EYES FORWARD-Maya Bishop

crash and burn // the winner takes it all

The "tick" of the clock that hung over Maya's bed went slower and slower with every second that passed by. Eerily, Emma could hear the faucet of Maya's bathroom dripping slowly. The world slowed down as Emma laid there, Maya under one of her arms, sleeping blissfully. The surgeon turned her head to the left slowly. 3:17 AM. But yet she was still wide awake. The thought of waking up an hour later didn't coax her into sleep like Emma wanted it to. Instead, she lay awake more than ever, grappling with the fact that she wasn't okay. That she hadn't been okay for nearly three months.

XXX

THREE MONTHS PRIOR

Quite anxiously, Emma and Meredith stood on their father's porch, waiting for someone to answer the door. The two hadn't been there for over seven years, having been the ones to tell their father that their half-sister Lexie had tragically passed in a plane crash. Meredith had been reluctant to even reconnect with their father at all. The man had tortured both of them both in their childhood and adulthood, but Emma gave Meredith the push to go see their dying father one last time. Before either of them had the chance to back away, the door swung open, revealing a tall man in a nurse's uniform.

"Hi, we're-" Emma's sentence was cut off by the man standing in front of her.

"Emma and Meredith?"

"Yeah." Emma responded, taken back a bit.

"I'm sorry." The man chuckled, noticing Emma's body language. "You two look just like your pictures. You're the surgeons, right?"

"Yeah." Meredith gulped, even more unsettled now.

"Uh, do you want to come in?"

Emma's sense of humor got the better of her, and the blonde began to laugh uncontrollably. Meredith nudged her childish sister's shoulder, trying to get her to stop. "I'm sorry, i-it's just that that's a loaded question." Emma finally answered as she brushed away the tears that came with the hysterical laughter.

"Come on." Meredith took a step into the house, dragging Emma in behind her. The sisters observed the interior of the house. Not much had changed since the last time they'd been there. Same curtains, same furniture, same color. Not that either of them knew it, Thatcher had a hard time moving on after Lexie's death, just as rough as when his second wife died.

"I'm not sure if he's awake." The aide admitted, snapping Emma out of her thoughts. "He sleeps more and more these days as you can imagine. Uh, can I get you something? Water? Gin, maybe?" The three shared a laugh, though it was more strained on Meredith and Emma's end. "All right." The aide disappeared to talk to their father. "Thatcher? You have visitors." Meredith and Emma followed him in, seeing their sickly father spinning in his chair to face them.

"Meredith! Emma!" He responded shocked, but still gleefully. Meredith gave him a barely recognizable smile while Emma kept a deadpan expression on her face. "Hi."

"Hi."

"He's not on any pain meds." The aide assured the two surgeons. "Clean and sober. His wishes. So, just the oxygen. If he needs it. But you know how that works."

"We do." The sisters chorused.

"Well, I'll leave you to it. My cellphone number is on the fridge. If you need anything, give me a call." The aide left the house, the defiant door slam officially leaving the three of them together. Alone.

"We probably can't stay very long." Meredith admitted. "We just..." Meredith couldn't finish her sentence, finding herself at a loss for words.

"There's so much to say...I-I...I don't know what to say." Thatcher admitted.