Hey guys! We will be starting with Anna's pov of the ending of the last chapter.
Anna felt like her heart was going to jump out of her chest with how hard it was beating against her ribs. She had left Tora not even 15 minutes ago and she had been safe but apparently her sister was more of a danger magnet than even she had thought.
Anna pushed the gas pedal of her car to the floorboard, disregarding the speed limit signs as she passed them in her haste to get to the club her sister had mentioned. She had her phone to her ear as she dialed 911. When the dispatcher answered she wasted no time in filling them in on what was going on and where her sister was headed. Once she had confirmation that they were on their way she hung up and focused solely on getting there in time to not lose another sibling.
As she drove she mentally berated herself, "I shouldnt have let her out of my sight, I had a bad feeling and as always it was right. I apparently didnt learn anything from the past two times I had it. I swear if she makes it out of this I am never letting her out of my sight again, she cant go two hours without getting into some sort of trouble and this time her luck might run out."
The thought made tears gather at the back of her eyelids, she quickly blinked them back. "No, I will get there in time and after this I don't care if I have to give up my apartment and move back into the house she is staying safe this time. I am seriously debating putting some kind of tracker on her after this, I wonder if I could convince her to go for it?"
Anna shook herself out of it as she saw the lights to the club, she could hear the sirens in the distance too which made her release a breath in relief. She turned into the parking lot only to see a familiar blur dash toward the entrance. Anna felt as if she could breath again at the sight of her sister only to immediately have the breath knocked out of her lungs. The familiar sound of shooting gun had her jumping out of her car and facing her sister's shooter.
There wasnt anything outwardly outstanding about him, he was an average height and build with brown hair cropped down. If it werent for the gun still smoking in his hands she would have overlooked him. As the screams from the club started and someone called for an ambulance Anna felt her stomach bottom out in fear. Thanks to her calling the police she could see the ambulance from here as it unloaded a gurney and raced inside. She couldn't see the police though to her displeasure.
The man turned as if to run and it brought Anna's world back into sharp focus. Everything around her seemed to fade away except for the man as she saw red. Before she realised she was sprinting full speed across the parking lot, hellbent on reaching the man. What she would do once she got ahold of him, well… She would figure out when she got that far.
As she got closer and closer to his retreating figure she saw an odd symbol on the shoulder of his jacket. It looked like an old style of knight's shield and crossbow. Filing that away to think on later she leapt forward and closed the final distance in one last lunge. Her hand closed on the collar of his jacket, using her momentum she ground her heels in and swung him around.
She could see the instant the man realised that he had been caught, he pulled the gun up as if to level at her only for her to slide past his outstretched arm. She slid underneath it with ease as she cocked her fist back, pushing all of her strength into it as she shifted her weight into him, she hit dead center on his nose. She heard the satisfying crack of the bones but didn't stop, not wanting to give him a chance to recover.
She swung her leg at his knees while hauling him forward with the hand that was still fisted in his collar. He went down on his knees and before he could do more than release a choked gurgle of shock she planted one of her feet against his back. She grabbed both of his flailing arms and pulled them straight back, not stopping until she heard the loud pop that signified his arms coming out of their sockets.
Her new captive screamed as his gun hit the pavement, thankfully without any more shots being fired. Anna took in gasps of breath as she came back to herself. Looking down at the scum who thought chasing and shooting her sister was a good idea she felt her previous rage jump back to the forefront of her mind. With a swift jerk she had his arms higher up on his back, earning another strangled scream from him as she bodily pushed his face further into the pavement below him.
From this angle she could see what looked like a nasty black burn across the back of his neck that seemed to travel further down. With a dark smile Anna knew that her sister had definitely not gone down without one hell of a fight. The thought of her sister made the worry and fear that had been hovering at the back of her mind come roaring back.
Anna looked back to where she had run from to see it was swarmed in cop cars and there was a familiar body being loaded into the back of the ambulance. A cry tore from her throat at the hauntingly familiar sight, catching the nearest policemans attention. He ran over, pulling his gun as he walked.
"Maam I'm going to need you to let him go and explain what happened here." Anna felt every bone in her body fail her at once. Her mind screamed to not let go of the man, what if he got away? The policeman saw something in her eyes that made him hesitate. "Maam he isnt going anywhere, I have people covering the area and I will escort him straight to the car. But I need you to let him go and back away first."
