Not one of my better chapters. Character fluff. Thank you to Ameture Sketch for following this story with unwavering loyalty.
This story will be on a short hiatus for an undetermined amount of time. I need to figure out where this story is going. I've said this before, but this story is writing itself and pulling me along for the ride.
I understand how some people don't like how Niko is written here, but how I see it, I figure it was time for a new take on him. Not just another Niko self loathing fic where all he does is say life is shit. His age gave him a new look on life and he finally wants to settle down. This time in this story for real. To where he will stop it nothing to get his happiness. He was tired of seeing Roman and Mallorie happy, so he took it upon himself to seek out his.
But enough about that. Here's the last chapter before the hiatus. Enjoy!
Chapter 26
"Healing old wounds"
I lost track of time during Niko's recovery. All I knew was he was on the mend. I apologized profusely over and over until finally, Niko had said enough. Even Karen was annoyed with the times I said sorry. I even said sorry to her for not listening and promised to meet her on a more neutral ground if something became a conflict.
Karen was able to postpone the trial. She told the court Niko has come into some 'unexpected trouble'. The court granted his time off, but they would call next Monday for a new trial.
During that week, I did some extensive research on the men trying to kill Niko. My sources were Karen and Kiki. Kiki had some idea as to who was after him, but she believes it was either some other group, or a bunch of rouge assassians. She believes that the Russian mob was disbanded years ago and there was no chance it was them. Still, Karen had her sources and Kiki had hers. I believed Karen more, believe it or not. She has more connections than Kiki. I believed it was the Russian mob after the facts were on the table. Niko couldn't believe it. He thought he was done with them after he killed the mob boss, Dimitri Rascalov. I supposed they reformed and are now after him.
"So, not only do we have to watch for the police, but now we have to watch out for gangs. Well done, Niko. You're really fucking yourself in this case."
"I'm sorry! Sorry for wanting to be a good boyfriend and taking my girlfriend out."
"When will you realize that this isn't all about you and your relationship? This trial is extremely important for you to fuck about!"
Niko looked away from Karen. I could tell a string of arguments came to the tip of his tongue, but he held it all in.
"Do we have your undivided attention now?"
He paused before he gave his answer.
"Or do you want to just toss this?"
"I came too far to throw it away."
"Then say you'll stop being brain-dead, and focus on this!"
"Alright! Fine!"
"Say you'll put Sharon aside until this is over. She is distracting you."
He and I looked at each other. We both knew she was right, but it was I who had the problem.
"What do you mean by 'put aside'?"
"I mean, stop trying to take her out on dates and shit. Stop fucking her every chance you get. Stop screwing up!"
"Alright already! Geez."
"Good. Now we can get serious about this. Get your notes from last time, and we will work on your trial."
This earned a very exasperated sigh from him. He didn't want to do more mock trials when he was still recovering. Karen threatened again, saying if he didn't do as she said, she'd give up.
"This is a waste of my time if you don't take this seriously! Go get your notes!"
He left the room to grab his folder like he asked. She looked at me and glared at me again. I wasn't sure what I did this time, but she was on her way to getting beat down.
"I need you away from him. Go in the other room. He can't concentrate with you here." She demanded.
"But I thought I could be used in this trial!"
"I'll call you back in here when we need you."
I did listen to her. Only because she wouldn't start the mock trial until I did. I kept myself busy by watching a movie and eavesdropping on what was being said. It was exactly the same thing as last time. Nothing new. I had a feelng after this was over that this is all he'd say.
My brother kept me company as all this was transpiring. He kept the topic about family. Mostly about how we were growing up. It was really sweet how he made a complete change from a drug addicted lowlife, to a reformed individual. It gave me hope that one day he'd find someone who will make a good man out of him who is not Karen.
"I am having a birthday coming up soon." He mentioned.
"I know. It's a week from tomorrow. Anything you want?"
"I was thinking about having my friends over. I haven't seen them in a while."
I know his friends were the people he did drugs with. I made sure to use caution in my answer.
