The next week had passed rather slowly for Delilah after Cree's passing. The loss affected her so much that her concentration in her classes, as well as her grades began slipping more and more, as well as her moods getting more and more aggressive to the point where she started having hysterical laughing and crying fits. Due to this, she frequently had to step out of the class room and make trips to the counselor's office. She refused to say anything to anyone for some reason.. her teachers were concerned by this, and several phone calls were made to her parents. They were quite disappointed and concerned as well, to say the least.. but they understood why. On the bright side, other students at several instances seemed to sympathize with her, telling her she wasn't alone and that they missed Cree too. Whenever this happened, Delilah would give a quiet grunt and nod her head. Poor thing was so depressed that she couldn't even bring herself to speak half the time. Needless to say, Delilah wound up being home-schooled for a while.
Once she got home that Thursday for her 1st day of home-school, she set her backpack beside her computer desk and pulled out her homework for the afternoon. For a few moments she looked down at the thin stack of work sheets.. tears filled the brims of her eyes as more memories with Cree suddenly came washing into her mind before she softly burst into tears. Softly, but audible enough for her mother to hear her through the door.
"Lilly? Are you ok, honey pot?" she asked while knocking a few times. "n-no.." Mrs. Wilson opened the bedroom door and frowned sympathetically at the sight of her trembling, weeping daughter. She walked over and rubbed Delilah's shoulder as she lifted her face up and wiped her tears, still looking down at her math homework, then glancing up at a framed photo of her and Cree as children. Her lip quivered as she struggled to talk, ".. I miss her so much.. sh-she and I used to d-do homework t-together after school.. all my grades are slippin', b-but I'm tryin' my best to move on.. p-please don't be mad.."
"Honey.. it'll take quite a while to move on, what you're feeling right now is perfectly natural. And you know you can always count on me or your dad to help you with your homework." The two then shared a long hug, atleast long enough for Delilah to regain control of her emotions.
"O-ok, I think I feel better now.." Delilah sniffled before taking a deep breath. "first let's start with my math work.."
--
The days passed slowly for Abby as well, a large amount of guilt still dragging behind her. But it only continued to grow worse the more she seemingly bottled up her emotions as the week dragged on. That is until one Friday came along..
Abby and her four team mates were just getting off the bus and onto the court yard, strolling towards the front entrance when Fannie quickly approached them. Tapping Abby on the shoulder, she wrapped her in a tight hug once she got her attention, much to Sector V's surprise. "I just wanna say how sorry I am for your loss, Numbah Five.. I spoke with Moonbase and 362 about your situation, and we agreed to let you take a break from missions until you are mentally well again," she happily said, patting Abby's shoulders. "And if there's anything else you need, please don't hesitate to let us know."
"Thank you, Fannie, that means a lot.. yeah, I guess life has gotten me down ever since.. y'know.."
Harvey saw the six kids talking, as he looked around to make sure his sister wasn't watching. As soon as he was sure the coast was clear, he gave a sly little smirk and walked towards the group.
"Well, well, well.. I didn't think it'd be true. Abigail's low-life sister dies and now she's turned into the biggest cry-baby in the Kids Next Door," Harvey sneered, causing the older kids to turn in his direction. Hoagie saw Abby glaring and was quick to try and distract her. "Don't let him get to you, Numbah Five, he's just trying to get a rise out of you.." but this doesn't deter Harvey one bit. "Boo hoo, I'm Abigail Lincoln and I'm sad because my teenage sleaze-ball of a sister died from a hit-and-run!" he scoffed. "If anything we should be HAPPY she's finally gone because that means one less obnoxious teen for us to put up with. Cree was nothing but a huge burden on this organization for so long and she finally got what she deserved! And who just walks out into the road like that? Father must be crying his eyes out because one of his minions just won a Darwin Award-" Harvey was suddenly cut off as Abby pinned him to the wall, her face practically reddening with pure rage. "ONE MORE WORD OUT OF THAT BIG DUMB MOUTH OF YOURS AND YOU ARE DEAD, MCKENZIE!!! DO YOU HEAR ME?? I WILL BEAT YOU SO HARD YOUR GRAND CHILDREN WILL HAVE BRUISES!!!" That was when Wally and Hoagie pulled her off of him, holding her back with all the strength they had. But Harvey was already sprinting off into the building. "Yeah, that's it! Run away! Run away like the wuss you are!"