Anna felt as the words slowly penetrated her hazy mind, she nodded as she released his now useless arms and backed away. The policeman immediately handcuffed the criminal and hauled him up. "Maam can you tell me what happened here?" Anna shook herself and tried to focus enough to answer coherently. "I got a call from my sister, she said she was being chased by this guy. I drove here and saw him shoot her."
All the color in Anna's face leached out as the truth finally settled completely on her. "Oh my God, I saw him shoot her, I saw him shoot my sister." Her breathing picked up as she slid shakily to the ground. The policeman quickly handed the criminal off to two others who pushed in into their car before racing to her side.
"Hey, easy now! The paramedics have your sister and are working on her as we speak. If you want to be of any help to her you need to take deep breaths with me and calm down. Once you give your full report I can drive you to the hospital to see her." Anna focused on his breathing and forcibly calmed her own.
"After I saw him-" She stopped as she started to feel light headed again, the policeman urged her passed that part. "He turned and ran, you guys were too far away and I couldn't just let him get away with what he did. So I ran after him. I disabled his arms and I think I may have broke his nose." The policeman chuckled as he helped her stand on shaking legs, "Oh you definitely broke his nose and quite possibly his jaw as well. If you didnt break it you did plenty of damage."
Anna felt a small spark of satisfaction before shaking it off. She had more important things to be focusing on. "Please, i need to see my sister." He nodded, gently grabbing her arm to lead her to a separate car. "I'll take you there now, you arent in any form to drive. I can have one of the boys drive your car after us."
Anna nodded numbly as she got in to the squad car, all she could think was thoughts of her little sister and how she was going to tell Kellina, Vi and Kelsie. 'Oh god Kelsie. She will never leave Tora's side again. That's if Kellina ever lets her out of her sights again.' As the car started up and followed the ambulance Anna allowed her tears to finally fall as she let the crushing despair roll over her.
When they got to the hospital she was immediately handed a clipboard that she needed to fill out of Tora's medical information. As she absentmindedly filled it out she tried to think on how she was going to break this to their mother. First thing she needed to do was find out just what condition Tora was in. It was useless to call Kellina until she had at least that.
Once she finished the paperwork and handed it in she flagged down a nurse to ask, "Miss? Please, what is my sister's condition? I only saw her… go down." The nurse stopped short, looking at Anna's haggard appearance and red eyes before her eyes softened. "I'm not going to lie to you sweetie it doesn't look good. If the bullet had hit one inch in any other direction she would already be gone. Her vitals are more stable than we were hoping though and right now she is fighting hard to stay. If that continues and her operation is a success then her chances will be considerably better. We might need a blood transfusion though, do you have the same blood type?"
Anna had to think on what her own blood type was before nodding. "I have O-negative. Everyone is my blood type." The nurse released a breath of relief, "Honestly that on its own will help. Her type is rare and we don't have any on hand. If you'll just go into this room we will start pulling blood immediately." Anna swiftly went into the directed room and took a seat on the sterile bed.
As the doctors pulled the line that had been draining her blood Anna pulled her phone out, knowing it was time to make the call. The doctor left to get her something to eat that would replenish her vitamins she began to dial. She felt sluggish as she waited for her mother to pick up, dreading this conversation as her mother answered.
"Anna? We just talked less than an hour ago, is everything ok?" Anna opened her mouth only for nothing to come out. She licked her lips and tried again this time with some success. "Mom, nothing is okay at all." Her voice broke on Mom and didnt recover throughout the sentence. She hadnt noticed that she had started crying again upon hearing her mothers voice until the water droplet hit her hand in her lap.
From the phone Kellina's worried voice spoke up. "Anna, honey? What happened, what's wrong?" Anna could practically feel as her mother started to panic. She forced words passed the knot in throat. "Mom, someone attacked Tora. I forgot something at work and went to get it, she insisted that she could wait for me at the house. Mom I didnt know, I was only going to get my wallet. I wasnt gone that long. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. This is all my fault."
Anna broke down in sobs as Kellina took a sharp breath in before rushing to calm her eldest. "No! Anna no, this is not your fault at all and you cant let yourself think that. This is no more your fault than when that monster killed your blood family when you were young. You didnt know, I know that if you had you never would have left Tora's side. Please I need you to calm down for me and tell me about her condition. Can you do that for me Anna-banana?"
Anna choked out another sob at the use of her old nickname only to hiccup and cough before getting anything out. "The only thing they would tell me is that if the bullet had hit in any place other than where it did she would already be dead. She said that since I'm not blood related or her past legal guardian they cant tell me anything."
