234's Lifelines

21. Faint

Song: Faint - Linkin Park

"There was a high school basketball game tonight somewhere in America. A team won and a team lost. That's not the real story. The real story is about fathers and sons. It's about life and time and change. Girls and boys went to the game. They dressed and hoped to fit in. Some did. Some didn't. It's a story that has history and chapters yet to be written. There was a high school basketball game tonight somewhere in America. Reporters will report. They'll tell you who the high scorer was and what the keys to the game were. But that's not the real story. As a matter of fact, that's not the story at all." Lucas Scott One Tree Hill

***

Hera jumps up and looks around the kitchen but sees no sign of anything on the ground or out of place. She walks out and looks around the living room. Could Lexis still be here? She wonders.

She walks towards her daughter's room and opens the door turning on the light. She sees no sign of anything out of place. She walks out turning the light off and shutting the door.

She glances around and notices a door at the far end open.

The paint studio.

Drawing in her lower lips with her teeth she picks up a mop stick and walks towards it.

As she gets closer she stops. What if there really was a bad person in there, a thief not Lexis, could she really protect herself? Yes she'd lived in Lagos Nigeria. A state that toughens you up but could she handle this alone? Should she just awaken her kid and leave before calling the cops?

All sorts of thoughts run through her head.

The sound of someone knocking startles Hera causing her jump in freight at the sound.

She rushes towards the door thankful for the interruption. Deciding to ask for the aid of whomever was behind the door. She opens it revealing Maeve whose eyes go straight to the mop stick in Hera's hands.

"I'd like to speak to Alexander," Maeve says wondering why the lady was holding a mop stick and suddenly worried about her boss who wasn't answering his calls.

"Alexander? He's here?" Hera asks further making Maeve wonder if Hera was perhaps mentally unstable.

"Considering he hasn't left this house since he stepped in, I believe so," Maeve says.

The studio... Hera quickly turns and hurries towards the studio, Maeve following closely behind her.

As soon walks into the studio, she gasps at the sight of Lexis sprawled across the floor, the mop stick on her hand falling out of her opened palms.

"Alexander!" Maeve screams running towards him.

Maeve kneels next to him pushing away a canvas, she places her fingers against his neck seeking his pulse. Finding it she sighs in relief and takes out her phone dialing a number.

Hera stands still unable to move as a feeling of deja vu washes over her. Her mind goes back to the day at the hospital, the words,

"Alexander is dead,"

"Is he...Is he..." She stutters unable to say the words.

"Hello?" Maeve says into the phone ignoring Hera.

"Alexander passed out, I can feel a pulse but it's irregular...he's alive," Maeve says.

Hera immediately falls to the ground shaking, letting out deep breaths.

"He's alive...he's alive..." She keeps chanting.

"I can't call an ambulance," Maeve says sounding frustrated.