17 year old Livia Meyer's life changes abruptly on a fateful day in her summer vacation.
Two months later she wakes up disorientated and alone in a hospital room without the most important person by her side: Her Mom.
In spite of it all, after a lo...
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The door to my room was opened quietly, and my little brother's head appeared in the gap, "Livvy? May I come in?"
I paused the YouTube video on my phone and looked at a timid looking Nico, standing at my door.
"Of course, Nicolás. What's up? "
He closed the door and made his way to me. He was already dressed in his PJs since it was already past his bed time. Nevertheless, I scooted over to make room for him on my bed as he sat down with a thoughtful look on his face, and an unfamiliar Simba cuddly toy in his grasp.
The sight of his new toy, he held close to his chest, made me smile. I remembered the day I watched The Lion King with Nico to cheer him up after kids in his school were mean to him. That was the day we had bonded for the first time.
"Mamá and daddy talked about you, and-and I was scared, "Nico admitted with a sad look.
"What were you afraid of, Nico? "I asked.
The thought of the both adults in my life talking about me, didn't shock me at all. Since the accident they've been tiptoeing around me as if I resembled a broken egg, its shells nobody bothered to pick up yet just tried to avoid. While Luciana showered me with presents in an attempt to buy my trust, David just withdrew himself from family dinners and breakfasts. Whether he has always been this passive during his marriage with his second wife or whether that odd behavior was triggered by my unexpected arrival, was still unknown to me.
"They said that they are worried about you. And then you never showed up at dinner earlier. Just like yesterday...and the days before that. "
I kept quiet, looking at my devasted looking brother. He is a very smart and observant child, I knew that from the beginning. He reminded me of myself at his age.
"Are you unhappy here with us? Do you miss your mummy? Because I understand. I would miss mamá too if she wasn't here, " Nico continued as my heart broke a bit because my 8-year-old half-brother was right.
I am unhappy in this house and miss my dear mom. I would never in a million years wish upon somebody the torture of losing their parent. Nico wouldn't just miss his mother, such a great loss would break him, just like it broke me after my father left us and never came back. After that I changed. I wasn't that cheerful, always happy girl I had once been. I kept to myself, appreciating the lack of friends I had instead of hating it. Because that's how I used to protect myself from the heart-rending pain. And then to top that, I lost my mother by force.
Instead of pouring out my heart to somebody and finally expressing myself, I faked a smile and lied, "Why would you think that I am unhappy, Nico?! I'm so happy that I can finally get to know my little brother. I just haven't been really hungry the last few days. You really don't have to worry about me. "
My response made him breathe out a breath of relief and a gigantic smile formed on his lips. Deep down I already started to feel bad. But hey, not everything was a lie after all. I really do love getting to know him.
