Chapter 42: Wake-up call

~~~

It was just a quiet morning, colder than usual. I woke up with a pleasant softness pressed against me. My arm was stiff beneath her. I blinked against the gray morning light bleeding in through the curtains, groggy, half-expecting her to shift or mumble in that tired voice of hers.

I tilted my head slightly, expecting to see her eyes meet mine, maybe annoyed, maybe teasing. Instead, her face remained slack, peaceful even.

I stirred slowly, eyes half-lidded as I yawned and blinked up at nothing in particular. My body ached in places it always did lately, mainly around my hand, but I’d gotten used to it. Kind of.

“Nora,” I mumbled, my voice still thick with sleep, “hey… shift a little.”

She didn’t seem to respond, probably too tired from yesterday’s ordeal. Carefully, I untangled my legs from hers, trying not to wake her too abruptly. I slid my hand down to her wrist to give a light squeeze.

I muttered something under my breath and slowly sat up, the sheets rustling as I rubbed the drowsiness away.

The room was quiet except for the soft hum of the fan. I stretched my arms above my head, working the stiffness from my neck before limping my way to the bathroom, careful not to jostle my injured hand.

A splash of cold water to the face, a quick rinse of my mouth, a few clumsy attempts at straightening my hair, nothing special. It was the same old routine.

As I stepped back into the bedroom, I glanced toward the bed. She hadn’t moved. Still lying on her side, curled in.

“Seriously?” I let out a breathy chuckle and knelt beside her, gently tapping her shoulder. “You’re gonna be pretty late for class at this rate.”

I blinked the sleep from my eyes, rubbing my face with the heel of my hand as my gaze shifted toward the clock on the wall. She was cutting it close already. I leaned forward a bit more, my hand brushing her back as I tried again, this time with a firmer nudge. “Hey, wake up. You’ve got to go today, remember?”

Still nothing. Something about the way she lay there started to bother me. There was no sleepy groan or a tired complaint. No sluggish movement to roll over or hide beneath the covers like she sometimes did.

Frowning now, I sat up straighter. Her expression began to feel a tad too… stagnant. My heart gave a dull, uncertain thump as I brushed her cheek with my fingertips. “Nora?”

That creeping unease coiled tighter in my chest as I reached down, gripping her shoulder and giving her a firmer shake. “Nora. Wake up. Come on.”

I paused, staring at her face, willing her to flinch. To swat at my hand. To tell me to stop being dramatic. But she just lay there, almost lifelessly.

Not even a twitch.

My breath caught, chest tightening as I gripped both her arms now, shaking her a little harder. “Nora! Seriously, get up!” My voice wavered, louder this time, cracking with something that teetered too close to panic.

“Wake up, please, please. Nora, just wake up!” My fingers fumbled along her neck, desperate to feel something. My breaths fastened at an unprecedented pace, my grip tightening harder.

“No, no, no- come on, don’t do this, don’t do this to me.”

“Nora please, sister, please… please wake up. Please.”

“Please…”

“Don’t do this to me, Nora… just please… wake up. Wake up. WAKE UP!!!”

I started shaking her harder. Harder, unable to stop. But she flopped around like a ragdoll. I shouted, almost screamed, the name leaving my throat over and over like a plea, like a spell I could cast if I just said it right.

“Nora, please… I beg of you. Do-don’t do this to me, just wake up!”

She didn’t move.

My heart felt like it was splitting open inside my chest. My hands trembled as they gripped her tighter, and I didn’t know if I was about to cry or throw up or pass out right there on the bed.

I just did whatever I could.

~~~

I didn’t have time to put on my shoes. I barely remember the sequence of events that even took place.

All I remember was the way her body slumped slightly as I pulled her onto my back, how her arms hung loose, head resting against my shoulder like she was just tired.

Just tired. That’s what I kept telling myself.

That she’d wake up and scold me for not brushing my hair.

For rushing her like this, escalating the issue.

I don’t think I even locked the door.

The cab driver must’ve seen something in my face when I slammed open the door and barked out the nearest hospital’s name, because he didn’t ask questions. He just drove without a word.

I clutched her legs tight around my waist, one hand holding her against me, the other pressed flat against her back to feel every breath. I swore I could still feel them, faint and shallow, but what if I was wrong?

What if that was just me imagining it?

I wasn’t even aware I was crying until my voice cracked with a strangled breath. The hospital came into view. I didn’t wait for the car to stop fully before I jumped out. My legs almost buckled from the weight of her, but I didn’t let go. I ran.

I sprinted through those automatic doors, shouting for help. The moment I saw nurses turn toward me, I screamed louder. The staff had her off my back in seconds, laid onto a stretcher, wheeled through the double doors under bright red signs that read “Emergency.”

Then I just kept walking until I couldn’t. Until I hit the wall and slumped to the floor. I think they called my name twice before I noticed the doctor in front of me. They questioned me a bit about what happened, and I just responded with the first thing that came to mind.

He said they’d run a few tests. A preliminary diagnosis. Something about vitals. Something about stabilizing her. I nodded to everything and understood none of it.

Time passed. Maybe hours. Maybe just minutes.

I just sat there, hands clenched so tight I could feel the sting of nails in my palm, legs bouncing, lips muttering silent things I wasn’t sure I believed in. But I prayed.

I prayed in my own broken way. I prayed to gods I’d long stopped believing in. I prayed to fate, to chance, to anything that could hear me.

Begging them not to take her away from me. Not my little sister... not Nora.

I could survive with a ruined hand. I could survive a thousand nightmares. But not this. I couldn’t… I couldn’t do anything without her.

As I sat there, the sounds of beeping machines and muffled voices faded into the background. My mind kept replaying the same thing again and again, like a broken record. Memories I held dear, moments we shared, everything felt like it was crashing down all at once.

My eyes drifted absently, not even realising where they were landing. But then, I saw it. The ring.

The small, simple thing that we had gotten for each other. The one I had slipped onto her finger just a while ago, one that annoyed me at how much she forced me to wear it.

I hadn't noticed it before, but now, it seemed to gleam brighter than anything around me. I picked it up from fingers, my hands were shaking so badly it took everything just to clasp it. I pressed it into my palm, holding it against my chest.

Please. Please let her be okay.

I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to force the panic from my body, but it only got worse the more I tried to breathe. I didn’t care that people might see me, that I might look weak, that I might look desperate.

I was desperate.

Just this once, please. Let me keep her. I’ll do anything. Just bring her back to me.

The words felt heavy as they left my lips, but I needed them. I needed something to hold onto. The world around me could crash down if it had to. But not this. Not my sister.

I pressed the ring harder into my chest, wishing with everything I had that my plea would be heard.

Please.