those hands pulled me from the earth || ethan winters x donna beneviento

viii: gifts from the dead.

february 13th, 2021.
1:30pm.
bsaa facility, usa.
———

donna had been moved from the hospital room a few days ago, she was now a floor up with a seemingly regular bedroom and a window that showed a forest outside. the window was barred, however, so even if she wanted to escape, she couldn't.

there was a bathroom to the right the second you walked in the door, providing a little hallway that led to the main area. there was a bed with a thick blue comforter and plenty of pillows, as well as a few comfortable chairs, a sofa, a coffee table, and a closet. there was a television right across from the chairs and the sofa on the wall, playing some sort of animated show that the doctor had called a cartoon. angie was sitting in one of the chairs, watching the screen with awe as a cat chased a mouse around the house.

donna had heard from ethan a few times in the past few days. he had coke to check on her almost every morning and brought her breakfast. he had showed her how to use the remote and the thermostat, it was clear that he was trying his best to help her get settled in.

there was a rhythmic knock on the door, almost the exact same as the one she had heard at the village. she stood up and made her way to the door, pulling it open to see ethan and chris standing there. ethan was holding small, wax paper white bag and chris had a duffel over his shoulder.

"can we come in?" ethan asked.

donna nodded. "yes, please." she said and stepped back, giving them room to enter.

she walked over to the chairs, lifting angie from the one she was in and sat down, the doll on her lap. ethan sat down on the sofa catty corner from her and chris stood in front of them.

"we sent a team to the village to see what all we could find. here's some of the stuff we found from your estate," chris had said and put the duffel in the coffee table. "if there's anything you don't want, just find me and i'll take it. we got more, too, we just have to test them first to make sure they aren't dangerous."

donna looked at the bag, a smile on her face as she moved to the sofa, angie right next to her as she unzipped it.

inside were a few of her dresses and other articles of clothing that she carefully set aside. she rummaged around and her eyes caught sight of two dolls— gerald and veronica. she took them out almost instantly, a large smile on her face. she held them close to her chest for a moment before setting them aside. she hadn't expected them to survive the explosion.

"gerald! veronica! you're alive," angie exclaimed with joy as she saw the dolls, jumping over to the other side of donna to see her friends.

donna went on to search the bag, feeling a twinge of sadness when she spotted three necklaces; one with a red stone, the other with a yellow, and the last with a green one.

she carefully lifted them from the bag, examining them. "these aren't from my estate," she said quietly.

"yeah, but they're pretty. we saw those pearls you had brought and assumed you'd like those as well." chris muttered.

"bela," donna said as she held out the necklace with the red stone. she then lifted the yellow one. "cassandra." then moved on to the green necklace. "and daniela." it had just started to hit her that her family really was gone. she fought the urge to cry.