THE ONE WE LOST

-ENRIQUE-

" You sure this is Sage?" I look at the beggar sitting in front of us.

She was dirty, dressed in torn clothes and I couldn't even know if she really was Sage or not.

" Well, she has green eyes." Hades shrugs, squinting his eyes as he looks at her with more concentration.

" She is Sage. Look at her nicely!" Shawn snaps, kneeling near her.

" Sage." He whispers, placing his hand on her shoulder.

She flinches back, looking at us with wide eyes before she begins sobbing.

" Yeah! That's Sage. Only Sage pouts while crying." Hades says, shifting close to her.

" And her nose got red too!" He exclaims.

" Sage, it's me, Shawn. Your brother, Shawn." Shawn says.

She continues crying, flinching back whenever Shawn raises his hand.

" Sage, my baby." Hades whispers, caressing her cheek with his knuckles.

" She doesn't remember you, Shawn. Look at how she's acting, she doesn't remember any of us." I say, as Shawn looks at me with a frown and then back at Sage.

" We gotta get her out of this filth. But. . . you sure this is Sage?" Hades touches her hair, looking up at me.

Shawn ignores us, pulling Sage's hand into his.

" Sage, let's go home. Come with Shawn." Shawn says, forwarding his hand gently to her but she only shifts away from us.

" Come on, little on." He says, slowly pulling her from the ground.

Sage lets out a squeal, h as her legs give out and she falls back on the ground.

" Oh my-" Shawn gasps, immediately picking her into his arms.

" Is she hurt?" he questions Hades.

" Just a gash on her ankle." Hades mumbles, looking Sage with unreadable expressions.

Shawn walks to his car with Sage, leaving Hades and I standing here frozen.

" Sage." he whispers.

Hades and I share a look, I'm sure he was feeling what I was at this moment. I blow out a loud sigh before following Shawn, with Hades hot on my trail.

---

Sage yawns, looking at the rich interiors of the hotel room. She hasn't spoken a word till now and my heart is dying to hear my name from her.

" Can't we get just one more room, please? It's really urgent." Hades speaks on the phone with the hotel owner whom he claimed to be his 'friend' to give us another room.

" Damn! Fuck you, Irina. Fuck you! Well, guess what? I was the one who killed your dog! Whatcha gonna do about it? Just drove my Aston Martin over it, felt like a pebble under those wheels." Hades screams, with a malicious laugh.

Sage flinches back at the sound of his laugh before she shifts towards the headboard, cuddling to a pillow. Hades throws his phone on the couch, looking at us with a pout.

" She said she can't give us another room. The entire hotel is full." He shrugs.

" Yeah, I heard how you were persuading her." I fake a smile at him, as he rolls his eyes.

" She would, if she wanted to. They would, if they wanted to. Anyone would, if they want to. It's all about priorities." he snaps at me, before smiling at Sage.

" I don't know what to say to her?" he mumbles, his eyes focused on Sage.

" Don't even try talking to her. You'll scare her more." I throw a dirty look at Hades before picking my cup of coffee.

" I think she is scared of you." I shrug.

" You think!?" he growls.

" And who is it to blame?" I glare at him.

Hades sighs, looking away from me.

" Only Shawn got lucky in this. She isn't scared of him, I wish I was in place of him." Hades sighs.

" You're dying to be her brother, aren't you?" I smirk at him.

" Enrique!" he growls.

The door creaks open as Shawn steps in with a bag in his hand. He gives Sage a smile and then glares at us.

" Wasn't I clear when I said not to be violent near her? You two can go kill each other off and I won't spare two fucks about it but don't you dare do anything to trigger my sister's condition!" he whisper-yells at us.

" Sorry." Hades mumbles, like a whiny kid getting scolded by the principal.

" What did you bring?" I question, looking at the bag in his hands.

" Things for Sage. Skincare, clothes, soothing creams and other personal necessities." he says, dropping the bag on the bed before fishing out a shampoo bottle and a conditioner from it.

" Sage needs a bath, then she'll have her dinner. Can you order her favorites while I give her a bath?" Shawn asks, pulling Sage up from the bed.

" I can give her a bath!" Hades says, stepping forward.

I lean back, enjoying the glares Shawn was shooting at him.

" So you can abuse her again? What is the plan this time? Are you going to manipulate her, beat her up or rape my sister in there?" Shawn's words pierced through the air, forming a chilly environment in the room immediately.

" Shawn-" Hades sighs.

" Save it!" Shawn snaps, cutting him off.

Sage stood there, her attention completely on the portrait near her. I wonder if she even understood a word we spoke. Hades throws himself on the sofa, near me, a frown on his face as he stayed quiet.

By his face, I knew he was sad by Shawn's words but his sadness wasn't going to do anything. We all have an idea of what he must have done to Sage in all those months, but it's just left unspoken. Maybe because no one has the courage to accept it, before they begin speaking of it.

