Natalie felt her head spinning a bit, so she leaned back, easing back into her pillow. Sighing softly she folded her hands in her lap after wiping a tear away from her cheek. Richie was alive. That was all that mattered, and he was safe. It felt as if a huge weight had been lifted from her chest. She remembered the day that he visited her after her microbiology class back at Harvard.
"Richard! You cant be serious!" Natalie had grabbed her baby brother by the shoulders and shook him. Hoping that she could shake understanding into his head about what he was getting himself into. Richard kept his eyes trained to the floor, he had already known that his parents were the easy part. His overprotective older sister was the hard one. "Sis, I want to help. I am no good in school like you are but I was in sports. So." Looking up he saw that her eyes were wide and frantic as they often got when she felt things were sliding out of control. Natalie couldn't understand why her brother always had to dive right into the worst places on earth. "Richie, please! Listen to yourself!" Richard shook his sister off and held up a hand...
Natalie shook off the memory and cleared her throat, speaking softly and evenly. "Thank you for everything, but I have to go. May I have my things back please?"