This Close to a Panic Switch (Elena)

"Another day at a fancy French cafe," I muttered as I tied my apron behind my waist. I quickly tucked a strand of short, dark hair behind my ear before I grabbed a cleaning rag to wipe down tables.

"Here's the cleaning spray," Fiona announced as she plunked the squirt bottle on the counter next to me. "Thank goodness Mary will be back tomorrow to help out. It feels like eternity since she went on maternity leave."

I picked up the bottle and walked over to one of the tables by the windows. "No kidding," I replied, "we need our second mom back!"

Fiona chuckled as she tied her apron and began taking the usual order of one of our customers. I turned my back to them and clicked the bottle trigger to let a steady stream of cleaning spray land on the marble surface. Then I dragged the rag quickly across the top, polishing it back to its glistening state. I stood up and studied my handiwork, proud of my accomplishment.

"Really? When was this?" Fiona gasped as she made small talk with one of our usual patrons.

I was cleaning the last table when I caught their conversation.

"A week or so ago," the customer replied. "One of Grumm's monsters injured a recent SPD recruit! Poor thing is probably in bad shape that she can't train with the rest of the group."

At those words I froze and my breathing stopped. However, I continued to clean the table top, this time, working more slowly than before.

"Do you know who it was?" Fiona inquired.

"I'm afraid not, dearie," the customer said.

I shut my eyes as I continued to clean the table in slow, circular motions. It couldn't be, no way. Was my sister? Was that why I hadn't heard from her lately? And if so, was she ashamed that this had happened and decided to cut off all communication with her family, embarrassed to let them know that she couldn't train? I became lost in thought for a while until I felt a hand on my shoulder. I looked up to see it was Fiona who gave me a concerned look.

"You don't know it was her Elena," she said. "It could have been someone else, you know."

I sighed as I straightened up and threw the rag down on the table. "But what if it is her?" I demanded. "I'm worried about her okay? It's been almost 2 months since I've heard from her."

Fiona opened her mouth to reply but closed it when she heard the bell on the door tinkle.

"You should probably stop cleaning that table or else it might disintegrate from being cleaned too much," she joked as she walked behind the counter. "I know I'd hate being over cleaned if I was that table."

I smiled a little at her joke and she winked at me before taking the next customer's order.

"Nurse, is my neck all right if I bend it to drink soup?" a girl asked the woman standing next to her.

"How does it feel today Kailey?" she asked.

"Better but a bit tender still," Kailey replied.

"I think it should be all right, as long as you don't bend it all the way down toward your chest," the nurse said.

"Okay then," Kailey said, "I'll have a cup of French onion soup with a raspberry iced tea please."

I carried the cleaning supplies to the back cabinet where we kept them, curiously looking at the pair that had come in. The girl named Kailey had a neck brace on and her left arm was in a cast. Her dark hair fell awkwardly around her neck brace and her chin was propped on top of the brace edge.

"What happened?" Fiona asked as she handed their change back.

The nurse almost spoke up, probably to scold Fiona for being so nosy about a patient, when Kailey rested her free hand on the nurse's arm.

"Nurse, its quite all right," she told her companion. She turned to face Fiona and replied, "I was spending time with my younger sister before I left for Orientation at the SPD Academy when a monster attacked us. Some how, it knew facts about my protection skills and sent me flying against a wall. I then woke up in the hospital like this and had to pass my scholarship onto my sister."

"Wow...what a shame," Fiona replied while shooting me a look.

I nodded sympathetically as I began preparing their drinks. Secretly, I was relieved that it wasn't Ada but at the same time, this poor girl had gone though much pain and to lose her scholarship altogether?

"My co-worker, Elena here," Fiona began, "knows someone at SPD who was recruited fairly recently. Hey, how long has your sister been there?"

"Um...almost 10 months now," I replied as I set the drinks on a tray and carried them out to their table. "Here you are. And I brought creme and sugar for your coffee."

The nurse thanked me for her cup while Kailey stared at me. I gave her a polite smile and asked her if she needed something else before I brought her soup out. Before she could respond, a loud beeper went off and the nurse removed it from her belt to check it.

"Oh dear," she muttered. "Kailey, there's an emergency with your hospital neighbor George. I need to go tend to him, will you be all right here for a while?"

"Yes, don't worry," she reassured her.

The nurse smiled at her and quickly exited the cafe in the direction of the hospital three blocks away. Kailey turned to face me and beckoned me to join her. I looked anxiously over Fiona, who gave me a thumbs up, saying I was covered.

"So your name is Kailey?" I asked as I took a seat across from her.

"Yes Kailey Dex," she replied. "Elena right?"

"Elena Kavanagh, one and only," I jokingly answered.

Kailey laughed a little at my goofy introduction and smiled for the first time she set foot in here.

"You have a sister too?" she asked.

"Yeah, her name is Ada," I said. "She's a year older than me. What about your sister?"

"She's almost 17," she replied. "Her name's Logan, would Ada happen to know her?"

"Uh...probably not," I said. "Ada never talked much about the people who were SPD recruits like her."

Kailey leaned back in her seat and picked up her glass. She moved the straw toward her mouth and leaned forward slightly to take a sip. I smiled pleasantly at her and leaned my elbows on the table, bracing myself for an interesting conversation ahead.