They were on their way home, and both Gabriella and Terry were currently sitting beside each other in the back while Hyacinth was driving the car.
Terry fell asleep after crying too much, and her head was leaning on her cousin's shoulder. Tears were still flowing from her eyes and she was still in grief while sleeping.
Gab continued to caress her hair, and her eyes were also puffy from crying. Hyacinth was driving quietly, but tears escaped from her eyes while seeing how miserable Terry looked on the rear view mirror of her car.
When they got back to the dome, even though Gabriella didn't want to wake up Terry from her sleep, she gently caressed her cheeks. "Terry, wake up." She tried to wake her up to make her go to her room and get a proper rest there. Terry opened her puffy eyes faintly and Gabriella even helped her get down from the car because she seemed to have lost the strength in her body.
Although Hyacinth wanted to be the one to assist Terry closely, she knew it wasn't a good time to argue with Gabriella about taking over and just let it go.
Gabriella assisted Terry until they reached the resthouse.
Hyacinth just followed them, and when the two entered Terry's room, she was about to speak in protest, but the door was already shut.
She was left with an open mouth that couldn't get a chance to complain.
She was about to knock on the door to go with them, but when she remembered how tired Terry looked from crying, her fist stopped in the air and couldn't continue to knock. It was a huge mistake for her to become immature at the very moment that Terry was hurting.
There, she finally lowered her hand and it clenched as she realized that she had no place to help Terry get through this painful phase.
Gabriella had it because she knew Terry's history better than she did, and she was the one who dug up the truth about Terry's mother. Gabriella was the one who cleared up the misunderstanding Terry had with her mother's intention of leaving her.
"I feel so useless." She leaned her forehead against Terry's door while shedding tears, frustrated that she couldn't do anything to ease the pain her bestfriend was feeling.
The next day...
The smell of the mouth-watering spaghetti sauce being cooked woke up Hyacinth from her sleep. She thought she was just dreaming but after a few moment, she immediately got up from her bed with disheveled hair after realizing something. Her eyes widened when she thought that maybe Terry was already okay because she was able to cook again.
She excitedly got out of her bed, then headed to the kitchen, and even forgot to wear her house slippers just to see Terry's smile that she always gets to see every morning. When she got into the kitchen, she stopped running and, slowly, a wide smile appeared on her lips when she saw that Terry was really the one cooking. "Terry!" she happily called her.
Terry turned to face her... which was the reason why her smile gradually faded.
What she was expecting to see was Terry's innocent and caring smile.
But Terry's gaze that met hers seemed devoid of life. No joy, sadness, or any other emotions there.
Just lifeless.
"T-terry," she called her and felt scared.
She felt fear... but not the kind that people feel when there is danger.
It was a fear because of the thought that, possibly because of what had happened, Terry would never go back to the way she was. That the pain she was feeling might change her forever.
She felt a surge of emotions that were very familiar to her. The same emotions she felt when she lost her mother before. She was already getting scared that she would lose another person important to her.
She was stunned by all the thoughts she was having while staring at Terry.
Terry, on the other hand, went back to what she was doing, ignoring her reaction and Hyacinth was about to approach her when suddenly, someone grabbed her arm. That made her look at that person.
"We should not bother her," said Gabriella, who looked sleepless and tired.
Gabriella gently pulled her away from there and she took her outside of the resthouse. When they were in front of the tree near the house, she let go of her. Gabriella took a deep breath. "Hyacinth, she's still very shocked with what she found out yesterday, so let's give her space to pick herself up and feel better again."
Hyacinth's forehead furrowed in disagreement. "That's non-sense! She needs our help! She is very fragile right now, and she needs more care than anyone else! If we just let her alone, she might do something we never want to happen. In particular, she is definitely blaming herself right now for thinking that her mom abandoned her back then."
"I know her. She won't do that to herself. "
Her blood was spiked by what she heard and her brow raised. "And me? You're saying that you only know her well and I don't?"
"Don't put words in my mouth. I said that because I know she can handle it by herself."
"That's too cruel! She already has a speech disorder, Gab! What other disorder are we waiting for her to develop because of what happened? What we should do is to bring her to a doctor! They are the ones who can really help her!"
Her eyes widened. "We should not! Don't you ever do that Hyacinth!"
Her expression crumpled with disbelief. "What's wrong with you?! You're trying to take away the help your cousin deserves! You don't seem to want her to get well!"
Gabriella deeply exhaled and already looked frustrated. "It's not because I don't want her to get better. You know, Terry is the type that will not open up just to anybody. Your efforts will just be wasted. She doesn't like that idea, and we just need to respect her decision."
She remembered that she had previously offered to take Terry to see a psychologist, but the latter refused.
"She has gone through many setbacks in life and I know she will be able to overcome this phase too because she is a strong person. Besides, I did not say to ignore her. We just need to make sure she's not getting stressed out taking care of the two of us."
She could no longer rebut and the tension they had slowly faded when she realized that Gab was right.
Gabriella took out her phone from her pocket and looked at it, then sighed. "I actually don't want to, but I have to go out right now to go back home. My mother got sick because of the stress she had when I left home and asked me to go home. I'll go back here later in the afternoon, and I'll pick up my things tomorrow here."
Hyacinth's eyes widened, not expecting that Gab would leave sooner than she requested.
She should have feel great because her rival was finally getting out of her way, but instead, she felt even more worried for Terry's sake.
Her cousin who she could depend on a sensitive time like this needed to leave.