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“She kicked me in the balls,” JD wheezes.
I ignore him, and instead capture my sister's wrists, gently pinning them to the bed.
“Kristie. Kris. It’s me. Alana. Can you wake up for me?”
As I continue talking, she begins to relax, her body going limp beneath me.
“That’s it. You’re safe, baby girl. No one is going to hurt you here.”
There’s a beat of silence before the most amazing sound fills my ears.
“Lana?”
All the air rushes from my lungs.
“Oh my God,” I sob. “I’m right here, KK. I’m right here.”
My skin prickles with awareness as the bed shifts again. I don’t need to look back to know that all of them are awake and watching me.
“Open your eyes for me, pretty girl. I need to see you.”
Her eyelids flicker, but for the longest time, nothing else happens.
My heart pounds as I wait, the tension in the room growing by the second.
I’ve no idea what time it is, how long I was asleep or when the guys joined me in the room, but they’re all here, I know they are.
But eventually, those flickers grow more insistent and a few moments later, she reveals her big blue eyes to me.
They might not be as bright or as sparkly as I remember. The innocence and zest for life might have been wiped away, but beneath all of that lies my little sister.
“Kristie,” I sob, tears spilling over and flooding my cheeks.
She is weak, exhausted, and utterly rung out, but the second I open my arms to her, she does the same and I pull her into my body, holding her tighter than I ever have in my life.
She trembles against me as her tears soak the little glitzy dress I’m still wearing.
“I’ve got you, baby girl. I’ve got you,” I repeat over and over. I’m not sure if I’m saying it more for me or for her, but I continue nonetheless.
At some point, I begin rocking her like I remember doing when she was little and struggling to sleep.
It takes a little while, but eventually, her body gets heavy against mine as she drifts back off.
“Sweet dreams, baby girl,” I whisper before laying her back against the pillow.
The second I let her go, coldness seeps through me. But it only lasts so long before not two seconds later do warm arms wrap around me from behind and hot lips land on the side of my neck.
“She’s so lucky to have you, Dove.”
In a rush, I twist around and throw myself around him.
Tucking my face into his neck, I cry for everything I’ve lost as well as everything I’ve gained.
“You need to get out of this dress, Pet,” a deep voice rumbles sometime later, and when I look up, I find Reid standing over JD’s shoulder, his hand held out for me to take.
“She’s cold,” JD explains, having felt me shivering against him.
I’m not sure even the hottest bath in the world could warm me up right now.
