𝗧𝗔𝗦𝗧𝗘 𝗢𝗙 𝗬𝗢𝗨 ── 𝘚.𝘚𝘛𝘐𝘓𝘐𝘕𝘚𝘒𝘐

♡ 𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗣𝗧𝗘𝗥 𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗥𝗧𝗬-𝗧𝗛𝗥𝗘𝗘 ♡

♡ 𝙩𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪 ♡
𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘳 thirty-three

checkmate.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

DALLAS GARCIA SAT UPRIGHT IN THE WAITING ROOM CHAIR.

The cotton was rough against her skin. It tore at the molecules while it gifted warmth into her body. Her lips were chapped and slightly faded from their pinkish tone. As the piercing white light bore down on her, she watched the doctors come and go through her father's medical room.

They shared anxious glances at her. Some had the look of dread, while others seemed to avoid looking at her at all. She fidgeted uncomfortably in her seat. The sickening, but familiar, weight sank on her chest. It made it difficult to breathe. The only words she would use to describe it was each breath was like the stretching of a rubber band - each one slowly tearing at the material and bringing it so much closer to snapping completely.

The moments replayed in her head like a jeering cassette. They stained the corks in her brain and became the defining moments of her life. She wasn't ready to be alone yet, not more than she already was. There were too many questions left unanswered; possibilities left unexplored. The story of Marilyn and James Garcia surely couldn't end there.

While her brain tore at itself, she didn't pay much attention to how Lydia Martin took a deep breath and took a seat beside her. Her jacket was bunched up on her lap as she glanced at the Siren.

Lydia parted her lips and let out a small string of sentences. "How long has he been in surgery?"

"12 hours," she responded in a timely manner.

"Why didn't you call me?" the strawberry blonde knitted her eyebrows at the familiar brunette. They had experienced much together - particularly things that consisted of Dallie's parents.

Dallas let out an unamused huff. "I doubt it would've mattered."

"Of course it would've." Lydia snapped. She placed down her bag and pulled out a short blanket and a couple of bottles of water.

Dallas gave her an unimpressed look. "What are you doing?"

"I'm staying here with you." the Martin answered blankly. "I know you've been here all night and chances are, you've had no sleep."

"Lydia, you can't-"

"Dallas, please let me stay." she swallowed hard. "I'm can't make it up to you if you won't let me."

The siren meditated briefly. She was standing at a cliff's edge and quite frankly, she needed people there to pull her back. Maybe Lydia Martin being one of those people could become a possibility again.