Alliyah

She tried encouraging Rayne up the stairs but her own abdomen had been stitched, therefore it was painful for herself to walk. Her palms stung with scrapes, and her right forearm was rolled up in a bandage, but they required no stitching.

They were finally lying down in their respective mattresses and beds when a volunteer spoke up:

“I, for one, do not want to ever do this again.”

Alliyah felt like agreeing. It had been too long since she had the chance to communicate with anyone in New York. Besides helping Rayne, what kept her going was making sure Lamar was safe and the thought of hugging him again.

Ocean must have been at work because her call led to voicemail. She decided to seek someone else:

“Blue?”

“Alliyah, we’ve been worried sick here. Are you all right?”

“How’s Lamar?”

“Oh, he’s okay. He’s right here. He’s been staying with my dad and I.“

“Thank you so much. Please put him on, and then we’ll talk, okay?”

Lying on her back, Alliyah felt a tear slide down her face when she finally heard his gentle voice:

“Hi, Alliyah. Are you okay?”

“I am, Little. How are you?”

“I’m just scared. And worried.”

“Yeah, a lot happened in a quick time, uh? I wish I was there for you.”

“It’s okay, you were helping people, right?”

“Yeah, and then they helped us.”

“That’s fair.”

Alliyah chuckled at the remark.

“Hey, can you get Blue back on the phone?”

“Sure. I love you.”

Another tear slid down her face.

“I love you too.”

“Hey, sweets.”

She heard Blue’s voice on the phone and cleared her throat:

“I need your rich, powerful, white-passing privilege help.”

She heard Rayne snicker from her mattress after hearing the words.

“How can I help?” Blue asked.

“They’re only letting us out of here in like a week. Can you speed that up with a private jet or something?”

“It will probably take more than a private jet but of course. I will talk to my dad. I’m sure we can do something about it.”

And there was. In just a couple of days, Alliyah and Rayne were reuniting with Z and Blue on the private jet.

“You didn’t have to come.” She spoke into Z’s neck while hugging her.

“Are you kidding me? Riding a pompous jet to a foreign country and getting to see you sooner? Why wouldn’t I come?” She chuckled, then in a more serious tone added. “I’m so glad you’re okay. I was... I really thought...”

Alliyah leaned her forehead on hers but didn’t give a verbal response.

Then Blue hugged her a tad too hard, considering her still-fresh wounds.

“Sorry, sorry!” He fretted. “I’m just so happy to see you!”

Alliyah looked down, yup, she was bleeding through the bandages on the side of her belly.

Blue grimaced and apologized once again. Well, twice again.

When she searched around the jet, Rayne was already sitting down, just waiting for them to finish reuniting.

“How are you?” Blue asked her.

“Delighted.” She dead-panned.

Blue smiled as if to express ‘I should’ve expected that.‘

“Do you also never want to volunteer again?“ Rayne asked while they were approximately 51,000 feet above the Earth.

“I don’t know.” She replied, emptied of emotions.

“I would like to try it again with you. You deserve a more enjoyable experience.”

She looked at Rayne, her eyes appearing a lighter brown when devoided of makeup. But more than that, she seemed more vulnerable after the ordeal.

Alliyah reminisced back to her words at the rooftop after the tsunami.

I’m really glad I got to know you… I’ve grown so close to you. It’s scary. I’ve never been like this with anyone else. You make it feel like I can be myself around you.

Could it be that they shared the same feelings? She hadn’t believed so, since Rayne was so incredibly closed off. Alliyah preferred when people were communicative. Well, now she was starting to do it!

“What?” Rayne asked.

“’What’ what?” Alliyah countered.

“You’ve been staring.” Rayne shifted in her seat.

“Sorry.” Her face heated up, which was highly unusual for her, and her heart raced in her chest.