It was a quite busy day at the shop as throughout the day we got a steady flow of customers, and did a good business. However, for some reason, my mind kept on drifting to Lina. It is like she's constantly at the back of my mind.
Numerous times throughout the day, I checked my phone to hear from her but there's no message or call from her. I know she has her own life and might be busy with something, but still, I am feeling a little disappointed.
Rubbing my hands over my face, I check the shop to make sure everyone has left as it is a closing time while I switch off the lights of the shop. Then after, locking the shop, I head home back.
Walking inside the house, I hang my keys on the key hanger but feel surprised when I don't find anyone in the living room as normally we all hang out in the living room at this time until dinner is ready.
Just when I am about to call mom, I see Caleb hurriedly going inside the kitchen with a panicked look.
"Hey, Twiggy," I ask while following him to the kitchen, "Where is everyone?"
I look at him in confusion, which turns into worry, as he takes our first aid box runs to the backyard without replying. Following him outside, my eyes widen to see mom holding Lina's hand which looks like it has burned as she pours water on her hand.
"What happened?" I quickly go to her side and take her hand from mom's as she quickly starts doing her first aid.
"She burned her hand as she slipped on the wet grass and her hand touched the fire pit." Caleb signs, while making a face when mom inspect Lina's hand.
Whereas instead of crying or anything, Lina just keeps on smiling, which makes me give her a weird look. Probably, the pain has affected her brain which is why she is behaving like this.
When I look at Caleb even he is looking at Lina like she is crazy. Then his eyes meet mine like silently asking me is she normal, but even I don't have an answer to this question, so I simply shrug.
As soon as mom finishes wrapping a loose gauze around her hand, after applying antiseptic cream as some of her blisters have popped, Lina throws her arms around mom nearly making her fall.
I don't know what she has said, but after hearing it mom's face has a slightly sad smile when I look at Caleb even his face holds a hint of sadness.
Mom hugs her tightly and kisses the side of her hair, her lips moving in whispers as she rubs her back, just like she holds me and Caleb when we are hurt. Watching this I don't need to figure what Lina has said, because I know she must have shared a memory of her mom.
Abruptly, Caleb jumps on them pulling both of them in a hug which causes him to get smacked by mom. While still holding both of them tightly, Caleb turns to me and motions me to join the group hug. Shaking my head at him, I walk to them and join them in their group hug.
Caleb and I share a look as an identical smirk lifts the corner of our lips, and the next moment, we crush both of them in between us, breaking the emotional drama.
I earned an elbow in my ribs from Lina, while Caleb again gets smacked by mom, as soon as we release them, as they both give us a death glare.
Ignoring mom's glare is something which mostly results in us having a face-to-face interaction with her slipper, but today we both take that risk so giving each other a high-five, Caleb and I walk back inside the kitchen leaving fuming mom and Lina alone.
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"When did Lina come here?" I ask Caleb while making a salad for dinner.
"I brought her here." He signs, "I saw her near the post office while she was trying to find a cab to return to her hotel. Luckily, I was there so I forced her to come to our home since the last time she came here you were a bitch to her." He finishes off by flipping me a bird, with a smile.
"Don't embarrass me Jason, and be on your best behavior." He quickly signs and dashes off before I can get my hand on him.
Asshole.
At dinner Caleb makes Lina sit beside him while wiggling his eyebrows at me. It takes everything in me not to throw this little shit down his chair because he has been continuously irritating me.
"Jason, how.... day?" Lina looks at me and speaks. Although I couldn't read all of her words, I do understand what she is asking.
"It was busy, and tiring," I answer while nodding my head at mom in thanks when she passes me bread rolls. "What did you do?"
I am curious to know what she was doing, that she didn't even message me the entire day.
"Oh, I went to the Aquarium." She smiles and signs the word 'Aquarium' while speaking. "It was so refreshing to watch all the water creatures this up close." She continues to signs while her lips moving rapidly, giving away that she is speaking fast in excitement.
Soon she jumps into telling about all the things she has seen there. It should seem weird to hear about the place which we have been visiting since we have been kids, but somewhere her enthusiasm makes it look interesting.
My eyes move to mom to see her looking already at me with a small smile playing on her lips. Raising my eyebrows at her questioningly, I wait for her to reply but instead, she just shakes her head.
Soon the dinner comes to an end, and Lina is about to leave when mom stops her.
"Lina, why don't you stay with us tonight as it is already quite late?" Mom asks.
"Please... please... please..." Caleb holds Lina's hand and gives her a puppy look, "It will be so much fun, we can do a movie marathon too."
"Okay." Lina laughs and ruffles his hair, and that idiot doesn't mind at all, in fact, he looks happy. Whereas whenever I ruffle his hair, he runs after me like I have kicked his puppy.
"C'mon, I will show you the guest room then we will go for an ice-cream." Caleb drags her, completely ignoring me, making me roll my eyes at him.
I have been lying in my bed for an hour and tossing and turning around, but I am unable to sleep. A stupid thought comes to my mind and before I can back out I pick my phone and send a text to Lina.
Hey, Awake?
I let out a disappointed sigh when I don't get a reply from her. I am about to sleep when I feel someone walking inside my room. Turning around, I find Lina tiptoeing inside the room while motioning someone else to come inside. A moment later Caleb walks inside carrying paper bags and the smells of fries give away what is inside the bag.
"Were you guys outside?" I arch an eyebrow at them, suddenly feeling left out as they didn't ask me to come with them.
"No, we got it ...." Lina says, but I am unable to understand the last word.
"You got it delivered?"After thinking for a moment, I ask her to confirm if I get it correct.
"Yes." She nods her head as Caleb settles with food on my bed, already stuffing his mouth with the fries.
"Why are you guys awake till now?" I ask while opening the soda can.
"I was not, she was." Caleb signs with his mouth full of food. "She came to my room, to ask for the address of our home since she has to tell the delivery guy."
"When I got your message I thought since you can't sleep you will not mind this impromptu mid-night meal." She signs with a wink, "Because nothing is better than having yummy unhealthy food at an ungodly hour."
"Mom will kill us if she finds out about all this." Caleb laughs and I have to read the words on my watch to understand what he is saying since he is laughing so hard.
I can't help but smile while watching him laughing like this, because I know how much my accident has affected him as well. He used to keep his happy side suppressed in front of me because somewhere he used to think that seeing him happy and smiling will hurt me. He never told this to me out loud, but I could feel it. I don't even know why such absurd thought came into his mind, because his happiness will always make me happy just like now my heart is filled with nothing but contentment.
A light tap on my shoulder, makes me look away from Caleb. Lina smiles and raises her eyebrow teasingly, catching me being emotional, which makes me playfully narrow my eyes at her in return.
Her smile turns into a frown when I take a large bite of her burger, which she was holding in her hand, almost eating half of it. She shoves me towards Caleb in anger, sulking over her burger while a laugh leaves my mouth before I can stop myself. She snatches my burger and stomps out of my room after punching me in my shoulder.
Caleb and I both look at each other and burst into another fit of laughter.
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Thank you for reading.