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[Bring some tissues for this one. This chapter is going to break your hearts.]
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"How is she...?"
"She's... she's still a little disoriented. But we'll check her levels in a little while. Does she have any family? Some sort of support system?"
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"No. Her grandmother recently passed away, and we haven't been able to get a hold of her stepmother."
"Very well."
Doctors seemed to pile around the room, the concern and guilt etched on their faces. Though the operation succeeded, and her life was spared, yet another complication arose. One that they could not avoid, despite their best efforts.
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"Do you want me to break the news to her? Once she's more lucid?"
"I'll take care of it. As a mother myself..."
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Mara laid there, helpless and dazed as tubes ran from her arms. It was the off-season. She'd always wanted this.
So much effort and so much time, dedicated to that pivotal moment. A realization that would soon be shattered.
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The lift home by her instructor was stale and silent. Not so much as a peep was uttered between the two of them. Often times, she'd steal a glance of Mara, watching the woman stare aimlessly out the tinted windows.
She wanted to engage in some sort of conversation, a distraction that could wean her off of what she had been told. But there was nothing at all that could do the job.
The light glowed red at the highway, the tires slowly trudging to a stop.
"We're here for you. Okay?"
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No reply.
"I... I get it."
"I've always struggled, since I couldn't... uh..." The instructor didn't know how to articulate herself. Attempts at relation only grew sour as the moments of stuttering continued.
"Sorry. Never mind."
"Either way," She pressed the gas, taking the exit, "If you need to talk to someone, you have us."
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Mara was a monster out on the ice. Forever and always. But now, in the late spring to early summer, her gaze could stop the hearts of anyone that crossed her path. Nobody could read her anymore.
A shadow followed, more pronounced than ever before.
The senses became mundane. Dull. Conversation didn't interest her. Neither did the idea of family. One could even say that at some points, she resented people that brought their young ones into malls, competitions or something or other.
A natural response to any loss would be to process it, then move on.
But Mara had to be back out there in the rink in a few months, practicing and waiting for the opportunity to participate in a beautiful, competitive battle for the ages. They all knew her as the Witch of the Rink. The Winter's Successor.
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Better in White: A Catradora x Reader AU
FanfictionYou just recently made it through freshman year. It's now Sophomore year here at Brightmoon Academy. Everyday was a living hell for you. Bad parents, kids who never quit their bickering, all the worst you could really deal with at a high school. It...
