Naia's POV

It had been two days since I had woken up. Everybody was so nice to me at the hospital, it made me even more reluctant to go back to live with the Samuals. However, I knew that I had to go and help Ellie keep the boys safe. Not only that, I had to be there for Ellie.

"Naia, someone's here to see you," April said and I immediately thought about Nick for some reason.

It wasn't Nick though because it wasn't some sad but professional-looking guy that walked in but two women instead. One was blond and the other one was a brunette.

"Hi Naia, my name's Erin Lindsay and this is Hailey Upton." Erin introduced herself as well as the other woman. "We're with the Chicago Police Department."

I have them a little smile, confused why they were here. Had Ellie told the police about the Samuals?

"Naia, I'm sorry but Mr. and Mrs. Samual are gone. It looks like Mr. Samual tried to shoot Ellie, Thomas and Shane but Mrs. Samual jumped in front of them. Mr. Samual then shot himself. They were both dead when we got on the scene." Erin told me, genuine distress in her voice.

I thought I was dreaming at first.

Gone.

They were gone.

I didn't ever want them dead. I never wished them to be dead. But now they were, and as awful as it was, I was relieved. I longed to ask Erin what will happen to Ellie and the boys and me now that we didn't have any place to go.

"Ellie has been placed in a foster family in North Utica and the boys were moved up north a bit, Evanston I think," Hailey said as if she could read my mind.

"You'll be in the hospital for a bit but when you're ready to go, I'm sure there will be a family waiting to take you in," Erin said, putting her hand on my shoulder.

I still wasn't sure I heard right. They were dead. I just have had a really stupid look on my face but so didn't care. How could this have happened? It was my fault this happened. If I hadn't gone out that morning, none of this would have happened.

Both of them would still be alive.

"We'll leave you for a bit," Hailey said and they got up and left.

I tried to think about what could have gone wrong. Why was a gun involved suddenly? I closed my eyes but opened them when the tears ran out of the room and started dripping down my cheeks.

Saying that Mrs. Samual had been nice to us would be lying right through our teeth. However, if she had been willing to jump in front of a bullet for Ellie and the boys, then that had to mean something, right?

Yes.

Even though it didn't make any sense for her to be something like that, she did, and she saved lives.

She saved their lives.

A week later, I was ready to be discharged. I wasn't sure where I was going but if they were discharging me then that must mean that I was going somewhere. Dr. Manning said that everything was looking good but to take it easy still for a while.

"Today's the big day," Dr. Manning said as she walked in grinning from ear to ear.

I smiled back. In the week that I had been at the hospital, I haven't spoken a word to anybody. Dr. Reese and Dr. Charles both had long talks with me but I just listened.

I was good at that.

"Everything's looking good. Your new foster parents should be here soon to pick you up." Dr. Manning said and she came over to my bed.

So I did have new foster parents.

"You take care. And try to stay out of trouble." Dr. Manning told me and I gave her a cheeky grin.

April popped in for a quick second. "Dr. Manning, you have to sign the discharge papers."

I gave April a smile and she smiled back.

"Take care of yourself Naia," April said before popping back out of the room.

There was a buzz of activity as I ate breakfast. Once in a while, a nurse or Dr. Manning would pop in but that was it with me. The activity mostly buzzed around other people. One boy fell from a tree and broke his arm. A man was shot. Another woman was in a car crash but only ended up having a concussion.

"Naia?"

I looked up to see Gabby and Matt standing at the door.

"Hi Naia, how are you feeling," Gabby asked as she walked into my room.

I gave her a thumbs up and a small smile.

"Well, I don't know if anyone told you or not but Matt and I are going to be fostering you," Gabby said, a huge smile spreading across her face.

My hand dropped along with my jaw.

I must have heard wrong.

"So..." Matt said.

I leaped out of the bed, despite the twang of pain, and wrapped my arms around Matt and Gabby.

"Let's get you out of here, kiddo," Matt said as he ruffled my hair.

"This is your new home!" Gabby announced as she opened the apartment door. I liked their apartment right away. It had a cozy sort of feeling that seemed welcoming and friendly.

I followed Gabby and Matt inside as they led me to the kitchen.

"This is the kitchen, if you're ever hungry, just grab something to eat, you don't have to ask," Matt told me.

"The bathroom's just down the hall, your bedroom is the across from it, our bedroom is next to it," Gabby added.

"Go check it out, we'll be in the living room if you need us," Matt said and motioned me to go.

I followed the simple directions that they had given me to find my room.

My room wasn't huge, in fact, it was quite small, definitely smaller than the room I shared with Ellie back when I lived with the Samuals. However, Gabby and Matt still managed to fit a single sized bed, a desk and a small bookshelf filled with a variety of books.

I was going to love it here.

It wasn't the room though that made me decide that, even though the room was pretty great.

It was the people.