Chapter Text
Cynthia always sneaks out whenever her parents aren’t around.
It’s not like it happens all the time - her parents go on yearly business trips, and when that time comes around, everyone in the Elliott household wants their time to themselves, from Tessa working day and night in her room on whatever project she comes up with next, to Neil going out to see his friends. Cynthia’s time to herself just happens to be going out, exploring just outside of the neighborhood.
She was never a very social child, always doing things by herself, examining bugs within the grass, even calling them her friends instead of other children. Today, her searching for bugs lead her beyond the end of the road, where the trees grow thick, a hill of rocks - the perfect place for a bug to hide. Cynthia turns over every rock she touches as she climbs, higher and higher, until she set her foot on the wrong rock. The rock slips out from under her, causing her to fall all the way down, stumbling with a loud crunch at the bottom of the hill.
Cynthia didn’t even register that she fell and possibly broke something - one second she’s climbing, the next she’s laying on the grass, sobbing. A pain in her leg burns through her entire body, drowning out her own cries.
Fortunately, the pain didn’t last long - but Cynthia doesn’t notice for another good half hour. All she does is cry, and cry - nobody is going to help her, she’s too far away from the neighborhood to do anything. Gathering strength, she wipes her tears with a sleeve, and sits up - only to find her leg to be perfectly normal.
Confused, Cynthia touches her leg where the pain was, and… Nothing. It feels normal. Hesitantly, shaking, she moves her leg a little bit - nothing. No pain, no sign of injury. It’s like she never even fell.
Taking a shaky breath, Cynthia stands up - there isn’t any pain when she leans on it, either. Walking cautiously out of fear she’d fall again, Cynthia slowly makes her way back home to tell her siblings about her pain.
Stumbling her way back inside, the shoes by the door and voices from upstairs tell her that Neil came home while she was outside, and that he and Tessa are talking about something that Cynthia doesn’t care about in the slightest. The only reason she listens in is to figure out where they are.
“I bet it’ll be more stoked if you text it,” Tessa teases Neil. He blushes, mildly embarrassed. “You really think so?...”
“Yah, dummy! Especially for a sleepover. I bet Uzi’s gonna drop everything to come see you.”
Neil laughs awkwardly, pulling out his phone. “I- I guess… I should do that now, then?-”
Before Tessa responds, there’s a shy, quiet knock on her door - a sure sign that Cynthia needs something. Tessa grins at Neil while getting up to open the door. “Good luck, N!”
Tessa’s attitude changes quickly as she sees Cynthia, her eyes red from crying, leaning against the door frame.
“Cyn?? Are you okay, what happened?” Tessa exclaims, kneeling down to her level.
“I- I- I fell… my- my leg really hurt…”
Neil has abandoned his phone, now standing over his sisters, concerned over Cynthia’s pain. “Cyn, did you walk all the way here with a leg injury??” he asks, moving past Tessa to pick up his little sister. “C’mon, no more walking for a little bit til we figure out what’s wrong.”
Cynthia hugs her brother as he picks her up. “But- but that’s the thing! It went away, and I don’t know why!”
“Isn’t that a good thing, though?” Neil glances at Tessa, who is equally as confused by Cynthia’s response. “Here, let’s sit you down,” Neil says, moving to put Cynthia on Tessa’s bed. “Can you show me where it hurt?”
Cynthia gestures to her right calf, of which there really is no evidence of injury. “Okay, is it okay if I touch it?”
She nods, and Neil begins to press on Cynthia’s leg. “Does it hurt when I do this?”
Cynthia shakes her head, and Neil moves on to a different spot. “How about here?”
Still nothing. Neil backs off, giving another confused glance at Tessa.
“Well, if it doesn’t hurt, then what’s wrong, Cyn?” Tessa asks.
“I- I don’t know!!” Cynthia sobs. She’s just as confused as her siblings are, maybe even more so. “But it hurt so much earlier, I don’t- I don't know what happened.”
“Cyn…” Tessa sits on her bed next to her little sister, gently placing a hand on her back, trying her best to comfort her. “Maybe you should get some rest. If there really was an injury there, you wouldn’t want to stress it so much - do you want me to take you back to your room?”
She nods, hugging Tessa tightly - although she only feels more upset. Tessa picks her up, looking at Neil, shrugging. He looks sympathetic at Cynthia as his two sisters leave the room, and once they’ve left, he goes for his phone again to text his friend about coming over.