The Final Six (The Final Six #1) - Alexandra Monir Page 0,42
I’ve never dreamed it like that, so vivid and full of every horrific detail—” She breaks off, crying too hard to speak.
“What do you mean?” I ask, fearing her response. What if I’m the wrong person to help her? I don’t know what to do—
“I watched my mom and siblings die. I saw the whole thing, and I couldn’t stop it.”
My hand flies to my mouth.
“One minute I was in the kitchen cleaning my drunk of a stepfather’s mess, watching my mom and brother and sister play bocce ball through the window, and the next . . .” Fresh tears spill from her eyes. “You wouldn’t believe what I was thinking then. I was worried about what would happen when I went back to school, when I’d have to leave the three of them at his mercy. I was so distracted worrying about a future they would never have—that I missed my split-second chance to save them. I heard the sound of the roar, and I wasn’t quick enough to recognize it as a warning.”
I squeeze her hand, my heart in my throat as she speaks. I wonder if I should interrupt and tell her she doesn’t have to say any more, not if it’s too painful to remember. But something in her voice lets me know that she needs this, and I stay silent.
“The wave looked like a hundred-foot cobra, arched and ready to strike.” Suki’s voice drops to a whisper. “By the time I saw it, it was too late. The tsunami had already seized my family and everyone else on the beachfront, sweeping them all out to sea. The water came pouring in, crushing the front door and chasing my stepfather upstairs, but I let it carry me outside. I swam against the current, searching for my family—but there was no hope. All I saw were piles of bodies and upturned boats slicing the faces of the drowned. I’ve tried to wipe that image from my mind, but I can’t, I can’t.”
“I’m sorry—I’m so sorry.” I throw my arms around her, realizing that I am crying too. My stomach churns and my chest aches as I imagine what she went through. Her words trigger my memories of seeing the tsunami all over the news, the horror my family and I felt at the photos of the carnage. But by the next day, there was a new disaster to report, and the world quickly moved on from mourning Singapore. You become numb to the daily tragedies, until the next one happens to you.
As I look at Suki, and think of Leo and Jian, I can’t help seeing the Europa Mission in a different light. If it worked, what an escape it would be . . . But I am too scientific for blind faith. I wish I could believe in the mission, I wish I could forget what my hypothesis and my gut are telling me about Jupiter’s moon. But I can’t.
“Where did you go after?” I ask, wiping my eyes. “What did you do?”
Suki shakes her head bitterly.
“I didn’t have a choice. I had to stay with the drunk, because I was still a minor and had no money of my own. I thought it would be just a few more months stuck with him in that house, and then I’d go back to university and be gone for good.” Her eyes drop. “But I soon found out the university went under, too.”
“So this is the first time you’ve left since . . .” My voice trails off, and she nods.
“Yes. And now that I’ve gotten away, I’m never going back. I’m going to make the Final Six, or I’ll die trying.”
“I understand,” I murmur, wrapping my arm around her. She leans her limp head on my shoulder, exhausted from the conversation. But her forehead is burning, and I sit up in alarm.
“Suki . . . are you feeling sick?”
She shrugs slightly, and I press my palm to her forehead. “You’re burning up. I should call the medic—”
“I just need sleep.” Suki bats my hand away and sinks under the covers. “Don’t call anyone, okay?”
“Okay,” I sigh. “I’m going to get you a cold compress though.”
I throw on a sweatshirt over my pj’s, and I’m almost out the door when Suki sleepily calls my name.
“Thank you. For being a friend, even though I haven’t exactly been the warmest.” She takes a breath. “I guess I was afraid to get close to anyone I’m competing against.”