“O holy night! The stars are brightly shining, It is the night of the dear Saviour's birth. Long lay the world in sin and error pining. Till He appeared and the Spirit felt its worth. A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices, For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn. Fall on your knees! Oh, hear the angel voices! O night divine, the night when Christ was born; O night, O holy night, O night divine! O night, O holy night, O night divine!”
Running a hand through Orion’s deep brown locks, Astra softly sang from her perch outside her parents hospital room. They got the call that morning that their parents were in an accident. They hit a patch of black ice on the highway, throwing them into incoming traffic. The semi could not stop in time, and their parents ancient VW Bug was all but squashed. Somehow, Lorna and Kartal Tunder still lived, for how long, the doctors could not say. “Stubborn as mules, those two.” Dr. Louise told her, a sad smile on his face. “They’ll live just to prove everyone wrong.” Astra had to agree with him. Glancing over at the room door, then back down at her little brothers head, she sighed before picking his head off of her lap and gently setting on the couch. Standing up, she made her way into the room and walked to her mothers side of the bed. She had somehow been able to convince the hospital to push their bed together, saying that that is what they would want. Reaching forward, I pushed a lock of Moms greying black hair out of her face, eyes running over the numerous cuts and scrapes on her aging face. In Astras’ eyes, Lorna looked much too old for her age. Something she blamed on her four brothers. Out of the eight people who lived in the Tunder household, six of them were male and constantly in some sort of trouble. Be it her brothers wrestling and coming in with something bruised or broken, her father trying to fix the roof and falling off, or her uncle shooting himself in the foot while hunting. Did not help that Astra often came home covered in dirt and scrapped up as well. “Please, don’t die, Mom.” She whimpered, wrapping her arms around her waist and burying her face in her Moms shoulder. “Please. We need you. You and Dad cannot leave us. Please…” A strong arm wrapped around her waist and she was pulled into an equally strong chest. Recognizing the embrace, Astra turned and sobbed into Orions chest, body shaking with her sobs. “What are we going to do, Orion?”
Squeezing his sister tightly, the 22 year old looked down at his parent, holding back sobs of his own. What were they going to do indeed. It did not matter that his siblings and himself were adults, all in their 20’s, they still needed their parents with them. “I don’t know, Star, but we will make it through. I promise.” He only hoped he could keep it. Leading Astra to one of the chairs next to their moms side of he bed, he sat her down and kissed her on the forehead before moving to look down at their father, finding it hard to believe that this was the same man who put him in a head lock just last week. Not a small man by any means, being well over 6 ft tall and very fit from hours in the family’s pumpkin patches and peach groves, his once tan skin was now pale and sickly, a bandage over his right eyes from flying scraps of metal. While he knew it was not the semi drivers fault, Orion could help but hate him. His parents were here because of him.
“Stop it, Rion.” Astra whispered, holding onto their mothers hand. “There was nothing he could have done. Even if the road was not icy, there was no way he could have hit his breaks in time.” Seeing the surprised look he was sending her, she gave him a watery grin. “I know you and can read you pretty well. I can do it with everyone. How else do you think I keep out of trouble with the ‘rents and Uncle Gavin?”
“I thought it was because you were so cute?”
“Partly.”
The two sat in a relatively comfortable silence, each watching as their parents chest rose and fell with each breath they took. Outside the window, snow continued to fall, turning the hospital gardens into a winter paradise. The lights on the trees shined through the pure whiteness of the snow, making the entire tree light up. One of them had flashing blue lights on it, creating a disco ball like effect. Gazing down at the beauty, Astra couldn’t help but think of how her mother would have loved to see it. Pulling out her cell phone, she took a couple picks to show her later. ~If there is a later..~ Sighing, she looked back over at Orion and bit back another sob. He looked so lost, staring down at their father. She wanted to comfort him, but knew that he did not want to be touched at the moment. Glancing back over at her mom, she gave a small smile and opened her mouth.
“Led by the light of faith serenely beaming, With glowing hearts by His cradle we stand. O'er the world a star is sweetly gleaming, Now come the wisemen from out of the Orient land. The King of kings lay thus lowly manger; In all our trials born to be our friends. He knows our need, our weakness is no stranger, Behold your King! Before him lowly bend! Behold your King! Before him lowly bend!”
Hearing his sister sing, Orion looked away from his parents and watched Astra as she looked out the window, occasionally peaking over at their parents.
“Truly He taught us to love one another, His law is love and His gospel is peace. Chains he shall break, for the slave is our brother. And in his name all oppression shall cease. Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we, With all our hearts we praise His holy name. Christ is the Lord! Then ever, ever praise we, His power and glory ever more proclaim! His power and glory ever more proclaim!”
“Amazing, Star.” He said, standing up to envelope her in a hug. “I am sure Mom and Dad heard you, and are smiling.” Giving her a squeeze, he released her as his phone began to ring. Not even bothering to check the caller ID, he flipped it open and put it to his ear. “Orion.”
“What the hell do you mean Mom and Dad are in the hospital!”
“Nice to talk to you too, Ravi.”
“Cut the crap runt! What the fuck happened? Ouch! What the hell, Ion?”
Orion listened as a small scuffle took place in the background, before Ion’s smooth voice came over the line. It did not matter that Ion and Ravi were identical in almost every way, you could always tell them apart when they talked. Ravi had a deep, slightly husky voice, while Ion had a smooth and calm one. “Sorry about that, Orion. Are Mom and Dad alright?”
