Chimera [][] GotG [][]

1. [][] The Abduction [][]

The year was 1988, and the day was Tuesday. Usually Tuesdays were fairly dull for Marisol, but that particular Tuesday was a rough one.

She had been stuck consoling her little cousin, Peter, for the better half of the night while her pappa and their grandfather rushed about in the next room, the doctors doing everything they could to keep Mari's aunt, Peter's mother, alive.

The two children sat next to the check in desk across the hall from Aunty Meredith's room. Mari shifted uncomfortable, the chairs being harder than rocks.

She had quickly lost her patience with it, but she tried hard not to let her frustrations show, not wanting to add any stresses onto her poor cousin. He had enough to worry about without worrying over whether Mari was comfortable or not.

Peter simply sat quietly, head down, listening to the mixtape player his mother had given him for his birthday last year. He hadn't taken the orange headphones off for hours now, which made it a bit difficult for the older girl to comfort him.

Not that she took it personally. Peter was only eight years old, and his mother was practically on her deathbed. There wasn't much an eleven year old girl could do to fix that.

She could somewhat understand what her cousin was going through, after all, having lost her own mother two years ago. All she had left to remember her by was a golden chained necklace with a purple rock dangling from it. Mari never took it off. The walkman must have been like Mari's necklace to Peter.

Their grandfather slowly stepped out of Aunty Meredith's room, approaching the two cousins with a solemn look on his face.

Mari's eyes began watering as she spotted him. His face was hollow, the lines on his face deep like trenches. It looked as though he had been crying, his eyes all red and blotchy.

He crouched in front of the two cousins, but Peter didn't seem to take notice of his, not even after Grandfather had called his name.

Marisol swallowed the lump that was forming in her throat.

She hadn't really been close with her Aunty Meredith, at least not as close as she'd always been with Peter, but death had never been something she'd been able to handle well. She would have cried at a complete stranger's funeral.

In addition, being in the hospital, especially now, brought back painful memories from when her own mother had died. That had been the worst moment of her life, and it had all happened right before her ninth birthday too.

She hadn't even gotten to say goodbye the way Peter was able to now, as she had been away on a camping retreat when her mother had passed.

Mari stifled a sob, shoving the memories of her mother from her head. She couldn't think about that now. This wasn't about her, it was about Peter.

Grandfather sighed, looking Peter in the eyes seriously, until the young boy looked up at him. "Peter, your mother wants to speak with you." When the boy still did not respond, he reached up, yanking the orange headset off Peter's ears. "Come on, Pete. Take these fool things off."

Mari winced, thinking Peter would start fussing, but the younger cousin remained silent.

Grandfather switched the walkman off, rubbing his hand over his face with a long, heavy sigh. He patted Peter's knee comfortingly before rising to his feet again, glancing at Mari expectantly.

Peter could be very stubborn when he wanted to be, and on those days Mari was usually the only one who could get him to listen to reason.

She held out her hand to her younger cousin, smiling kindly. "Come on, Primito. Let's go say goodbye."