Best Defense

The Lady on Fire

...Sean Danial Warner POV's....

Me, Franda, and Edward just walked into the treatment room, following some of the nurses who moved Mia. Edward and I sat on the couch while Franda chose to be near Mia.

Everything that was caught by my eyes right now is devastating to me. Franda is still very hit with the incident that hit Mia. Tears kept pouring down her cheeks, unwilling to stop even though she was seen repeatedly trying to hold back. Both of her hands clasped Mia's hand and placed it on her cheek, her eyes did not move a second from Mia's face, and her mouth had been trembling with tears ever since. For God's sake, I would love to destroy the man who caused all this chaos, beat him to pieces, then throw him to the bottom of the abyss. But I don't know who that guy is yet.

Goddamnit!

I cursed in my heart, condemning my own careless stupidity until I could be misled like this. Had I given Mia more oversight, something like this wouldn't have happened. It was all my fault, and Edward deserved to be angry and disappointed. I asked Mia to stay with us because I hoped Franda would not feel lonely, but I did not expect that Mia would end up falling into the hole that made me and Franda also fell into it.

Turning away from Franda, I turned my head to look at Edward sitting beside me. He was also looking at his two brothers. Watching it seal it, made me feel even more guilty. "I'm sorry, John. This is my fault." I said sincerely and earnestly with my words.

There appeared a thin line of smiles at the corner of Edward's lips. Without taking her eyes off Franda and Mia, she answered me. "I also failed to keep them, Sean" he said in a trembling voice. "Whatever I'd say to Dad if I met him in the afterlife, he must've strangled me until it felt like I wanted to die again, but I couldn't possibly die in the afterlife." she joked a little and a subtle laugh escaped her mouth.

My lips lifted up and heard her joke. "Yes. Because we'll only die once." I'll pay you back. Makes us laugh at the same time.

Edward sighed, and now he turned to look at me. "I'm sorry for my attitude. Unknowingly I'm throwing a mistake at you, bro."

"I'm guilty and you deserve to be mad at me." I replied quickly. "But, please don't take it out on Franda. You know he has a little trouble regulating his emotions. I'm just afraid Franda overreacted in response to your words, which will eventually lead her to blame herself again."

"I can't bear to see him tormented as when we lost our future son, you yourself witnessed how messed up he was. He is hostile to us, thinking he will only be a burden to us, and without realizing it makes him lose confidence even more. I'm still lucky to be able to help him get up and restore his confidence."

My chest felt tight as if there was a big rock pressing down on me as I imagined those days again. I raised my hand to rub my hot eyes while I felt Edward's hand slap my shoulder.

"Patience, bro. I'm sure you can deal with it. I've never seen her as happy as when she was with you, even with her ex-husband Franda wasn't that crazy. You're making him more alive than ever." I smiled bitterly at Edward's words. She was right, Franda was indeed crazy when with me, but that still did not guarantee that she would always be strong.

There is another side in Franda that I still have to dig deeper. I must dive to the bottom of his soul to understand his true self, so that I may know how to help him. Franda is not a teenage girl who can be tricked. All of his past stories were too powerfully binding his soul, unwilling to let go even though he tried to cut it many times.

But I believe and believe Franda I can still help. I don't know when, but that day will come. Sure.

I closed my eyes enjoying the silence in our room while my head was filled with all sorts of things. Too much extra work awaits me. Starting from looking for the whereabouts of Aunt Lucy, making sure Franda is okay after this, then looking for the man who made Mia pregnant. For the latter task it might not be too difficult as we could ask Mia, slowly she would tell us who the man was. And the hardest thing is to convince Franda, keep her strong enough to overcome all this.

"Hey." I flinched and immediately opened my eyes when I heard Franda's voice. From my place, I could see she was smiling at Mia. Edward and I approached them.

Mia looked at us again. "What's wrong?" tanyakanya. From the question I could catch that she really didn't know if she was pregnant yesterday.

Me and Edward nodded. We are not trained to deal with women who are suffering, and that sometimes makes us feel stupid for not knowing how to behave. Only Franda spoke to answer Mia's question.

"We'll talk about it later because now you need more time to recover your strength."

"No." sergeant Mia fast. "Tell me, what's wrong?" mia was impatient.

We were silent for quite a while. Our tongues were twisted, our voices suddenly stuck in our throats, and we were afraid of the possibility that would happen if we told Mia about her pregnancy.

"Panda, Ed, Sean.. What's wrong with me?" Mia asked again, this time her voice was louder.

"You just lost a fetus in your womb." I gasped as Franda answered Mia's question all of a sudden. My face lifted to look at him. "Stupid! Didn't you realize you were pregnant?" added again.

It's unsurprising. I thought Franda would be quiet and probably cry constantly. But he made me and was flabbergasted by his words. The sadness that a moment ago adorned his face now evaporated, turning into a look of anger. His eyes stared hard at Mia. His chest expands indicating he will explode in a moment.

I smiled inwardly at Franda who was suddenly ferocious while Mia shrieked, her face whitened, and she was seen gulping. Having her frightened reaction, I'm sure that Mia still appreciates Franda as her sister despite all this time being disrespectful to Franda.

"I took care of you half-dead, gave you whatever you asked, let you live as you pleased believing you wouldn't do something to shame me. But what do I get in return? Instead of making me proud to have done something, you threw dirt right in my face."

Goody. My firewoman's back. Without us noticing, Edward and I smiled at the sight of the two women in front of us with much different expressions. Franda with her face hardened, and Mia who looked down was frightened. Really, this is the best moment that happened today.

Franda closed in, his body trembling slightly, his hands clenched together on his lap. And when he opened his eyes, his mouth spoke again. "You know what, Mia? I'm so embarrassed, I'm angry, I'm disappointed. You make me sick of your behavior when only a few days ago I was glad you had a lot more to do than stare at your phone, but now you're hitting me with reality... Oh my God,"

Franda sobbing. "You let me down, Mia." Both Franda's hands cupped his face. She cried. I really wanted to hug her but soon I resisted that desire only when I trusted her. Franda needs to be trusted, and I gave it to her.

Franda wiped away her coarse tears, she briefly took a few breaths before returning to speak. "Now, tell me who's impregnating you?"

Me, Edward, and Franda looked at Mia who was still lowered at the same time. His hands were shaking and squeezing each other, he was seen biting his lips. "Speak, Mia! Where's the bold attitude that's been controlling you?" franda muttered cynically, but Mia was not willing to open her mouth.