That night was unsettlingly different. Evelina woke up to be greeted by heavy gray smoke. The house was on fire and she had to act fast and save her mom and little sister.
"It would be so ironic if I didn't survive tonight. My name, Evelina, means l...
After we did some important tests and waited a couple of hours -while trying to avoid my family- the results came back negative. The doctor prescribed an efficient medicine that will slowly get rid of any smoke in my lungs and as for the chest pain, he advised me to rest for a couple of days.
He told me I should stay here, I agreed only when he agreed on letting me stay with mom without telling her the real reason. "Do you want to sit with them now?" Zeno asked me and I declined. "Can you take me home? I want to get more clothes for me and for mom, Nolan didn't consider that we wear different outfits each day," I mentioned and Zeno laughed.
"That's Nolan for you!" He said and I remembered that he had less than a year to live and I wanted to make it the happiest for him. I'd have to wait at least a month for my mom to get better then we'd do many things for my brother.
"Yeah, that was Nolan..." I whispered, feeling sad but I didn't want to let Zeno worry all over again. I faked my anguish with a smile and we walked back to the car. "Thank you, Zeno, really," I said as we drove off and he smirked. "I'd do anything for you except giving you the last piece of pizza or cake!" He replied and I actually laughed from the bottom my heart at his genuine answer. "I can respect that," I stated and we both laughed.
~~~
"I will wait for you in the kitchen and if I find something sweet, I will eat it!" Zeno shouted when I got upstairs and I gave him the green light. It was the least I could do for him. He was honest and cute.
"Zeno, open the top drawer and you can thank me later!" I called but didn't get a reply right away. It was delayed by a minute or so. "Evelina you are an angel! I love you!" He yelled back when he found the hidden bags of m&ms, gums, and sneakers.
I actually blushed at his words. I knew that he didn't mean that kind of love, yet I couldn't help it. It was embarrassing to hear it from a guy who was not your brother nor your dad. But he was like a brother to me so why did it affect me that much? Was I not seeing him as a brother?
All kind of thoughts came to my mind as I was packing my clothes and when I finished, I went to mom's closet. I put as many as the backpack could fit and walked out of the closet to the room.
The moment I wanted to step outside of the room, I saw dad's laptop on the table. I thought that he might need it for his work so I grabbed it as well and walked down the stairs. "You finished?" He said with a mouth full of m&ms and he looked like a squirrel.
I smiled with a nod. "Let's go," I said and we walked out of the door to the car. "Why is this backpack this heavy?" He asked with a frown and I looked at it.
"Dad's laptop, my laptop, and mom's clothes are in it. My backpack has my clothes and our shoes so don't complain, the shoes are not light and you know it!" I countered and he shut up.
We put them in the trunk and sat in our seats and when Zeno started the ignition, the house exploded in front of our eyes.
"Not again!" I whined at the events in my life and then realized that we could have been in it. "Thank God we got out on time," I said and placed my hand over Zeno's hand.
"Indeed, now let's call 911 and my dad for the same old drill. I am sick of this psycho! Where is she so I can kill her?!" He yelled and I agreed. I grabbed my phone and called my dad.
"Hey, dad... How are you? I just wanted to let you know that... your house just got exploded and it's on fire." I told him the bitter truth but he didn't say a single word for a while, then, even Zeno heard him curse.
"I'm on my way, are you hurt?" He asked. "No, I'm fine, Zeno's fine, but your house is not fine. We might be homeless now," I added just for fun and hang up.
I looked at Zeno and he was already looking back at me. "You know I'm not letting get homeless, right?" He said and I felt his warmth. I knew that he meant it and I knew that we had no other choice. But luckily, we all had insurance. It will help us get our home back. Or, a new home. "Thank you, I will take up your offer on behalf of my family," I replied and we waited in the car for the help to arrive.
~~~
"We are considered very lucky, you know?" I said to my dad, brothers, and Zeno with a huge smile. I gazed at the firefighters who just finished putting out the fire.
"We were in the house right before it exploded. We could have died!" I stated and they all nodded. "Oh and dad, I grabbed your laptop as well as mine in the last minute thinking that you might need it for work and now that I think about it, I saved it. Your welcome," I said and he hugged me. "The important thing is that you are both okay. Zeno, did you call your dad?" As dad asked that, a car pulled over and Alessio and agent Hill stepped out of it.
"You should have asked for a million dollars instead!" Zeno cleared and we all laughed at the perfect timing. "Hey guys," Alessio greeted us and we explained what had happened.
"Okay then, we'll wait here until it's clear for us to enter the house and look for any clue or evidence that can lead us to Meg Forman. In short, we'll look for an iron ribbon. You can return to the hospital for now and stay with your wife and after that, my house is open for all of you and I will not take a no for an answer!" Alessio told us the current plan and we all agreed without any complaints. We were not in that position to do so.
"Let's go, guys, I'm sure mom is worried sick and we have to tell her," Andro said and we got into the cars and drove back to the hospital. What do you call it, Murphy's law or karma?
~~~
I hope you liked this chapter, three more updates here and that's it :) inkitt is free and easy to use.
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