Waves

CHAPTER 10

(Talia above)

MOUSE

Mouse leaned back into the chair slightly and pushed the ice pack against his chest more. He'd switched them out a couple of minutes ago, but the new pack still had that burning coldness to it that made him quite a bit uncomfortable. He ignored the sensation, though, knowing full well that it would do him more good than harm in the end.

Luckily, Mouse was a fast healer. The doctor said that he should be alright in two to three weeks. He'd bruised his ribs before, but never this bad. The pain was excruciating. He was lucky that Gonzo had stayed to help him the night before, since Nora was exhausted and most likely wouldn't have been much help. He was in so much pain that Gonz had to half lift him into the bed.

The wound on Nora's hand concerned him, but the nightmares did a lot more. He'd had his own fair share of nightmares, as had every lifeguard. Losing a person was hard on anyone, and pulling a body from the ocean wasn't an experience that anyone would be likely to forget. Mouse'd had some moments lifeguarding even years ago that he still remembered much too vividly. Some things were just too hard to forget.

He wondered what Nora had been through to have such bad nightmares. I mean, sure, foster care was nothing extravagant for anyone and Mouse had heard plenty of horror stories from that alone, but he'd never expected sweet, kind Nora to have a terror in her life, too. He glanced at her as she was curled into Jesse's chest, sound asleep after an exhausting night of fear. He'd been in her position more than once, although he'd never gotten a snuggle from Jesse afterward-not that he would want one.

"She had quite the dream," Matt's soft, eerily calm voice broke the silence that had settled over everyone.

Mouse glanced at the t.v., where he was helping Harrison lift a boy with a dislocated knee onto the rhino, and it abruptly popped in by itself, before turning to Matt. "What do you think it was about?" he asked.

Jesse was the one to respond, "Who's Madison?"

"I have no idea," Mouse told him, "She hasn't talked about her past."

"Well it's only been five days," Matt Dee pointed out.

"A dramatic five days," Jesse snorted.

Mouse had to agree. And it sure felt like a lot longer than five days. He watched Nora curl into Jesse ever so slightly more, her eyebrows furrowing together and her body twitching slightly. Her dreams were beginning to turn sour.

Jesse realized this just as Mouse was about to tell him to wake Nora up. He nudged the girl, before lifting her off of the couch and shifting slightly, before placing her onto his lap. Nora stirred and opened her eyes, "Whaa?" She mumbled.

"Just didn't want you to end up being sore because you slept in some crazy position," Jesse explained.

Nora nodded.

"Hey, Nora," Mouse said, trying to act casual, "Who's Madison?"

Nora stiffened immediately.

NORA

Madison. Nora hadn't heard her name spoken aloud in a long time, unless it was through a dream. Nora tried not to think about her dead best friend very often, and she hadn't meant for the name to slip out while she was dreaming. It didn't surprise her, though, since she always cried out when she dreamed of Maddie.

"She was my best friend," Nora whispered softly, "One of them, at least. There were two.

"I met them both at the orphanage when I was seven. We hung out together a lot, me and Willow and Maddie. Willow was older, she was in the fourth grade, but she still hung out with us. We are still friends. She's the only contact I have in America.

"Maddie and I were slightly closer back then, since we were the same age. We did everything together, even more so than Willow and I."

Nora paused, her throat beginning to swell with tears as she thought of her old friend. She hadn't told anyone about Maddie like this before. It was hard, but also sort of amazingly relieving. Like a massive weight was slowly lifting off of her chest.

"Then one day I woke up late," Nora continued, her voice breaking slightly, "I'm the breakfast cooker in the orphanage. Always have been, since I was about nine. I'm the only one who can cook, you see?

"I got up at eight instead of six like I should have. Mr. Harsche-that's the man who managed the orphanage-was furious. He screamed and screamed at me. I was scared, so I hid in the corner. And I wasn't focusing on the kitchen.

"There were orphanage kids in there hungry, and one of them decided to try and cook breakfast. He set the kitchen on fire, and then ran for it when he realized what happened. Maddie was in there, too. She was trying to put the fire out, but it wasn't-it wasn't working. And then when I felt the heat and I ran to help, she was trapped.

"She was in there all alone, and I couldn't reach her, and it was my fault because I didn't get up early to cook everyone breakfast. It's my fault she's dead," Nora finished the last sentence gasping for breath. She waited for the looks of judgement from the three lifeguards. She waited for Mouse to yell at her and kick her out of the house. She waited to be called a murderer again.

"I'm so sorry, darling," Jesse pulled Nora closer and held her even tighter as she shook, trying to put a dam up before her river of tears flooded out the rest of her senses. She would need to start packing soon.

Nora was so focused on not crying, that she didn't even notice Jesse's words. Instead, she pushed herself up and wrapped her arms around herself, whispering in a raspy voice, "I-I'll just go pack, then."

And then she turned and ran to her-no, the guest bedroom. Nora didn't even notice the footsteps thundering after her as she stumbled to the floor on her knees, gathering up the clothes that she had bought and beginning to pile them into her ratty backpack. There was no way she'd be able to fit all of them, Nora would have to leave them behind. Maybe Mouse could sell them, and some good would come out of this trip after all.

And then, all of a sudden, strong arms enclosed Nora in a tight, restricting embrace and pulled her away from her packing. She struggled, but her strength was nothing against Matt Dee's.

"You're not going anywhere," Matt whispered softly, his voice compassionate.

"Why?" Nora asked softly, "I'm a murderer!"

"No, you're not a murderer," Matt murmured gently, "You shouldn't have been expected to get up at six in the morning everyday to cook breakfast for everybody. That's an adult's job, not your job."

"But-"

"No buts. And you shouldn't have been expected to put out a fire like that. It's not your fault, Nora."

Never let them see you cry, Nora thought, remembering her rules. Never let them see you break. Never let them see you show emotions. You are fine. You are always fine. It's okay. You are fine.

But somehow, the rules that Nora had lived by since she was nine years old didn't seem to be helping her. She always managed to sober up when she recited the mantra. This time, she just cried harder and clung to Matt Dee with all her might.

"Please don't go!" She gasped.

Another hand came, rubbing her back up and down gently. "We're not going anywhere," Mouse said softly from beside her, "We're not going anywhere."

And for the first time since she had been thrown into foster care, Nora felt well and truly safe.

--

So, Nora is building a relationship with Jesse and Matt Dee now? Hmm...

Anyway, thanks for reading and I would really appreciate it if you voted and commented! Have a really great day!