ok this one took forever to write, Im so sorry about that. I'm moving rn so i had to pack up my house and stuff. and I'm tryna write two other things rn.
TW: mention of healed scars, past attempt, surgery (and normal zombie stuff but nothing is really mentioned)
"God, I'm such a baby," Luz murmured as she hid out in the Blight's restroom. She couldn't stand being in that room for one more second. The rush of people, the medical equipment, the silence,especially the silence, was just too much for Luz. It reminded her too much of her father.
"He's in pain, bebé, he wants this."
They had just arrived there a few hours ago but Luz left the room soon after her mom came. She just wanted to keep Vee with someone she could trust. She wasn't much worried about the other residents, there were plenty of other facilities they could use. There was no electricity anyway.
Hunter would probably be a better person for Vee than herself. I mean, she had tried to kill herself before, what kind of sister would do that?
Luz fiddled with the rainbow bracelets she had on her wrist. She slightly lifted it and stared at the long scars going across her wrist. A year has gone by so quickly. And to think it was around Vee's birthday.
Luz felt her breath hitched as she realized the date. She didn't know the exact date, but it had to been around the beginning of Septenber by then. Vee's birthday is on September 5th. She'll be ten years old.
Luz wiped the tears off her face and took a few deep breaths. She needed to find an adult or somebody in this awful large house. She stepped out the restroom and began to venture around. She peeked her head into the kitchen to find a woman with raven black hair, and tanned skin. She looked around to be in her late 20's, possibly early 30's.
"Excuse me," Luz spoke, startling the woman. "Hi, um, sorry, I don't mean to scare you. I'm Luz."
Luz stuck her hand out and the woman politely accepted. "Hello, Luz! I'm Katya," Katya smiled.
"May I ask what you're doing?" Luz peered over at the large amount of dishes in the sink. There was a large bucket filled with water beside Katya.
"Ugh, these stupid rich people. Before everything happened, I was one of their housekeepers. When everything broke out, I was trying to leave to get to my boyfriend, but they were all around the gate, you know? Anyway, they allowed me to stay here only if I continued to do the house chores otherwise they'll kick me out," Katya rolled her eyes. "They...they act if none of this is happening. As if we have no electricity, no freedom to leave, and the fact that the world is ending."
"That explains why the people are dressed so nice here," Luz murmured. She hadn't met everyone yet, only a handful of people. The first non-Blight she met was Boscha, who seemed to be the youngest's Blight's girlfriend. She seemed nice but a little cocky at the same time.
"Well, it's hard to wash some many clothes," she added. "And these dishes are taking forever."
"I can do those dishes for you, if it's okay," Luz offered. "Only if you answer my question."
"Really? Thank you so much, Luz! What's the question?"
"What's the date?" Luz asked.
"If I remember correctly, it's August 30th," Katya responded. Luz thanked her and began to wash the dishes. It was sort of hard with limited water from a bucket but she made it work.
***
Luz slipped back into the room Vee stayed in after her conversation with Amity. Camila held Vee in her arms and soothed her.
"It's the only way," she said. "I'm sorry, but we need you to agree."
Vee, who had only been up for a few hours, shook her head. "I don't want to die," she wailed.
"You won't die, it's just going to hurt. Not very much, but it'll help you," Emira said. She placed a tray of food in front of Vee. Vee was too busy crying to think about eating.
"You know what today is?" Luz sat on the bed besides Vee. She picked up the apple and held it in her hands.
Vee looked up from her mother. "What?"
"Today's September 4th."
"That means..." Camila trailed off.
"Tomorrow's my birthday," Vee interrupted.
"Nothing bad can happen on your birthday, right?" Hunter spoke from the corner of the room. Luz avoided eye contact with Vee.
"Remember spending my birthday in the hospital?" her eyes mocked, even if Luz wasn't looking at them.
Vee was hesitant to answer, but eventually did. "As long as I get cake afterwards," she finally spoke, barely even a whisper.
