Where are you...? D: [Emily]

[Drea]

There was absolutely no reason for this.

Except for the fact that she hadn't seen hide nor hair of her sister for a week and, after finding out her sister had been kidnapped and tortured, had no idea that she'd been rescued.

And she was in a sleeping bag outside her sister's apartment door.

Nevermind that she had a key. She didn't want to invade her sister's space. But it didn't matter.

She had no idea where her sister was. She had no idea of what had happened. How to help her sister. One second she'd been in the car with the others, and the next she'd been... left behind.

Dammit.

Having no idea of what to do or where to go, she'd pitched her sleeping space right outside her sister's apartment. To hell with what her parents thought. She'd told them it was a sleepover. The guards wouldn't tell on her, either. They liked her.

And she'd tried calling the hospital, but they wouldn't tell her.

Dammit.

And she still didn't know where her sister was. Drea hadn't slept in three days and looked like she hadn't taken care of herself for seven. She hadn't eaten in the past two days and had been blearily staring at the wall for the past two hours.

She'd run out of tears on the first two days. But it was no excuse.

Dammit!

Where was her sister?

[seishounohana]

A grunt came from Emily's lips as she pulled herself up. She had been more or less saved from her own little predictament by Layla, though one could say that it was all Gabriel's fault. For some reason, there was little, if any, grudge held for the Seran male for what he did.

Emily was probably a bit too kind, perhaps.

She checked her IV, it was still dripping - already close to being in need of changing. Emily still had a few more bottles to finish - maybe around two more at a 15 drops per minute rate, which would probably take a while to finish. Layla had more or less given her the liberty of continuing her treatment at home, after all... Emily is a nurse at that hospital; she could take care of herself just as well.

Though, she would have to walk - regardless of how painful that was. Layla brought up baskets of food and groceries through the window every morning, so that Emily wouldn't have to go down and drag that little IV stand to the supermarket - possibly creeping every other shopper out. The thought more or less made the green-eyed girl chuckle as she pulled her legs towards the kitchen, taking an IV bottle from the cupboard. A quick change, and she was quite ready for a walk.

Still wearing a loose white shirt and dark green boxer shorts for pajamas, Emily opened the door for the first time in four days to see her little sister and a few other people basically having a sleep-over right in front of her doorstep.

"... Drea?" She said, slightly surprised. "Why are you camping out outside of my door?"

[Drea]

Now, it should be pretty obvious that by this point, Drea's entire being was essentially that of an exhausted emotional mess of crazed Filipino sister.

Which was why, when she started to hear voices, she slammed her head straight against the wall. She though she was imagining it and perhaps getting sleepy. No doubt the pain would help wake her.

"... Drea? Why are you camping out outside of my door?"

Drea blinked, pinched herself for good measure - wincing the whole while - and finally realized that Emily wasn't an apparition.

"You're.... here....?" she almost couldn't get the words out as she stared blankly at her sister. "Here, at home. Not... there."

She got to her feet in a slow, but fluid motion - as though she were unaware of everything else. Her eyes were focused on Emily and yet somehow not. As though she weren't all there.

"You're here," she repeated, numbly looking at her sister. "... Safe...."

[seishounohana]

"Drea!" Emily shouted out, basically more than a little troubled when her sister basically slammed her head against the hard, cement wall. She pulled herself forward, half-forgetting that she was still attached to an IV-line, and she tugged on the cord, causing the needle within her hand to cause her some significant pain. Despite that, Emily only cringed.

She didn't want to worry her sister.

"You're.... here....? Here, at home. Not... there." Emily smiled weakly, but noted her younger sister's distress; it worried her greatly, feeling somewhat sorry for causing her pain. "You're here, ... Safe...."

Emily leaned against the door, still feeling somewhat weak.

"I'm... quite safe here, Drea." She said. "I just haven't left my flat for a while. Come in."

Emily would move her IV stand aside, the liquid dripping slowly from the drip chamber and into her veins.

[Drea]

"I'm... quite safe here, Drea. I just haven't left my flat for a while. Come in."

Drea was still very much in shock. She hadn't expected to see her sister at all, but the throbbing at the front of her head very much persuaded her that Emily was, indeed, before her.

"You're here," she repeated again, her eyes still wide. She'd been very dazed. Now, thanks to that solid thunk, she'd be lucky if she wasn't concussed.

Slowly - mechanically - she followed her sister into her flat.

"You're here," she repeated. The tears welled up in her eyes. "Dammit, you're here." She wasn't angry - rather, she was, in a sense, berating herself for her stupidity. How could she not have been aware?