"I'm sure they are doing alright."
"I wanted to have a party with them."
"You know that's a bad idea."
"They've been trying to clean up. They've been going to rehab."
"I'm not sure if I like this idea, but I'm not mom. You'll have to ask Karen first before you invite them over. She'll find a problem with it."
"I already asked her. She agreed."
My eyes grew wider. Did I hear him correctly? She said it was okay for his druggies to party at a government owned condominium? Now I believed she didn't like me specifically. Why? This was something I had to hear from her.
Niko bursted through the door hours later. My brother and I jumped at the sudden noise. I made room for him on the bed as he sat between my brother and I.
"What's up?"
"Karen is such a cunt!" He realized that my brother was still dating her. "No offence."
"No problem. I know how bad she is to you."
"Then how can you date her? You two are exact opposites!"
"I'm not dating her for a long term span. I can't see how I am attracted to her. She'd be a beautiful woman if she wasn't so rude."
"So, dump her!"
"That would not be a good idea. I'm sure, if it was possible, she'd be more of a bitch."
"You've got a point. But even now, she's unbearable."
"What did she say to you?"
"She's insulting me again. I screwed up on my testimony. She called me retarded and left."
"Left where?"
"I honestly don't fucking care."
My brother stood up and said he was going to scrounge up something to eat. Probably because he didn't want to hear anymore about her. Neither did I for that matter. Niko laid back on the bed to gather his head after his brain probably felt like it was trying to run out of his skull.
"You have to be positive. You'll be free soon."
He scoffed. It annoyed me a little that he was being sour. Then I guessed it was because the way she treated him. I began to feel sorry for him. This was becoming more of a process than he imagined. I sensed his distress and patted his arm, letting him know I was there for him. This prompted more irritants that came to his mind.
"Who the fuck does she think she is?!" He said as he sat up. "She has no room to be the way she is. She was just as bad as I was. She was a criminal too!"
"Oh, ho ho! Is that so?"
"She was into prostitution. She worked with the government to get her freedom back! Why was it so easy for her?"
"She was a hooker?!" My eyes shot out of my sockets.
"That's why she never liked it when I took her out at night. She was reminded of the things she's done. She saw the other women on the street and thay made her think of what she was. That's why she is an expert sting operator. She's done it from experience."
So, that's new information I could use on her. Good.
"But she was able to get what she wanted? No trial?"
"Yes. All she had to do was do favors. Like I have! Well, she never killed anybody like I have. And I was illegal, but that shouldn't matter! I'm sure they helped people with a massive file like mine plenty of times!"
"They never mentioned how long it took though."
"I just want this. not to be an asshole, but you really don't know how badly."
There was a loud crash from the other room that alerted the both of us. Niko grabbed his gun that he kept in the top dresser drawer. With it pointed in the direction he was going, he slowly moved around the condo.
"Who's there?!" He called.
"Yo. Niko, chill." A voice called back.
His eyes met a strange set of eyes. My brother was sitting on the couch with a horrified expression. Probably because of the gun aimed at his friend.
"Who are you?!" He demanded.
"Chill, man. I'm Aaron. I'm friends with Ethan."
"How do you know my name? I've never seen you before."
"He's told me all about you, bro. You're the badass Serbian killer. Fucking sweet!"
He lowered his gun, but he still had a scowl on his face. This man was praising Niko for the terrible crimes he's done. I could tell he was making him very uncomfortable.
His attention was directed to my brother, who was smoking weed and was now laughing hysterically. I was furious at his poor decision making. This was his idea of celebrating his birthday?
"You dumb asshole! What the fuck are you doing?" I lunged at him.
"What do you think, sis? Celebrating!" He laughed even harder.
I was sure the smell would attract attention to our home. I took the blunt and smashed it on the floor with my foot. The damage was done though. I could tell my brother was higher than a kite. Even his so called friend was hanging on Niko and laughing uncontrollably, pretending to shoot with his finger gun.
