Into My Heart

XLIV

ABBY 

"What do you mean, you're a gang leader?" Sam exclaims, on the verge of fainting. 

"You understood quite well what I just said, Samuel!" Kristie argues, obviously on the verge of a breakdown. As she starts walking around the apartment like a madwoman, she continues: "Fucking Alex Morgan and fucking Mallory Press just fucking named me co-chief of the Dragons. Like, what the hell was I supposed to say?"

"Like, NO?" Sam continues, very upset.

"Well, SORRY I couldn't say no to a psychotic 15-year-old who thought it was a good idea to make me a freaking leader so that her mom wouldn't kill the shit out of me" 

"I believe she is 17..." Shelina interferes, raising her eyebrows.

There is a brief silence, during which the Mewis sisters just killed the Canadian with their gazes, before going back at their quarrel. 

"You could've faked a heart attack or something!" Sam says, her voice getting louder each time. 

"You're the one that was apart of a theatre crew, Sammy, not me!" Kristie exclaims, before looking around the room and searching comfort in either me or Shelina. But when she finds none, she throws her arms in the air dramatically and yells: "Well, it was either me or one of you two (she points at Sam and I) so since I am the oldest I took it all upon myself to protect your dumb asses !"

"How generous, I-" Sam yells as well, until a noise cuts the conversation short. 

Someone just knocked at the door. 

As we all exchanged anxious looks, Shelina is, as usual, the first one to react: she immediately stands up and urges the Mewis sisters to stop arguing all at once and try to act normal. I've gotta admit, ever since I learned that the Canadian wasn't in love with Christen and was only her life-saviour, she actually grew on me: a pregnant woman trying to hold the fort and save our lives in the process although she knows her time is counted... That's pretty badass.

What's more badass? When she opens the door with confidence and faces agents Harris and Krieger, who do not seem that happy. 

"What the hell, why wouldn't any of you answer your phones in the last 24 hours?" Agent Krieger asks, raising her eyebrow.

Well, there has been several reasons: 1. Sam got so caught up with the hacking job that she wouldn't take any look at her phone, 2. Kristie got crowned gang leader, 3. I was too busy all of their mental health. Either way: all valid reasons. 

As none of us answer, Agent Harris drops the bomb:

"Christen Press has woken up."

My heart and jaw just drop.

A funny feeling is taking over my body, as my chronic anxiety starts to get the better of me. I shiver, and for a moment I feel like all the muscles of my body have started to get tensed, and then so loose that I thought I was about to fall right now. 

Sam, who has realised my state of being, immediately wraps her arm around my waist with affection, holding me tight. 

"W-what? W-w-when?" I stammer, my breath taken away.

As for now, the only thoughts that were going through my mind were: 1) Oh my GOD, 2) Please don't make her have amnesia like in all telenovelas and soaps... and 3) She is going to hate me: I killed her father. 

As I am shaking, Agent Harris explains:

"This morning: her sister Mallory alerted us, and it seems that her brain showed prior signs of a waking yesterday evening on the monitor, but as those usually are false alarms, the doctors did not want to raise bad hopes. Nevertheless, Christen is healthy: she cannot speak for now, and she is hurting because her muscles haven't been used in a while, but she is going to be extremely fine."

"At least physically" Ali Krieger points out, nodding her head slowly. I feel my stomach starting to hurt as she goes on: "Usually, patients who tried to commit suicide and failed in doing so have two behavioural patterns when they wake up: either they feel lucky to be alive still, or they hate on the world because they weren't able to leave it."

My heart breaks a little: the truth is that I have no idea how Christen will react. 

After a brief moment of silence, Shelina steps forward, throwing me an hesitant look, as if she was asking if she could change the subject. As I happily agree in a nod, she cracks a reassuring smile and states: 

"I think we have a more urgent news: Sam hacked into the Press' main computer, and what we found isn't pretty."

Everybody's interest leave Christen for a while, as Kristie's jaw just drops, staring at her sister in disbelief.

"You wouldn't have mentioned it sooner, would you dummy?" she aggressively asks.

"Shut up you two!" I exclaim, before turning to Shelina and asking: "What?"

Shelina takes a deep breath. 

"It appears that Sam managed to introduce herself into Press Corporation's money transactions, and it isn't good" she starts explaining, choosing her words carefully. As I feel my anxiety increasing a little bit more, the Canadian continues: "And by 'isn't good' I mean 'we are in deep trouble' kind of situation"

"Can you please just quit stalling and tell us what this is all about ?" Kristie asks, impatient. 

As everybody hold their breath, Shelina nods and states: 

"Stacey Press is buying the whole town, and we believe it is not her free will: turns out Cody Press maybe wasn't The Patriarch after all..."

My eyes go wide.

"Then who is it?" Agent Krieger asks, obviously as shocked as I am. 

As we all are staring at the Canadian, I feel my body starting to shiver: everything is going too fast, and soon my head starts turning. 

Shelina sets her jaw, as Sam answers on her behalf:

"We don't know yet, but whoever it is, The Patriarch is the most protected person of the county, and the most powerful, so let's just hope they are not worse than Cody Press..."