Chapter 6

My eyelids flutter slightly but I quickly re-shut them to alleviate the harsh artificial glare of a desk lamp shining light on my face. 'Am I dead?' I wonder. 'Is this heaven?' Oh God, is Helen dead too?! Let's see, what do I remember? Running…then tripping…then collapsing…then….being lifted? Was that me dying?! NO! No, I can't be dead!

I begin to panic and start to hyperventilate. I attempt to sit up but am stopped by a gentle yet firm hand resting on my shoulder and pushing my body back to a laying position. I'm not sure who it is as my eyes are still closed, but I cannot help but trust that whoever this is will not hurt me.

"Relax, you need to rest." I hear in a gentle female voice. "You are lucky you were found. You nearly froze to death." Wait…is that…

"M-Miss Ukraine?" I mumble and open my sore eyes slowly, my inquiry being confirmed when they meet her kind, deep-blue ones.

"Yes. You are safe." she replies with a soft smile. "You are at my brother's house. He is the one who found you two in the woods and brought you back here." Us two!

"W-Where is Helen?! Is she okay?!" I begin to sit up again, preparing to bolt out the door and tear through the halls in search of my best friend, but am again stopped by her hand resting on the same shoulder as before.

"She is okay, but still unconscious." she tells me with small tears forming in the corners of her eyes.

"How long have I been unconscious?" I ask.

"About twenty hours now." She answers after a quick glance at her wristwatch. Twenty hours. So now it's been six days. I have been gone for nearly an entire week and my jerk bruders have yet to notice my absence.

Suddenly my blood begins to boil and I clench my fists in rage. How could this be true, damn it?! I am sick of always being ignored! No matter what, something is always more important than me!

"I have to go home." I state bluntly and climb out of the bed and onto my feet before I can be stopped again. I am about to go home and tell them off like I've wanted to do for months! I will not be forgotten any longer.

I bolt out of the bedroom, still wearing my clothes from yesterday that have since dried and stuck to my body, though I notice that I am now barefoot.

"Wait, you still need to rest!" I hear from the guest room I was previously sleeping in, but I ignore it and make my way for the door. I throw open the front door of the house and run outside without my boots on, but I don't care that my feet are now freezing and I begin sprinting across the front yard and down the street. My toes feel as though they are about to freeze off and I really regret not slipping on any shoes when I slip on a frozen puddle, falling face-first into a pile of snow that somebody must have shoveled off of their driveway.

I don't let this slow me down and in almost the same instant that I fall I am back on my feet, albeit soaked and covered in slush, and continue sprinting towards my house, which I can now barely make out in the distance.

All that I want to say, no yell, is racing through my mind and only now do I realize that I am crying. For how long I have been, I do not know, but it does not matter to me now. I do not care that I most likely look ridiculous running barefoot in negative degree weather, my face definitely swollen and red and streaming with tears.

I approach my house, wipe the streaks that are trailing down my cheeks, though they are instantly replaced, and run up the stairs onto our front porch before slamming the door open. I am surprised that it did not fall off of its hinges considering how hard it just hit the wall.

I stomp into the empty living room and am immediately greeted by the sound of guns cocking and my bruders rushing into the room expecting to see a criminal but they are instead met by me, dripping wet and barefoot with my teeth clenched and my hands tightened into angry fists at my sides. Their eyes immediately widen and they lower their guns when they realize I am their sister and not some thief.

"Lilliette, vhat zhe hell vere you doing outside?! It is negative-two degrees out there!" my bruder, Germany, lectures, the surprised look on his face now one of anger. Normally I would be a stuttering, nervous wreck like I usually am when he lectures me, but now I do not move a muscle and my rage is multiplied tenfold as it is now unmistakable that, indeed, they have no idea just how long I've been gone.

"Vhat vas I doing outside?! Is zhat all you have to ask me?!" I scream back. "I have been gone for six days! I hid in zhe woods for five days in a rickety old shed just waiting und waiting for one of you to come und find me! You did not even notice I vas gone!" I rant, now pacing the floor barefoot with tears literally pouring out of my eyes like a faucet. "All I vanted vas for one of you to prove zhat you still care enough to notice vhether I am around or not und you don't! You did not even think of me enough to make sure I vas home in zhe middle of a blizzard! I vas nearly crushed by a roof und I nearly froze to death trying to get out of zhat stupid forest because I knew you vere not coming to find me!" At this point I am completely out of breath, not to mention choking on tears.

I stop pacing due to my lack of breath and press my eyes shut tightly, expecting to be hollered back at for going off like I just did. Instead I hear the soft thump of a gun being set down and footsteps approaching me. I do not know who is walking towards me, nor do I care to open my eyes and find out. I do not wish to see either of them at this point. I feel a hand rest on my shoulder.

"Don't touch me, damn it!" I snap and whoever it is pulls their hand back as though my jacket sleeve has been dipped in hot, corrosive acid.

"L-Lilli…" I hear and instantly recognize the voice as Prussia's.

"Don't!" I shout "Just don't! If you do not care about me zhen I do not vant to hear a word you have to say!" and without giving either of them a chance to respond, I run to my bedroom, slamming the door shut and locking it, then pushing my dresser in front of the door to ensure that nobody will be able to enter. I then rest my back against the side of my dresser, sliding down until I touch the floor, pulling my knees to my chest and burying my face into my arms, sobbing uncontrollably. I hear someone try to turn my door knob, failing obviously, then a soft knock on the door.

"Lilli?" this time it is Germany speaking. "Lilli, please open zhe door."

"Go away!" I shout through the door.

This seems to get the idea across that I want to be left alone as I then hear a sigh and footsteps that get quieter and quieter with each one. I am not bothered for the rest of the day, giving me plenty of time to cry myself into exhaustion and eventually sleep.