Chapter 23

--------------Los Angeles, California

------------------------ Next day.

Sophia

I crawled myself to the edge of the wall in the shower for about two hours, thinking about how I could've saved Neill. The warm water lingered round my fair bare skin making me feel at least a little bit better. Yesterday was a heart-breaking day for the whole family. The pain we felt couldn't be measured or compared to anything.

We lost a brother, a son and a lover. Neill Olyster was gone for good. He was never going to smile gracefully at us again, he was never going to take beautiful photos again. He was never going to scold and protect me again. It hurt a lot. I never ever thought I was going to go through anything like this anytime soon but here I was.

I walked out of the bathroom and tied a pink towel around my chest and another one on my hair. I looked at my slim figure in the mirror and images of Neill came flashing back into my memory. I would've gone to help him collect the gun from her. He wouldn't have been dead now. But he was gone, we couldn't do anything about it. All we had to do was to just pray for the best for him. I moisturized my body as I remembered all the time Neill spent with me when I was little. He was the one that thought me how to ride a bicycle. He taught me how to colour properly and how to draw. My childhood was fun with both him and Khalid. But he was gone now, we couldn't make any more memories. I got dressed in my white long sleeved flay button up shirt and grey jeans with my white Nike sneakers. Dad wanted us to wear white instead of black. I supported him. We were burying Neill a few hours from now.

I packed my hair into a ponytail and sprayed my perfume. I took my phone from my bedside table as I scrolled through a lot of " Sorry for your loss" texts. There were also some posts about Neill on the internet, Instagram and twitter to be precise. I didn't have time for that. I put my phone in my pocket as I walked out of my room and walked towards Neill's room and I found the door a little bit open. I didn't want to cry more. I wasn't fully ready for another headache. I slowly pushed the door open and found Dad and Khalid inside looking at a photo of Neill. I walked in and looked around his room. The photos he took were all hanged up. " He was very handsome" I heard dad say as he looked at his photo. Neill was his only son with late Mrs Olyster. I always forget her name. I sat beside him on Neill's bed as Khalid consoled him. " He looked just like his mother" Dad cried more. " He's in a better place now Dad" I consoled too. He was more hurt than all of us. " All will be alright" Khalid added as the tears dropped from our eyes as I looked at the photo dad was holding. Neill was so handsome, with his brown hair, thick brows and small eyes. He left so soon.

" We have to be strong for him" Khalid said as he patted Dad's back. " Yeah we have to" He answered. The door creaked open and Mother walked in. " I'll tell the maids to come clean the room later on, Anna will be back soon" she used a hankie to clean her eyes as she said those words. " No, don't, don't clear it, just leave it the way it is" Brandon said as he held onto Neill’s photo. " Okay then, lets go, we can't be late for his burial" Mother said as she looked at his photo again with Sandra. " She's broken" She added as she looked more at the photo. I felt for her.

We gently took our time as we walked down the stairs, because of Khalid and his crutches, he couldn't walk properly. I sighted Sandra's braids on the couch on I went to give her a hug from the back. " Sandy cheeks" I whispered into her ear as I adjusted the way I sat. She was looking at the same photo of her and Neill we saw earlier. " Be strong okay" I consoled, patting her hair. She nodded as she cleaned her eyes. " I just can't believe that he's gone Soph, I miss him so much already" She was crying again. " It's okay, you'll be fine, we all have to be" I answered. " Sure, Soph you were the last person with him right?" she asked and I nodded as I sat beside her. " Did he say any last words?" I couldn't tell her about Faryah. It was going to be heart-breaking, I didn't know what she had in mind but No. I wasn't telling her. " No, he didn't say anything" I answered and she smiled. " Let's go"

We got the cemetery and it seemed like time was moving very slowly. I walked in the middle of Khalid and Ethan as we entered the cemetery with Neill’s coffin in front of us. I was the cutest girl in the world in his eyes. He was gone now, no one was going to remind me of that. " No one's going to call you cute again?" Khalid asked and I smiled. " No one's going to call me cute like he did" I answered. " I'm always here for you okay, anytime you need someone to talk to or anything you need, I'll be here for you" he consoled as I leaned on Ethan's shoulder.

We got to his grave and we watched as he was put inside. We got a lot of " Sorry for your loss" before we got here. I felt like following Neill into his grave, but I had to be strong. I was given a shovel to use to pour soil into his grave. I couldn't bring myself to do it. I slowly dug a little soil from the ground and poured it in. We were going to miss him so much. But life had to go on, we all had to move on.

We were finally done and we left the cemetery, going back home. No one could say a word throughout the drive and the silence was perfect and so soothing for the moment. My thoughts began to race back to when he said Faryah's name before passing away. Why could he possibly call her name?, did they have something go on that no one knew about?, or did he cheat on Sandy cheeks. He couldn't possibly do that.

I needed answers.

We got home and we all quietly walked to our rooms. I went to his room, specifically. I closed the door shut and crawled up on his bed, letting all the tears rush out.

I remembered all the bed time stories he told me when I was still little. The ginger bread man, Cinderella, Snow white, Rapunzel, Aladdin. We couldn't make more memories now. At least the person that killed paid for it, she's rotting in hell. They're all rotting in hell. All of them. I could still hear his sweet voice call out my name to eat, to get ready for school. I cried more as I remembered the old days. I wished we could turn the world around. Maybe if we had a time machine, we would've saved Neill’s life and he was still going to be here with us. But I was thankful for all the moments we spent together. He taught me a lot. I wouldn't be who I was today without his help. Even though I knew life wasn't going to last forever and we were all going to die, I wasn't expecting him to leave us this early.

