"And where exactly are you headed to? Surely not to pick a fight with whoever hit your brother... right?"
I felt my face heat up from the accurate accusation and shook my head slowly.
"N-No-"
"Your first words to me are lies?" He clicked his tongue...
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A knock on the front door sounded and before I could get up, Willow jumped up, "I got it! It's probably Sammie."
I nodded in agreement and continued watching the news distractedly.
Willow has been extremely distant lately. She won't really talk to anyone except my sister and now that she's having her own issues, the two of them are keeping to themselves. Matteo left to protect Sammie and as a result, Sammie is heartbroken. As expected, but I wish she would talk to me and not bottle things up. She gets that from Savannah though. Savannah used to bottle things up when things would get rough, but eventually, she would snap and things got messy.
I miss Savannah every day, but I was always much closer to Samantha since Savannah was always too busy with her studies. Her death hit me hard, but obviously not as hard as it hit Sammie.
I don't know what's going on with Willow, but she won't even let me touch her. She's been sleeping in her own room again, she's been avoiding conversation with me, dodging my calls when she's out of the house, and sleeping a lot more frequently. I don't know if I've made her upset or if she's... lost interest. I love her.
I love her so much and she doesn't know it yet, but now I'm scared to tell her in case she met somebody else. Somebody who isn't afraid to tell her that he loves her unlike me. I need to tell her now, I don't need to hold onto this. I got up from my seat and before I could say her name, I noticed she was conversing with a man from outside. Her back was towards me and he looked eerily familiar.
"Just tell me," her hushed voice pleaded, I could tell she was on the verge of crying if not already.
"It's not cancer, Ms. Mullins," he spoke clearly and her body tensed in shock.
That's Matteo's personal doctor; doctor Romani. She thought she had cancer? Is that why she's been so distant?
"W-What? I don't?" Her voice quivered in relief and concern and the doctor smiled as he pulled out a bottle of prescription medication for her, "These are antibiotics. Take them once a day and make sure you eat with them to prevent nausea. You have what is commonly known as Infectious Mastitis. You may have had damage to the skin of your breast or your nipple and bacteria entered into the milk ducts. Take the medicine, drink plenty of fluids, and rest up. You'll be okay in about a week."
She sighed in relief, nodding her head, and took the bottle from him. But before I could grab her attention, I heard something on the television behind me that was alarming.
"Santa Monica State Beach has almost claimed yet another life this year due to a storm-"
"Santa Monica Beach is where I was just at with Sammie," I spoke aloud and Benny turned around to look at the television just as a short clip of a man swimming to shore with a body in his arms.
Long blonde hair.
Long grey skirt.
He's pulling out Sammie's body.
"Oh my fucking god," Benny said as he stood up and turned the volume up. Willow walked in the room with a smile on her face but it dropped as she watched Sammie's picture appear on the screen, "Samantha Castillo was in a tragic, near-death sentence of drowning before local surfer, lifeguard, and millionaire, Mr. Fortgang, saved her life and rushed her to the hospital. Here he is now."
A man popped up on the screen, being videoed to get his input, likely because he's a millionaire.
"Mr. Fortgang, how did it feel to become the Los Angeles hero today?" A reporter behind the screen asked and the man who pulled my sister from the water was distracted as he asked a nurse how she was doing.
"Get the camera out of my face, a girl almost drowned and you want to glorify me? Turn off the fucking came-"
Benny turned the TV off and turned towards me, "Let's go!"
The whole ride to the hospital I couldn't stop bouncing my legs from anxiety. Is my sister okay? What's going to happen to her? Will that millionaire still be there? How did he even see her? She can swim! She can swim, how did this happen? She told me she would be right behind me!
I started panicking, breathing heavier as Willow placed a hand on my knee, "Breathe, Stef. She's going to be okay. It's Sammie we're talking about."
I nodded and we pulled into the parking lot of the hospital. I opened the car door and began racing towards the emergency room doors. They opened once I arrived and I ran towards the front desk, "Hey! Did a girl come in here from almost drowning? Sh-She's uh... she's like.. short and she ha-has long blonde hair and, and sh-she's-"
"Sir, calm down. What's her name?" The lady asked patiently and Gino answered for me, "Samantha Castillo. We're her family."
The lady nodded as she typed in the name and pursed her lips, "She's on the third floor in the PCU wing, room eight. She's on a breathing machine to help her breathe due to the water on her lungs."
I nodded and sped-walk to the elevator where I immediately clicked the third button and everyone else stayed in the waiting room so I could keep her as a priority and not have to share her for the time being. The elevator quickly reached the third floor before the doors opened and I stepped out. I followed the arrows all the way to the PCU wing until I reached the eighth room.
I opened the door where a man was sitting by her side. It was the man from the news who brought her to the hospital. His head snapped up as my sister laid on the bed, her chest weakly rising and falling whilst a breathing mask was on her face, helping her breathe correctly.
"Are you her brother or dad or-"
"I'm her brother, Stefan. I saw it on the news, thank you so much. I don't know how to thank you," I exasperated and he smiled lightly, looking back at her, "You don't have to thank me. The doctor said she should wake up soon, her body is just resting from the trauma. Is it cool if I stick around?"