This was making him ready to erupt. I could see it in his eyes. This was another betrayal. My brother was throwing himself into the drug scene after Niko saved him from being arrested.
"Get the fuck off of me!" He shoved Aaron to the floor.
The guy was so high that he laughed until he was red in the face when he hit the floor. My brother was on the floor with him.
"This is bullshit." He said under his breath and returned back in the bedroom.
I ran after him before he decided to take his rage out on objects.
"Hold on, Niko."
"For what!?" He snapped. "For your brother to destroy his life after he was getting back on track? Don't tell me you're not as upset as I am!"
"I am mad, but it's just pot. Atleast it's not meth!"
"Oh, that's better! Why don't we just pretend your brother didn't have a drug addiction. Let's just say he's about to relapse! He doesn't need that idiot here with him!" He paced back and forth in front of me.
"Okay! Calm down."
"Don't tell me to be calm! You know he's about to take steps back and you want think this isn't a big deal? I've seen people, some of my close friends relapse and die because of overdose! Do you want the same to happen to your brother?"
"No!"
"Then help me get this dope head out of here!"
"What do you need me to do?"
He grabbed Karen's handcuffs from her bedroom. This really wasn't going to end well.
Ethan and Aaron were still laughing so hard their faces were red. It was easy enough to put the cuffs on Aaron, but he started to resist against Niko as he shoved him to the door. He managed to twist himself out of Niko's grip and ran around the house with his arms behind his back.
"Get your ass over here!"
This of course made my brother almost wet himself as he struggled to corral Aaron. I tripped him up by sticking my leg out. He fell onto the floor again, but this time he felt the pain. He groaned out and rolled onto his back.
"You dumb shit." Niko wrestled him off the floor and did manage to get him outside. He didn't stop there. His eye was on Karen's SUV. I opened the door for him and Niko ever so nicely shoved him inside.
"Don't move!" He warned.
Next was getting the pothead away from the home. I wasn't sure where Niko was taking him, but he told me to stay behind and keep an eye on my brother.
I found my brother passed out on the couch. I assumed he laughed himself into a sleeping stupor because not even the water I splashed on his face woke him up. I guessed it was best just to let him sleep it off. Then he'd wake up hungry enough to eat everything we had. Guess I'll write another shopping list. Roman will be ecstatic.
Niko came back an hour later with a look of hurt. I searched his face to see why. It looked like he'd been crying a little.
"Are you okay?"
"No I'm not." Came his disheartened reply.
I wanted to get close to him, but he moved away. He did something to Aaron. I was sure of it.
"Why are you closing up again? Tell me what's wrong."
"I'm hurt! That's what!"
Seeing as though he wasn't physically hurt, I poked around his mind for more. Something came up from his past again. Something that was making him be like this.
"What's hurting you?"
"Fuck it. You won't understand." Defeated, he sat at the table, pouring himself a glass of water. "It's not going to make things better."
"It might. Tell me what is hurting."
I was glad for one thing, Roman didn't get any alcohol the last time he went shopping. I was sure he was thinking about going to the store and getting a bottle of vodka himself. His go-to drink of choice to help him forget.
"Do you know what it feels like to lose a family member?"
"I told you the story about my aunt's stillborn. And about my grandmother. I have lost too, Niko. I'm pretty sure I know what you are feeling."
"I lost my brother to drugs. He was only twelve years old. It was the years of abuse he had to take from a broken home. I was able to push the anger down. He took it out on himself and did drugs. I tried to help him. To get him help. It was like I was talking to myself. In the end, all those times I helped him, it didn't matter. I was never the same after that. If you call my life normal, that is. His death made me devote some of my time helping those who were addicted. Like your brother. And this is how he repays me?!" He shot up from the table, causing his chair to flip backwards.
I wanted to make sure he didn't do anything to hurt his already wounded self by taking his rage out on a wall, or hurting my brother.
