Lakin
Michael and I took Mia to an appointment with a neurologist. Neurologists deal with the intricate parts regarding the brain and what happens when it either gets damaged, someone has a disorder, or they develop a medical condition.
He examined her, asked questions, and looked at the cat scans taken in the hospital. He had to assess before deciding.
"Well, doctor? Can you give us any clue what's going on with Mia?" Michael asked him.
"From the looks of it, Mia suffered a traumatic brain injury," the doctor told us.
"Brain damage," I said, losing hope.
"No, if that were the case, she wouldn't have progressed as far as she has. She wouldn't be able to do the things she does. People often mistook for each issue for the other," the doctor explained.
"But they told us she had brain damage," Michael said frustrated.
"They were wrong. Yes, Mia suffered a severe injury to the brain, but nothing that can't heal with time. Will she be the same? No, she won't. Her personality will differ slightly from before, but that's normal with this injury," he explained.
"Are you saying her lashing out at us is part of it?" I asked him.
"Yes, but it's because she's frustrated. Imagine a person who has a stroke, and everyone does everything for them, making them feel that they're useless. It's the same concept. When you remove things, she's familiar with the same result. My suggestion is to let her lead an as normal life as possible. She may surprise you," he advised.
I never thought of it like that. What Michael and I were mostly doing is treating her like a child. Mia was right. She wasn't a child even though we were acting like she was.
We thanked the doctor, leaving the office. We found Mia waiting for us in the waiting room. She looked at us, confused.
"Lakin?" She asked me. I knew what she wanted, and that was a reassurance.
"I'm sorry, Mia. You were right, and we're wrong," I said.
I watched a smile grow upon her face. She wanted us to treat her like a person, not helpless; that gave us hope. One we had severely lacked over the past few months.
We left the doctors and decided from that day forward that we would fight for her, not hinder her. That also meant going after Crandall's. It wasn't about money, but they needed to understand that you can't hurt the people the way they did and walk away scot-free. It's not right.
One day, Mia would have the same opportunity as anyone else, and I would make sure of it.
Luna
I was working on homework when Larkin popped her head into my room, "Whatcha doing?"
"Not watching Phineas and Ferb," I said, rolling my eyes.
She jumped on my bed, flopping around, making me laugh. Since everything that's happened with Mia, Lakin, and Lyric were busy, Larkin and I grew closer while Lex was Lex.
"I heard Major asked you on a date," Larkin smirked.
"Let me guess, Maverick told you," I sighed.
"Yes, and why do you not seem happy about it?" She asked me.
"I'm afraid the minute I let my guard down, then he'll come up with a reason it won't work. He wants the chase, but the minute he catches me, then he gets bored. I practically threw myself at him, and he rebuffed me. Now that I'm keeping my distance, it's like the pursuit he enjoys. Guys are so confusing," I said with furrowed brows.
"Well, duh. Look who our brother is and who our dad is." She rolled her eyes.
"That's reassuring considering Ma dumped him," I said to her.
"Because Dad was a tool. If that were me, I probably would have gotten Lakin to beat the hell out of him. I mean, who the hell tells someone you're in a maybe relationship?" She asked, incredulously as I laughed. That story was still funny when our uncles told it.
"I don't know, Lark." I shook my head.
There was a knock at my door, and we turned to see Lex.
"Oh, look, it's the mini tool himself," she smirked as Lex rolled his eyes.
"And still a pain in the ass as always," he said as I laughed. He walked over and took a seat on the bed with us. "So, I heard Major asked you on a date."
"Does everyone know?" I asked them.
"Pretty much," they both said.
I facepalmed myself as they both laughed. A few minutes later, the doorbell rang. Now what?
Kain answered the door. "Yes," Kain asked.
"Is Luna here?" Major asked.
"It depends." Kain shrugged.
"On what?" Major asked.
"On if you're playing my cousin like a fiddle," he retorted.
Kaiden walked over. "Oh, look, it's the indecisive twit."
"Right," Kain agreed.
Major looked at both of them and sighed.
"A piece of advice, we're Grays," Kaiden said.
"I know," Major replied.
"Oh, I don't think you do, but we'll give you a crash course. See, Grays have one thing in common; we're loyal. You marry a Gray; you marry for life. You screw over a Gray; you get your ass beat by other Grays. Get the point?" Kain asked him with a look.
"Yeah," Major answered.
"Good, now you may enter," he said, stepping aside.
I came downstairs with Larkin and Lex.
"What are you doing here?" I asked him.
"I wanted to see if you wanted ice cream," he suggested.
"Well, I." Larkin and Lex cut me off by shoving me towards him.
"She would love to go," Larkin said, smiling.
I looked at her as they both smiled. Then I turned back to Major.
"Well," he asked.
I stood there as someone said, "Ice cream makes everything better."
Wait. What?
I turned, and Lex held up his phone with Dad and Ma on FaceTime. I walked over to his phone and looked at them.
"Luna, sometimes ice cream makes everything better," Dad said as he looked at me and smiled.
"It does. Go with Major. It's just ice cream," Ma said to me. I will hurt Lex.
"Fine," I sighed as I turned and walked away. I walked over to Major. "It's ice cream."
"It's ice cream," he agreed. With that, we walked away, leaving the house to get ice cream.
Larkin grabbed the phone from Lex. "Did you two tell him to do that?"
"We don't know what you're talking about," Dad told her as Ma agreed.
"Liars," she rolled her eyes as they laughed.
"A wise person said ice cream makes everything better," Ma told Larkin with a smile.
"Nana was pretty smart," she told them.
"Nana learned from Grammy," Dad said.
"Figures," she said as they all laughed.
I didn't know what would happen. But I do know one thing; ice cream is always vital when you have a broken heart.