I find myself back in my bedroom, staring at my birthday present. I open the box and pull out the model of Cherno Alpha. I turn it over in my hands, looking at the details. Then I pull out the small figurines of my parents and look at them too. I don't look anything like my parents, but Mako says I have my Father's eyes and Raleigh says I definitely have their personalities. He says I'm going to be a nightmare as a teenager. Tears prick the back of my eyes because I don't know if I will ever see him or Mako again. Suddenly, someone starts knocking.
"Go away! I don't want to see you!" I tell the knocker.
"Luca, its Jack. Can I come in?" Mr. high and mighty? I bet he has come to make me apologize to his brother. Fat chance.
"I said, go away!" He says nothing and I am beginning to think he has gone away when the door handle turns and he walks in. For a few seconds we just stare at each other. "It's rude to come in a ladies room without permission. Especially when you're a boy." I tell him.
"Well you're not a lady, you're a girl."
"It's the same thing." I insist. His eyes drift downwards to the figurines clutched in my hands. "What?" I say. I don't like the way he is staring at them.
"Are they your parents?" I nod.
"Can I see?" He comes over and holds out his hands. I deposit them in his hands and watch him as he studies them. "You don't look anything like them."
"I get that a lot." He sits on the edge of my bed and the room falls into an uncomfortable silence. "If you want me to apologize to James then I won't." He looks surprised and then says,
"I didn't come in here to make you apologize. I came in here because I don't think you should be alone."
"What if I want to be alone?"
"Then I will leave. Do you want me to?" I think about it for a minute then shake my head, because even though he is a pain and he's annoying and he acts like I'm stupid most of the time, I really don't want to be alone. He nods and we sit in silence again, but this time it's ok. Then there is another knock at the door.
"Come in." I say. James appears at the door. His eyes are red and he has obviously been crying. I feel bad now.
"I came to tell you that umm, the Jaegers are back and umm Golden Blaze is carrying something that they suspect is Gipsy's um conn pod." Jack looks at him.
"How is that possible?" Jack asks. I would quite like to know that myself.
"They think that when the Kaiju died, it fell on Gipsy, crushing her. They also think the Kaiju had a weapon which took out our radio communication." It's a good explanation but he has missed out something. Jack apparently thinks so too because his next question is this:
"What are the chances that Mako and Raleigh survived?" He goes red and stutters for a bit. "Spit it out!" Jack tells him rather sharply.
"It's not good guys, I mean; they got crushed by a Kaiju right?" I stand up.
"Where are you going Luca?" James asks.
"To the main hangar. If there's any chance they survived then I'm going to see them." I walk out of the room. I hear them following behind me and together we walk to the main hangar.
When we get there, it is chaos. People are running left, right and center and nobody really seems to know what is going on. Summer spots us and begins to make her way over but then Marshall Hopcroft grabs her arm and pulls her away. I try to follow her because Summer always knows what is going on, but then the hangar doors open.
The Jaegers are both in terrible shape and Danger Heart is supporting Golden Blaze and Golden Blaze seems to be carrying the torso, head and arm of Gipsy. Golden Blaze places the conn-pod on the ground and the rescue teams go into the wreckage. I run over, pushing past people who get in my way and head straight for the wreckage of Gipsy, but before I go inside Summer grabs me and pulls me back.
"You are not going in there!" She tells me. I struggle but it's no use. Summer is a lot taller and a lot stronger than me.
"But I have to help!"
"No. You let the rescue teams do their job and find Mako and Raleigh." I look around for James and Jack but they are not there and I see them up by where Golden Blaze has powered down. I struggle a bit more but Summer holds me even tighter and I give up. Eventually the rescue teams bring out Mako. She is conscious, but is in bad shape and the rescue teams immediately bundle her onto a stretcher and carry her away.
When the second team comes out, I am aware that Dominika and Viktoriya are making their way over along with Beatrice and her children and Marshall Hopcroft talking to Summer, but all I can see is Raleigh. He is unconscious and I can't see the gentle rise and fall of his chest. Someone comes over with some kind of electric-shock things.
"Starting CPR" they say. Nothing happens. Someone else tells them to do it again and they do. Nothing. I give myself one final yank in an attempt to get away from Summer and this time she lets go. I run to Raleigh and go down beside him.
"Raleigh wake up!" I shake him.
"Please wake up Raleigh, please?" I shake him a bit harder then I hit him several times.
"Raleigh why aren't you listening to me? I'm telling you to wake up! Get up Raleigh!" Finally I accept that he isn't going to come back and I collapse over him, sobbing. Then I hear something. Slow and quiet and first, then speeding up and getting louder and louder. I sit upright as he breathes in and out.
"Raleigh?" I ask, and then I turn to the others. "He's alive!" The rescue teams come over just as his eyes flutter open. "Raleigh!" I throw my arms around his neck and push the rescue team away.
"Can't….. Breathe…." He says weakly. I loosen my hold but I don't let go.
"You died!" I say accusingly.
"Well I'm alright now." He says. This time when the Doctors come over, someone pulls me back and picks me up and I don't protest.
"Come away now, malyutka." Says a Russian voice in my ear. I think it's Dominika, but when I look up its Viktoriya. Viktoriya doesn't really talk much to children so I'm quite surprised. I'm also really tired. I think Viktoriya is taking me to the hospital wing where Mako and Raleigh will be, but I'm so tired and I just can't stay awake…..