What came next was Niko yelling at me to come over to look at him. He had no pulse. I immediately dialed 9-1-1 while Niko did the best he could at CPR to revive him. I had no idea how long he didn't have a pulse, but Niko will be damned if he let another die from drugs. I was surprised that weed made his pulse stop.
"God damn it! Don't you fucking die!"
I started to shake as I still saw my brother lifeless and Niko sweating as he vigorously resuscitated him. I was told to stay on the line as the paramedics and police arrived.
"You mother fucker!" He growled at the inanimate body. It seemed like his vulgarity was directed towards himself.
There was nothing Niko could do. He was exhausted, but he continued on. At this point, I thought it was useless, and I broke down on the phone. Niko sat up against the couch and tried to catch his breath.
"I'm sorry, Sharon." His voice cracked. "I'm sorry, Marko." He lost it with me as he cried into his elbow.
The police arrived minutes later, telling Niko to move away from the body. Paramedics raced their way up to the house with a flatbed stretcher. The medics tried to revive him with CPR, picking up where Niko left off. They were more trained in this, and I watched them as they worked on him. The AED came out of the pouch and the medic told everyone to clear away. I saw his body tense up as the shock traveled through the pads on his chest. I looked away for a second, imagining the pain associated with being shocked. Niko watched with expectation, wanting my brother to regain consciousness.
After the first shock from the AED, the medic continued CPR.
"Come on!" He urged.
Admimister second shock
The machine directed. The medics, again, told us to clear the body. Another pulse of shock was administered. This time the machine detected a faint pulse.
"Keep that pulse going!" The other medic said.
One officer handed the medic a towel from our kitchen so he could wipe the sweat from his brow. The other asked Niko aside for questioning. I didn't bother paying attention to them. My focus was on my brother's revived status.
The medic tried shaking my brother to gain his attention. He remained silent, and the man lowered the stretcher all the way to the floor. Gently, they hoisted him onto the bed and took him away. I wanted to follow them, but the officer stopped me at the doorway.
"Let me out! He's my brother!"
"Your brother is wanted. And so are you too." He cuffed Niko and I and we were escorted to the back of the cruiser.
By divine luck, Karen pulled in and immediately started questioning what was going on. She was told by the officer that we were being taken to jail. Karen flilped her government employee badge and told him to release us both under the authority of U.L. Paper.
The officer went pale and released us from the car. She told us to wait inside while she dealt with police.
Inside, we both tried to gather our heads as to what happened. How could something as simple as marijuana be enough to almost kill my brother? Who would even think to do so?
"I just can't form a plausible story, Niko. I don't know." I said with the after burn of tears. I was hoping he was okay as they took him to the hospital.
"I think I have an idea. Two in mind actually."
I urged him on by looking at him. He seemed to have a better grasp on things like this.
"One: Someone from his past wants him dead. A drug deal gone bad. Two: The man who betrayed me. I'm almost positive he has something to do with this. That Aaron guy could have been bought to kill Ethan."
"Why?"
"There must be something to gain for him. If only I knew his name!"
Karen joined us inside. She overheard Niko talking about her employers. She suggested it actually wasn't either options he had. Her thought was someone was trying to frame Niko. Being involved in another "murder" would slow down the process. Someone out there doesn't want him legal.
"I don't think that's it." Niko doubted. "I think it's your boss who's trying to get to Ethan."
"He doesn't even know where he is."
"You don't know that. He is a very powerful man. I'm sure he is keeping watch on us right now!"
"If that was the case, I am sure he'd be gathering us all up by now. This has nothing to do with my employers. I think it has something to do with his past. These drug dealers are always trying to get even with each other. We don't know who he screwed over."
My mind drifted away while NiKo and Karen argued again. I was thinking of the possible things he's done to people. Ripping them off in various ways so he could get ahead. It was after all that did I decide that it was too dangerous to continue thinking like that. My blood was boiling already. I didn't want to lose my temper.
"That's why we need to get him out of that hospital once he is better." Niko said.
"It could be a while. He could even have brain damage. You two don't know how long he was without oxygen."
