Twisted Bonds

Chapter 4: Faith And Gideon

Emma's POV

The nurse told me that my parents were dead. Apparently, everybody at that event was dead. I was the only one that survived whatever attacked the Whitmore House. I didn't know how to feel about it. Part of me told me to be grateful that I survived, while another part told me that I would have been better off dead with everyone else at the event.

I couldn't stop the tears from escaping my eyes. I lost the only two people that gave a shit about me. I had no friends, we rarely ever met up with any other family members, I had no one left. The nurses left the room to let me cry out my emotions.

Later that day, a police officer came in to question me about the event. I couldn't add much to the investigation. My mind seemed to block out the events leading up to the attack. After he left, I decided to sleep. I was still healing and was too emotionally drained to deal with anything else.

I was in the hospital for another couple of days before I was deemed well enough to be discharged. On that day, before I was discharged, I saw a couple of people I hadn't seen in what had to be three years. Faith and Gideon. They were my mother's cousins.

When they came in, Faith came in and gave me a hug. "Oh Emma, I'm so sorry to hear about what happened to your mom." she said with sympathy in her voice.

I silently hugged her back. I tried to hold them back, but a few tears fell from my eyes. I didn't think anybody in my mom or dad's family cared about me. We hardly ever saw any of them. It felt nice to be hugged. My parents weren't big on hugs. Not that they didn't care about me, they just preferred to avoid physical contact with others.

I tightened the hug and buried my face in her shoulder to try to hide the fact that I was crying. I didn't like crying in front of others. I hate how emotional I am. A simple hug had me bursting into tears.

Eventually, I pulled back from the hug. Faith sent me a small, comforting smile. I tried my best to smile back, but I'm sure it didn't look very convincing. After the small exchange, Gideon made his way over and stood right next to Faith. They shared a look, nodded, and turned back to me.

"Emma, we need to ask you something." Faith started.

I sent them a questioning look. "Um, alright, what?" I asked.

Faith and Gideon shared another glance. Gideon spoke up next. "We know that you just lost your parents, and that you're going through a tough time. I know that we can't replace all that you lost, or be as great as your parents were, but, if you let us, we would like to adopt you, Emma." he finished.

I looked at them in shock. Adopt me? They want to adopt me? Why? "If I may ask, why do you want to adopt me? You hardly even know me..."

"I may not have visited you or your mom much in recent years, but your mom and I used to be very close. We were practically sisters when we were kids. But, when we became adults, we drifted apart. I really do care about you Emma, and I'm sorry I didn't visit you as much as I should've. So, if you'll have us, we would be happy to adopt you." Faith explained.

Silence enveloped us as I thought it over. I didn't have to think for very long. My options were very limited. Knowing I had nowhere else to go, I gave them a small smile and agreed.