I glanced around my room to double check that everything is in its place, and the time was 7:00 exactly, before I slung my backpack over one shoulder and flip off my light. I walk down to the kitchen and place my backpack in my brother's chair. I got out my bowl and set it on the table, then my spoon and set it on the right of my bowl, then General Mills Honey-Nut Cheerios that go on the left, then the quart of Great Value 1% low fat milk goes above the bowl. I sit down and open the cheerios, but it's gone except the sugar. I race through my memories of the weekend. There was supposed to be some, I left some from Sunday. I've never been wrong before. I feel my stomach begin to flutter, but I shove it down and set the cereal box down. I slowly walk to the bottom of the stairs.
"Mom!" I call up, I can't help the slightly strangled sound that comes with it. She doesn't answer and the fluttering gets worse. I start to hop back and forth from one foot to the other as my head starts to spin a little. "MOM!" I call louder, I am practically in full panic mode, if she doesn't answer I'm going to completely flip and have a full on anxiety attack.
"What is it, Sweetheart?" Her answer causes my head to stop spinning and I stop my hopping, but my stomach still flutters a bit.
"The cheerios are gone!" I hear a sigh.
"Julien! Will you be so kind as to let your sister know when you finish the last of her cheerios?" There isn't an answer from my brother. "Julien! Answer me, or I'll make you go to the store and get her more! Right now!"
"She can shove it up her!" Was Julien's disgruntled reply. "Is that good enough for you?" My stomach flutters more and my breathing quickens, along with my heartrate as an argument is about to ensue and I want to just sit down on the bottom step and cry. I hated it when Julien and Mom fought. Julien hated Mom and Mom hated Julien. The only reason he ever stuck around was cause of me—despite his mean words, they were for Mom, even though they were about me.
"Julien, get your ass down stairs and help your sister! Now!" I can hear him coming to the stairs, grumbling the whole way. I look down and study my feet and try to stop the tears that were blurring my vision. Julien clomps down the stairs, but then stops.
"Oh, Nín, I'm sorry. I should have told you, but I forgot today was Monday." He hurried and got to the bottom and wrapped his arms around me carefully. "Don't worry, Princess. I double checked to make sure there was more incase Mom didn't go to the store before Monday, whenever it was." I nod and try to take deep breaths and calm my heart down. It always made me feel better when Julien hugged me, but I hated it when anyone else did. It actually hurt Mom's feeling, I think, but honestly, I couldn't help it.
He leads me back into the kitchen and sets me in my chair. Then begins rummaging around in the pantry. "Where the hell did she hide it?" He grumbled, then gave an exclamation of triumph. "Here it is!" He appeared with a bright smile on his face and a box of General Mills Honey-Nut Cheerios. He opened it and poured it into my waiting bowl. Then took the empty box and replaced it with the full one. "There you go, Princess, back to normal." I nodded. "You're going to MMA this afternoon right?" I nod and he smiles. "Do you mind if I pick you up today?" I shake and he kissed my forehead. "Thanks, Princess." Then left me to finish my morning routine.
I pour my milk and eat in exactly 5 minutes, before clearing everything up. I put the milk away first, then the cereal, then rinsed my bowl and spoon and left them neatly on the counter on the right side of the sink. I smile in relief as I hear the bus come to a halt at the end of the driveway, just as the clock clicks 7:05. I grab my backpack and run out the door.
I beam at Ms. Penny as she opens the door. "Good morning, Nín, Love."
"Good morning, Ms. Penny." She puts a hand on my right shoulder, just like she has every day for the past twelve years.
"You seem cheerful, Love. I guess there weren't any mishaps today?"
I shake my head. "There were. Julien forgot to replace my empty cereal with a full box after he used it all yesterday, but it was easily fixed and you were right on time."
Ms. Penny smiled. "Well, have a seat, dear and I'll get you to the school by 7:30." I nod and take my seat exactly three seats behind Ms. Penny. A few of the kids that I've known for the past twelve years greet me. I greeted them in return and laid my head on the back of the seat and closed my eyes. I counted to one hundred, exactly three times before I opened my eyes again and looked out the window, enjoying the view, watching the well-known streets fly by.
We passed over one of the really big bridges that go over the Mississippi River and I smile at the amazing sight that never gets old, to me anyway. Then, I'm not sure what made me turn, but I turned and looked over at the window across the aisle, just in time to see a semi flying toward the bus. I didn't know how it happened, or what exactly happened, or how anything worked, all I knew was the looming semi, then the excruciating pain, then the darkness. Maybe I'd remember more details when I go back and look at the memory later, if I ever did.
I open my eyes and blink at the bright light. There aren't any beeps from a heart machine. I don't feel any tubes or wires in me. Where am I? I glance around and catch a tall yet young man sitting in a chair beside me, reading a book. He hasn't noticed I'm awake, so I study him. He has long platinum hair and he's wearing green pants, legging, things, and green shirt to match. I can't see his eyes. To my surprise I see pointed ears peeking out from the hair that covered it. And elf?