That's even worse. Having a braindead brother on life support was almost the same as baby Kate. Making the decision to either continue that sort of life, or to end it. A fresh new batch of tears flooded my face, and Niko was there to hold me.
"I know. This isn't what we wanted for him." He consoled.
Karen, for once, showed her emotion and sobbed a little.
The evening was spent on the couch for all three of us. The television glowed against the walls as we blankly stared at it. We were all drained. I was the first to drift off to sleep after Niko had said something to me. I didn't hear him at all.
Who do you think you are? This little bitch just stole my horse!
My mind selected one of the scenarios I thought of and decided to make it into a dream.
I stole nothing from you, you goddamned asshole! I was the one who was ripped off! Your buyers set me up! They tried to kill me for the heroin!
The dealer began motioning erratically, explaining how easy the sell was. He called Ethan a moron for not following simple orders.
It wasn't my fault!
White boy! This is all your fault! In fact, how do I know you just didn't use the shit yourself? You are a junkie. You thought it would be a fast fix for you, so you used my batch!
If I used your batch, I wouldn't be standing here! I tried to make the sale. I almost died!
Of course, the dealer had none of it. He held the gun to Ethan's head as he approached him. He didn't back down. He only repeated what happened. It was one last time he said his explanation, then the dealer pulled the trigger and my brother fell to the floor in the same position he was in the condominium.
I shot awake. The lifeless body of my brother still burned in my mind and for a few seconds, was all I saw in the dark. My brain gathered itself once I calmed down. I checked the time on my phone.
"4:35?" I whispered.
Niko must have carried me to bed. He lay next to me on his side facing me. He looked like he was sleeping soundly, so I decided to leave him rest. There was no way I was going to be able to go back to sleep after having such a violent nightmare, and I was certainly not in a hurry to do so. Not wanting to have another dream like that, I pulled myself out of bed. My phone acting as a flashlight, I moved aroumd the bedroom to put on some clean clothes. The ones I slept in were all sweaty.
I made my way to the kitchen. My phone beeped indicating I had a few missed calls. My mother called early. She found out that Ethan was hospitalized yesterday and she was told he was stable. I thanked the Lord that he spared my brother. This was his second chance.
I put my head down on the table. I wanted to visit Ethan, but I was sure all I would do was scream at him for being so careless. I still wondered how he almost died just from smoking weed. And why the hell would his good friend want him dead?
The sun peaked through the blinds around 6:30. A slight overcast prevented it from fully shining. I looked through the blinds. It rained laat night judging by the puddles. For some reason, this made me sob. I imagined it was symbolic. My grandmother. Crying in Heaven when she witnessed my brother almost die. Then seeing this stranger try his hardest to bring him back. It set the mood for the entire day for me.
Karen was next to awaken. She didn't say a word as she shuffled around the living room. I wasn't sure what she was doing. I really didn't care either. I paid more attention to the birds.
"Are you alright?" She asked.
My head snapped to her. More because I didn't expect her to say anything to me.
"I guess so."
"Any plans on seeing him in the hospital today?"
"I was thinking of it. Once everyone is awake. Niko is still asleep."
She nodded and prepared a pot of coffee for us. When the brew stsrted, she sat across from me. Her engrossment directed towards me.
"What?" I asked.
"Why were you awake so early? You usually wake up around seven or so."
"I had a nightmare. One that felt so real."
"Was it about Ethan?"
I looked away out the window. The events of my dream came crawling back. A bead of sadness ran down my cheek.
"I got a phone call from my mother. She found out yesterday when the hospital called her about what happened. They said he was stable. I'll get more information from them when I go up. They couldn't tell me over the phone."
"Yeah. That information is confidential. What time do you want to go up?"
"I want Niko to sleep. He's been sleeping like shit. Whenever he is ready."
The coffee pot beeped. Karen verbally excused herself to pour herself a cup.
My phone rang. It was my mother again. She sounded a lot calmer then her voice mail she left not four hours ago. Apparently she spent the night with my brother. He was doing better this morning and was asking if I was going to visit. I was mad at him. But I wasn't going to miss out on seeing him. I told her once Niko was ready.
