1 First encounter
Standing not far after alighting is Aviana Cole, her mother Joana Cole and her brother Hayden Cole. Finally, they were here. In LA, the most popular city in California. Surrounded by vast mountain ranges, valleys, forests, beautiful beaches along the pacific ocean and nearby desert. She could not believe her eyes. She stood on the same spot as if rooted to the ground, her eyes moving from the elegantly dressed people moving to and from the airport, to the beautiful tall buildings. These were enough for her to understand that those who lived in this city were extremely rich. She felt in love with the city at first sight.
No longer holding the joy inside her she shouted happily.
"Wow, this is so amazing! I've never seen a scenery like this before. Hey, look at that building. It's really awesome!" said Aviana excitedly pointing to the direction of a tall building her eyes came across.
The mother and the son stood there stupefied by the little woman's excitement.
"Mommy, how old is she?" Hayden couldn't help but ask. "Because with the way she is so excited, jumping up and down, she is more like a six-year-old kid." Joana sighed. Didn't she notice people were looking at her? People began to murmur exchanging glances.
"Hey, who's that woman?" one woman asked.
"She doesn't seem to be from this city," another commented.
"Yeah, that's true. With the way she's so excited, I bet it's her first time in LA," another added.
"Even her dressing is so much different from ours. She doesn't have class at all," as another said these word, they all nodded their heads in agreement to her words and glared at her as if she were some kind of unwanted thing.
She heard their words. It was at this point, Aviana turned around and realized that it was actually, her, they had been talking about . Her face reddened. She wished to run but couldn't as if her legs were rooted to the ground. She were really embarrassed.
"Oh c'mon! why are they making a big deal out of nothing? Yes, I was excited but it's not a crime, is it?" She screamed in her head trying to ease the already tensed atmosphere. But, it was useless. People were already starting to gather around, glaring at her.
"Oh Aviana, you really embarrassed yourself this time. How could you forget, this is not your hometown? Where you could jump up and down without anyone bothering to give you a glance," she scolded herself. "This is LA, a busy area with many people," she reminded herself.
Hayden laughed. Looking at his sister, her head hunging low with her palms trying to hide her face from the people, he couldn't help it.
"That was hilarious," he blurted. Then, the next minute, he ran. He knew what would happen to him, if he stood there for more than a second.
"That's not funny at all. It's all your fault Hayden. You should have warned me in time," she complained and ran after him. Actually, it was no one else's fault but hers. And she knew it. She just put the blame on him to ease the embarrassment. She was embarrassed in broad day light, how could she take the blame alone? Seeing her brother laugh at her, she became annoyed.
'How dare he make fun of me? His big sis? He should be comforting me rather than adding salt to the injury?!' she complained to her innerself as she kept running after him. 'I'll let him be for now and deal with him later when we're back to the house . For now, let it be Aviana. Pretend nothing happened and catch him when he has let his guard down,' she rubbed the palms of her hands together as she hacked the plan, an ear-to-ear grin curved across her lips . She was really proud of herself for coming up with such a good idea to catch him unaware. At least, that was what she thought. Her idea was the best.
Watching the little woman and the young man bickering, one running from the other and the other one running after the other, joana sighed. She were relieved. Aviana was her only daughter and she knew her very well. She was the apple of her father's eye. He doted on her. Whatever she asked, she got. Even when when she made mistakes, he would not punish her. He would often say, "she is just a child." Later on, her father died when she was only 15. She was the most heartbroken. For days, she locked herself up in her room, cried all day. At 15, her father died. Days, months, years passed after his demise . Hayden had just been born. Aviana was forced by nature to mature at such a tender age. All these years, ever since her father died, Aviana's mood has always gloom. Now, seeing her so excited, argue with her brother, running after him, how then could she not be happy? She had tried all she could to bring back the jovial side of her daughter but to no avail. She was now relieved. The beautiful smile of her daughter, was back on her face and it was enough to make her happy.
*****
*****
"Sir, your father is on the phone. He wants to speak with you." said Devin as he handed over, the phone . Inside the SUV, sat Ethan Urkel, the ceo of the biggest known company in LA, G&K. He was the eldest son of Old Mr Urkel. He wore a white pull neck and blue suit that perfectly fit him exposing his ripped body. He took the phone and exchanged few words with him before giving the phone back to Devin. aking the phone, he exchanged few words with his father and gave it back to Devi. "Drive to the office," his cold voice sounded from the back of the car.
*****
*****
"Hayden stop! Stop! You'll be hit by a car if you don't stop. Okay fine, it's my fault. It's my fault for not being careful, for being childish. Just stop, okay!" Aviana shouted, tears clouding her eyes. After the argument, Hayden ran as fast as he could, away from her. At first, she thought that he would run for a while and stop when he was at a far distance from her but he kept running. When she saw things were getting out of control, she ran after him to stop him. As soon as Hayden stepped on the road, he was hit by a fast approaching car.
The whole world became quiet.
It was quite a while before Aviana came to herself and realized what happened. She ran to the scene with a pale face, shocked to see that her brother was lying flat on the ground. Blood oozed from his head. What she feared the most happened. If only she knew, she wouldn't have blamed him. If only she knew, she wouldn't have made him run away. She regretted it all. She regretted coming to LA in the first place. Now her brother lay there, unconscious. If anything bad happened to him, she would die.
"Hayden! Hayden! Wake up! Wake up please! I beg you open your eyes and look at me. I'm sorry Hayden, please don't leave me! Don't die! I'm sorry for blaming you, I'm sorry Hayden. I promise, it will never happen again." Aviana could hardly choke down her tears. Her face was flooded with tears. A tear after another kept rolling down her cheek.
Realizing what happened, Ethan rushed over to the boy. He knelt next to his chest and begun to gently shake his shoulders. He didn't respond. Placing one hand on his forehead, he tilted the head back and with two fingers from the other hand lifted the chin. The boy was still unresponsive. He placed his ear above his mouth, looking down his body, he listened for sounds of breathing to feel his breath on his cheek. He did this for ten seconds. The boy wasn't breathing. Ethan tore his pull neck and wrapped the piece around they boy's forehead, before picking him up. He held him in his arms and rushed to the back seat of the car. Aviana followed him and sat at the back seat to accompany her brother to the hospital.
"To the hospital!" he ordered, his voice no longer cold as always. A flash of light appeared in his eyes but disappeared the next second. He was anxious. Holding the boy in his arms, he felt scared. But scared of what? Maybe he didn't want his hands to be stained with blood. Although in his line of business, he had killed so many people, that was what business demanded. Doing what you have to do, to get what you want, to be successful. But, this felt different. The boy was young and innocent. He didn't deserve to die. Looking at the little woman who sat next to him, a sudden feeling of sadness filled his heart. Deep down in his heart, he felt sorry for her. He wished to tell her how sorry he is, to tell her that everything would be fine. That she should be strong for the boy, anything that would comfort her. But his pride wouldn't let him. Or maybe he didn't want to admit that for the first time in his 27 years of living, he cared for someone.
Arriving at the hospital, nurses stood at the gate of the hospital with a wheeled stretcher. Kindred hospital was the biggest hospital in LA, with the best medical services. And to top it all, it was owned by the Urkel family. Ealier, Devin had informed the doctor of the emergency and told them to prepare everything that was required. He set the boy on the stretcher as the nurses wheeled him inside the hospital to the large room set aside for the operation.
