The Major Lift. Rewrite one.

Surender.

"Aro!" Chris called out from behind Blake as she lugged Auroras guitar in its case through the hospital room doorway. She saw Auroras eyes flit between the pair of them and to her guitar and her face break out into the first genuine smile she's seen perhaps ever. It looked slightly awkward on, like she wasn't used to wearing it. It broke Chris' heart a little.
"Brought you a friend, because you must be bored out of your mind here," she said as she deposited the surprisingly light guitar case beside the bed where it leaned. Aurora smiled at it like it were an estranged loved one.
"You feelin' better, dude?" Blake asked, folding his long frame into one of the plastic chairs beside the window.
"I feel a little better. Still not fantastic. I wish I could just go home though. Hate it here" Aurora muttered, glancing around at the cold, sterile railing and walls, all an off-putting, pale shade of yellow.
"Redding already told me how the procedure went. You'll need to have that drain taken out before you can leave, and he talked about sending you to rehab afterwards but suppose that's uhh ... what do they call it? ... outpatients" Chris stammered, waving her hand about and looking around. Aurora still had antibiotics going, along with some fluids and the drain dangling from her bandaging held a small, acceptable amount of a dark red substance that she was clearly trying not to look at. Blake appeared to have glimpsed it because his eyes kept glancing back at it, a vaguely discussed look on his face. Aurora was looking at him quizzically. "Don't look if it bothers you man. It bothers me too. I wish they'd just take it out already" she mused, exasperated.
"They won't until they get a look at the site itself. Could be today, could be tomorrow, could be in a few days. Any more fits, Aro?" she asked her, walking up to the bed and sitting on the end of it.
"No. At least not that I recall since just after you left the other day. No big bother though. They're not exactly life threatening. They scare the pants off the staff here though" Aurora explained with a manic smile on her face that clashed horribly with the seriousness of the situation. Chris let her eyes search her there for a moment. She looked pale but not to the same extent as the last time they saw each other. Now she wore a shot sleeve hospital gown, the scars that adorned the skin of her arms and part of her chest could be seen properly and they were so numerous, Chris felt a little more of her heart break. They criss-crossed and paralleled each other and each was a different shade of pale, or red, at different stages of healing. It was like a sick tapestry. Aurora craned her neck to peer into Chris' line of vision.
"Chris?"
"Hmm? Ohh ... sorry. Hey, Aro? Bake and I spoke over night, we phoned our landlord and asked them and they okayed it. You said you need a place to stay. We think we might have one with us" Chris began tentatively, watching Auroras face for signs of ... well ... anything.
"There's a room at the end of our hallway at the back of the house. It's technically a bedroom but at the moment it's got a load of equipment in it. Most of it broken or old. We thought if we cleaned it out you might stay there. We could easily add you to the lease. We just wanted to run it by you first. See what you think" Blake added, leaning his lanky elbow on the arm of the chair and his temple on his upheld hand.
There was a long pause during which Aurora appeared to be staring into space. Chris put a hand on her outstretched leg and peered at her.
"Aro?" she called in a hushed voice. Aurora blinked a few times and focused on her, her face a mask of bewilderment, though Chris didn't have a lot of confidence in her ability to read her new friend.
"What do you think, Aro? We understand that it's a lot. And after what you've been through it must be. If you want a few days to mull it over, sure" Blake suggested, leaning forward in his chair and gazing at Aurora with a tilted head that sent his hair falling in tresses down by his shoulder.
"Uhh ..." Aurora murmured, swallowing hard. She was still pale but no more or less so than before. But her eyes had shrunk into her head.
"Aro?" Chris repeated with inflection. Aurora blinked again and refocused on her.
"I ... uhhh ... don't know" she muttered, her voice catching on some of the sentence. Chris was beginning to worry.
"You wouldn't need to be put on the lease initially. At the moment it's just a place for you to stay. But we hope to get you on if you want" Blake added, leaning back in the chair he sat in again. Auroras face twitched and she cleared her throat. "You two don't know how nice you are?" she rasped. Chris stifled a chuckle at this.
"Aro, you deserve to be safe. And you deserve to live as you not this stranger that psycho of a mother expects you to be" Chris said without thinking. She heard her mouth say those words and privately cringed. She saw Auroras eyes widen but this was all they did as she swallowed and shivered in the bed.
"I'm trying not to think about mum at the moment, actually ... But to be frank I think you're not wrong. My brother would tend to agree with you too" Aurora muttered, avoiding Chris' eye. Chris could see little bubbles popping in the corners of Auroras mouth, tight-lipped.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to diss your mum that way, I don't have the right to say that" said Chris, bowing her head submissively.
"I'm not. Honestly I am not sorry for ever insulting her" Blake claimed with his leg coming up to rest on his other knee. Aurora and Chris looked at him both more than a little taken aback. Chris threw a glance at Aurora and saw her look positively incredulous.
"Dude! You don't know her! Nether of us do!" Chris raised her voice at him, shocked.