How could she not have been there to save her sister? Guilt engulfed her.

[seishounohana]

Emily's face was smiling, even though there was a part of her drowning in a certain degree of guilt. She had honestly wanted Drea to be safe from this sort of thing, but she supposed maybe the instability was part of being who they were being born of the same blood and flesh.

...

Emily would close the door as Drea came inside, pulling a handkerchief from her short's pockets and pressed it onto her sister's eyes to blot away the tears. Being the older sister, she felt a sense of responsibility towards Drea.

... and there had always been trouble trailing after Emily, so the worry that Drea may be eventually dragged onto her pre-existing issues in 259 may have become a concern of Emily's. She loved her sister dearly, and would do anything to have Drea not feel the pain she had to go through.

But fears aside, pain was a good thing in terms of helping Emily grow. Escaping it would mean more harsher and albeit more horrible pain...

"Dammit, you're here."

Emily smiled, squeezing her sisters shoulder with her other hand to assure her that she really was here. "I'm quite here, so don't cry, kay?" She said, "Do you want ice for your head? ... Maybe a place to sit down? How long have you been outside, Drea?"

[Drea]

"I'm quite here, so don't cry, kay? Do you want ice for your head? ... Maybe a place to sit down? How long have you been outside, Drea?"

Drea sniffled as she shook her head, rubbing fiercely at her eyes to clear away the waterfall of doom that was pouring from them.

"Th-three days...!" she managed to get the words out between her hiccups. "I didn't know where you were! D-David - " She hiccupped. "D-dav'd didn't tell me he went to find you...! I got left behind!" She sobbed, hating how weak she felt.

"Dammit, John said G-Gab-ri-ri-ri...!" her words were dispersed by her tears once more as she carefully latched onto her sister. Despite her own emotional anxiety, she didn't want to her her sister.

[seishounohana]

Three days.

Her sister was bawling so much that she was even hicupping. Cute, but at their age it was something Emily shrugged off along with several other things.

Emotions were petty, but they existed. Emily knew that it was a sin to basically deny these feelings; or at least, more than anyone. Emily knew quite well how Drea must've felt - weak, helpless; just a few things that she basically kept on feeling even now that she was technically one of the more stronger fighters in the entire campus but...

"Dammit, John said G-Gab-ri-ri-ri...!" The mention of Gabriel had Emily hush Drea with a soothing tone as she pulled her sister close into an embrace.

"Whatever Gabriel did is over, okay?" She said, "Stop crying and smile for me, kay? Breathe."

Emily honestly wondered slightly about her decision to keep Gabriel in Regalia, but honestly... there were a few things she was interested in finding out.

Of course, Emily wasn't the same as the Emily they knew back in Militia. IF they hadn't realized that, then Emily probably was quite good at pretending...

"Sit down, I'll get you a glass of water, kay?"

[Drea]

Drea nearly choked as her sister moved to hug her.

"Whatever Gabriel did is over, okay?" Emily said, "Stop crying and smile for me, kay? Breathe."

Of course, it being Drea, she only cried harder. "I couldn't help you!" she cried. "I couldn't help you at all...! Even though I finally found you again and everything...!"

Still, she hated the fact that she was being a nuisance to her sister - and she did try to regulate her breathing. She just happened to fail at it. Epically.

Her hiccuping noises turned into gasping breathes as she tried to keep her sobs down. Unfortunately, that required effort and she rather forgot to breathe in the process. Thus her body's ragged breathing.

"Sit down, I'll get you a glass of water, kay?"

Drea obeyed, sitting, still trying to regulate herself. How shameful... But... She couldn't control herself all the time. But for her to lose control now, of all times? And before her sister?

She felt pathetic.

[seishounohana]

"I couldn't help you! I couldn't help you at all...! Even though I finally found you again and everything...!"

Emily only smiled softly, taking her younger sister into another embrace. "Sis, you're helping me by being here." She said, "... and honestly, I might have the idea why David went ahead."

...

"Gabriel is... a particularly dangerous person, Drea." She explained, "David knows that as much as I, but only he is capable of fighting him at his own level as they are right now. Understand that he wishes to protect you..."

...

Emily would release Drea from her embrace, her slightly weak eyes fixed into her sister's own. There was little that Emily could do to help build Drea's confidence, but...

"... Would you want to stay here and take care of me, Drea?" She said, "At least, until I manage to be able to stand on two feet without the help of an IV stand." She laughed, glancing at the metal stand that helped her keep balance when walking in spite of her weakened state.