***
"It's going to be okay, I promise you," Camila soothed her youngest child as Emira set out her limited surgical tools. Vee took deep breaths in and out as she awaited the surgery.
"Hold my hand, please," Vee whispered to Camila, who had the job of holding down her right arm. Luz was holding her left, Hunter holding her left leg, and Edric holding her right leg. According to Emira, if they keep her still, she could take out the bullet shards in as quick as a few minutes. The only downside is the immense pain she'll go through and it's not a guarantee of survival. Vee agreed to do it, even if she was terrified.
Emira handed a piece of fabric to Camila. "We can't make too much noise, it'll attract the walkers." Her voice trembled and Camila could tell she was afraid to do this procedure. After all, she had only been a nurse.
Camila carefully grabbed the rag but before she could put it in Vee's mouth, she stopped her.
"Wait," Vee said, "Luz, can you sing me my song?"
Luz's heart dropped at her small voice. Her little sister tried so hard to be brave, even if she could hear the fear in her voice. She knew what song. Their father would play it when they were younger, and Vee had grown to love it. When their father was in the hospital, Vee would sit by the hospital bed singing the song to their father, hoping he'll stay alive just for one more show. It was his favorite song and had yet to be Vee's.
"Of course, hermana," Luz smiled as tears streamed down her face.
"Please don't leave me," Vee whimpered as Luz gave her a kiss on the forehead for comfort.
"I promise you, I will stay here the entire time," Luz quivered.
Vee nodded, allowing Camila to put the rag in her mouth. No one dared to say a word. A word too terrible to even be made. Luz took a deep breath as Emira quickly sanitized the tools.
"Amor, amor," Luz softly sang in Vee's ears. Luz could hear her sister whimpering as Emira began to hover over her. "Te quiero tanto."
"Eres mi ilusión, eres mi pasión, si al despertar, amor."
Emira lifted the young girl's shirt slightly, uncovering the wound. Vee winced at the touch of it.
"No estás a mi lado."
"I love you, Vee. I love you no matter what," Camila cried in Vee's ears. Vee shut her eyes shut as tears began to pour out her eyes.
"Me siento vacía y me lleno frio."
Emira lifted a surgical knife and made her first incision on Vee's stomach.
"Necesito tu calor," Luz choked out as Vee's muffled screams filled the room. She sobbed the rest of the song as she used all her strength to hold down her weak arm. She can just imagine what the rest of the household thought. Sitting in silence. They were all informed what was happening, and the screams were unbearable.
"It's going to be okay, you're doing so good. Baby, you're being so brave right now," Camila continued to soothe her through in tears. Vee's cries in pain made everyone in that room's heart to shatter into pieces. Vee sobbed as she attempted to kick her limbs around. Vee eventually passed out as Emira dug deeper.
"What happened to her?" Luz cried out, attempting to wake her.
"She paused out from shock," Emira stated. "But I would still hold on to her arms, I'm not sure how long she'll be out."
"Shit," Edric let one of his hands go and rubbed his eyes before holding her leg back down.
"It's almost done, it's almost done," Hunter repeated over and over though he knew it wasn't nearly done. Emira worked through shaky hands and obtained all the shards onto a little plastic tray. All six pieces.
"I'm done," Emira cleared her throat as she patched up Vee. Camila tore out the fabric and hugged her daughter tight as tears soaked her daughter's clothing. As she held her daughter in her arms, she remembered holding her for the first time. How little and pure she was just in her arms, sleeping peacefully.
Thanks for reading! Just saying, the song used and in the title is Contigo Quiero Estar by Selena y Los Dinos. It's one of my favorite songs and I know it's a love song, so please don't make it weird.
also randomly today I was thinking "Oh this takes place in georiga!"
please imagine everybody with a southern accent I'm begging you, it just makes this funny to me 🤠🤠
It's not really accurate, and google could only get me so far. But hey, TWD isn't all that accurate anyway. Until next time :)