Lone Stars

Chapter 19

By the next day, Iris had grown so concerned, she was calling Gladio every few hours. Lexus sent texts to Ignis and Prompto, only having their numbers. Her texts never got through, getting an error message every time. Varin recovered from his head injury, but stayed in bed as his wheelchair was broken from recent news that the building's structure was weak and needed to be fixed. Apparently, a wall collapsed in their apartment, and crushed their belongings, including the wheelchair. Hilda stayed by him, helping him around the hotel along with Lexus.

Lexus herself was drowning in worry. Her thoughts were plagued with so many bad scenarios for the boys. It wasn't until Talcott offered to help fix her father's wheelchair she got out of her quiet state. The wheelchair wasn't crushed but needed repairs for her father to use again. Although, the parts she needed were not found in Lestallum, but Old Lestallum. So, Lexus decided to take a quick drive down there and then return with the needed parts.

As the pine haired girl was checking her bike, she was approached by a woman.

"You're Lexus, right?" She asked.

Lexus turned from her bike to her. "Yeah, and you are?"

The woman was wearing the same thermal outfits she's seen her Mother wear, hair was shoulder length and she held a kind look. "The name's Holly Teulle, I work at the power plant with your Mom; Hilda."

Her brows went up, "Oh, yeah. I think she's mentioned Holly before." she bluffed.

"Anyway, I've gotten word she's taking care of Varin, your Father. How's he doing?"

"Better, but his wheelchair was damaged in the tremors. They're staying at the Leville since the apartment building is too dangerous." She explained.

Molly smiled, "I'll drop by for a visit then, we miss her at work." she told.

"What does my Mom do at the plant?" Lexus asked, leaning back on her bike.

"Mostly valve inspections, around Lestallum. I've taken her shifts since then to ease the workload." Holly adjusted her footing, looking to bite back some pain. "I work at the plant itself, so I've been all over the place."

Lexus frowned, "Sounds like you've only added more work to yourself." she commented. "Hey, how about I inspect the valves for you?"

Holly seemed surprised by the offer, shaking her head. "I couldn't ask you that, you seemed like you were busy with something else."

"Well, I was going to go and ask nearby stops and get some information. But, I can spare an hour to help out." She shrugged.

Holly was troubled for a Moment, but then sighed. "If you're anything like Hilda, I think saying no won't even phase you."

Lexus tilted her head, "What do you mean?" she asked.

"Hilda is always grabbing extra work, taking on more than she can handle at times. More than I can handle myself." Holly explained. "She takes anyone's shift when open and covers people left and right. I think she spends more time at the plant than at home."

She pressed her thumb to her chin, having a hunch as to why that was.

"But, if you want to inspect them valves, be my guest. There's about eight valves that we check around the city. Sometimes, they're perfectly fine, other times and they can be ready to burst with the steam escaping." Holly told.

"Oh, I see. So, just turn off the leaks?" Lexus asked.

Holly nodded, "Yup!"

Lexus pushed off her bike. "I'll give them a look, you go see my folks. I'm sure my Dad would like to see someone other than my Mom and I for once."