ā
ā
ā
ā
ā
ā
ā
ā
ā
ā
ćÉĪ¹Ī±ĘĻgĻ Ń cĻĘĻŃ:#BDA0CB ā ŃŠ½ĻĻ gŠ½Ń cĻĘĻŃ #F7B3DAć
|| Dear Winter || AJR ||
"Don't move too much, you're pretty hurt." Claude's voice was gentle, he was oddly careful as he tucked the blanket around Winter, who shivered. Her powers were back, she never thought she would have been happy about it. "Is your head okay?" Claude asked, he seemed genuinely concerned. Why? Winter was a stranger. She kept trying to push them away, but the harder she shoved, the more they stuck to her. She didn't understand. They weren't her family, they were strangers. Their only connection was one random math project, one random happenstance. What if she hadn't defied the Chrysanthemum's isolation that day? What if she had just said she was sick and stayed home? "Yeah, my head is..." she trailed off. "Confused," he nodded. How long had he been waiting here? "I'm sure, that was some drug cocktail 012 was poisoning you with." Poisoning?
"He said he was trying to fix me, to make me normal." She looked at her hands, which were wrapped. Were they damaged? She couldn't tell. "Well, I highly doubt he could do that. You couldn't even string together words when we found you." Winter's mind was still hazy. "Was Janet... killed?" She vaguely remembered Elise trying to kill her. "No, Allison was spared." Claude assured her, his smile was reassuring somehow. "She tried to stop him," Winter ran a hand through her hair, "he was manipulating her. She tried to stop him and take me, but he hurt her." Claude seemed to contemplate this. "We can't just let her go, you know?" Not after what she had done. Winter shook her head, wincing. "I'm not asking you to." She coughed, her lungs hurt, her whole body hurt. "Why did you guys save me?" She asked at last, wanting an answer. Claude seemed confused, "I told you. Didn't I? We'll protect you, I promised under the Von Hreslevg name." He crossed a finger over his heart in an X. He wasn't in his school uniform, Winter noticed.
"That's stupid, you don't even know me. How do you know I didn't try to run away?" Claude laughed at that. "We have security Winter, we saw them take you." She had figured it would be something like that. There was a knock at the door, "Come in!" Claude called before Winter could stop him. Cynthia peeked inside, seeming to perk up as soon as she spotted that Winter was awake. Winter, naturally, brightened at seeing Cynthia. "Oh Winter, I'm so glad you're awake!" There were tears in her eyes as she entered. Claude stifled a chuckle when he saw Winter's expressionism, having realized that Cynthia was worried about her. "I'm fine, don't worry." Winter said quickly, trying to evade questioning as she did with everyone.
Cynthia sat on the edge of the bed, afraid to hug her. "Winter, it's okay to not be alright." She touched Winter's cheek. It was gentle and warm, but not hot. "You're crying." Was she? Winter blinked, she hadn't even realized that her vision had blurred and that her cheeks were wet. "It's alright. No one's going to hurt you again," but Winter knew that wasn't true. There were people out to get her, out to hurt her. They knew she was alive now, no doubt 012 would tell them. If Winter ever saw him again, she was going to kill him. "Cynthia, thank you." Winter said slowly, Claude's eyes widened, he remained silent. "I never had a mom of my own, so I...." her cheeks turned red. "I appreciate you."
Cynthia smiled, she hugged Winter gently, careful around her wounds. "I'm so glad you're okay, you've already become an important part of the family." Family? The thought gave her butterflies in her stomach. What would it mean to have a family again? Winter had forgotten what it was like. "Mom," Claude cleared his throat, reminding them that he was there. "I'm sure Winter would love some of your special chicken noodle soup."