Painkiller

7

Elena's eyes snapped open.

For the third time since she had gone to sleep she had been awoken by a nightmare. Her mind kept revisiting the crash, and each time the details would become clearer and more graphic. Repeatedly, she kept seeing her parents final moments.

Elena looked over at her clock.

00:14.

It was way too early to get out of bed, yet, Elena knew she wouldn't be able to sleep again. Pulling herself up into a sitting position, tears fell freely down her face. Her side hurt, but, more importantly, her heart ached.

Sobs escaped her lips as Elena lay her head on her knees as she recalled every moment she had ever spent with her parents - journeys to the park, birthdays, even simple grocery store trips. Each one flashed in her mind and only cause her more pain as she realised that she was never going to see them again.

She wasn't going to create more memories with them. She wasn't going to be able to have them stand at her graduation and tell her they were proud. Her father wasn't going to walk her down the aisle and her mother wasn't going to help her when she had her first child. Every single thing that has seemed so insignificant before now had more meaning then ever. And it broke Elena's heart.

Elena's chest heaved as she pushed herself out of her bed, flinching as her feet touched the carpet. Tears still streaming down her face and her eyes squinting in the darkness, she pushed open her bedroom door and made her way out onto the second floor landing.

She came to a stop outside Luke's bedroom, halting in her tracks as guilt settled in the pit of her stomach.

Luke's mourning, too - he's not gonna wanna have me wake him up crying. He's jet lagged, too.

The opening of a door interrupted Elena's thoughts, and she looked up to see Luke's bedroom door open. Behind it stood the blonde man, his squinting eyes soon widening as he saw his sister sobbing before him. He wrapped his arms around her shaking body, whispering as he did so.

"Hey! Hey, I got you! You're okay. You're fine. I'm here."

Elena pressed her face into his chest, and Luke not seeing her tears stopping anytime soon, lifted her up and brought her to his own bed. He held her against him, one arm wrapped gently around her torso and another holding her head as it stayed buried against his chest, carefully to avoid her stitches and not to aggravate her broken ribs.

He hummed as he held her to no song in particular. Elena could feel the vibrations in his chest, and as she focused on those, she slowly calmed down.

Still breathing heavily, she adjusted herself so that she was cuddling up against Luke, her head still leaning against his chest. Her face was still blotchy and red from the salty tears, and she rubbed it in hopes of clearing any tears.

"You wanna tell me what all that was about?" Luke asked, softly, having now stopped humming. He continued to cradle the fifteen-year-old against his chest.

"I-I-I can't stop seeing them." Elena managed to choke out.

Luke nodded, holding her tighter against his chest. "God, I'm sorry, Lena. I'd trade places with you if I could, I swear."

Elena sniffed. A few tears managed to escape, slowly trickling down her cheeks.

"You wanna go back to bed?"

Elena slowly shook her head, and Luke sighed.

"You wanna sleep with me tonight?"

Elena hesitated, before nodding in reply.

Luke gently pushed her off his lap before clambering to his side of the bed, the two pulling the bed sheets over them. Luke reached over and pressed a kiss to Elena's forehead.

"Night, Lena."

He wrapped his arms around her small body, and the two closed their eyes, each one hoping for a good nights sleep.