Crystal Eyes

~(23)~

~*E l l e r y*~

      The moment my eyes had opened, I gazed out the window above me. Clear, clean blue skies filled with fluffy floating clouds and soft winds rustling the trees. A rainbow was towering in the sky and drawing the attention of nearby walkers inspecting the roads. 

      I draped the blankets cleanly over the couch, to avoid anymore judging thoughts from Emily, and tossed my heating pad that had since gone cold onto James who was dead asleep with one arm covering his eyes and the other gripping his blanket. I ran my crampy fingers through my tangled rat's nest of curls but my efforts died down when realizing nothing could help. 

      I caught a whiff of bacon and eggs, the scent causing my mouth to water and my stomach to flip erratically. 

      Avoiding James, I stepped over and into the kitchen where Declan was cooking, flipping a few crispy pieces of bacon and stirring the eggs with the other hand. Emily was nowhere in sight...so I crept through the archway and waved shyly. The brightest smile lit up his face. Gosh, I couldn't help smiling brightly myself. Hope stirred in my chest. 

      You're up. I'm making breakfast, how was the couch? It's kinda old. 

      Fine, I think James got it worse though. Thank you for letting us stay. Is there anything I can help with? I'm not a great cook, I see where Ryan gets his cooking skills, but I can do the basics. He waved me over with the laziest yet most comforting gesture and handed me the giant spoon to stir the eggs. 

      So...you're completely deaf, right? Not Hard Of Hearing? A question I might've shied away from now seemed fine to answer. A man who I'd only known for less than a day made me feel secure? Yeah, completely deaf. I lost my hearing in the accident that killed mom. 

      I'm sorry...I hadn't even known she was dead. That must've been hard. Was it just you and Ryan or did you live with an aunt or a grandparent? 

      Just me and Ryan. It was hard, at first. My mom was an only child so we didn't have any aunts or uncles, and my mom's dad had died and her mom was in an elderly home, she had Alzheimer's at a pretty young age. Something like grief and guilt plagued his features. 

      I'm so sorry, Ellery. If I'd have known about you two...He scrunched his eyes, unable to finish his sentence. Don't do that. I don't blame you. It's not like you knew about us at all. If you had known and decided not to do anything I'd be hurt but you didn't know. For some strange reason tears welled up, but I calmed myself and shoved them down. I didn't want to cry. I couldn't cry because I knew it wasn't his fault but a part of me still blamed him. 

      I know but that doesn't change the fact that I wasn't there. I could've so easily had taken a look at Diana's page and known you were mine. The similarities can't be missed. I might not have guessed Ryan was mine but you. He'd turned away before I could answer to flip a few more pieces of bacon he'd forgotten about. 

      Hey...where does Ryan think you are right now? Does he know...? 

      I don't know if he knows who you are. I thought at first he did because he was so adamant about moving to Hipridge. I thought it was because he knew you lived here. Might still be but he thinks James and I slept at school last night. He slept at work.