Kellina gently shushed her daughter, "It's okay baby. Take a deep breath and just keep on breathing for me. I need you to hand the phone to a nurse, I'll talk to them and get more information."
Anna croaked out an affirmative as she stood shakily just as the doctor came back in with her food. He immediately rushed forward, urging her to sit back down only to freeze when she mechanically handed him the phone. He looked confused as he took it only for realisation to dawn on his face. He walked out of the room as he began to tell Kellina all the details of Tora's condition, leaving Anna to focus on her breathing in a too sterile room full of the gagging scent of disinfectant.
When the doctor came back in Anna had managed to get her breathing under control but still hiccuped on occasion. He handed the phone back to Anna before leaving to give her privacy. Anna immediately put it to her ear hoping to hear more on Tora's condition.
"Okay Anna, the doctor told me that Tora is in operation right now and depending on how she pulls through that will determine her chances. He said they are optimistic right now because her vitals are doing so well and your blood transfusion but it is still a bad situation. Are you going to go home and wait? The spare key is still in the same place if you don't have yours."
Anna shook her head, forgetting for a moment that she couldn't see it, "No, I cant Mom. I cant leave her here. You know how much Tora hates hospitals, I just cant." Kellina quickly reassured her, "I know, I'm sure that once she wakes up she will be very appreciative of it. Just keep your chin up baby okay? Your sister is one of the toughest kids I ever saw and this is no different. She will fight her way back to us. Call me immediately if there are any updates okay? Or if you just need to talk. Doesn't matter what time." Anna gave her affirmative before bidding her mother goodbye.
She didnt relish the position her mother was in one bit. She still had to tell Kelsie and Vinaya. It was going to tear them apart to not be here for Tora right now. But since they couldn't be here Anna would be sure that when Tora woke up her face would be the first she would see. Hopefully it would lessen the panic that was sure to come. Anna took a deep breath and prepared herself for a long nerve wrecking wait in the uncomfortable hospital chair.
It was three hours later before the nurses and doctors began to come out of the room, Anna jumped to her feet hoping for good news. One of the doctors saw her and immediately made a B-Line for her. "You are her sister correct?" When Anna nodded he continued, "Your sister is one of the feistiest patients we have had yet. Everytime her vitals started to drop she came back from it like a trooper. There is still the risk of infection so we will be watching her closely but for the most part we think she is out of the woods."
Anna felt her legs give out from under her in relief, thankfully the doctor had expected it catching her before she hit the floor. Once she was standing again he spoke, "You can go see her, if she wakes up please hit the call button. A friendly face makes recovery much easier." Anna nodded as she rushed passed him into the room.
She had to remind herself when she saw all the tubes that Tora was okay now. It was unsettling to see her usually firecracker of a sister so still and silent. By all rights Kelsie was the energy of their little family but Tora was always loud in her own ways. It was impossible to miss her unless that is precisely what she wanted. Taking a shaking breath Anna sat to Tora's left, gently grabbing her prone hand curling her fingers protectively around the too still fingers.
Anna let her head hit the bed at Tora's hip, she watched silently as her chest rose and fell rhythmically. Feeling her world righting itself again Anna reached for her phone to tell Kellina the good news. She answered in less than one ring as Anna expected. "Anna? How did Tora pull through?" Anna chuckled a watery laugh, "She pulled through fine, the doctor told me that she was the toughest patient they have had. Not like that's any news to us. If there is one thing Tora is good at it's defying the odds."
Kellina let out a loud relieved laugh, "You got that right honey. She's our little fireball and always has been. I'll tell the girls, they arent holding together very well right now. But they should be better with this news. Anna can you stay with her? It's going to take us a few days to get home. There is a nasty storm here that is making planes stay on the ground. They don't know how long it will last."
Anna grunted her affirmation, "If someone tries to pry me from her side they'll learn really quick that Tora isnt the only fighter of our family." Kellina laughed before giving her farewells and hanging up. Anna rested her head back down as the last pieces of her world fell back into place. Her sister was okay and she was never going to leave her side again. She didnt care if she had to velcro Tora to her side, she was never leaving her again. She finally crashed as the last of her adrenaline wore off, dozing on the hospital bed with her hand firmly locked around Tora's with her fingers on her pulse point.
Authors Note: And thats that! See not so bad. Next chapter will be Donnie's reaction to the news and Anna gets to (somewhat) meet our favorite purple turtle. Read and Review for more chapters.
