Nicole

Chapter: 03

By the time the funeral was over, it had started to pour down extremely hard. The man at the hospital had come, just like he promised but the woman - even though she wanted to - couldn't make it because it had barely been an hour since she was discharged from the hospital. She was still weak and it had been raining.

The attendants of the funeral were the man and Nicole herself. Nicole's mother didn't have any close relations with anyone and neither did Nicole.

"Do you need a ride home?" The man asked her once the funeral was over.

"Thank you, but no. I think I can walk," she declined politely.

"Are you sure?" He looked up at the sky which was as gray as his eyes. "It's raining pretty heavily and I don't think it's going to stop any time soon. Reminds me of Canada."

"I like the rain," Nicole told him and he grinned.

"Okay," he said and open the door to the driver's seat before a thought crossed Nicole's mind.

"I never caught your name," she said.

The man smiled, "Xander," he spoke before he sat in the car and drove away.

Nicole sighed. She didn't want to go home. She hadn't mourned her mother yet, hadn't cried her eyes out and it didn't look like it was going to happen any time soon. She was completely alone in this world.

She sighed again before walking. It was raining pretty heavily. She was drenched through her jacket and felt cold. It felt as if the weather was helping the grief press down on her and compress her completely so she wouldn't have any energy to stand up. But she was stronger than that.

Upon reaching home, Nicole took a deep breath before opening the door and stepping inside. The house was still a mess, everything broken and lying around. Nicole struggled to keep her tears in as she made her way to her mother's room.

The bed was unmade but Nicole didn't meddle with it. She wanted it to stay like that to mark her mother's last movements.

Her eyes fell on something under the bed. She knitted her eyebrows in confusion as she walked forward and kneeled in front of it and looked under it. She saw a box. She slid it out and saw files and papers.

Nicole crossed her legs as she started going through the papers. Some of them were her mother's education documents, others were Nicole's education records and her medical papers.

Then she saw a green file. When she opened it, she saw her birth certificate. She flipped it and saw another birth certificate. Her eyes widened.

Nathan Jones.

She flipped past it.

Axel Jones.

She flipped the page again.

Isabelle Jones.

After that, came her mother's.

Laura Jones.

And then, came the person's whose name her mother had been saying constantly at the hospital.

Christopher Jones.

Her father.

Nicole sighed. There were no more birth certificates but the ones she had seen were already making her mind spin. She rested her head on her hand and stared at them.

She had it. She had a family. Everything that she always wanted... she always had it. She closed her eyes and let the tears slip.

Her mother was alive 24 hours ago. If she had been here, she would've explained everything to Nicole and would've helped her calm down and relax her mind. She would've made her hot chocolate and done everything that would make her laugh or chuckle or even smile. She would've given her a shoulder to cry on and someone to talk to.