About fifteen minutes later, Shawn walks out of the bathroom with a much cleaner Sage in his arms. I stood up, my legs shaking as I took in her appearance. I did know mental illness could put serious scars on the person but Sage, she went through some serious shit and I can just tell that by looking at her face.

Her always glowing, beautiful face was dull and full of wrinkles, a few white strokes ran through her much thinner hair, her chubby cheeks were gone with now just her cheekbone poking out of her skin. Her eyes broke my heart the most- they were as innocent and pure but they had lost their color. Instead of that passionate green, I was met with a dull brownish color in her bloodshot eyes.

Sage was twenty-three years old with no doubts but she looked older than all of us in the room. I blinked away the tears in my eyes, before running to the balcony of the room. Tears felt like acid ran down my cheeks.

It's all my fault! It's all my fault!

I shouldn't have lost my temper that day. It all just started with a slap, and look where are we today.

The thing that makes it even more difficult is that none of us got punished for our mistakes more than Sage, who didn't even do anything. My baby, she wasn't even there.

I pull my hair, falling on my knees. Pain- it was all I felt. Raw and real, that kinda pain that you'll choose death over.

" Enrique!" Hades' voice rings into my ears, as I pull myself from the ground.

Wiping my tears away, I fix on a smile before walking in. Shawn was applying lip balm on Sage's chapped lips and Hades was serving out the food.

" Did you talk to the doctor?" Hades questions, handing Shawn a plate.

" Yeah! Considering Sage's condition, it might become a legal matter if we take her to the hospital right now." I mumble, sitting on the bed, opposite to Sage.

" You don't need to worry about the police, I'll handle it." Hades says.

" Fuck off!" I snap at him.

" Shawn, I think it's better to take Sage back to Ellesmere." I say.

" Have you lost it, Enrique? I'm never taking her back to those psychos." he growls, braiding Sage's hair.

Sage was least interested in our words, she didn't even react to Shawn braiding her hair, she was just looking at the plate full of warm food in front of her as if she has been hungry for years. My baby!

" Listen Shawn, Ellesmere is our home. My dad owns the hospital, we can get Sage treated without having to answer the police because it will be our people and we'll deal it within. Plus, Sage might get her memory back if she visits home." I press on the topic as Shawn frowns, I could feel he was considering my words.

" We'll see." he whispers, placing the plate in front of Sage.

She looks at the food and then back at Shawn.

" Go ahead, eat." Shawn says in a gentle voice.

" Why can't I just feed her?" Hades groans.

" I don't want her to feel forced in any way. She will pick whatever she wants to eat, in whichever portion- let her take control of her life for once." Shawn's glare puts Hades silent once again.

Sage slowly reaches for the meatball, taking it to her lips.

" Sage." Hades says, startling her as the meatball falls from her hand. She shifts away from us, as tears begin forming in her eyes. Dang it, Romano!

" Asshole!" Shawn growls, looking at Hades.

" I was just reminding her to use the utensils. It's really childish of her to use her hands with food." he shrugs.

Shawn picks up another meatball, handing it to Sage as she slowly begins eating it. She looks up at Shawn with curious eyes before continuing to eat.

" If you scare her one more time, I'll be throwing you out of the balcony." I raise an eyebrow at him as he shows me his pistol as if that's suppose to scare me.

After having one more meatball, she denied to eat more. I knew it must be hard for her to eat so much food after months of starvation.

Shawn cleans her up and puts the covers on her as Hades and I stack up the dishes. Hades gets enjoys a bowl of fried rice, while looking at Sage. Shawn sits near her, patting her head gently as she slowly falls asleep.

" I'll stay by her side. You two share the couch." Shawn whispers, throwing a pillow on the couch.

" There's plenty space on the bed. I can sleep with her." Hades whispers back.

" No, you can't." Shawn snaps.

" I'm her legal husband, Martinez." Hades growls.

" Don't act like I haven't seen the scar on her abdomen, Romano. Not only her abdomen, you've quite left a memory on her body of yourself." Shawn glares at Hades.

" What?" I interrupt them.

Scar? That better be a tiny mark or else, god really have mercy on Hades because I won't.

" I'm sorry for everything I did, Shawn. I was blinded by my brother's love. I loved him as much as you love Sage." Hades sighs, but Shawn wasn't buying it. His glare didn't drop at all.

He secures the covers on Sage carefully before getting out of the bed, and sitting on the couch opposite to Hades.

" You have the entire night. Tell me everything you and your brother have done to my sister, or else I will kick you out of here right now." Shawn growls as color drains from Hades' face.

" Shawn, there is no use digging old corpse. Let's just focus on Sage." Hades stutters, gulping loudly.

" No! There are countless bruises on her body, she has lost her sanity, she was on the streets- all vulnerable to anyone for god knows how long. I wanna know everything you have done to her." Shawn says.

I felt a punch in my gut by his words. Just Hades isn't responsible for this. I'm the real reason this has happened. I was the one who began all this and I'm the only one to blame.

" Fine. I'll tell you." Hades says, wiping a tear that rolled down his cheek.

" It all begun on our wedding day . . ."