They head towards their parents and the other soldiers, while the two remaining with them are protecting them. The parents notice as the kids get close that there is someone with them, another kid their age.
“What took you so long?” Anu asks firmly, then he asks referring to the stranger. “And who is that?”
Dhati replies trying to get out of there as soon as she can, “We’ll explain everything, but everyone is fine.”
Akit turns around, doing a once-over to check on everyone when she notices Niko’s head resting on Teyluk’s shoulder with her eyes closed, looking almost unconscious. She then notices the blood dripping down her back, the realization hits that she is in fact unconscious. She is shot.
Akit gasps as she screams, “NIKO!”
Everyone's attention shifts to Niko as Anu approaches her side to assist Teyluk in pulling her to sit in front of him. He tries to wake her up but is unsuccessful. He glares at Kiro, who wants the ocean to swallow him whole.
“We need to get her to Tul,” Anu demands as all of them start to head home as fast as they can.
They rush her back to the village, where Tul and the other healers are waiting for any injured soldiers, while Ori waits on shore with his mother. She gasps when she sees Niko as Anu carries her to her house. They leave while Teyluk, Dhati, and Nevan stand dumbfounded on the beach, and Kiro stands shamefully further back. The Avits and Teyluk dash after Tul, but Nevan holds his brother back. Dhati and Ori enter Niko's house to help their mother in any way they can.
Kiro asks the others breaking the silence. “Is she going to be okay?”
Teyluk turns around slowly in anger as Kiro adds. “Thank you for saving us, I don't know how to thank you.”
Nevan and Akit know that Teyluk is going to explode and before they can do anything, he does.
“You can start by telling us why you betrayed her. Why did you sell her out?” Teyluk shouts, startling Kiro.
Kiro replies raising his hands to protect himself, thinking Teyluk is about to hit him. “I didn't have a choice. I was twelve and scared for my life. They would have killed me if I didn’t do as they said.”
Akit adds stomping towards him, “And you didn't think about the consequences? You didn't think about what might happen to her?”
Kiro replies defending himself, “I didn’t even know she survived until a couple of months ago.”
He adds pleading, “I know what I did was wrong. I just didn’t know what else to do.”
“You could have kept your mouth shut.” Nevan comes at Kiro.
Teyluk demands as he nudges Kiro in the shoulder, “How about you just leave us alone, go back there.”
“I can’t do that, they’ll kill me.” Kiro replies shamefully, looking down at the ground.
“And what about Niko? They almost killed her.” Teyluk shouts finally letting loose.
Ori has left his family at Niko’s house to go check on the Poteks. Dhati, in the midst of chaos, fills him in on the whole ‘Kiro’ situation. When he arrives on the beach, he sees the three of them almost ganging up on Kiro as he keeps retreating back. He doesn’t want to interfere at first, but everyone deserves a second chance. Does Kiro deserve it? No, but that’s Niko’s decision to make when she gets better. Ori interrupts them by getting in between them, standing in front of Kiro shielding him with his body.
Ori demands, “Enough!” He adds, “this is not the time for this. so everybody shut up!” he shouts as he holds his face in his hands, frustrated.
The Poteks forget about Kiro and at once ask Ori about Niko, where he answers that they are still trying to save her and that he left to give them some room. Teyluk turns to head towards Niko’s house when Ori holds him back.
“You don’t want to see her like that, They’ve got it under control.” Ori says trying to convince himself more than anyone.
“Do you know that for sure ?” Teyluk asks firmly.
“No, but I hope they do.” Ori replies sighing.
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On the other hand, Niko lies on the ground of her home, as Tul has gotten her tools to try and patch her up. She has lost consciousness, and her body is getting cold from bleeding out. Tul is frantically trying to stop the bleeding, but the bullet is still in Niko’s shoulder, she’d have to cut deeper around the bullet to get it out.
After extreme effort the bullet is removed, and Tul begins stitching Niko’s shoulder after she stops the bleeding. But the problem is that she lost a lot of blood, fell into a coma. Anu steps outside to join Neyt and Sur after they check on their own kids. Tul and Dhati go out to inform them of Niko’s state. Once Anu sees them getting out of the house, he comes rushing towards them.
“How is she? Is she awake?” he asks worryingly.
“With this bad of an injury, it’s a miracle she still has blood in her body” Tul says with her eyes tearing up , as she tries to take a deep breath.
“Will she wake up?” Dhati asks as she finally lets it all out, tears falling down her cheeks.
“I don’t know, she lost a lot of blood, but she is still breathing.” Tul explains, “All we can do now is hope for her to wake up” Tul says as she finally bursts out crying as Anu pulls her into a hug.
At that moment, they aren't the chief or the healer, but rather devastated parents who are worried sick about their child; Niko is their daughter. All Anu can recall is that the last words he said to her were that he is disappointed in her for failing to protect her siblings from harm. He regrets his words, and she is shot in order to protect them. He can't lose her, and even if he does, these words can’t be the last thing he said. He is always proud of her, especially she chooses to hurt herself in order to save her siblings.
When Dhati leaves her parents to be alone, she sees the Poteks as they wait at the beach worried. Once they notice her they rush towards her to ask about Niko, see her as she dries her tears.
Teyluk asks rapidly, “Is everything okay? Is she okay?”
Dhati answers disappointed, as she gets on the verge of tears again. “No, she is in a coma.”
Nevan asks in shock, as Teyluk goes silent from shock. “What? How?”
“She’s bandaged up, but she lost a lot of blood.” Dhati answers frustrated, wiping her tears aggressively.
“Do you know when she will wake up?” Akit asks as Dhati shakes her head.
Teyluk asks nervously, “Can I … we see her?”
Dhati nods, smiles gently as the others gesture for Teyluk to go see her first. They know how he feels towards her and that it must be extremely heart wrenching to see her in that state. Dhati turns round and heads towards Niko’s house. They put her there where they know she’ll be more comfortable. Dhati turns to enter the house, and Teyluk follows her. He is worried about her, more than he thought he would, more than he would have admitted two weeks ago. Everyone noticed, looks like everyone has figured it out, his feelings for her.
Once they arrive Dhati tells him that she will wait for him outside until he is done, to give him privacy. He opens the door and when her sees her in that state, a lump form in his throat. He sees her lying on the ground, her whole shoulder is bandaged up as her forearm is laying on her stomach. She is quiet and breathing steadily. He sits down beside her, hesitates to hold her other hand but decides not to.
“Niko, it’s me, Teyluk.” He says, pauses for a moment to gather his thoughts.
“I know you can’t hear me, but I needed to see you.” He adds, “There’s so much I want to tell you, so much I still want us to do together.”
He exhales deeply and continues, his voice cracking. “I want you to wake up, Niko. And as much as I hate to admit, I want to see your beautiful smile again.”
He continues, “I want you to tell me how much I annoy you.” He chuckles as he finally gathers the courage to hold her hand.
“But I don’t know if you’ll ever wake up. Tul says you might, but she also says there’s a chance you might never wake up.”
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“Maybe one day, you’ll wake up, and we’ll be able to pick up where we left off.” He takes a deep breath and continues, “Until then, I’ll keep talking to you. Hoping that somehow, someway, you can hear me.” He says, letting go of her hand.
He finally stands up, opens the door to find Dhati sitting on the stairs sobbing quietly. She wipes her tears as soon as she hears him coming out. He quickly thanks her for letting him see her and excuses himself so fast she doesn’t even get to stand up.
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