"...What?" Edward didn't understand what his mother was saying. How did...
"Edward," Renee cut his thoughts short, nearing him. She placed her hands on his shoulders. "Hey, look at me," she nudged him to face her.
Edward locked eyes with her.
The room fell into a hush. Even Miridald was quiet, rocking herself continuously on the couch as she stared vacantly at the ground, mumbling something to herself, hands still on her knees.
Edward spared her a glance before locking eyes with Renee again. "What's—"
"Edward, there's no gentle way to say this apart from the fact that..." She hesitated, eyes filled with sorrow. "Your mom has her own fair share of trauma in her life—"
"But—" Edward tried to interject.
Renee answered before he asked. "Edward, Edric is okay." The announcement echoed in the room, some left aghast, others more confused.
Renee continued. "He wasn't there when we arrived. And yes, we—your mother and I," Miridald was still in her trance, "are the ones who found you and brought you here."
"But—"
"Edward, I'd like to tell you more and explain everything to you, but I just can't do that right now."
Edward glanced at his mother, a question at the tip of his tongue.
"I'd like to explain why she's like that too, but just like everything else—not right now."
Edward was honestly confused. How was Aunt Renee expecting him to absorb everything she was telling him right now?
Renee's hands moved to his neck and held his head steady to face her, her eyes sincere. "Edward, I know this can be a lot to take in right now, especially with how we kept things from you, but I'm asking you to trust me, to trust us." Her gaze bore deeper into Edward's eyes. She was being utterly sincere. "Edric is okay. Somehow he is... Trust me on that. Okay?"
Edward, for some reason he couldn't explain, just like with Beatrice, believed her. He found comfort and assurance in what she said. He felt the truth in it. Edric was okay.
"Okay," he agreed.
Renee gave a brief, grateful smile. "Thank you, nephew."
She leaned in and gave him a quick kiss on the forehead, her fragrance wafting into his nostrils. A heavenly scent.
She looked back down at him with an expression etched with sadness - subtle. Edward caught it, his own mirroring hers with a tight, thin smile on his features.
Renee let go of him, walked to Miridald, picked her up gently, and headed for the door.
She spun back to him, a step away from the door. "And don't call your father, Edward, or accept his calls."
Edward frowned.
Mdachi shifted his gaze to the phone atop the cabinet beside the bed—Edward's.
"He doesn't know any of this. Your dad is normal."
Edward's eyes bulged. His mouth fell open.
Renee left the room with her sister without another explanation.
Everyone in the room, apart from Jenevive, was left perplexed. Almost immediately, her phone rang.
"I'll just take this," Jenevive excused herself. She answered the call and walked out of the room.
Work. Typical.
Without further ado or warning, Anita yanked Edward into a tight hug, holding on to him with all her might. "I was so scared, Edward. I was so scared for you."
Mdachi watched with a bittersweet side smile.
Jesse loomed behind his sister, fidgeting with his fingers, a contrite expression on his face.
"I... can't... breathe," Edward choked out.
"Oh." Anita let go, stepping back. "Sorry. I'm just so happy you're okay now and completely out of harm's way. What even happened, and how did it happen?" She had started rambling, her tone now a scold. "We leave you alone for a few minutes and you get yourself kidnapped?!"
"Oh my God," Edward retreated in mock terror, his left arm raised to his face as a shield. He noticed the bandage on it—the lacerated part.
"Don't 'oh my God' me, Edward," Anita scolded on. "W—"
"Anita," Mdachi cut her off, nudging her away from the bed with his outstretched arm, his expression one of jaded amusement.
Anita stumbled back a bit, bumping into Jesse before grounding herself once more.
Jesse made an annoyed face before rolling his eyes and circling to the other side of the bed.
Mdachi now stood where Anita had. Anita fumed, glaring menacingly at him.
"Relax," Mdachi advised, seemingly unfazed. "You can lecture and scold him all you want, Nits. After he gets well."
That calmed Anita down. She folded her arms, gazed around the room, and eventually went to sit on the couch Miridald had sat on—quiet.
Edward put his arm down, sparing the bandage a brief squint before turning to face Mdachi, looking between him and Anita.
"Don't look at me," Anita said, raising her hand. "I've nothing to say right now. Nothing good." She crossed her arms and legs and looked away, drifting into her own thoughts.
"Hm," Mdachi shrugged.
"Edward," Jesse seized the opportunity, taking Edward's hand in his. "I'm sorry about everything that has happened. It's—"
"Your fault?" Edward interjected, a light smile on his face. He knew what Jesse was on about. "Really, Jesse? That's such a cliché."
He held onto Jesse's hands with his other hand. "It's a cliché because it's not your fault. That's what people say in movies and stuff, but it doesn't make them justified—the statement."
He held Jesse by the neck-shoulder region, thumbs touching his cheeks. "Bud?" Jesse looked into his eyes, teary. "Don't ever blame yourself for this, okay?"
Jesse was quiet, struggling to restrain the tears.
"Hey," Edward bellowed. It startled Jesse. "Okay?"
"Okay," Jesse concurred, tears streaming down.
Edward pulled him into a hug, one of his hands holding him by the back of his head.
"This is not your fault," Edward assured. "It's no one's fault." His mind reflected briefly on something. "What happened, happened. And you sabotaging Mdachi and losing the camera is not the cause of it."
He pulled away from the hug. "You get that?"
Jesse nodded, smudging off his tears. "I do."
"That's my bud."
"Hey, Edu," Anita got off the couch, approaching him. "What really happened? I mean, we get that you were ambushed and abducted at school by a white man—that's after having a migraine attack?"
Edward nodded. "Yeah."
