Chapter Text
As the moonlight cast a silvery glow on the snow that covered the ground like a blanket, all Sasha Waybright wanted was to melt away into the soft mass.
She was walking in the park wearing only a dark pink knee-length dress. It was freezing, there was a heavy snowfall, but she was halfway down the paths, even though she was shivering. Her belongings were in the car she had stolen from her father, parked at the edge of the park, but they weren't even on her mind at that moment.
"You still here?"
"I don't know if you realize but we live in the same house."
A punch on the table.
"This is my house and I've told you more than once I don't want you here!"
"No Rina, this is MY house and I don't want any of you here! Look at the burden I'm doing instead of going through files!"
She stopped. The snowfall accelerated and turned into a blizzard. Her whole body was numb. Her face, arms and legs were turning blue from the cold, but she didn't care. She clenched her fists. In one of her hands was a broken piece of a vodka bottle, and when she clenched her fist it went into her palm. She hissed in pain but she showed no sign of opening her palm. On the contrary, she squeezed it tighter.
"A burden!? Take it back, Waybright, I didn't remarry you to put up with this fucking bullshit."
The two fighting voices sound more slurred than usual.
"Why did you get married? For money? Yes, yes, say it out loud so your daughter can hear!"
There was no light in her eyes. Crimson and dead. The descending tears froze on her cheeks with the cold, trying to turn her into an ice sculpture. The blonde didn't seem to mind. She picked up the broken piece, now stained red and bloody in her palm, and held it to her wrist with the last of her will, even though she had no strength left.
"She's your daughter not mine!"
Slack! It was as simple as that. In the end, she would've done what they wanted her to do, but so be it. They were spared this torment and so was she. She had no regrets anyway.
Well, maybe she has two. But she could've reduced it, of course. With trembling purple hands she picked up her phone from her pocket, went to the message app, clicked on the name she knew so well and the voice record button.
"That's not what you said when you were in that bed begging for my dick."
"Put the bottle down and talk to me properly, Elliot, or I'll cause an accident!"
The sound of the bottle breaking.
"H-hey Marcy..." Her voice was so low and broken andthe blizzard was too loud. She held the phone to her mouth and hoped it was being recorded.
"I k-know I haven't answered your messages for weeks. I'm not even s-sure if you'll look at this one. But I don't want to leave with regrets. I already have e-enough to regret, I really d-don't want to add another one and—"
She coughed. A deep, wheezing one. She tasted blood in her mouth. She didn't mind.
"I broke up with A-anne. She's mad at me, just like I wanted. So she won't c-come after me and I can leave this world in p-peace."
A sneeze. Her legs dropped her into the snow, they were no longer holding her.
"Not in peace, actually. I l-lied. I know she'll be v-very upset when she finds out. So keep an eye on her, o-okay? She never deserved s-someone like me and doesn't deserve a-any of this. I..."
A pause. Her body fell sideways. The cold snow covered her completely, but she could no longer feel it. If she could, a tiny smile would appear on her lips.
"T-thank you. For—"
Her finger left the button and there was the sound of the message being sent. The ticks under the message instantly turned blue. Before long, a call appeared on the phone. It rang, rang and rang again.
But it was in vain. There was no one in the park except an unconscious and bleeding body.
◇◇◇
Antiseptic smell.
She was more familiar with this smell than she thought, her eyes widened as soon as her nose recognized it. Then they closed again and began to blink. It was very bright. When she tried to move, she realized that her arm was connected to the isotonic. Her wrist and hand were wrapped in a white bandage and it tingled badly.
"Good morning, Miss Waybright."
She quickly turned her head to the side. She hadn't even heard the door open, but there, in front of her, was a not-so-young man in a white coat, placing his glasses on his eyes from their case.
"How do you feel?"
Sasha knew lying wouldn't help.
"Tired. I don't think I can get up."
"Of course you can't. I didn't even expect you to regain consciousness so soon. You're a strong girl."
She averted her eyes and nodded.
"But of course you don't want to hear it from me. You probably won't like what I'm about to say. I'm going to ask you to stay here until tomorrow night. Then you'll start regular sessions with Ms. Foster. You don't have to worry about the time or anything else, I've informed Mrs. Boonchuy. Just sit and talk with her. Be sure to take the medication I and Ms. Foster will give you."
The doctor sipped from a packet water on the side table and cleared his throat.
"You have radial nerve damage in your wrist. You may feel tingling as if a needle is pricking you. You may also have trouble straightening your elbow or bending your hand back. If you feel a lot of burning, you can use pain cream.
She just nodded. It was her own doing, so her own suffering. There was only one thing she was curious about.
"Have they taken them into custody?"
The look in the doctor's green eyes grew heavy and he sighed.
"Yes. Your father's fate is unclear, while your mother's court details will be sent to you. How long has it been like this?"
"Years. It didn't make much difference anymore."
"Is that so?"
Looking at her wrist, his voice was suspicious but not oppressive. And Sasha was grateful to him for that.
"Do you want visitors?"
She already knew who she was. But she wasn't sure if she was ready for the confrontation. Or that mesmerizing hazel eyes.
"Y-yes, thank you."
"Please let me know if you experience any more pain or tingling than you're experiencing now."
And he's gone. She closed her eyes and exhaled deeply. As he said, even talking had become too exhausting. How could she—
"Sasha."
She pulled herself into a sitting position with her uninjured hand and opened her eyes.
There she is.
The first thing she noticed was that her eyes were red. She'd cried a lot. It was enough to squeeze her heart from the inside. Her earth-colored curly hair, normally always held in place with a hairpin, was disheveled. Her cheeks were glowing, probably because the tears had dried before they fell. She approached her with trembling hands and hugged her, taking care not to touch the wounded part.
Sasha had nothing to say as the sobs unraveled in both of their throats.
She felt empty. Everything was over. Or rather, it should've been over but it wasn't. Sasha hadn't prepared herself for this. She should be crawling in misery in hell right now.
"I'm so sorry I didn't understand."
A breath.
"What are you talking about? It's not your fault. Everything had to end. Why did you do it?"
The tears running down brunette's cheek fastened.
"What are you— I had to! You scared the hell out of Marcy. Of me. Of everyone. Do you know how scared we were that something would happen to you?"
"I..."
Stupid tears, why didn't they stop?
"I was fed up."
"I know."
She cupped her face in her hands and lifted it delicately, as if holding a precious jewel.
"You should've told me."
"You don't deserve—"
"No."
"W-what?"
She joined their foreheads without withdrawing her hands. Sasha felt an involuntary breath of relief escape her mouth.
"It has nothing to do with deserving, Sash. I love you. And I know you love me too. And if we love each other, we should support each other with our problems and we should solve them through good communication. If we are in a relationship, we must fulfill our responsibilities."
"We're not in a relationship?"
"That's not what you said in your voicemail to Marcy."
"Hey, I don't know if you've noticed, but the hospital bed isn't comfortable enough and this talk of responsibility is really starting to—"
It didn't matter when her lips found hers. She knew when she was lying before Sasha herself knew she was lying. Her persuasiveness was getting on her nerves. But she'd do nothing about it and take responsibility. She'd stay on her medication and attend the sessions regularly.
Because she knew she was right.