GIVE ME LOVE (WINRINA AU)

CHAPTER 47

Winter sits on the chair beside her mother's bed with a laptop on her lap. The mother is wearing an oxygen mask for her life as the doctor said. He also decided to keep the mother for quite some time because her condition is not getting better. It will make the bill much higher than expected when the estimated time that the mother can leave was supposed to be in two days.

"dear..." the mother called. "have you eaten?"

"don't worry about me. I'm well fed." Winter smiles at her.

"did Karina cook for you? since your father left, Karina can visit more often, right?"

Winter forgot that she hasn't told her about the sold apartment.

"actually...." Winter looks down, then back at looking at her. "he sold the apartment."

The mother takes a long deep breath. She looks up then closes her eyes, as tears falls from both of them. Winter quickly gets up and wipes those tears from the mother's eyes.

"I'm sorry I couldn't tell you sooner." Winter sits back down. "he took your valuables too."

"then... how.. are we.. going to... live?" the mother looks at Winter.

"it's okay, mom. We'll figure it out. don't worry." Winter rubs the mother's hand to calm her down.

"I am no longer needed here. I have nothing left." The mother starts crying.

"you have me and Wendy, mom. Don't say something like that. you will recover and go home with us, okay?"

-

Wendy wakes up after her short late evening sleep after her morning shift. She walks to the kitchen and sits at the dining table after making a cup of coffee.

"sorry, I just woke up. I'll be there at about... ten pm." Wendy said after picking up a call. "yeah, sure. I'll drive." She sips her coffee. "you promised that you'll give me more than the last job." She sighs, listening to someone on the phone. "I'm not complaining. I will do anything to get that money, I don't care."

Not long after that, Karina walks out of her room, intending to heat up some food for dinner. She noticed that Wendy is calling someone but doesn't bother to listen. She just goes straight to the fridge and stove.

"how much will I get?" Wendy asked the person on the phone. with some rough calculation, she thought that she already has enough to cover the hospital bill. "I'll take that too. I have to." She glanced at Karina. "I don't really trust you, but if I had to do that, then I guess I'll step in. just promise me I'll get the money, okay?"

"an important job?" Karina asked after Wendy hangs up. she places the heated up food on the table. "eat first. I don't want you to starve when you work." She smiles at her.

"thanks." Wendy starts eating casually since they're already comfortable with each other.

"I'm sorry I couldn't help you guys." Karina said to her as she starts eating as well.

"at least I can sleep and eat." Wendy smiled a little. "you're doing enough to keep us breathing." She then feeds herself with a spoonful of a dish. "especially my sister."

"what about her?"

"she's just lonely, that's all. good thing she has you." Wendy replied. "if you're my girlfriend I would ask you for money instead of working my ass off like this." she chuckles. "well, Winter is not like me. she's too nice to people."

"I'm lucky to have her." Karina smiles to herself. "sometimes I don't know how her brain works. I'm still learning."

"oh, please. Winter is the easiest person to satisfy. Just be there for her..." Wendy shrugs. "... and don't leave."

Karina noticed a sadness in Wendy's expression.

"I understand." Karina nods understandingly.

"I regret leaving her back then. I was too selfish. I was living a good life until I fucked up myself. Then when I came back, I feel guilty for not thinking about my family more." Wendy poured her heart out. "now, I only have her and my mom. I don't even think that my mom can live very long."

"have trust in her. of course, she wants to live. Go back to you both and recover things in your life." Karina encouraged her.

"you guys really matched. Why's everyone so positive?" Wendy rolled her eyes.

"we have to. Being down doesn't get you anywhere."

"right. but we have to be realistic." Wendy purses her lips. "I can think like that because I'm not too close with my mom. Sadly, my asshole dad decided to, you know, being an asshole. Now, I have no positive thing left to think about."

"things can be messed up but that matters is how you deal with it. so, don't lose hope." Karina smiles at her.

"you're not in our shoes. Your words doesn't really matter."

-

Karina wakes up in the morning, hearing noises from the bathroom. It's like someone is throwing things there.

"Wendy?" Karina knocks on the door.

"wait!" she replied.

Karina looks at the time on her phone, looks like she woke up at the right time.

"be quick. I need to go to work."

Not long after that, Wendy gets out of the bathroom with tiny scars on her face, a bandage on her left forearm, and on her right knuckle. Karina stands still in front of her bedroom, looking at Wendy's condition.

"my god! are you okay?" Karina grabs her hand, checking the bandage.

"what?" Wendy covers one of her ears. "sorry, I can't hear you clearly."

"what happened to you?" Karina spoke a little louder.

"don't mind me. I'm gonna take a rest."

Karina then watch her walks towards the couch and slowly lies down. Karina is a little worried about her. though she doesn't know what other job she has, she's sure that it's not a safe one and all that she did for her family.