My Safe Place

Her mother smiled, “Well, he was the one who alerted us that you were missing and traced you down…he didn’t even get enough sleep, and stayed with us the whole time.” Her mother simply replied and Aurora gasped.

“I know things are still a bit unclear with you two, but he was really worried for you, dear. Let’s talk about that later once we get you to safety.” Just then, her mother held her hand and creased her eyebrow, noticing something, “You’re burning up.”

She blinked, “Oh, am I?” And with that, she realized her mind has been hazy and heavy, feeling hot and aching. Her eyesight blurred a bit and felt her body falling to the ground, and the last thing she could see was her mom’s worried face.

It all felt like a dream. Aurora’s body was feeling so numb and she felt like she was floating. Opening her eyes, she saw her father sitting beside her. Nurses and doctors checked her state. The doctor sighed. “Thankfully, you just lost some blood and we'll get your foot healed.” And they left.

Her father gave her some water and made her drink water first. “I’m glad you’re awake now, sweetheart.”

Aurora looked at him, a bit confused at all the things here.

“Where am I?” She asked and her father smiled.

“You’re in the Cypher Agency hospital.” He simply replied, hands caressing her hair softly and a bit teary-eyed. “You have been recovering for three days now. You really sleep a lot, my dear.”

She nodded, now remembering what happened to her before she fell asleep. She was kidnapped…with Vivienne for three days there, and finally rescued by her mom.

Loking around now, and thought of the only person in her mind, “Where’s mom?”

“Well..your mom was busy relocating all the other members with your Uncle Wave her enemies who dared to hurt you…just to get revenge.” Her dad then looked at his wristwatch and smiled, “I think they’ll be back any minute now. Your mom will be happy knowing you finally woke up.”

“Oh, I want to ask if there's something hurting in your body still? We can get it treated, well actually, this was my first time coming here so I got excited to see their advanced equipment.” Her dad jokes, and Aurora chuckled at her dad’s silliness.

Just then, the door opened and a burst of ginger fluffy hair from two adorable little kids came.

“Aurora!”

They exclaimed happily and rushed to hug her. She yelped at their eagerness, feeling a bit of pain and her dad grabbed the twin’s shirts to stop them, “Careful, twins. Your sister just recovered, give her space for now.”

They nodded understandingly, now pouting a bit.

“You know we really miss you, dear sister!” Isaiah yelled, now crying, “Everyone is boring in school and we don’t have anyone to play with!”

Aurora chuckled, feeling a bit of guilt but raised her eyebrows at them, “You didn’t have anyone to play with? Or you just don’t have someone to prank with?” She suggested and they both exchanged looks, rubbing their heads and giggling.

“Yeah, that too!” Isaac replied naughtily.

They talked for a bit about random things, Aurora wanting to fill the gap of her absence as their sister when the door opened again.

This time, it was her mom, looking so calm and when she saw her, her face instantly lit up, and she came to embrace her. The family had a little moment, they all hugged each other, finally reunited and completed at last.

It took them a minute to embrace in silence, her mom crying tears of joy when Aurora sensed something behind her mom. It was….Reagan looked at them quietly with a small smile on his face.

Her mom noticed it and broke the hug to explain, “Oh, Reagan came to visit you…”

All of their eyes were on him, watching Reagan’s move. Tension filled the room and everyone was waiting for Aurora to react.

Reagan cleared his throat, glancing at Aurora and looking down, as he realized he might have been an unwanted guest for her and might ruin her day… “I just…dropped by, I'll get going now-”

“Stay,” Aurora spoke up and Reagan turned to her, his eyebrows raised brimming with hope.

“I mean…you can stay if you want…” She repeated, looking aloof.

“Thank you.” He sighed in relief, now sitting by the chair beside her. Aurora’s mother cleared his throat, signaling for her father and the twins to leave them alone.

“Let’s give them space to talk, shall we?” Her mother said, smiling at her before grabbing her father’s hand and the twins to the door.

“But mom, I want to” Isaiah complained but her mother tugged on his shirt, using her motherly strict tone now.

“shhh, you can bond with your sister later, alright?”

That made the twins zip their mouths instantly and her father chuckled, “Just listen to your mom, boys.”

Aurora wanted to speak up and ask them to stay with her, feeling awkward if she was alone with Reagan but her mom was already closing the door behind them, waving her hand and winking before them.

Aurora cleared her throat, now left alone with Reagan. What should she say to him? She doesn't even know, but she remembers what her mother said about him the last time when they saved her and Vivienne.

It was Reagan who found her location...if it wasn’t for him, they must have been really thrown in the ocean by now…

Reagan stayed calm and collected, glancing at her and smiling, his smile faltering a bit with nervousness, “Are you feeling alright now?” He started, breaking the silence between them.

She faced him, “Yes, I think I’m fine now.”

He nodded, “That’s good…I think we need to talk…”

She nodded, agreeing with him, “I agree..”