"Numbah Five, snap out of it! You're causing a scene!" Hoagie pleaded, lightly shaking Abby, who now realized the whole courtyard was looking at her. Embarrassed, she simply got back up and walked towards the main entrance of the school, her friends following carefully behind.
A few hours in, it was lunch time as per usual. While the cafeteria was mainly talkative today, Sector V sat together at a table which was a little further away from the rest of the kids, since Abby still needed a little space. She was mostly silent, aside from quiet sighs here and there, slightly trembling as she continuously stirred and picked at her food. "I've never seen Numbah Five act this way before.." Kuki whispered to Wally. "Yeah.. she's been getting worse and worse ever since Cree passed on," Hoagie whispered back with a worried tone.
"She's dead because of me.. I'm the one who set her off that day. It's all my fault." Abby coldly said out of the blue, having heard her friends talking. "Come now, Numbah Five, that's probably not true.." Nigel stammered, not knowing exactly what to say.. Abby glowered, still looking down at her tray- 'probably'.. that wasn't exactly the appropriate word choice and it definitely didn't help with the situation at hand.. "Come on, Abby, lunch is almost over.. atleast eat a little?.." Abby responded by pushing her tray aside, accidentally knocking it off the table and lightly shaking her head, "I can't eat right now, I'm so upset it's making me feel nauseous.."
Suddenly she slammed her forehead into the wooden surface of the table, face buried in her arms before letting out a symphony of barely suppressed sobs, to the surprise of the other four, who immediately rushed to comfort her. This also happened to catch the attention of the other children in the cafeteria - like Sector V, they were in disbelief at what they were witnessing.
"I-is Numbah Five.. crying?"
"I heard her sister passed away a bit ago.."
"She's never cried like this before.. I hope she'll be alright.."
Harvey raised a finger and opened his mouth to speak, but was quickly stopped by Rachel grabbing his arm, ".. you have said more than enough.. we'll talk more at recess."
The bell for recess rang, causing all of the children (except for Sector V) to get up and leave, a few of them giving Abby sympathetic glances on their way out.
Abby was now sobbing uncontrollably into Hoagie's shirt, soaking it with her tears. She cried to the point where her voice grew hoarse and her eyes turned red. "W-Why couldn't I have been a better sister???" she wailed miserably, flash-backs of Cree laying in that hospital bed flowing through her mind like water through a broken dam. The more they did, the thicker and more anguished her sobs grew. "Abigail, it's not your fault.." Nigel said with a hint of worry.
"Y-yes it is!.. If I hadn't started that big f-fight with her the other day, sh-she'd st-still be here!.. th-the last thing I s-said to her was th-that I wish I never had a s-sister.. a-and I'll have to live with that for th-the rest of my days, because now she's gone forever!!.. I'll never f-forgive myself!! NEVER!" Abby was now coughing through tears. "Numbah Five, PLEASE try to calm down, you're gonna make yourself sick if you keep cryin' like this!.." Wally said, giving her a gentle shake - even if she wished to stop, it was out of her control at this point. Her sister was dead and she never got the chance to apologize.. she wanted nothing more than to cry until she fell unconscious the more she thought about it. "Numbah Three, go get us some help, this is starting to get scary.. I'm afraid she might hurt herself if she doesn't calm down soon.." Nigel ordered, before Kuki nodded and made her way to the playground.
"Abby.. you don't really think you're the only one who's had arguments with their loved ones, do you?.." Hoagie asked with a soft voice. Despite her meltdown showing no signs of letting up, he simply held her in his arms, rubbing her back and shoulders up and down.. it only took a few more moments until Abby gagged violently and covered her mouth, alerting her team-mates to get her to the nearest trash bin before leading her outside to find a more vacant area of the playground.
