Adam's eyes widened as Quintella collapsed on her knees. Fingers digging into her forehead, tears filling her palms, her voice cracked louder than the laments of a banshee.
Discomfort and fury over his girl's body pushed aside, he pulled her into a hug, her sobs tearing at his heart. "Don't worry, Quintella," he murmured in her ear with a soft, reassuring voice. "Everything will be fine by tomorrow."
He lowered her hands gently, locking his assured gaze with her pink eyes. Grief had replaced the usual naïve and eager spark that characterised them. And it made him tighten his lips in a thin line.
She tried to answer, but only managed to stutter gibberish through her tears, her strained breathing, and the drumming of her heart.. He simply nodded at everything for a moment before she recovered enough to form a comprehensible sentence.
"I-I don't want you to become... my big sister." Her trembling arms tightened around his ribs. "It can't happen. I won't let it happen."
