Quest for healing 1 - by Just

The sky was dull. The clouds seemed to have devoured the moon and stars, making it feel like the perfect night for her past to come haunting.Maya’s fingers flew across the keyboard, the rhythmic click-clack the only thing keeping her calm. She was close to cracking the code. She could feel it. Though she was far from the school court, she could still hear the echo of sneakers against polished wood, the chants of her teammates.Temporary nostalgia ran through her veins before—The crash.She shook her head and refocused.No time for distractions. She needed this win. She needed the cash.For Kyle. For Grandma. For… survival.Just as she was about to reach for the prize, lightning split the night sky outside the window.Maya jolted so violently that she fell from her chair. The second-hand laptop nearly slid off the table.Her heart leapt into her throat.She wasn't in Grandma’s house anymore.She was fourteen again.In the car.The same flash of white.The screaming.The blood.She couldn't.She just couldn't.Maya crept into the corner of the room like a stray cat hiding from the light. She tried to hold back her tears, tried to brace herself against the memories clawing their way back into her mind.Then her phone buzzed.Shrill.Sudden.Terribly loud in the midnight quiet.Kyle.“Hey… you know you don't have to call to talk to someone you live with. You could just come up,” she said, hiding her grief as well as a body could be hidden.Her brother’s voice was usually a soothing balm. He was the only piece of her old life that fate had let her keep.Knowing there was still someone in the world who loved her, who believed in her, made everything a little easier.But not tonight.Tonight, his voice wasn't a balm.It was salt on an open wound.“I… I don't feel so good.” His voice trembled. “My leg. There’s something wrong with it. Please help. Come find me… It’s dark and cold, and there’s someone here. He’s coming! Please—”The call ended abruptly.Dread crept beneath her skin like ivy.And what made it worse was that she knew exactly what had happened.She knew who was responsible.She was.She had caused this.Maya called back.Once.Twice.Again.She dialed the number so many times, her screen felt the pressure.Nothing.Then an anonymous number sent her a picture.Kyle.Unconscious.And beneath it was an address.Her tears blurred the screen, but she didn't need to see to understand that damage had been done.She raced down the stairs in her nightwear and flip-flops. She didn't care.Her feet moved like a puppet's, controlled by but fear.She called the police and sent them the address.When they arrived, Kyle was lying motionless on the ground.A note was strapped to his chest."Time is running out, sweetie."It disgusted Maya that someone with such an ugly soul could dare use such kind vocabulary.She watched as the paramedics rushed Kyle to the hospital.And then she stood there.Frozen.Grief slowly catching up with her now that the panic had stopped carrying her forward.She had moved faster than herself.Now there was nothing left to outrun.She picked up the fractured pieces of herself and made her way to the hospital.She knew she was too broken to communicate properly, so she didn't bother asking for directions. She simply kept searching, even as her feet begged for mercy.At last, she found his room.The beeping machine was a metronome, marking the seconds of his fragile life.His breathing was mechanical.He was just…There.Maya stared at him for several minutes, drowning in guilt and dismay.Then she felt a tap on her shoulder.A kind, low voice spoke behind her.“Everything is going to be okay.”He spoke with such sincerity that, for one brief moment, she almost believed him.The only thing stopping her was reality.

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