"Who's Niko?"
Oh shit! She doesn't know who he is. My brain was still half asleep. I conjured up a little lie to satisfy the question.
"He's...one of Ethan's friends."
"He's not one who does drugs, is he? I don't want him up here if he is."
"No, mom. He doesn't do drugs. He's the one who tried to revive Ethan. He's a really sweet guy. Very kind and caring."
She acutally invited him to the hospital so she can thank him personally. Now I needed to explain to Niko that we don't really know each other. I was the one who was wanting no secrets between him and I, yet here I am lying to my mother about him. I was being hypocritical.
She was talking about how she missed him through the years and how badly she wanted to be there for Ethan. She didn't know he became a drug addict and dealer. It was after she finished her self blaming did I speak up to tell her some of the truth.
"Mom, I need to confess something. Niko and I. We are dating. I shouldn't have lied to you. I was embarrassed that I haven't been keepng in touch. I really wanted you and Niko to meet under better circumstances than this. I'm sorry."
"Well, this comes as a surprise. I'm disappointed you lied, but I am much happier for you that you are still interested in dating. You had some bad guys you were dating. I was afraid you'd lose interest."
"Yeah. I'll tell you the story on how we met, but right now, Ethan needs us. I am sure he is pretty scared after what happened."
My mother agreed and she told me she wanted to get back to Ethan. I overheard her tell him I was on my way up to visit. He sounded pretty excited. Even asking if Niko was coming too. He and Niko have gained a bond that no other man has with him. It was really sweet. Niko gained his trust and respect, and in return, Ethan was really his best friend.
After the phone call, I checked on Niko. He was still asleep. I heard him mumbling something again. The alarm went off as soon as I approached him. This wasn't even enough to wake him. I hit the snooze button for him, giving him atleast ten more minutes.
I snuggled close to him as he slept. With his head on my chest, he stopped mumbling. I assumed he was having another nightmare and it gave me enormous pride to think that I was the one who scared the dream away.
"What time is it?" He asked after a few minutes.
"8:30ish." I guessed. "Do you want to go see Ethan at the hospital? My mother called and he really wants us up there."
"He's okay?"
"He's stable. My mother stayed overnight with him."
"Does she know what happened?"
"The doctors will tell us when we get there."
He slowly lifted his head off my chest to look at me. I petted him, ensuring him that I was okay.
"Do you want to go up there now?"
I nodded at him. He took the initiative to get himself up.
Karen knocked on the door. Her usual plowing down the door was not an option.
"Is Niko awake? Ethan called me. He really wants to see him."
"He's in the shower. He will be ready in a few minutes."
I got dressed, having decided to not take a shower. Using my cologne and deodorant, I hid the stench of body odor. Niko came out of the bathroom moments later after I poured another cup of coffee.
"Are you ready?" He asked.
"No coffee?"
"I'm alright. Where's Karen?"
"She started the car. She's waiting outside."
We joined Kared outside. She was smoking in the SUV while she waited. Niko and I sat in the back and we went to the hospital. The traffic was horrible. The 9 o'clock rush hour was a task to get through.
Karen, who had been collected until now, started exploding in horrific expletives. I told Karen to be calm. Her snap reply came, but she apologized immediately.
We pulled up to the visitor parking lot around 11, and I ran to the entrance. I found the receptionist and gave her my last name. His room was upstairs. I didn't care who I alerted when I ran through the hallways. I was on a mission to find my brother.
His room number was 220. I heard laughing as I approached. There he was, sitting up in the bed with my mother sitting at his bedside. I was so happy to see him well. The doctor was in the room just waiting for us to arrive. Niko and Karen respected the hospital rules and walked through the hallway. They came minutes later. The doctor stopped them from entering.
"What I have to say can't be discussed unless you are family. Privacy."
"It's okay, doctor. This is the man who tried to save me. He is close to family as my sister."
