Estelle & Salvador

chapter 1

After the boy with the green eyes had fallen onto the floor with a loud thump, Estelle had been too surprised to move. She only stepped aside when Aunt Fel came forward and gasped at the sight of an unconscious boy right in front of their house.

She tried looking around, outside the door, but there was no one else around. At last, she tried to make an effort of pulling him along, inside the house. At the age of 60, Estelle had to admit that her Aunt was stronger than most of the old people she had seen out on the streets.

However, lifting a body so tall and heavy was definitely not as easy as it seemed. After all of her failed efforts of trying to lift the boy, she was panting, resting her back against the frame of the door.

"I'm gonna need you to lift him off the floor with me, Elle," She looked her straight in the eyes, smiling encouragingly, "Can you do that for me?"

"But who is he?" She said, taking a step back, "Why are we letting him inside our house?"

Her aunt took her trembling hand in hers, drawing slow calculated circles on her skin to calm her down. Her aunt always managed to do that effortlessly.

"He's sick, Elle. He needs help. And there is no one around. We can't leave him here, because he's sick. Do you understand me, sweetie?"

Estelle nodded as she looked at the boy, his eyes shut and his chest rising in a very slow motion. He was sick. He needed help.

Soon, she found that her Aunt had told her to grab one of his arms, while her aunt grabbed the other. Both of them pulled him inside, and made him lie down on the uncomfortable couch in their living room. His arm was heavy.

Her aunt muttered something about getting some water, and rushed towards the kitchen. Estelle was there all alone, with a boy she didn't know. A boy she had never seen before. A boy who was probably a thief, who was probably going to rob them when he woke up.

A boy with the most beautiful pair of green eyes she had ever seen.

She stepped forward, in a daze. His hand was lying limp on his side, and she found her fingers touching his skin. His skin was too cold, and she pulled away with a yelp when she heard her Aunt come back into the room.

Thankfully, Aunt Fel didn't notice it, as she was too concentrated on what she was doing. She held his hand, muttered something about him being very cold, and then she sprinkled a few drops of water on his face.

When the boy seemed to not come into consciousness, Aunt Fel held his head in her lap and attached a glass of water to his lips, through which she forced the water down his throat. Suddenly, his hands slowly moved up, reaching for the glass and holding it in his own hand, drinking thirstily from the glass.

When there was no more water in the glass, he said hoarsely, "More."

Aunt Fel hurried to fill the glass again and hand it over to him. She repeated this thrice, before the boy seemed satisfied, and lied back again. This time, he seemed more at peace. He was just asleep.

"Poor boy," Aunt Fel whispered, lying his head back down onto the couch and standing up, "He was almost dehydrated beyond repair."

Dehydrated. It was a condition when a person's body was deprived of water for a very long time. Aunt Fel said they found Estelle that way after the accident.

"He needs something to recover," Aunt Fel said, "We don't really have enough vegetables to make a broth. Will you accompany me to the stalls, shop for some vegetables?"

"And we'll leave him in here all alone?" She said, looking at him with narrowed eyes.

Her Aunt sighed, "That's because I know you wouldn't stay back in here all alone with him in the house. Or do you want to?"