at him wanting to tell him nothing but when I opened my mouth to speak, I surprised even myself with what came out.

"I'm afraid of losing people I can't stand to live without."

*******************************
The next morning, we all woke up early and had breakfast together. Joshua had brought boxes of pancake mix and orange juice so we had plenty to eat. Which was good, because everyone was eating like it was their last time.

We were watching cartoons in front of the fire as we had breakfast. Despite what today was and what it meant, in the moment, everything was perfect.

We all quickly showered and dressed warmly because it was even colder than yesterday. To make matters worse, it started snowing.

I love Canada but the winters here sucked, which is funny considering it's practically always winter.

I pulled my parka around me tighter when I stepped out into the blizzard.

"Okay stay together, it hard to see with all this wind blowing around." Cameron yelled over the strong winds.

We all huddled together and walked back down to the weather station. We piled in and dropped most of the equipment.

Elliot, Lucas, Johnathan and Ron headed out again to set things up around the mountain while Joshua, Cameron and I stayed back to set up the monitoring equipment.

Cameron and I placed the monitors and computers around the the small room while Joshua hooked up the camera and audio.

By the time noon rolled around, the guys came back. Their faces were red and teeth were chattering loudly.

I quickly draped blankets around them but it didn't do much.

"Okay, let's head back to the cabin to get you all warmed up. Everything is set up anyways and we have a few hours to spare." Joshua suggested.

The guys tried to complain but it was hard to understand with their teeth chattering.

I smiled sadly and escorted them out of the station and we quickly made our way back to the cabin.

Cameron prepared them hot chocolate while I started a fire. Joshua made them all take a hot shower while we were working. They came down looking less red faced. They graciously accepted the hot chocolate and sat down directly in front of the fire.

"You guys set up everything exactly as we planned?" Joshua asked settling down beside them.

They nodded and sipped on their hot chocolate before discussing what we should do to past the time. I caught Joshua's eye who nodded towards the stairs. I nodded my head and got off the couch to go upstairs.

He closed the door to his room when we walked in.

"What's up?" I asked.

"You really ready for this princess? We can push it back if you aren't."

I shook my head. "No, I've been waiting for this day for too long now. I won't let anything stop me, not even my own apprehensions."

Joshua didn't say anything else and walked to his bedside table. He grabbed my locket and came back to stand in front of me.

"You left it here last night," he said unclasping the locket, "figured you'd get it right before we left but nows a good time as any."

He stepped a little closer and hooked the locket around my neck. When he finished he put my hair back in place around my shoulders.

"Thank you." I replied slightly breathless.

He nodded and stepped back, side stepping me to leave the room. However, something compelled me to stop him and say what I needed to before it was too late.

"When I first heard of you, I was afraid to meet you. I didn't know what to expect and how'd you be, but now I'm glad I pushed aside those feelings. When I did meet you, I was afraid of liking you.  Although it didn't come easy as you are an arrogant ass. Then I was afraid of feeling for you, which did end up happening. But fair warning, most of the feeling is anger. Now I feel for you, I'm afraid to lose you and considering what we're about to do, I feel it's imminent. But most of all, despite not wanting to, I did. I ended up falling in lo-"

The door burst open and Cameron barged in.

"It's him, he's early."

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