He nodded them both in and stood against the wall, flipping through papers. I admit, he was making me nervous. It looked like he was sifting through a bunch of health issues my brother had. I sat in the bed with my brother amd gave him a hug. I couldn't hold back the tears anymore.
"I didn't think I would be able to do this again, you butthead."
"I'm sorry, sis. I was stupid. But the weed wasn't the cause of what happened. That doesn't make it right, though."
I searched for answers from the doctor. He clicked his pen as he discussed what happened. It wasn't the weed, like he said. He had a mild heart attack when he passed out after smoking the weed. I had no idea he had a heaet attack. It was the high stress levels over the weeks. It was taking its toll on him. The theories and possibilities we were conjuring were nothing more than that. Niko showed his surprise and a little guilt when he roughed up Aaron.
"So, it was a heart attack? Nothing to do with the pot?" He asked to clarify.
"It was the day to day stressors. And that's saying nothing about his drug use. I am writing him a prescription for anxiety medicine and he needs to take it easy. No stress whatsoever."
Niko, I could tell, made an inward laugh. Those who associated with him had to deal with his extremely stressful life situations.
"That goes for all of you. If Ethan had a heart attack, think about yourselves as well. Take it easy for a few days. Take a walk, go to the beach, take a small vacation. Take in the small things."
I desperately wanted to say something to Niko about our trip to the beach amd how it ended up in disaster, but I kept my mouth shut. The doctor doesn't need to know what our lives are really like.
"We will want to monitor Ethan for a few days. We want to make sure he remains calm, and that he doesn't have another heart attack. Please let our staff know if you need anything. I'll leave you to visit." He waved and shut the door behind him.
We all did a collective sigh. It wasn't made obvious that we were all fugitives somehow, and we were hoping the doctor didn't recognize Niko. He wasn't on television, but his European accent might have given him away.
I thought it was a good time to introduce Niko and Karen to my mother. I didn't want to give too much away, but my mother already knew Ethan did drugs. I tried sugar coating the story a little.
"Mom, this is Niko. The man who tried saving Ethan. He did CPR on Ethan."
"The doctor told me that if it wasn't for Niko, Ethan would have died for sure. He kept his heart going and gave him oxygen until the paramedics arrived. They said he had a faint pulse, but you were the one to keep it going. I thank you from the bottom of my heart for saving my son and keeping him alive." She stood to meet Niko for a hug.
I saw him actually get taken back. He's never been thanked for something like this before. Amd I was sure he was thinking of his brother, Marko.
"I only did what I thought was right and what anyone would do in my situation." He said after their hug broke.
"Well, you are Ethan's hero. He wouldn't stop talking about you whem he regained consciousness."
"I'm not a hero."
"Yes you are! You saved me." Ethan spoke up.
He smiled back at him.
"I'm sorry for being an idiot. From now on, I'm never doing drugs. I am going to get clean."
"I'm glad. You don't know how badly I wanted you to say that."
"I'm sure Marko is smiling down on you, Niko." I added.
I saw him give out. He saw his brother in my brother. He felt like he has redeemed himself somehow by saving Ethan. I was there comforting him as he sobbed. All those years of pain from losing his brother finally ended and he was able to let it be at peace. To move on from one dark chapter in his life and he was one step closer from not being a prisoner of yesterday.
I decided to add some music to this fic. It adds more emotion to a story, and this is just a small sample of what I listen to in order to write this story.
I could be the one your love could save
"Soundtrack"
1. Live "Dolphin's Cry"
2. Soil "Redefine"
3. Cold "Starless"
4. 12 Stones "This Dark Day"
5. Sum 41 "Without you"
6. Yellowcard "Only One"
7. Starset "My Demons"
8. Breaking Benjamin "Ashes of Eden"
9. Pop Evil "Footsteps"
10. Imagine Dragons "I'll make it up to you"
11. Three Days Grace "Lost In You"
12. Devour the Day "The Bottom"
13. Linkin Park "Somewhere I belong"