"Can any of us say we do? Really? Hey, Aro, I'm not going to sit here and trash her, none of that. Just saying Chris told me a little about what happened. Dude!" He shook his head as he spoke and rolled his eyes dramatically.
"It is what it is. Suppose. She did say I wasn't to come back. I'm honestly not really surprised ... really. Michael told me once that I'm not long for the closet anyway. Probably you know ... would've liked her to learn about it in pretty much any other way but the one she did. It's bad enough she snooped ... If I'm honest, might be ... you know ... better this way" Aurora stammered, leaning forward in bed and bringing her knees up a little. She looked resolutely down to her knees as she spoke and her face had regained its amiable façade.
"We'll leave it with you Aro. And your guitar. The rest of the stuff you had with you is still in our van. Safe. If you decide yeah, then well turf that stuff in the room. But no rush, yeah?" Blake said getting up. "I'm going to get some coffee, anyone?" he asked the room at large, striding toward the door.
"Nah, thanks man, I'm good" Chris sang out after him. She looked at Aurora who shook her head too.
There was a pause as his footfalls faded down the hall.
"I can't, Chris. I can't impose on the pair of you like that. There will be no third-wheeling" Aurora babbled, looking up at Chris with suddenly hot, pleading eyes. Chris stared at her for a moment and then laughed, catching on. She couldn't help but laugh.
"Honey, did you think Blake and I were together?" she asked, trying and failing to keep the mirth out of her tone. Aurora looked at her and tilted her head in a look Chris thought was just adorable.
"Nah! We just play together. We've been mates since uni. It's our old friend Dylan he was dating. Nah, don't worry about that" Chris assured her, turning her body on the bed so she was facing her and resting her own leg on the mattress.
"You ... I mean, the pair of you ... I just met you. And now not only have you saved my life, but now your prepared to offer your home? I mean ... I just don't ... understand" Aurora began. Chris looked at her and saw a single shining tear threatening to fall from one of her eyes.
"Honey, you decided to step back from the ledge. That was a choice you made. I didn't pull you back, remember?" asked Chris, remembering with a pang of worry the events on the bridge and those that lead up to it.
"Chris, it's a really nice offer. But I just can't do that to you" Aurora mumbled, averting her eyes.
"Is that because you think it'd be an inconvenience or is it because you think you don't deserve to?" Chris asked, surprising even herself with her forwardness. But Aurora was silent, staring at the bedspread as though something intriguing was written on it.
"Where else will you go?" Chris persisted, getting off the bed and walking toward the window away from Aurora, her hands on her hips and her head back. She could feel Auroras eyes on her like a pair of lazar beams.
"I don't know yet, but I'm not trying to hurt you Chris." Aurora said in a voice that sounded scorched. Chris didn't turn around, she found herself becoming frustrated at Auroras
"Hurting me? You're not hurting ... worrying? Yeah. Let me tell ya' I'm doing lots of that. Aro, Blake and I already took care of the running around. All we'd have to do is sort out your stuff from your mums. There's no reason why you'd ever have to go back there. S' far as I'm concerned, nobody should ever have to live in the closet. Nobody. Not today, not ever! And if mum was prepared to boot just you for that? The woman needs to go get herself a ..."
"Enough! Aurora yelled from the bed, making Chris turn around suddenly to see her staring daggers at her with watering eyes and a flush that definitely wasn't from her fever.
"You deserve better, Aro" Chris implored rather simply, finally allowing herself to be frank with her. "You deserve so much more, so much better!" She walked up to the bed again, dragging a chair toward it with her and sitting in it.
"I'm not mad. At least not at you. I wish you'd see the reality. I wish you'd let me help you. And I'm not just saying and doing this stuff so you'll join the band. Believe me you're under no obligation. The bands done for at this point. No. I mean this. Human to human" Chris pleaded, leaning forward and catching Auroras eyes.
"I know. Chris you're so sweet I don't even know how to deal. But you don't wanna deal with all this crap. My life's such a mess! And I can't just sit here and ask you to clean it up for me" Aurora hiccupped, white-hot eyes burning Chris where she sat. Whatever resistance Aurora put up then struck Chris as last-ditch. Desperate even. It was a response that seemed to be built in, learned and reinforced over years.
"You're allowed to fall apart. And I am allowed to make the choice to stand here and hold you together. Because that's what people do. They help each other. If that seems strange to you then maybe you need to re-evaluate your assessment of your peers. Because not everyone's going to be a total bastard" Chris explained, as coldly as she dared. She looked up into that pair of big, green eyes like hot emeralds and fought against the desire to look away. It was important that Aurora see the reality that she herself did. Vital.
"You don't wanna see this, Chris. I can't ask you to stick around and see this train wreck. Wouldn't wish that on anyone. Not you, not my brother, not your mate Blake ... not anyone" Aurora spat, vitriol simmering between the lines. The bubbles continued popping in her mouth as though she were trying to swallow back poison. Chris didn't know who she was angry with. Whether it was at herself or Chris or the pair of them. Or whether it was at her mother. As she looked, she saw Aurora close her eyes, hug her knees and bow her head. She saw her spine jut outward as she curled in on herself where she sat. It was as though she were trying to disappear.
