Studio 22 | Mary-Kate Olsen

Chapter Seventy

June 15th 2024 - New York City - The Sinclair Brownstone

"Mija!" Mami called when I closed my door, I rolled my eyes and continued to make my way to my bed slowly, holding onto furniture for stability. I ditched my crutches not feeling the need for the walking aid to go to the bathroom. But I forgot how tiring walking was and regretted my decision when I had gotten out of the bathroom on my way back.

"Baby, leave the door open," She said softly as she came into my room. She threw me off my focus shifting from my balance to her words and I wobbled, her arms held me up and I tried not to get frustrated with her. "Mija, be careful." She held onto me with one hand whilst she stretched to get my crutches. "There's a reason for these." She tells me, helping me slip my arms into them. I rolled my eyes and sighed. "And there's a reason why we like the door open... What if you were to fall." "I'm s-ure the loud bang of my b-ody hitt-ing the floor would be e-nough of an in-di-cation, mother." I say trying not to be so harsh in my tone but failing miserably.

"I get it's hard Blue, but you just have to take your time with this. You'll be strong enough soon and you can go do whatever you want but for now we have to keep you safe." Why not just wrap me in bubble wrap and put me in a padded room. "I kn-ow." I say softly, I lower myself onto my bed. "Can you close the door whilst I talk with MK please. I won't move from my bed." "Mija," She warned. "Please, Mami. I just w-ant some pr-ivacy back." Besides, the door will block out the sounds of her and Papi's arguing.

We're all home. Me, Sage, Atlas, Papi and Mami. Mami and Papi are still not seeing eye to eye despite Papi being in the right for going back. Even I could see that. Atlas was home and without Papi that wouldn't have been possible. But Mami was still mad at him for going back. I think she was mad at me a little too. She would never admit it to my face but she had to be. If she was mad at Papi for doing it she'd be mad at me too. They argue more than ever, over silly things. Over my care. Over Sage. Over Atlas. They had always been in perfect agreement where we were concerned. That's why they worked so well. That's why our childhoods although unconventional to most it was pleasant, we were loved unconditionally and had everything we ever needed or wanted. But now they just can't seem to agree on anything anymore. 

Atlas is quiet, he disappears in his head alot. I get it though I'd be lying if I said I wasn't also having flashbacks to what happened. He had been through a lot already. I couldn't imagine half of it. When I thought about it I got teary eyed, he was so strong for staying alive, for not giving up when it would have been easier to. He kept his faith in the services to rescue him even after all those years.

Sage, he went to a lot of meetings. He saw MK more than I did and he'd tell me about what was going on in her life. I didn't like him telling me about her. He acts as if he knows her better than I do but he never would. He gets her wrong so often it's laughable I would correct him but I'm still trying to navigate our relationships, I don't know how he'll react, I don't know how I'd react to his reaction so I sit and listen. Just like I did with everyone else. It was easier than trying to talk. Watching them grow impatient with me as I try to produce a sentence. Having them cut me off and get what I was trying to say completely wrong but I didn't have it in me to correct them. Mary-Kate was the only one I was starting to feel comfortable enough to speak for longer periods of time. She never interrupted me, she didn't get a frustrated look when I stopped mid sentence because it was hurting my head and I needed a break. She kept the pleasant expression as she waited for me to produce a simple sentence. She was patient with me no matter how long it took. I was scared she'd judge me, compare me to who I was but she was one of the only people who seemed to understand what I needed. It just made me feel even more guilty for what I did to her, emotionally and physically pushing her away was probably the worst decision I've made. The distance I put between us was hard to bridge, to get back to where we once were seemed to be a lifetime away.