Chapter 12

When Adam came home, things sounded calm for a couple of minutes, but just as he got close enough to the kitchen he heard all kinds of noises at first he thought it was Anna, but as soon as he entered he was surprised to see Sam wearing an apron and cooking " that won't end up good", he thought, Sam felt his presence so he turned to face him,

" oh, you are home "

Adam nodded pulled a chair and asked while sitting

"What are you making?" Sam sat facing him and replied with great pride

" Some soup, Grilled chicken, and some homemade bread" "Sounds good, but just so you know, you're on your own when it comes to cleaning all this",

Adam said pointing at the mess Sam made in the kitchen. The sink was full of used plates and utensils there was flour, eggshells, and vegetables leftovers everywhere. Sam scanned the kitchen for a second and said pathing the back of his head,

"We'll see about that"

"where is everyone?" Adam asked while leaving the kitchen, " Mike is doing his homework or something, and I think Anna is with Alex, she was a bit devastated cuz you were mad at her" Adam ignored his last note, and answered, "Let me take a shower and come down to help you, otherwise she will have a heart attack ".

On his way to his room, Adam ran to Alex leaving his room and, he saw Anna falling asleep there,

" Welcome back" Alex greeted, Adam nodded his eyes on his little sister, he felt a bit sorry for her, he was a bit harsh on her, he doesn't like it when it comes to that. She is his baby girl, after all that they went through he feels more responsible for giving her the love and care she was supposed to get from her parents, she is his mom's will. He didn't mean to be harsh on her but she was provocative. She knows how seriously he takes his work, still, she went on and changed his flight and all his appointments without asking him. He got into Alex's room pathed her head and whispered " I am sorry" He remembered how he caught her from her shirt like he was catching a thief, "OK, big brother, I won't do it again I promise" she begged him still he ignored her and said "What am I going to do with you, do you have any idea what damage you caused" Adam shouted angrily, terrified Anna tried to pull herself from his grip and said " Lina assured me that nothing bad will happen" Adam took a deep breath to control his anger and let her go yelling again " that's the last time Anna, this is a business with big companies and not a child play, my punctual deadline and keeping my word is impeccable".Anna nodded while her tears ran down her face silently, and as soon as he moved to leave, she ran to hide in Sam's arms who said while holding her "Easy, Adam, it is just a one-day delay in our flight, nothing that bad". Alex's voice brought him back to reality " She was very sad, cuz you didn't give her a chance to apologize " Adam kept silent looking at sleeping Anna, so Alex said "Come with me downstairs, we need to talk" Adam was about to object but Alex didn't let him " it can't wait".

In her dreams, Anna was in a spacious beautiful garden when she heard her mom's voice calling her "Come on Anna get your brother and get in" "Coming" Anna replied and turned to face a 10 or 11-year boy, he looked familiar with his green eyes, and his warm smile she wanted to ask him who he was but he surprised her when he caught her hand and said " Let's go, mom is waiting" she could not decide what shocked her more, his words or her image mirroring in his eyes. Terrified Anna tried to look away from the boy, from her image in his eyes, but only to find herself surrounded by mirrors and see the boy, looking back at her but with her own brown eyes. Anna straightened in bed, breathing heavily and drenched in sweat. For a few short seconds, she kept seeing the boy still looking at her, till she closed her eyes and shook her head a bit, so when she opened up again he was gone.

Downstairs, the silence was all over the place till a voice echoed

" what do you mean it must be done, " Adam asked calmly but his anger was still very clear in his clenshed fists and red eyes. " like I said, one way or another, she must remember him, she'll need him around, there is no other way" Adam was about to say something when Sam spoke " you realize that what you're asking for is crazy, she is not a robot, we can't get into her head and select what she must remember according to our likes" " of course I know that " Alex stated " ok, let me simplify it more to you, what you're asking is dangerous, putting her under any pressure to force her to remember one thing can trigger everything, the whole accident, all what she is running from, and we have no idea how strong the impact of that could be on her, she might loose her mind, get into an open coma, forget everything once and for all, the trauma might even cause physical harm" the echo of these words was very heavy on the three men sitting around the desk in Adam's study, so for few minutes only their frightened heartbeats could be heard in a dark gloomy silence. Both Adam and Sam went back to the times they spent with her in the hospital, the nightmares the screams, the sleepless nights, " we can't let her go through it again" Sam stated both his and his brother's biggest fears.

A smash of a shattering vase broke the silence followed by Alex's despair shout " What am I supposed to do?" the Gils brothers kept silent so he added passing his hands in his hair aggressively

" I've got no choice, they are after one of us, I've to leave, sooner or later, his presence is safer and will ease things for her" he dropped his head back at the chair and closed his eyes in pain, he too, would never want her to go back to those days but... Adam finally spoke "There is another choice... We take her back", Alex opened his eyes and looked at Adam

" Do you think I didn't consider that, how do you suggest we convince her to leave the life she built here and go back to the place she ran from??" He questioned

" I don't like the meaning implied in your last words, we did our best taking care of her, and she loved her life with us" Sam complained, leaving his seat to lean on the wall facing them, so Alex explained "Yes, you did, but still there were things you couldn't change even if you wanted to, like your father, he didn't cease to let her feel unwanted, her school, how weird she was seen there and how lonely she was, I won't send her back to that, it will kill her" "and what you want to do won't!! She has no friends here either, we'll figure something up..." Adam roared, however, Alex interrupted him again "Here she doesn't have friends but she has classmates, she is treated as a normal person and not as someone who lost his mind, here she has a home to belong to, she is graduating next year, how are you going to take all this from her, and ask her to start all over again... Here she has Allen, he can be there for her" A cry coming from outside forced the three of them to run out of the study, but they all breathed in relief when they saw Anna standing at the kitchen door and they realized that she was just reacting to the chaos Sam made there. Anna turned to them with red eyes and asked her voice shaken "What happened here? Was there an earthquake while I was asleep?".

Both Adam and Alex turned their sight to Sam, and so did Anna, he pathed the back of his head in embracement and started "Well... You seemed not in the mood, so I thought I would, you know, help a bit" he looked at Anna waiting for a reply, but she didn't know how to react, Adam's accident, her weird dream, her unexplained feelings it was all too much and contrary to all their expectations she started crying. Alex moved towards her but Adam stopped him and tenderly held her and said " It is OK, we'll take care of it, and I am sorry baby girl".

Anna was sitting in the backyard with Michael reading, after dinner, while Sam, Adam, and Alex were cleaning the kitchen. " do you call sitting there like that help?" Sam asked annoyed by Alex who was sitting at the kitchen entrance watching them "Nop, that I call supervising " He answered with apparent amusement, Adam laughed and slapped the back of Sam's head saying "You should be grateful that I am helping you, work and stop complaining Doc." Alex laughed again and saying

" When I see the mess he can make, I really can't convince myself that he is a doctor " Both Adam and Alex laughed, while Sam turned to face the sink and threatened "Next time I'll make sure to let you starve"

Despite the lighthearted atmosphere in the kitchen, each person was consumed by fears and worries about what the future held, particularly for Annaliz.