Mara

Aurelie walked out of the Leroux building and the sun immediately tried to blind her. She lowered her sunglasses and stood there waiting. It took less than a few minutes of the sun testing the strength of her sunscreen and a taxi pulled up in front of her. The driver leaned over the passenger seat.

"Miss Engel for a cab?" he asked as he peered up at her.

"Yes," Auri said as she opened the door and got into the back seat.

"The main city hospital, yes?" the driver asked with a brief glance at her through his rearview mirror.

"Yes please," Auri said to the back of his head.

"Scan the code," the driver told her.

Auri saw the QR code pasted to the back of each front seat. She took out her phone from her purse and used it to scan the code in front of her. Her phone asked her for a pin code to confirm the beginning of billing. She entered the four-digit code. A speaker chimed and a screen in the front dashboard lit up. The driver tapped a few buttons and then put both his hands on the steering wheel.

The taxi pulled away from the building and merged into traffic. Auri looked out at the building wishing she was not going where she was going. She wished that everything had been okay. She wished that Nicolas Leroux and Valentina Dubois had never existed. Would things be different if Mara had never met them? Where would she be? With Mara maybe. Or she would be just coming out of class oblivious to how life would feel without her stepsister. Unaware of Nicolas Leroux's existence.

She blinked and she realised she had been staring unseeing at her reflection in the mirror. The buildings outside told her she was getting close to the hospital. Her eyes clouded with shadows and her hands fisted. Her back was as straight and rigid as a lamppost. She hated hospitals. This was the place where her stepfather had died. The same place where her mother had refused to come and collect her. The place where she had felt lost and alone before Mara had come to take her home. She had no happy memories here. And now she had to entrust this bleak place to getting her stepsister and best friend better.

She could see the hospital ahead. A looming building that glistened in white paint and glass. Its apex scrapped the scry with a giant red cross. It looked so pure and peaceful. But Auri knew better. She was aware of the pain the building carried. The taxi stopped in front of the hospital and Auri felt her phone vibrate in her hand. She looked at the screen and realised it was the taxi app asking her to confirm that she'd reached her destination and agreed to pay. She confirmed the payment. The car speaker chimed and the driver thanked her as she opened the door and stepped out of his car.

She did not acknowledge him. She closed the door and stood there looking at the hospital entrance with dread. She did not want to go in but she had to. She wished that Mara was better. She wished that the doctors would have something hopeful to tell her. She wished Mara would open her eyes and look at her once.

She took a deep breath and lifted her sunglasses from her eyes and put them over her head. She walked into the building. Her skin was pale and sweat beaded her brow as the smell of medicine, sickness and disinfectants hit her. People were hurrying into different segments. She knew where she wanted to go and so her feet automatically carried her to the elevators. She ignored the group of people standing by the doors and she went for the door that indicated stairs.

She climbed up one at a time. This was the only space in the whole building that did not have the generic hospital smell. It smelled of what soap detergent companies thought was citrus. When she was ten stories up, she was feeling less out of it and more aware of her surroundings. This was one reason why she took the stairs. The exercise helped her calm her nerves about being in this building. She reached the floor to her destination, she opened the door and stepped through it.

Immediately the quiet of the staircase was replaced by people moving about. They were mostly quiet, but shoes squeaked on the tiled floor. A doctor spoke quietly to the nurses following her and a telephone phone rang at the reception. A nurse picked it up and spoke quietly into the receiver. A couple was hugging and crying in a corner.

Auri walked past the reception. The nurse saw her and waved at her. Auri waved back. She hated that she was now a regular here. She walked past the crying couple and hoped that would never be her in the near future. She was not ready to say goodbye to Mara. She never wanted to say goodbye. They may not have had the same parents but they had been family ever since they met.

She reached Mara's room. The door was open and she could see Mara at the centre of the room. She looked dwarfed by the machines, IV lines and wires connected to her. There was an oxygen mask plastered to her face. Auri slowly went to her bed and took the chair that was next to it. She carefully put her hand on Mara's. It wasn't cold. This was reassuring. She looked at her stepsister and she felt tears well up in her eyes.

If Mara didn't make it, she would be left alone. There would be no one in the world she could trust. Mara had her back. The only person left in Auri's life who had never left her or had a bad motive. The last time they had been here, Auri and Mara had held hands and watched their father breathe his last.

Mara had let her cry on her shoulder even as she had held in her own tears. It was Mara who had held her hand through the funeral. Mara who had taken her in when she had dreaded going to her mother. It was Mara who had guided her through the process of securing her inheritance when everyone else had come out of the shadows for a piece of it. Mara had held her when she had broken down when the grief of losing their stepfather had caught her by surprise. Mara had trusted her so much that she had named her as her next of kin in case of emergencies. Like now. She was the one dealing with Mara's care and not her blood family.

She had buried one close family member. She prayed she would not be doing that again soon. She could not do that again. The only reason she had managed the grief that time had been because Mara had been her rock. If there was no Mara… No Mara would make it. She had to.

"You promised it was us forever," she whispered, "So stay for me. Don't leave me."

She felt a tear slide down her cheek and she swiped it off. Tears won't help anyone. She had to be strong now. Mara needed her to be strong. She heard footsteps and looked behind her over her shoulder.

It was Mara's doctor.

"How is she doing?" Auri's voice apparatus felt compressed.

"The swelling in her brain is going down," the doctor said gently, "We hope to take her off assisted breathing soon."

"Will there be any consequences?" Auri asked looking at the man.

He was looking at Mara. A serious and thoughtful gleam was in his eyes.

"We do not know what she took," he reminded her, "We know it crossed the blood-brain barrier but we are not sure what effects it will have on the brain. Or any other organs. Her kidneys and liver are not failing so we are hopeful."

Auri nodded. And looked back at Mara's face.

Why didn't you think of me when you did this? Auri wondered.

Why did you not think of what I would have to go through? What painful memories you would bring up? You know I cannot do without you. What kind of hurt would make you disregard all the dreams you have?

"Her condition is stable and that's all we are holding on to," the doctor told her and she nodded again.

"Doctor Zieman," a nurse poked her head into the room and gently called.

"What is it?" the doctor asked.

"Room 202 needs your help," she said and the doctor excused himself and Auri was left alone with her friend.

She put her head on the bed next to Mara's thighs and just stayed there.

"You have to hold on, Mara," Auri whispered.

"Please just hold on. I don't know what I'd do if…" she swallowed the rest of the words.

She did not want to swallow them but she still thought them.

If you died. I don't know what I'd do if you died.

A heavy feeling settled in Auri's chest and she felt like a thousand tiny cold fingers pressed into her skin. She did not think she would remain sane if Mara was ripped away from her too. She wasn't sure if she was sane now. She was running on revenge.

If Mara died, she would have no one to anchor her to life. She would have virtually no family. She would have no one to talk to about her happy moments or the sad ones. No one to comfort or be comforted by. She would not have anyone to be someone for. No one who truly cared. No one reliable.

Stop it! she chastised herself.

The doctor had said he was hopeful. Why couldn't she be? Mara would make it. She would wake up. She had to.

Her phone vibrated and she pulled it out of her purse. She swiped the screen when she saw that the message was from Sharon. She entered the messages app and read the text message.

You have a photoshoot tomorrow. Don't forget you have to get fitted in 2 hrs. Don't be late.

Auri read the message and put the phone away. She had to go back to the French Red building. She put a hand on Mara's limp one.

"Wake up soon, Mara," She said, "I want you to see their pain with your own eyes."

After all, it was not just Nicolas who had contributed to her pain. He was just the centre of it all. She would make everyone responsible pay.