I take a deep breath and close my eyes again. I don't feel any pain, but I do feel a little numb, like I'm on pain medication. I take another deep breath as my heart rate speeds up just a bit, I don't like abnormality. I especially don't like not knowing where I am. I squeeze my eyes tighter and clutch the bed sheets around me. I hate accidents and my weird brain was going to freak out anytime soon.
"Are you in pain?" I hear a beautiful, melodious voice ask. I open my eyes to find the young man/elf leaning over me. I meet his eyes and gasp. They are as pale and as blue as ice, but they are bright and hypnotic. I couldn't even put words to them good enough to describe them, and I know a lot of words. "I can call Lord Elrond." He says concerned. I shake my head. A confused look crosses his face. "So you aren't in pain?" I nod and try to take another deep breath, but it's much too shaky. I squeeze my eyes shut again and feel warm tears leak down the sides. "What's wrong?" He asks worried.
"I—" My throat constricted and the words wouldn't come out. Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! Rotten, useless, broken brain! I felt his warm hand close around mine. I opened my eyes and looked down at the contact, but to my surprise, I felt no desire to pull it away, like I normally do. It was like Julien's touch, only different.
"You're scared." It wasn't a question, but I nodded. "That's okay. My Naneth and Lord Elrond are taking care of you. You were badly hurt when I found you." I looked up into his eyes and for some crazy reason, my fear and anxiety sort of fell away. I nodded. I really like this feeling. I'm going to remember this better than any of my other memories. If that's possible. I actually don't know.
"Can you talk? What's your name?" I meet his eyes again.
"Éponine." He smiled brightly at this.
"My name is Legolas." Before he said anything else, a door opened and the most beautiful woman I've ever seen in my life walks in. She's so beautiful, she could be an angel.
She sees me awake and smiles brightly. "Welcome back. How are you feeling?"
"I—I don't feel anything." I answer hesitantly. I don't. I feel a little numb, but not pain. The lady frowns and walks forward. She pulls back the blankets over my legs and gasps.
"ELROND!" She screams in fear. I flinch at the harsh sound and out of pure abnormal need, I clench Legolas's hand so tight I can feel the skin give beneath my fingernails give and blood trickle onto the sheets. He gasped and looked down at me in surprise, but I'm completely panicking, so I don't give him an explanation. My head is spinning and I can't breathe very well, but my vision hasn't given…yet. A beautiful dark-haired man rushed in and the woman began to talk to him really fast in a language I don't understand. She gestured to my legs, then for some reason touched them. The moment her long graceful fingers came in contact, all numbness that had settle over my stress body vanished and pain suddenly fills the emptiness.
I gasp in fear in surprise and my unstable mind reacts to the abnormality around me. My overly attentive and active memory seizes upon my pain and reminds me of every other time in my whole f***ing life that I've ever felt. I begin to shake and sweat, but chills also cause me to shiver and my heart rate is higher than the freaking St. Louis Arch. I still can't breathe and I can't help the sense of impending death that keeps flashing through my mind. Every memory is as fresh and as new as if it'd just happened. Every panic attack, everything that happened that scared me or hurt me and caused panic. The lack of familiar faces or surroundings to comfort me, weighs on me. The woman and the dark-haired elf both freeze for a moment, startled at my sudden change. I can't focus on anything, because seemingly of its own accord, my eyes keep sweeping the scene around me looking for something of comfort, memorizing the room over and over and over
"Éponine! Éponine, look at me!" Legolas suddenly jerks his hand from min and clamps my face with his hands and forces me to look at him. I gasp at the sudden contact, but before my body can react more, a soothing feeling floods into me, full of reassurance and concern. A pale light begins to glow around beautiful blond. It soothes me and presses security and safety. I instinctively reach up and grasp his wrists, holding them tight, my nails digging into him again. He flinches, but doesn't pull away.
"No one will hurt you." He whispered to me. "Naneth and Lord Elrond are going to help you. You are hurt and they'll help you get better again." I look into his bright eyes and nod hesitantly.
"I-it hurts." I gasp. "I'm scared." I hated it. I wanted something normal. My mind spun and all I wanted was a little familiarity. "I want Julien!" I suddenly cried, pulling up my memories of my brother. "I want my brother!"
Legolas' glow brightens and the sense of comfort and security increases. He strokes my cheek with his thumb. "I know, but it'll be alright. I'll stay the entire time." I don't know how he knew this is what I need and I don't know how this stranger is making calming me down, but its working and I'm not one to complain about help when it comes to gaining control of my body and mind again. Besides, I'd been hit by a semi, Julien wasn't here to help me, I'd take anything at this point.