We had to move on. It was going to be hard but we could take it. We were going to handle it.

---------------- Los Angeles, California.

--------------------------- Two weeks later( Lily's hospital) Night time.

I was back on my feet after the gun shot and the death of Neill. We had to move on, Sophia was finally recovering, going for her classes and hanging out with her friends and Ethan that helped cheer her up.

Mother was back in the hospital too, and the Grand Launch was still in progress, we were going to be dedicating and naming it after Neill. We were supposed to be dedicating it to Mother before but Brandon and GrandPa Julius changed their minds and I supported them. Brandon was still finding it hard but Mother was helping him. We didn't want to completely forget about Neill, we were just moving towards the phase where we could talk about him without us being seriously hurt.

The person that was still seriously broken was Sandra, she found it hard to go back to school and she found it hard to pay attention and focus. But Mother and her Mother had finally taken her to a psychologist and hopefully she was going to recover soon. She loved him so much and the sad part was he fell for Faryah before he died. He didn't die fully in love with her. She was going to be more hurt if she found out about that. I had to keep it from her.

I still kept on seeing Faryah at night, making sure no one saw me. Mother's shift plan failed due to our loss. I was with Faryah every night for the past two weeks, talking to her without her answering back helped me move on in some way. I still felt attracted to her even though I was back with Pamela. The sparks I had with Pamela had subsided but I was going to try to make things work. We were both going to try our very best.

The doctor said Faryah was relaying signs of waking up very soon. Her fingers were fidgeting too and I saw a tear roll down her cheek when I told her about Neill. She was going to wake up eventually. I wanted to be the first person she sees when she wakes up. So I stayed with her at night.

I held her small hand in mine as I cried to her about how I really felt about Neill’s loss. " It's hard, you know, making everybody think you're fine not knowing how horrible you feel inside, pretending is not easy at all" I said as poured my heart out to her. I felt her fingers move and I rose my eyes to look at her face. Her eyes were shaking. " Faryah" I called. She was waking up. " Ummah" I heard her whisper as she tried opening her eyes slowly. She could talk, she could say words out loud now. I couldn't express how happy I felt.

" Ummah" She called again as she fully opened her beautiful eyes this time. " Faryah, It's Khalid" I said as I looked at her eyes, her eyes held sorrow and pain. What was she dreaming of in her coma. " Khalid" Oh my goodness. I badly wanted to hear her call my name and here she was. She was sweetly calling my name. I could feel the butterflies in my stomach dance around me. She was awake. Finally.

She was looking intently at me as she smiled widely. " Saying your name out loud feels nice" she said again as her smile widened and she laughed a little. Her laugh was so soothing. " I'll call the nurses attention" I said as I opened her door and told them she was awake. They called the doctors attention and in no time they were checking on Faryah. They allowed me to stay in the room as I watched them examine her eyes, tongue and they checked her temperature. " Can you see me clearly?" He asked. " Yes" oh my goodness, each time I heard her voice, my heart beat faster. " You can talk properly?" He asked again. " Yes, I can" She answered and the Doctor smiled. " Your case is very rare miss, tell me what can you remember?" He asked her again. " I can remember everything, except the faces of three people in particular. Whenever I see their figure, it always blurs out, but they exist" she could remember everything. Even before the accident. " Even before the accident that caused your muteness?” I asked and watched her facial expression change.

" Yes" she must've been really traumatised. " Are you willing to talk about it?" He asked and she smiled as she nodded. " I'll refer you to a neurologist and psychiatrist in the hospital" he said and she smiled again. " I'm fine with a Neurologist, I am willing to talk" She said and the doctor smiled at her. Why were they all smiling. "You still have to miss, for now, I'm going to moving you to the recovery room and you'll see a physical therapist, neurologist and a Psychiatrist. We're still going to be keeping watch on you, you won't go home till after some weeks or a month" he said and she sighed. " I'm not a big fan of hospitals" She said and the doctor laughed. " You'll have to get used to it" he said as he handed his clipboard over to a nurse. " We still need to run some tests on you, to be on the safer side okay" He added as he patted Faryah's hair before leaving.

At least news of Faryah waking up was going to get everyone on their good sides. " Are you okay?" I asked as I was left alone with her. " Yeah I'm fine" She answered as she faced me. " You can talk now" I said as I tried pinching her rosy cheeks, she was blushing. " Yeah, it feels different, I'm not so used to it" she answered as she looked into my eyes. " How's Sophia and sir Brandon and GrandPa Julius?" She asked. She knew Neill was gone. " A lot has happened, we're coping though, losing Neill was weakening" I answered as I sat on her bed. " I heard, and Neill's in a better place okay, this life isn't guaranteed, you don't know if your next breath could be your last" She said and I nodded.

" He wasn't that close to me, and we really weren't on good terms, but I forgive him, he needs all our prayers" she added. I didn't feel like talking about us now. " What happened to you before your accident?" I asked as I changed the topic.

She took a little while before answering. " I was taken away from my real family, I was raped and beaten up, and I got into the accident" she said as she averted my gaze. My heart broke as those words escaped her lips as she said more to me.

She went through a lot.