“No, Ion, they’re not. I think you guys need to grab Terran and come home.”
“Damn it… We’ll get there as soon as we can, Orion. Give Astra our love, and ask Mom and Dad to wait for us.”
“Will do, bro. Please hurry.”
“Will do. See you soon. Ravi says bye and he loves you and that you need to give Star a big hug from him...make that us. Bye.”
Saying ‘Bye’, he flipped his phone shut and pulled Astra into a bear hug. At her confused look, he told her it was from Ion and Ravi and she giggled. Only her twins would pass a bear hug through the phone. “They are coming home, sis.” He turned to the bed. “You hear that Mom, Dad, you have to wait for them.” Turning away once more, he buried his head in Astras shoulder and sighed. Hugging her baby brother, she gently pushed him away and told him to wait a minute. Walking to the door, she caught a nurse and asked for a couple pillows and blankets. Almost immediately she had what she asked for. Smiling at the nurse, she thank her and closed the door before moving under the window. Placing down one of the blankets, she piled the pillows on it and sat, patting her lap. Taking the hint, Orion lay his head in her lap and sighed as she ran her hand through his hair. “Hey sis?”
“Yeah?”
“Could you sing for me?”
“Sure. What do you want?”
“Carol of the Bells.”
Giving Orion a smile, she nodded before clearing her throat before beginning to softly sing the christmas carol Lorna would sing her brood to sleep with.
********
It would be another two days before Terran, Ion and Ravi would make it home and to the hospital, but Lorna and Kartal hung in their. Ravi all but jumped out of the cab as it pulled up to the hospital, followed closely by Terran. Pulling out his wallet to pay the cab driver, Ion was shocked when the man waved the money away.
“It’s the holidays, boy.” The older man said with a smile. “I only wish yours was not marred with this horrible situation. Merry Christmas, Mr. Tunder and I wish that you your whole family, parents included.” Wiping his eyes, the cabby jerked his head toward the door. “Now get out of my cab.” Smiling and thanking the man, Ion snuck a $50 bill into the back of the mans jacket and raced after his brothers. Watching as the young man disappeared into the hospital, the old man let the tears fall. The whole way from the airport, he listened as the boys talked of their parents being hurt, and it broke his heart. Rubbing the back of his neck, he blinked and pulled the bill out and smiled. “God bless you, boy. God bless.”
In the hospital Ion rushed into his parents room and threw his arms around Astra, pulling her to his chest, apologizing profusely about not being there when it happened. Astra just waved his apology off and led him to their parents beds, where Lorna and Kartal lay still sleeping. “How much longer do they think, Star?” He asked Astra as he stared down at the white faces of the people who brought him into this world. It was hard to believe that this was happening. It felt like a dream. A really bad dream.
“They don’t know, Moon.” Reaching over, she grabbed Ravi and pulled him to her, wrapping her other arm around Ion and hugging her twins. “How long can you guys stay?” Roughly wiping his face with his sleeve, Ravi told her as long as they damn well pleased. Shaking his head at his brother, Terran, brushed his mothers hair out of her face. “He gave us a week.”
“A week!” Astra shouted, throwing her arms up in the air. “Just a week! That asshat! Ravi, give me your phone. I need to have a talk with your boss.” Seeing her brother hesitate, her eyes narrowed. “That was not a request, Ravi.” He all but threw his phone at her. “Thank you.” Marching from the room, Astra rolled her eyes hearing Ravi say he did not want to be the Boss man right now. After exiting the hospital, and finding a bench in the garden, Astra searched through her brothers contacts and pressed send. Oh, was there boss gonna get an earful.
“Connor Balmoral”
“Listen here you selfish, son of a bitch. How dare you just give them a week!”
“Who the hell do you think you are?!”
“My name is Astra Tunder, Mr. Balmoral, and I am one pissed off sister. My parents are upstairs dieing, and only a couple days before Christmas and you only give them a week off!”
“I am sorry to hear about your parents, Ms. Tunder but I am running a business here…”
“You business can kiss my ass! They are not coming home in a week, and if you do not like it, you can kiss my ass. Happy Holidays, Mr. Balmoral.” Snapping the phone shut, she let out satisfied breath, hoping she did not just get her brothers fired, and made her way back to her parents room. Upon entering, she was enveloped by a laughing Terran. “What?”
“Mr. Balmoral just called. He said to tell you that it is rude to hang up on people and that you had a mouth on you. He also said for us to take as much time as we needed to grieve. The only stipulation was that you were to come to our return show so he can meet you. Just what the hell did you say?”
“I just told him he was an ass and you were not going back in a week.”
Squeezing Astra tightly, Terran let go and looked around at his younger siblings. “Well, since we are very rarely together, lets go home and decorate the house. Mom would not like us living in a dull house during the holidays.” Nodding, the Tunder brood collected their coats, and kissed their parents on the cheek or head before filing out. Before leaving, Astra grabbed a nurse and asked for her to be called if anything changed. The nurse nodded and wished them a good night, wiping her eyes as soon as the five of them were out of sight. It was a good thing they had each other in such a hard time. She looked in on the Tunders and sobbed softly, whispering to them that they had amazing children. Shutting off the main light, she could have sworn she saw Mrs. Tunder smile.