"Aro, I can't pretend like I get what it's like in your world. Not even gonna go there, but you deserve happiness. We're offering a place to stay, not an obligation. You really need to start being kinder to yourself" she urged, placing her hand on Auroras leg, the closest bit of her she could reach. Aurora gave a shuddering breath. Chris got off the chair and migrated to the edge of the bed. She began rubbing Auroras left shoulder up and down. Aurora kept her head bowed and Chris could feel her trembling beneath her hand.
Then she let out an almighty sob. "I d-don't- I'm- s-so sc-ared!" she stammered, her voice coming in shards of itself. It was perhaps the first time illness and shier effort of will wasn't obscuring her true emotions. Chris looked into that face and saw her true state of mind for the first time. With the rubble from the walls Aurora had spent years building up around herself strewn about the floor, she gasped for air and Chris held her where she was while she sobbed.
"It's okay, just breath. Let it out" Chris whispered as she let her head rest beside Auroras. She felt Auroras good arm clumsily snake around her shoulders as she cried, felt her hand grasp the back of her neck.
After what felt like a long time, Chris heard the heavy footfalls of Blake trudge back into the room and stop short. There was the sound of his shoes shuffling and then the unmistakable sound of him sitting on one of the chairs out in the hall as Auroras sobs began to subside.
"I've got your back, Aro. You can stop hiding now" she whispered again and Aurora shuddered again, sucking in air and hiccupping violently. Bit by bit, Chris could feel the tension leave her muscles. What felt like years of pent up angst was draining away.
After what felt like an eternity, and after Blake had migrated into the room to sit beside the window nursing his coffee, Chris felt Auroras grip on her loosen and her hand slip. Chris let go of her and only then did she get a good look at her face. Her shoulders were relaxed, her face was tear-streaked and reddened and her eyes were puffy. Her head lulled a little and Chris brought up the head of the bed to meet her as she settled on the pillow.
"Finish your medicine, sleep and get better. I'll come back tomorrow and see you for a bit" she said in a hushed voice, bringing the sheets up a little and then getting off the bed and looking at Blake.
She saw the look on his face which was half way between a smirk and misty-eyed softness.
"Not a word, man. Don't even. She needs to sleep. We should go. I'll come back tomorrow" she explained, coming to stand by the window and crossing her arms.
"What am I gonna say? Aro and Chrissy, sittin' in a tree. Get over yourself" Blake huffed, but he smiled up at Chris as he sipped his coffee, then glanced over at Aurora.
"Probably in for a good nap that one. We discussed the room for a bit, but mostly she just cried. She did say something that makes me worry though" Chris reported, walking him toward the door.
He stooped a little as he hummed and indicated he was listening.
"She kept asking why we're being so nice to her. Acting like being nice had some kind of catch, like we have some ulterior motive. I said to her the band is on hiatus anyway. And it's a room, a place to stay not an obligation. I also explained that you and I have never been together" Chris explained, seeing Blake snort on mild amusement at the last suggestion.
"It makes sense. The woman's likely rarely, if ever experienced any catch-free kindness from anyone. Not that she seems likely to let that happen. She probably keeps people at arms length. How would you expect to see the world having been through what she's been through? And really? she thought we were together? That's funny" Blake said as he laughed at the notion.
Chris shot him a reproachful look as they walked down the hall toward the lift.
"Dude! She seriously thought we were a couple and she was super resistant to staying because of it" Chris repeated as the lift doors opened and they stepped in. "I had to set the matter straight, an the look on her face man, adorably incredulous!" She carried on.
"I hope she tells us soon-ish ... we need to pass the word to our landlord before they change their mind" Blake mused, bouncing on the balls of his feet in the lift as they descended to the lobby leaning  conversations wake a tense silence.

As the evening wore on and both were busy with their work, Chris was considering wrapping it up for the day when her phone announced from across the room that she'd received a text from an unknown number. She opened it and then smiled despite herself at the name at the bottom. It simply read 'thank you, Chris'. No frills, no fuss. Chris read in those three words an exhausted, scared but brave human being who was making the choice to take a tentative step out of the darkened, cluttered stifling closet and into her new reality. And she was choosing to do so with the support of others which pulled Chris lips apart in a wide misty-eyed smile as she climbed into bed. She typed a reply to Aurora which read 'no worries, Aro. Get some rest, I'll see you tomorrow', before setting her phone down on the nightstand and switching off the lamp and plunging the room into pitch darkness.
The light from Chris' phone didn't penetrate her eyelids but the message back from Aurora read 'I'd love to stay with you. And the other day, I really enjoyed playing with you two even though I didn't say anything. It was lots of fun. Maybe we could do it again some time. Goodnight, Chris'.