closer than a friend, but further than a stranger

I'm Brian. Definitely not the one Gad Elmaleh keeps looking for in the kitchen.

I'm Brian Black, and today, for the first time since too much time, I believe that issues are not always unsolvable. I believe that some people can clarify your path for you, and I'm beyond grateful. But now, after having been grateful for way too long, I'm probably falling in love.

In love with the moments she overthinks, and the moments she lets go and sounds free and insanely happy. Maybe I'm not in love, I'm smitten with her, if that is not exageration. I believe I only like it when she figures everything out, and adore it when she doesn't and I correct her. When I see how enthusiastic she is to make a change, I suddenly want to guide and be guided.

But most importantly, I knew exactly what happened, and I'm as eager as my brain is able to get. Aurora was waiting for that moment : she told me, that most probably, Cecilia has had a premonition. That could mean quite a handful of things, but my sister asserted that anything more we know about anticipated events is an asset to us in this rat race against time. Sometimes, I'm fully blown by how wise she can get.

We slept in the hospital waiting for her to wake up, called our parents to say we were with a sick friend, which was nothing but true. Cecilia's mom, thinking that her daughter drank, was too anxious for my liking; she sounded like she was about to explode.

...she was about to explode...

was it hereditary??

That blood boiling, iron speed?

I whispered my thoughts is Aurora's ear. Her irises expanded from surprise, she took me by the hand to the woman crying in the corner of the room.

Aurora led a fully immature but fortunately helpful conversation, trying to stand still, hoping her charge doesn't get suddenly active. She closed her eyes, pretended they hurt her and scrubbed them continously. She almost gave me second-hand embarassment. Almost.

"Did you ever notice light in your daughter's eyes, madam? It is hard to skip!"

Now I was really embarrassed.

" Indeed. It's apparently a very rare phenomenon, and I'm blissed to know how extraordinary she is! I hope she gets ok soon. - she sniffled- Did she drink?"

"Absolutely not. Do you have frequent heartaches, ma'am?"

"I do... What does this have to do Cecilia? It certainly has something to do, right?"

"Of course! But it would be a little tiring for you to discuss this right now... Let's make a good appointment. Tomorrow night, Mrs. Arnold?"

"Sure. You're confusing me, but I'm already overwhelmed so it would be finer to learn more tomorrow."

" Thanks madam!"

She pushed me aside.

"Look, now we gotta tell the mom, but let's not forget that Cecilia could come up with interesting news as soon as she's well."

"So she's gotta meet her mom with us!

"Nice expression, bro."

She chuckled, and put me in a good mood regardless of the preposterous situation we were stuck in.

"Trust me, they'll never see each other the same way as they ever did before. SO they're definitely meeting tomorrow."

_"That's not false."

We slept on a couch in Cecilia's room. Ora fell soon asleep, but my eyelids couldn't help but stay open, feeling guilty as I told Cecilia to party in order to "have fun". But how could I feel bad for bringing potentially interesting data our way? Or did she just have a bad stroke, making me the bad guy?

This night was probably the toughest of my whole entire existence. Once woken up, I checked up on Cecilia. She was safe and sound, seemed already healed. That blood hyper speed was capable of doing miracles.

I was startled when I realised she eventually got released the same day. We met up with her mom and her in a café Aurora chose for being "adult-friendly", which is a code for serving ginger juices and strong black coffee.

My not-so-delicate sister brought everything in front of the mother and daughter and didn't seem any slightly bothered in front of their shocked, bewildered gazes. The mom wasn't that ready to get too implicated, and frankly, I couldn't quite understand her. Her eyes stronger by emotion, she said :

"I could only watch from a distance." At least she believed. Maybe she had seen too many phenomenons with her daughter than we had with each other. Maybe all of this was blood, and she knew about it since the very beginning, and somehow I absolutely hated this hypothesis; it meant we were missing out on something, something that made her keep a lid on her extravangant attributes. What kind of murky mess did we get ourselves in?

Therefore, she continued, saying:

"I'm not ready and I have too much to lose. I did what I could when I was your age. Now I can't protect my daughter if her and I are on the same boat."

Seemed like she knew about everything all along. Her daughter was shook, almost baffled.

"What did you exactly do when you were our age?"

"Just help those in need. In all discretion. BUT things didn't always go as planned, that is why I advise you to resume your lives, like teenagers do. "

"I am not ready to play mind games! What went wrong?"

Yes, this overzealous control freak was closer than a friend. But just... further than a lover.