Sabrina ; The next generation

Thirty-three

It was a long night.

I had to tell mum that I had found her oldest son collapsed in knockturn alley, and then we went to the hospital.

Mia and Eli arrived too. The three of us sat next to each other while mum paced back and forth and dad leaned against the wall.

I leaned my head against Eli's shoulder, rethinking everything that just happened. We had been here for hours and we had no idea what was happening with Alec.

Well, I knew that mum and dad knew something but I had absolutely no idea what just happened.

Why did he foam at the mouth? Why did he seizure? Why was my brother unconscious in knockturn alley?

"What was he doing there again?" Mum tried to keep her voice down as she spoke to dad. "What was Sabrina doing there?"

"I saw him from the window!" I spoke, causing them all to look at me. "When I was restocking shelves in dads shop. Alec walked with his friends — even Ethan who's not been arrested yet for some reason. I saw them and Alec had a black eye and a split lip and he looked sad, uncomfortable. I told dad that I was worried and then I went after. I only walked into knockturn alley because I saw him from Diagon Alley."

Mum sighed as she looked towards the door to the private room that Alec was in while the healers were looking after him.

"What was that?" I asked. "What's wrong with him?"

Mum didn't respond, but dad did.

"It looked like an overdose."

"An overdose?" Mia asked. "Alec doesn't do drugs. He smokes but so does Bree... Eli is the only one here—"

Her eyes went wide and she leaned back in her chair while Eli sat up right with an expression that read 'are you fucking serious?!'

"Thank you, Mia."

Eli looked at our parents who both looked like they were waiting for an explanation.

"I only smoke some weed!" He defended himself. "And it's doctor prescribed so..."

"No it's not." I scoffed. "You smoke to get high."

"What is up with you two?" He asked in a high-pitched tone. "Have I hurt you in some way? Have I fucked your over to make you betray me like that?"

"Can we have this conversation another day, Eli?" Mia asked. "Alec is dying!"

"Alec is not dying!" I argued and the three of ended up in a heated argument, throwing words at each other, not letting each other speak.

"All I'm saying is that it's not up to you to tell them about the weed."

"Why do drugs even exist? What purpose do they serve?"

"It's weird how I'm the youngest but I'm the most mature."

"Most mature? Ha! Good one, Bree. You should be a comedian."

"Oh, it's like that? Do you wanna fight? I will fight you!"

"Okay. Meet me outside of the hospital."

"You two are staying right here! No one is fighting... right now. I'll be the judge when we know Alec is alright."

"Shut up Mia!" Eli and I exclaimed in unison and she sighed before pushing herself out of the chair, walking over to the vending machines.

"You wouldn't survive." I told Eli. "You share DNA with dad. You'd cry after a punch."

"Yeah? Says the girl who cried when Alec took her stuffed animals five years ago."

"What?!" I shrieked. "You can't use that against me! It was bob!"

My stuffed animal is named bob. He's a giraffe that mum gave me, funnily enough.

"That's enough!" Dad's voice boomed through the hallways as Eli and I continued yelling at each other.

Immediately we stopped and I scoffed as I leaned back in my chair, folding my arms over my chest.

"What is wrong with you two?" Dad asked, his eyebrows knitted together in a frown of frustration.

It was rare to see dad like that, but I couldn't judge him due to the situation we were in.

"Sabrina, go sit over there." Dad pointed to the chairs on the opposite side of the hallway, and I did.

I stood up and walked over to take a seat in the other chairs, again folding my arms over my chest.

I looked at mum.

She had slid down the wall and was in a crouched position, her hands folded underneath her forehead.

She was taking deep breaths but at the same time, it looked like she was praying to god.

Though mum didn't believe in god. Or maybe she was praying to Merlin. Not that she believed in Merlin either.

"Weed?" Dad asked and looked at Eli. "You smoke weed? Seriously?"

"Why is that so horrible? It's just weed."

Dad sighed and ran a hand over his face, then ran it to the nape of his neck.

"Just... don't overuse it, alright?" He begged of Eli before the door to Alec's room opened and a few healers left.

One stayed with us while the rest moved down the hallway.

Mum stood up quickly.

"How is he? Is he going to be alright?"

The healer offered a smile.

"He overdosed on heroin. It seems to have been the first time he tried it, but he's awake and he's going to be alright."

Mum let out a shaky breath and broke into sobs, causing dad to pull her in for a hug.

"He's asking for someone named Sarah."

Mia returned with a bag of crisps and sat down next to me, offering me some but I shook my head.

"Sarah is his—" mum let out another breath as she pulled away from dad. "...his girlfriend. We should call her."

"Can we see him?" Dad asked and the healer nodded.

"Of course." He said. "But I'd suggest as parents, you should go in first. Too many people right now can stress him out. He's been through a lot."

Is there something more or...

"When you arrived with Alec, his body was covered in bruises." The healer explained. "Not just his face. He says he was jumped but he didn't get a look at their faces.

What?

He was not fucking jumped! He was... his friends did this to him. Why wouldn't he just say the truth?

They deserve to be locked up.

"Kids." Dad turned to the three of us. "Stay out here. You'll be able to see Alec later. One of you, call Sarah, yeah?"

We simply nodded before mum and dad walked into the room as the healer walked down the hallway.

"He was not fucking jumped." I said as soon as that door shut.

"What do you mean?" Mia asked, eating some more of her crisps.

"I saw him walk with his friends. His face was all bruised and his body was all tense. He's scared of them. They did this to him."

Eli sighed.

"Well, Alec got what was coming."

In response, I pulled out my wand and threw it at Eli who shrieked and tried to avoid it but it hit him in the end.

"Ow! What was that for?!"

"No one fucking deserves that!" I exclaimed. "He's our brother!"

"A brother who let you be harassed for years!" Eli argued. "Why are you defending him, Sabrina? This is karma... he got what he deserved."

"He almost died!"

"And he didn't!"