Close Friends Stick Together

I woke up and realized that I was still in the bathroom. I looked at my arm and while it was a mess, it had healed up for the most part. I washed my hands and unlocked the door. Sonata was awake and right next to Aria, watching over her as she slept silently. I walked over to her and felt her head. Her fever was almost gone and I smiled, running my fingers through her soft hair. I turned my attention over to Sonata and said,

"She'll be fine. She just needs a little more medicine and some rest and she'll be fine."

Sonata put up a small smile and kept looking over Aria. Figuring that it was about time to go, I jumped in the shower for a few minutes and got dressed into my old shirt. I stitched it back up along with with my yoga pants. I left the bathroom and woke Aria up so she could take some medicine again. I told Sonata to stay here this time and she nodded. I exited out the front door and made my way back to the restaurant that I was working at for now. When I walked in, I informed the manager that I was helping out again, but this time I was a waitress. At the end of the day, I received a pay of 15$ and another 15$ in tips. All together, I now had 90$ and I smiled to myself. Maybe with the extra money, I can buy new clothes and a toy for Sonata and Aria. As I was ready to head out, I heard a conversation from a nearby table.

"Dammit! I got kicked out of that damned shelter again."

"You idiot! They saw your knife, didn't they?"

"Well, it's not like I showed it to them! Damn place are doing inspections again..."

At that moment, I felt my heart drop. I  sprinted as fast as I could to the shelter, my lungs were on fire, the muscles in my legs burned in agony. Feeling desperate, I did something that I hadn't done in a long time.

"God please... If you truly do exist, if you truly are a merciful God... please, let my family be safe."

When I arrived, I bolted inside the room terrified with what I was seeing. Both of them were on the bed. Aria was in front of Sonata, glaring daggers at the receptionist. Aria looked like she was in worse condition. Her skin was turning a sickly yellow color and her entire face was flushed. Sweat soaked her clothes and she was panting heavily.

"Adagio, why did you bring this trash into my shelter?", the receptionist asked, approaching them.

"Don't touch them.", I warned.

She smirked looking at Aria.

"Move."

Aria smiled mischievously.

"Go to hell, you stupid harlot!", She said with a cough.

She smirk dropped instantly and she growled at them.

"You little shit!", she yelled slapping her, sending her flying across the room.

"Stop!", I screamed, lunging at her.

But my scream fell on deaf ears as she grabbed a fistful of Sonata's hair, making her yelp in pain, and with the other hand, the receptionist clawed at me. Her sharp nails pierced my cut up arm while I had my hand wrapped around her throat. I squeezed harder until she started to make gagging noises and let go of Sonata's hair to try to pry my hands off her neck.

"I will make sure you never hurt my sisters again!", I growled slamming her to the floor.

She slammed into it head first and coughed up a bit of blood. She looked up slightly and glared at me. I quickly picked up both Aria and Sonata off the floor and ran out while I could. The rain was pouring down hard and the air was cold. I ran towards the direction of the subway hoping the weather wouldn't make Aria's condition even worse. After a long period of time, we reached the subway station and payed for our tickets, snacks, and water, which left me with no money. The subway was expensive, which is why I walked everywhere. However, I need to get away quickly... and I can't risk Aria getting worse because of the rain and cold... I stroked their heads as Aria passed out in my lap. I frowned looking at the ugly bruise showing on her face. If I ever saw that woman again, I'll-

"Addy, are you OK?", she asked worried.

"I'm fine.", I replied.

"But, your arm. Your face." She said, with tears about to overflow."

I brought her in and smiled.

"I'm OK. I'm just glad you two are safe." I said holder her closer.

She looked up and with tears still flowing out, she said,

"I'm so sorry."

I raise an eye and was a little stunned about what she said.

"What for?", I asked.

"For getting you in trouble. For being in your way. For everything. I'm just too weak to anything." She replied, bawling her eyes out.

She buried her face into my chest and cried for a few minutes, I didn't say anything. I simply let her cry and waited until she calmed down. After a few minutes of non-stop crying, she finally stopped, sniffling in the process. I pulled her head up and looked directly at her.

"Don't blame yourself. None of this is your fault. I just wish I was stronger and braver so I could help more.", I said with a sympathetic voice.

"B-But you are brave. You saved us from that mean lady, you fed us and went out of your way to keep us safe."

I smiled and held her as we waited for the train to appear. I looked down at Aria and I was happy to have meet these two. Even if the world hates me, these two make me feel a hundred times better. As I was thinking about what to do next, my  thoughts were interrupted by the subway arriving. I picked up my bag and held Aria close as Sonata helped walk us into the train. We sat down in a seat far from everyone else. And I felt my eyes slowly closing...

When I opened my eyes again, I looked around and saw a sign saying we were an hour away from our destination. I looked down and gasped seeing blood trickling from Aria. Her nose and her mouth. What the hell is this?

"Aria!", I shouted trying to wake her up.

She didn't respond, but luckily her pulse was still there. She was still alive.

"Aria! Wake up!", I shouted.

Sonata slowly regained consciousness and looked up at me. I was teary eyed looking at Aria suffering. She noticed and held her hand in silence until we arrived at the town. We sprinted out with me holding Aria and screamed for help. A generous person willing to help was our only hope of saving her, we had no money to pay for hospital bills. But everyone looked away. We walked all over town asking for someone to help. No one came to our aid. As the day came to an end, me, Sonata and Aria trudged through an empty street until I fell on my knees from fatigue.

"Dammit..." I whispered under my breath. "Why does nobody care?! Why is the world so heartless? Why am I losing my family again?" I shouted not bothering to hold back my tears.

Suddenly, I felt Aria shift to wipe a tear.

"Adagio. Bad things happen to people, so they know how if feels to be in that situation. So they can help others.", she whispered. "Like you helped us. Promise me, you'll keep Sonata safe. That'll you'll never turn your back on her when she needs you."

And with that, she said no more.

It wasn't until I felt a hand on my shoulder when I saw a woman in the shadows who witnessed her beautiful last words was generous enough to help us. Funny how people don't care until you lose someone... we arrived at a hospital a few minutes and ran inside while I was holding Aria close to me. The doctors took her in and Sonata started to cry again. We sat down in the chairs and Sonata was still crying but lowered her voice so that nobody else heard her.

"It's OK. She's going to be just fine." I whispered to her, trying to calm her down.

She held me close and we waited for a long time before we heard anything. I started to feel my eyes slowly close before fading away...