Snowflakes Fall and So Did I

~CHAPTER 63~

~Elsa~

Something cold and wet touches my forehead, prompting me out of the darkness of my sleep, and when I flutter my eyes open, I hear my aunt gasp before I actually see her.

"Oh thank goodness you're finally awake," she says, taking a deep breath in of relief. "Elsa, you gave us all a scare."

I was a bit confused on what she meant and it took me a moment to respond back, especially when I noticed I was laying on a hospital bed. I wasn't hooked up to anything, but I was still in the bed though, and I had just one question.

"What happened?"

Arianna frowns, concerned. "You don't...remember? Darling, you...you fainted in the hallway."

And right on cue, everything comes back, like a switch being flipped or a dam breaking, flooding everything in its path in a rush. Jack. Emma. Their mother. Jamie and Sophie. My parents.

Tears spring to my eyes immediately and once again, I'm choking back a sob. "Jack," I say, more for myself and not as an answer to her. "Is he okay? What time is it?" I noticed it was dark outside and it set me into a panic. Did he pass on when I was unconscious? I try to sit up but she gently pushes me back.

"Oh no you don't, you're staying right there," she says sternly. But then her eyes soften. "It's alright though. It's a little after one a.m. You've been passed out for about four hours. It's the New Year now." She grabs hold of my hand and gives it a squeeze. "And Jack is going to be just fine."

The words sent a wave of relief through me, so intense that it hurt. "He is?" She nods. "Promise?"

She nods again and smiles. "I promise."

I didn't even try to stop my tears from flowing or my sob from escaping. I didn't have the strength to fight back, but I didn't necessarily need to with my aunt. She pulls me into a hug and lets me cry, rocking me gently and whispering soothing words.

"Everything is going to be okay, baby," she says, "I'm here for you. I'm not going anywhere. You're stuck with me." She chuckles, but I ended up tensing up.

Because unfortunately, with my own mother being...dead...my aunt technically is stuck with me. She and Frederic are now my permanent guardians. Though I guess with me being 18, they would be more so Anna's since she's still a minor.

I pull away from my aunt's hug to look at her. There are bags under her eyes, from tiredness, sadness, and stress, and I'm sure my own eyes looked similar if not worse. "Auntie," I start, gripping her arms to try to control my shaking, "I...I know." I stop to take a moment to breathe.

"Know what?" She asks, confused.

I shake my head, not wanting to say it, not wanting to believe it, but knowing I have to. I have to face it. My new reality. Just like Jamie and Sophie and Jack and the others have to. "I-I know that mama and papa are...that they're..." And even though I knew it, I couldn't bring myself to say it out loud.

Arianna knew what I was going to say though. Her eyes gloss over quickly, but she holds onto the tears. She doesn't let them fall, swallows them back, so she can be a strong maternal figure, but she doesn't need to do that to show me strength. There is strength in vulnerability.

"You overheard." She says, a statement rather than a question. "That's why we found you where we did."

I nod. "I must have gotten overwhelmed with...everything. Hearing that must have been my last straw."

My aunt sighs, sadly. "Oh Elsa, I'm so sorry."

"You didn't know I was there listening. It's okay. I was eavesdropping."