The Sun Will Come Out

Chapter 4

Jess's POV
I woke up to hear soft music playing. I felt weightless. Startled at first, I started struggling before realizing it was because Maya was still holding me. She stroked my hair with her outside hand.

"Good morning, sleepyhead," she cooed. "Did you sleep good?" I nodded my head, yawning. "You look like it," she said with a small smile. We both giggled.

"Any news on Iris?" I asked. She shook her head no.

"We can go see them though," she said with a smile.

I jumped up off of her lap and raced to the door. "Hold on, sweetie, let me come with you," she laughed. I gave her a quick hug as she came up to the door.

Maya's POV
I can't believe she just hugged me. I knew I was a source of comfort for her, but I didn't know she was THAT comfortable with me. Not that I was complaining though.

Thankfully while she was asleep, Carina came in and told me they also ruled out smoke inhalation, so this small girl didn't have to wheel around an oxygen tank.

She was about to run into the door to her little sibling's room when a voice called out "Hold on, bambina, slow down."

Carina popped out from behind the nurse's station. "You have to put on a few things before you go in there so you don't get them sick, bella," she said.

I watched as Jess got all gussied up in a gown, gloves, and a face mask. The gown swallowed her little frame.

Just the sight of her reminded me of when little kids play dress up with their parent's clothes. I smiled at the thought of Jess being able to be a kid, knowing she never got that opportunity.

As soon as we were all geared up, we walked into the room to see Iris

Iris was covered in bandages and wraps to prevent infection. I felt Jess stiffen at the sight. "It's alright, sweetheart," I whispered to her, pushing her forward a bit.

As we got closer, I realized they were asleep. I put my hand on Jess's shoulder, letting her know I was still there. She subconsciously took my other hand in hers. She seemed to realize they were asleep, too, because she stayed a good distance away from the bed.

Iris's face distorted a bit, meaning they were probably having a nightmare. Jess let go of my hand and walked over to her younger sibling. She sat down in the chair next to their bed.

I had no idea what she was doing. She raised her arm slightly. I thought she was going to touch their arm, which was covered in burns and bandages, so I was about to say something to her. I watched her as she started stroking Iris's hair.

"You are my sunshine,

my only sunshine.

You make me happy

when skies are gray.

You'll never know dear

how much I love you.

Please don't take

my sunshine away."

Her little voice when she was singing was absolutely beautiful. I had heard her sing to herself when she had woken up scared from her nightmare, but her voice shook too much for her true voice to show.

It was more of her speaking the lyrics when she was scared.

I beamed at her, proud of how she was handling the situation.

She looked up at me with a smile and whispered, "what?"

"Nothing sweetie, I just think you're adorable is all," I replied.

Shit, I thought to myself. Shit, shit, shit. She was NOT supposed to know I cared about her that much. No one was.

I was fully expecting her to hate me now, to pull away.

Her face dropped momentarily.

No, no, no, I thought. Great, she hates me now.

I watched as she smiled slightly again. I was very confused at this point.

Did she hate me?

Was she going to pull away like I thought?

"Thanks," she said sweetly.

She looked like she wanted to say something else, but was having trouble getting it out.

"What is it sweetheart?" I asked as I squatted by where she stood.

"You just ... you just remind me of my mom," she stuttered.

Oh. That was NOT what I was expecting her to say.

I tried to stifle a huge smile, but I know some of it showed.

"I'll be back in a minute, sweetie," I declared as I walked out of the room. "Keep your gear on." Jess nodded in understanding.

"Hey Carina," I began as I approached the nurse's station. I saw her sitting there updating charts.

"What's up, bellina?" she replied.

"What's going to happen to the kids? They can't go back to Peter," I sighed.

"They'll probably just be put in the system. What are you thinking?" she asked suspiciously  after seeing the look on my face.

"You wanna take them in, don't you, Maya?" she guessed.

"Would that really be the worst thing?" I asked. "I mean, we want to have kids anyway, we can get a start now."

"Besides, I don't want to risk them getting split up," I added.

"I honestly think it's a great idea, bambina," she said with a small smirk.

"Really?" I asked with so much joy I couldn't contain it.

I raced around the nurse's station and picked her up in a hug, spinning her around.

"Put me down, bambina," she laughed while playfully smacking my shoulder.

"We have to get everything for them first," she said.

"Well it's a good thing I don't have work tomorrow," I said mischievously.

"Are we really doing this?" she asked me.

I nodded in excitement.

I skipped back into Iris's room with joy after gearing back up.

"Why are you so happy?" Jess laughed from across the room.

"You'll find out all in due time, kiddo," I said with a grin.

________

Translations
Bambina: baby (feminine)
Bellina: pretty