"Naneth, do what you have to do, but hurry." Legolas commanded over his shoulder at the beautiful woman. She and the other man begin to work. He turns back to me and smiles. I swear if I hadn't already seen his pointed ears, confirming he was an elf, I could swear he must have been an angel, except he was looking a bit paler than when he started.
"You need to keep your mind off the pain, okay?"
I nod. "Do you fight?" I ask. For some strange reason, I find normality and patterns in mixed martial arts. I see the patterns and rhythm in it. I love fighting, the only thing that soothed me more was the piano. I saw the similarities and the patterns in them, and for some reason they made sense to me. Also, when you remember everything that's ever happened in your life, every book you've read, everything you've ever heard in school, book learning and non-physical things are easy. With mixed martial arts and fighting, I actually have to work for the strength I have and the ability. Sure I memorized the moves the first time I saw them, but I still needed to build the body and that took hard work, something I hardly ever had to do. It was nice to have to actually work for something, so I loved it.
I loved piano more because, though I didn't have to work as hard for it, it created music. To me music was and is everything. It is the most beautiful thing on the Earth. I can play just about any instrument, but piano is my favorite because it's such a better looking picture and it was the first instrument I ever decided to play.
Legolas nods at my question and smiles. It sort of lights up the room, his smile. "Yes, with a bow and twin knives mostly."
"What about without a weapon, do you fight?"
He nods. "I can, but I usually take both weapons with me wherever I go, outside the safety of the elven cities."
I flinch as the beautiful woman applies something to my legs, sending cold spikes of pain up through my legs and to my spine. "It sting's!" I hiss. Damn my overly perceptive memory.
The light from Legolas brightens more and he shifts so I can't even see either healer. "Don't pay it any mind. Would you like to hear a story, they always make me feel better when dealing with pain?" I nod, not trusting my voice. I close my eyes the pain and take a few shaky breaths. He's doing a good job blocking the pain—however he's doing it—but I'm still a little nervous and a lot scared. I'm trying my hardest to block out anything but him, including my burning and growing need for something familiar and not painful. My over-clear memory never helps this and I can tell he's growing paler and paler.
"Hey, keep your eyes on me!" I open my eyes and the panic that had appeared on his face vanished as he masked it away. "It's okay. Would you like to hear about the first time I killed an orc?"
I nod. I don't know what in the hell an orc is, but I just want him to keep talking, his voice is soothing and beautiful. Before he can say anything though, his naneth—whatever that is as well—speaks up. "Why don't you sing to her, ion-nin. It will be more soothing." Legolas glanced over his shoulder, then back at me, then over his shoulder again. A wide smile spread across his face and it look like a lightbulb had gone on inside his head. He began to softly sing with the most beautiful voice I'd ever heard.
"Lay down your head and I'll sing you a lullaby
Back to the years of loo-li lai-lay
And I'll sing you to sleep and I'll sing you tomorrow
Bless you with love for the road that you go
May you sail far to the far fields of fortune
With diamonds and pearls at your head and your feet
And may you need never to banish misfortune
May you find kindness in all that you meet
May there always be angels to watch over you
To guide you each step of the way
To guard you and keep you safe from all harm
Loo-li, loo-li, lai-lay
May you bring love and may you bring happiness
Be loved in return to the end of your days
Now fall off to sleep, I'm not meaning to keep you
I'll just sit for a while and sing loo-li, lai-lay
May there always be angels to watch over you
To guide you each step of the way
To guard you and keep you safe from all harm
Loo-li, loo-li, lai-lay, loo-li, loo-li, lai-lay"
I listened to him sing. It was so beautiful and familiar. I don't know how he knew the lullaby that Julien used to sing to me when I was little, but I wasn't about to object to even a little familiarity. Just as he finished, the beautiful woman came forward and handed him a clay cup.
"Have her drink it all." He nodded and turned to me. He held up my head and pressed the cup to my lips. I took a sip and automatically spit it out and shove the cup away.
"What the hell!" That was the nastiest stuff I'd ever drank, and I've been taking pills and medicine since I was born. Legolas chuckled and nodded.
"I know, I know, but you need to drink it all." I frowned at him. "Oh, come on, drink it up!" He held the cup to my lips again, and reluctantly I part my lips and let the fowl liquid slid down my throat. He chuckled again as I made a face, but I began to panic as my vision blurred and my mind started to go all fuzzy. "It's okay!" Legolas called, his voice fading out. "You need rest and the drink is helping you sleep."
I took a deep breath and nodded as my eyes grew heavy. I took his hand tight in mine. "Please, don't leave?" I begged. He'd become my normal in like ten minutes. If he left I would have a serious panic attack and die. Well, not die for real, but I'd definitely give these elves a run for their money in trying to keep me functional and not destroying everything within reach, wounded legs or not.