HAWAII | KIAN LAWLEY

nineteen

NIGHTMARE
11th August 2020

Alaïa was curled up on the bed in Kian's jumper, she had locked the door and refused to let anyone in.

"Alan?" Danny questioned as he lightly knocked on the door. "Can I come in?"

Alaïa stared at the handle for a minute and thought about letting Danny in. She let out an over exaggerated sigh before reaching across the bed and unlocking the door.

Danny quickly opened the door and snuck in before she could have the chance to lock it again.

"You good?" Danny questioned as he sat beside the girl on the bed.

"Yeah." She said with a fake smile. "Just tired."

"Well, the boys are going in the boats now, are you staying here?" Danny questioned placing his hand over hers, in order to comfort her.

Alaïa nodded and pulled the blanket up to her shoulders.

"Yeah, yeah, I think I'll just sleep for a bit."

"Just shout if you need us, okay?" Danny questioned, Alaïa smiled up to the boy and then closed her eyes. She heard the faint sounds of the boys laughing outside the van as she fell into a deep sleep.

~

Alaïa's eyes flickered open and instantly stung due to the salty water. She was trying her hardest to push herself towards the shore, but her small limbs couldn't cope against the harsh waves.

She heard the faint cries of help from Elizabeth, the girl that she and her siblings had made friends with earlier that day. She wanted to swim over and help the ginger haired girl, but she could barely keep herself a float.

"LONO." Alaïa shouted desperately, she couldn't help but swallow water every time she shouted or gasped for air. "HELP."

Her eyes widened as a wave crashed over the two eight year olds and pushed them under. Alaïa's body was thrown around in different directions due to the current.

She made eye contact for a split second with the tourist girl, who was struggling to push her way back up to the surface.

Alaïa felt a hand wrap around her wrist, pull her up and out of the water and drag her to shore. Alaïa coughed up the water that had entered her lungs. Lani turned her on her side and rubbed her back as Lono went to look for Elizabeth.

"ELIZABETH." Shouted the girls mother frantically. She had tears streaming down her face.

Alaïa watched as Lono carried the girls body back to shore. He laid the ginger girl down on the sand and tried to find her pulse.

Lono let out a breath he didn't even know he was holding once he found one, it was faint, but it was there.

He began to do mouth to mouth with the girl, hoping that it would help her, but he didn't really have any idea about what to do.

"SOMEONE CALL AN AMBULANCE." Lani shouted desperately as she held Alaïa tightly. Alaïa was shaking as her eyes never left the girl.

Elizabeth's mother crouched down beside her daughter and held her hand as she cried.

"Please, help my baby." She sobbed. "She's all I have."

"I'm trying, I'm trying." Lono whispered. His eyes flickered up to the mother who has red eyes and shaky hands.

"She's not breathing." Elizabeth's mother whispered. "SHE'S NOT BREATHING." She shouted with more panic, just as the ambulance arrived.

"Get her into the ambulance, now." Lono said as he picked up the girl in his arms and carried her on to the gurney. "She's got water in her lungs, her and my sister were playing, the tide got really bad quickly-I tried to save them, I tried to save her-"

"You did your best son." The paramedic tried his best to comfort the boy. "Is your sister okay?"

"She will be." Lono nodded and looked back to his sister who had fallen to the floor with a sob.

~

Everyone's head snapped towards the van once they heard an ear piercing scream.

"Alaïa." Kian muttered panicked for the girl. He grabbed the rope and tried to pull him and Jc back to shore but it wasn't quick enough for him.

Kian stood up and pulled off his life jacket, threw his phone and wallet to Jc and jumped into the lake. He didn't care that the lake was freezing, he just needed to get back to Alaïa.

Once he reached the shore he pushed his way into the room and saw that Sebastian was stood beside the girl. He didn't hesitate in pushing Sebastian out of the way and pulling the girl into his arms.

Alaïa clung onto Kian's arms as she cried. She felt physically weak. Like she couldn't move.

"Hey, Hey, it's okay I'm here now." Kian whispered soothingly, he gently rocked the girl. "I'm here." Kian looked up to Sebastian who looked dumbfounded as he stared at the girl.

Kian motioned for Sebastian to leave and close the door, he nodded left without a word.

"What happened?" Alaïa just shook her head in response. "Okay, okay." He understood and accepted that she didn't want to talk about what just happened. "Let me get changed and we can cuddle, okay?" Alaïa nodded.

Kian quickly changed out of the wet clothes that he was in and into something dry. He climbed back into the bed and opened up his arms.

Shyly, Alaïa shuffled into his arms and rested her head on his chest. His arms wrapped around her waist and pulled her as close as possible.

Kian placed a light kiss on the girls forehead and held her, as she slowly drifted off into a peaceful sleep.