Unbreakable Bonds

Ellie

The room is dimly lit by the moonlight seeping through the windows. Boxes are scattered, half unpacked, around the room. Thomas is sound asleep, exhausted from the move. Ellie, however, tosses and turns, her brows furrowed in distress as shadows of her past play across her closed eyelids.

In her dreams, she’s back in her childhood home. She hears her parents’ laughter, a sound that morphs into echoes of their final moments. Loud gunshots can be heard in the distance. Shadows twist around her, and she’s paralyzed as the scene of that horrible night plays over and over again. The assailant’s face is a blur, but their presence is suffocating. She reaches out, trying to save her mother, and does anything to change the past that she’d lived, but she’s always a second too late.

She jolts forward, a cold sweat, running down her face. She pants for several minutes before sitting up in her brother’s bed. She stands up and walks to the bathroom, where she splashes cold water onto her face, trying to calm herself down. She grips onto the sink so tightly that her knuckles turn white. “Ellie?” Thomas’ voice can be heard outside the bathroom, “Are you in the bathroom? I’m coming in okay?” When she doesn’t answer, he comes into the bathroom. “Ellie, did you have a nightmare?”

She nods. “I’m s…sorry,” she whispers, “I didn’t mean to wake you up.”

He shakes his head. “It’s okay, come, let’s go back to bed.” He takes her hand and guides her back to the bed. Once they’re laying down again, he wraps his arms tightly around his sister. “Sleep, I’m here. I won’t let them hurt you anymore.”

It takes several minutes for her to drift off to sleep again. When she does, Thomas sighs and lays his head down next to hers. She manages to sleep for the rest of the night, without nightmares plaguing her mind.

Thomas

The next morning, Thomas wakes up first. “Hungry,” his wolf, Bear mumbles inside his head.

“I’m going, I’m going!” Thomas mumbles in reply. He gets downstairs and cooks breakfast for himself and his sister, who is still asleep. He eats quickly and then busies himself by unpacking his belongings.

When Ellie finally comes downstairs, he sees that she still has dark circles underneath her eyes. “Ellie, did you sleep okay?” he asks.

“Does it look like I slept well?” she retorts.

He looks at the floor. “No. I made you breakfast. Would you eat a little?”

She looks reluctantly at him. “Okay.” She wanders into the kitchen with Thomas following behind her.

“Sit down, I’ll get your food for you.” She does what he asks. He sets down a plate of eggs in front of her. She sighs again and nibbles on the food, uninterested in it.

After a few bites, she pushes the plate away. “Thomas, are the Garcias coming over today?”

“Yeah, they offered to come and help us unpack.”

“When are they coming?”

“They should be here any minute now.” As he says this the doorbell rings. “Ah, there they are.” He gets up and goes to answer the door.

“Ellie?” Marie, her best friend, calls out, “Where are you?”

“I’m in the kitchen,” Ellie answers.

Marie comes into the kitchen. “Ellie, you look like crap! Have you been sleeping at all?” She examines Ellie’s body. “You haven’t been eating like you should be either!”

“Marie, please calm down. I’m trying to eat more and I’m still having nightmares whenever I sleep, even if it’s with Thomas.”

Marie eyes the plate of eggs near her friend. “Ellie, how many bites did you take of that?”

“Five,” she whispers, embarrassed, “Marie, you know my eating habits aren’t the same after…”

“I know! I’m worried about you. You’re going to get sick because you aren’t taking care of yourself!”

“T…that’s what Thomas said last night!”

“Of course, he did. You’re probably worrying him to death too.”

Ellie sighs. “Probably, can we unpack my stuff now or are you going to continue lecturing me about my eating and sleeping habits?”

Marie exhales loudly. “We can unpack your stuff. Let’s go.”

Ellie

They head upstairs and start to unpack Ellie’s belongings. Eventually, Ellie pulls out a picture of her mother and father. She holds it close to her body and closes her eyes. “Ellie?” Marie asks, “Are you okay? What’d you find?”

Ellie shows the picture to Marie. “H…happy,” she whispers, “they were happy here.” Tears begin to fall down her face. She quickly wipes them away. “S…sorry,” she stutters out, “I’m s…sorry.”

“It’s okay, Ellie.” Marie moves over to her friend and pulls her into a hug. “It’s okay, just let it all out.”

“I m…miss them.” She hiccups.

“I know you do. You aren’t alone. You have my mom, Matt, Mila, Akira, and me.”

“A…and Thomas.”

“Yeah, him too.”

Several minutes pass before she’s able to calm down. “S…sorry Marie.”

“I already told you it’s okay. You need to cry sometimes! It’s not healthy to bottle your emotions up like you do!”

“I know. I’m t…trying not to. T…they’d beat m…me when I did, back w…when I was in t…that place.”

“I know, that’s why you go to Dr. Patel.” She nods. “S…she’s helped me a lot.”

“Good, that’s her job.”

They manage to unpack all of Ellie’s belongings. They head downstairs to see what their brothers are doing. “Ellie?” Thomas asks, sounding alarmed, “Are you okay? It looks like you’ve been crying.”

“That’s because she has, you moron,” Marie answers, “She found a photo of your parents and got upset.”

“Oh…” He walks over to her and hugs her. “It’s okay, kitten. I miss them too.” This causes his sister to cry again. Her tears come down faster and faster. “Ellie…”

She’s crying so hard now that she can’t respond to him. She simply buries her head into his chest. He leads her to the couch, where they sit down and he whispers comforting words to her.

An hour passes before Ellie manages to cry herself to sleep. Marie is quiet. “I didn’t know she was this bad,” she eventually states.

“Yeah,” Thomas says, “I knew she was. She hasn’t been eating or sleeping well lately. As it turns out, nightmares and all the other trauma she has to carry around, isn’t helpful.”

“Of course, it isn’t dumbass!”

“Marie, I was being sarcastic!”

Marie shakes her head. “Mom is going to go by at some point today. She said she’d bring you some food.”

Thomas looks relieved. “Thank god, her cooking is deletable. Breakfast food was not gonna cut it forever.”

Marie rolls her eyes at him and leaves the room. Thomas stays on the couch with his sister, allowing her to sleep peacefully for the first time in several months.