She let out a painful laugh. "You're joking. Right?"
Astrid shrugged. "Lots of people act surprised because of how very different we look. But no, I'm not joking. He's older than me, and yes, we came from the same mother and father. We're just different."
"Okay," Bianca said, though still not able to accept it. "Where's he?" she asked, worry in her tone now that her mind was clear enough to remember things.
She gave her a sad look. "He's still unconscious, but they've done all the surgeries necessary, so all that's left to do is wait and see."
Bianca frowned. "Wait and see? I have to go meet him and-"
Astrid gently pushed her back down the bed. "You should rest more. Oliver isn't going anywhere. You'll see him once you've recovered." Then she stood up. "I should probably call the doctor and tell him you're awake instead of talking to you."
Bianca reached out. "Wait." Astrid stopped in her tracks the minute she was at the door and turned to look at her, a question on her face. "Why did you come here? In my room, I mean. Instead of being with your brother."
She smiled, though not brightly, as she answered softly, "I just wanted to see the woman my brother liked." Then she left.
A few minutes later, she fell unconscious again. And she woke up to familiar scents and voices around her, frowning as she felt a hand holding hers. She opened her dark eyes to see her best friend.
"Hi," she whispered, squeezing her hand gently, to which Angela gasped.
"Oh my God, Bianca, are you alright?" Angela asked, catching the attention of the others. "Everyone, shut the fuck up!"
That made the room quieten. Everyone's attention was now on Bianca. Her cousin Elle and her husband, Charlie were the ones at the back looking with concern. Her other friend Margaret was the one one in front, hands on Bianca.
"You doing okay?" Margaret whispered.
"Not really, with how loud you were. There's not even many of you here," Bianca responded.
"Sorry," Margaret said, rubbing her arm gently. Then, per her request, took turns in hugging her.
"Why did the doctor let you guys in anyway?"
Everyone pointed to Charlie. And she nodded in realization when she remembered. She kept forgetting Charlie was the MD of the hospital sometimes, with how he always acted with Elle.
"Speaking of which," Bianca said trying to sit up, supported by Angela and Margaret, "Where's everyone else?"
She loved them and all, but she knew Aunt Celia wouldn't hear she'd been in an accident and not come see her. She was the one who'd always babied her more than her parents anyway.
And with that thought, the door burst open with a flood of people coming in. Well, not really a flood since they were just Aunt Celia and her new boy toy who was more like family to them now. Suddenly she was engulfed in more hugs and kisses than she'd ever received in a while. It felt pretty good, too.
Except the back of her head, her thoughts went to Oliver and wanted to know how he was doing. Also, another part of her was wondering how she came back from the dead, because with how her doctor acted, this was a miracle. And the man she saw… Celestine… he didn't look like a miracle worker. She wanted to know who he was.
After recovering a bit, her family and friends left to get her some food and other necessities, so she was finally allowed to see Oliver. His sister didn't visit her again, so she assumed she'd be by his side. And she was right.
With the help of a nurse and a wheelchair, she was taken into the room nearby and once they got in, the first thing Bianca saw was him. Oliver's face. Or the parts that weren't ruined. His face was wrapped up in bandages that only his eyes, nose and lips were visible.
She gasped. "Oh my God."
By his side, his sister sat, barely looking at her. She'd obviously heard them come in, but she was too preoccupied looking at her brother. Bianca couldn't fault her for that. She wasn't very important to her so her presence did nothing.
"Hi," she said to Astrid who still hadn't moved despite her sitting by Oliver's other side. The nurse had left right after making sure she was going to be alright.
"You know, I came here to surprise him," the red-head started, hand tracing his, head still not raised. "I'd promised him I'd move in with him right after I quit my job. I was so excited to come, but in some cruel joke, the universe decided to make this happen to him."
Astrid sounded so monotonous that Bianca didn't know how to react to her words. She was for sure not happy about her brother's condition, though. She herself wasn't so it wasn't hard to guess how she was feeling.
"I'm so sorry, Astrid."
The red-head raised her head to look at her this time, eyeing her. "The police are coming to ask you some questions, you know. Hopefully they'll catch the bastard that did this."
"Yeah."
Hopefully.
Dropping her brother's hand, with her full attention on her now, Astrid asked, "Are you doing alright then?"
The question was unexpected, but Bianca was able to answer her with a nod despite that.
"I could've sworn you were pronounced dead a few minutes ago though," she said, her face giving nothing away. "It's like some sort of supernatural occurrence."
"Yeah," Bianca agreed, clearing her throat as she suddenly felt uncomfortable.
"It would've been nice if the same opportunity was given to him though."
Bianca had to agree with that thought too. Gosh, maybe she should've asked about Oliver before just taking the opportunity handed to her. She could've saved them both. Why didn't she remember? It didn't have to be like this.