Control | The Five Sisters | Book Three

5 | Freedom

Freedom huddled with Liberty and Isis outside of a small room that Jonah had been rushed into. They had tried to follow the doctors and nurses into the room, but were promptly ushered back out. Freedom and Liberty stood on either side of Isis and held onto her hands.

Things felt weird. Freedom couldn't describe it. She could sense that Isis had shut down almost immediately after Jonah collapsed and even Liberty seemed slightly distant. It didn't feel right. In her seventeen years, she had never seen her sisters so lackluster. There was more emotion when they had learned that their mother wouldn't be coming home with them.

The thought of their mother made her think about the letter she had read. If she was being honest she regarded Genesis as a parent. She had raised her, but she had grown up without an actual parent in the home. Freedom spent most of her life only interacting with her mother through a plastic window. She couldn't even remember what it was like to be held by her mother and now she was faced with the fact that she would never know that feeling.

She looked around the busy emergency room. Aside from the mad rush to get Jonah into a room and stabilized, everything seemed calm. Security stood at the door keeping guard. Nurses sat behind the admin desk assisting people checking in. Still there was more emotion coming from the people around them.

Freedom looked up when a hispanic woman walked over and stopped in front of them. She zoned back in so that she could hear what the nurse was saying.

"My name is Adrienne. I work with your sister," Adrienne smiled kindly at both Freedom and Liberty. Her eyes settled on Isis before she spoke again. "They are going to take your sister up to surgery now. I'm going to take you somewhere so you can have a little privacy."

Adrienne watched Isis for any sign that she heard her. Freedom turned to take in Isis' profile and caught the small nod that she gave Adrienne. Adrienne nodded back before turning to them all.

"Follow me." She turned and moved through the hallway and Isis moved automatically, pulling Liberty and Freedom behind her.

Adrienne stopped in front of an elevator and pressed the button to call for it. When the doors slid open, she ushered them on before she stepped on and pushed the button for the floor she wanted. They rode in silence and stepped off of the elevator behind Adrienne.

Adrienne led them to a room and opened the door for them to enter. They stepped inside and Isis disentangled herself from them and turned to Adrienne.

"What is the surgery for?" she asked. It was the first time Isis had spoken since the ambulance loaded Jonah to bring to the hospital.

Freedom saw Adrienne look behind Isis at her and Freedom. She grabbed Liberty's hand and pulled her around the table and sat down in two of the chairs. She looked around the room and determined that they were in a conference room. There was a monitor at the front of the room. A mini fridge off to the side and beside the table in the center of the room, there was a smaller table sitting along the far wall. She tried to keep her focus elsewhere while she listened to Adrienne.

"Jonah appears to be bleeding in her brain," Adrienne said.

Isis moved over to a chair and dropped onto it. She sat silent for a moment.

"I want to know as soon as she is out of surgery."

"Of course," Adrienne said. "Do you need anything?"

Isis shook her head.

"I'll make sure that they know you guys are in here."

Adrienne turned and left the room. Freedom glanced down at her hand and saw a little bit of blood on her palm. She looked over at the small pile of napkins on the small table and held her hand out, willing one to come to her. Nothing happened. The napkins didn't move and one didn't magically appear in her hand. Freedom pulled her hand back and looked around. It wasn't that she was nervous that someone would have seen her. She was bothered by the fact that she couldn't manipulate a small napkin. It was such a small item that she should have been able to easily move around.

She looked at the chair beside her and thought about moving it back from its position. The chair didn't budge. She felt Liberty's hand enclose around her own and she turned to look at her. Liberty shook her head and let out a sigh before she looked down at the table. Freedom didn't need words to understand what Liberty was trying to say. She sat back in her seat and stared at nothing in particular as she mulled over the fact that she didn't have any power.