"I bet the migraine is pepo aftermath," Anita muttered, looking down in thought. She gazed back up. "So apart from how you were abducted, do you know other... things? Like why? To where? And just as importantly, how Edric saved you?"
"I mean, you said he's a terramic. Goddammit. But how? How did he come to be on the verge of death? Can you just please explain everything to me?"
She gave him a brittle, wide smile. "Please?"
Mdachi just sighed and half-rolled his eyes.
"Anita..." Edward started off weak. "I really wish I could explain everything to you right now..."
Anita craned her neck. "But...?"
Edward sighed. "But I just can't."
He dragged his legs up into a fold and hugged them—his favourite melancholic posture. He stared emptily at the folds of the sheets covering him, adjacent to the bed's left railing.
"I just can't." He fought for tears not to fall, the memories of what had happened earlier in the forest resurfacing with disturbing vigor. "It was too much. Too much." He looked up, eyes glistening. "I'm just happy Edric is okay. I just hope he is." He really did.
"Hey, hey," Anita soothed. She lowered the railing and sat on the bed. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you, Edu." Her hand rested on his foot, covered by the sheets. "I just wanted to know. I just wanted to know, and I didn't mean to upset you. Okay? You can tell us when you're okay—or when you feel like. You know what? You can choose not to."
Edward looked up into her eyes again. "It was just too horrifying, Anita. I... I—"
Without another word, Anita launched forward and wrapped her arms around him. Mdachi joined in from the side. Jesse climbed onto the bed and also joined in—from the front.
Edward felt loved.
"Hey, you know what?" Anita said, retreating. "How about we talk about something entirely different from this whole situation? I know there's so, so much to be discussed about everything that has happened lately, and it'll probably be weird not talking about them, but for your sake, Edward, let's steer the topic to something else?"
Edward sniffled, wiping a tear off. "Talking sounds fun," he remarked, a gratefull smirk on his lips.
Everyone broke off from the hug, with Mdachi still standing at the same spot beside the bed and Jesse sitting on the bed in front of Edward.
Mdachi rolled a stool from beside the cabinet and sat on it, hands resting on the railing. "Sounds good to me," he chimed.
"Okay," Jesse shrugged, his legs crossed. "So..." he continued awkwardly. "What are we gonna talk about?"
"Edward," Anita perked up, still seated at the side of the bed. "Remember that time we went to Disneyland?" Mischief sparked behind her eyes, her lips curling into a cunning smile.
"Oh my God," Edward shook his head, then slapped it.
"It's about to go down," Mdachi teased, similarly ecstatic.
Jesse just sat there, trying not to let a laugh burst out of him. This was among his favourite things to do—grilling Edward on his mortifying memories.
Nice.
------------------
After taking several turns in the corridors of the South Wing of the hospital, the same wing Edward was admitted in, Renee finally found an unoccupied ward. It wasn't locked—luckily.
She pushed the handle, got in, and dragged Miridald in by the arm - gently - before closing the door behind them.
Jenevive rushed to the door—stealthy—and pressed her ear to it, listening in while keeping a lookout towards the hallway's opening. Her expression carried a sense of suspicion, but also confusion and curiosity.
"Hey, Miri?" Renee tried to shake her sister out of the trance.
Miridald was still dazed. One could bet she didn't even know where she was, didn't even care.
"Miridald!" Renee shook her again, more aggressively.
She jolted back into reality. She blinked. "Where are we? How—"
"You did it again, siz," Renee explained before she could ask, hands still on Miridald's shoulders. "You zoned out... just like you normally used to do when..." Renee hesitated, the sorrow in her voice palpable, the anguish on her face irrefutable.
"When I was grieving," Miridald finished it for her. She looked so wan and blue.
Jenevive listened in more closely. The matter was... interesting.
Miridald went and sat on the bed. Its railings were down.
"Oh my god, Renee," Miridald buried her face in her hands. "How am I supposed to protect my son with this happening?"
She paused, then looked up from her hands. "How am I supposed to be his mother when I can't even hold myself together?" She was too tired even to cry. She could only sigh—heavily. "Do you think this is Mike's doing? Can he—" The idea froze in her head. It was outrageous. But was it, though? Could anything, when anticipating the things Mike could do?
"Hey, Miri," Renee repositioned her hands on Miridald's shoulders, rubbing her arms softly. "This all just has to be some twisted game, or... smokescreen. I don't really know what..."
"It's not a game," Miridald cut her off before she could finish, sternity on her features. "It's not a diversion."
Renee retreated into an upright posture, a skeptic-confused look on her face. "What?"
"Edric is back," Miridald elucidated firmly. "I felt him."
Renee's face fell.
Jenevive clamped a hand over her mouth.
"He was there in the forest, Renee," Miridald looked up at her sister. "But not where we found Edward. Just somewhere, moving. His presence kept fading away by the seconds."
"Why didn't you tell me this?" Renee retorted.
"Because I didn't know if I should!" Miridald exclaimed, rising from the bed. "I just thought I was... I just thought I was having one of my episodes. I've had them severally ever since all of this fiasco began."
"Didi..."
"Renee, I just don't know what to think, what to do, who to be, or where to start with all of these. And now adding to it is my long-lost son?"
Jenevive's eyes bulged.
"I... I just—"
Renee gestured for her to keep quiet.
Miridald obliged.
With immediacy, Renee zoomed to the door and opened it—her supernatural speed—faint, fleeting golden streaks trailing behind her.
Miridald was almost surprised by who she saw there.
Renee was blasé.
Jenevive, caught red-handed, spun slowly to face them with a plastic, apologetic smile on her face.
"Get in," Renee commanded.
Jenevive didn't quite catch what she said.
Renee looked her dead in the eyes. "I said get in," she sounded more agitated.