First encounter

LA, Airport 

Standing not far, after alighting is Aviana Cole, her mother, Joana Cole and her brother, Hayden Cole. Finally, they were here. In LA, the most popular city in California. Surrounded by vast mountain ranges, valleys, forests, beautiful beaches along the pacific ocean and nearby desert. She could not believe her eyes. She stood on the same spot as if rooted to the ground. Her eyes moved from the elegantly dressed people moving to and from the airport, to the beautiful tall buildings. These were enough for her to understand that those who lived in the city were extremely rich. She fell in love with the city at first sight. No longer holding her joy, she shouted happily,

"Wow, this is so amazing! I've never seen a scenery like this before. Hey, look at that building. It's really awesome!" said Aviana excitedly, pointing to the direction of a tall building her eyes came across.

The mother and the brother stood there stupefied by the little woman's excitement.

"Mommy, how hold is she?" Hayden couldn't help but ask. "Because, with the way she's so excited, jumping up and down, she's more like a six-year-old child." Joana sighed. Didn't she notice people were looking at her? People began to murmur, exchanging glances.

"Hey, who's that lady?" one asked

"She doesn't seem to be from this city," another commented

"Yeah, that's true. With the way she's so excited, I bet it's her first time, in LA," another added

"Even her dressing is much different from ours. She doesn't have class at all," as another said these words, they all nodded their heads in agreement to her words and glared at her as if she were some kind of unwanted thing.

She heard their words. It was at this point, Aviana turned around and realized that it was actually, her, they had been talking about. Her face reddened. She wished to run but couldn't move as if her legs were rooted to the ground. She were really embarrassed.

'Oh, c' mon! Why are they making a big deal out of nothing? Yes, I was excited, but it's not a crime, is it?' she screamed in her head, trying to ease the already tensed atmosphere. But, it was useless. People were already starting to gather, glaring at her.

' Oh, Aviana. You've really embarrassed yourself this time. How could you forget, this is not your home town? Where you could jump up and down without anyone bothering to give you a glance?' she scolded herself. 'This is LA, a busy area with many people,' she reminded herself.

Hayden laughed. Looking at his sister, her head hunging low with her palms trying to hide her face from the people, he couldn't help it.

"That was hilarious," he blurted out.

Then, the next minute, he ran. He knew what would happen to him if stood there for more than a second.

"That's not funny at all. It's all your fault, Hayden. You should have warned me in time," she complained and ran after him.

Actually, it was no one else's fault, but hers. And, she knew it. She just put the blame on him to ease her embarrassment. She was embarrassed in broad daylight, how could she take the blame alone? Seeing her brother laugh at her, she became annoyed.

'How dare he make fun of me? His big sis? He should be comforting me, rather than adding salt to the injury?' she kept complaining to her inner self as she kept on running after him.

'I'll let him be, for now and deal with him later when we are back to the house. For now, let him be, Aviana. Pretend like nothing happened and catch him when he has let his guard down,' she rubbed her palms together as she hacked the plan, an ear-to-ear grin curved across her lips.

She was really proud of herself for coming up with such a good idea to catch him unaware. At least, that was what she thought. Her idea was the best.

Watching the little woman and the young man bickering, one running from the other, and the other running after the other, Joana sighed. She was relieved. Aviana was her only daughter and she knew her very well. She was the apple of her father's eye. He doted on her. Whatever she asked, she got it. Even when she made mistakes, he would not punish her. He would often say, "she's just a child" Later on, her father died when she was only fifteen. She was the most heartbroken. For days, she locked herself up in her room, cried all day.

Days, weeks, months, years passed by after his demise. Hayden had just been born. Aviana was forced by the unfair world to mature at such a tender age. All these years, ever since her father died, Aviana's mood has always been gloomy. Now, seeing her so excited, argue with her brother, running after him, how then could she not be happy? She had tried all she could to bring back the jovial side of her daughter, but to no avail. She was now relieved. The beautiful smile of her daughter was back on her face, and it was enough to make her happy.

Meanwhile,

"Sir, your father is on the phone. He wants to speak with you," said Devin as he handed over the phone.

Inside the Sport-Utility Vehicle, sat Ethan Urkel, the Ceo of the biggest known company in LA, G&K industry. He was the eldest son of Old Mr Urkel. He wore a white pull neck and a blue suit that perfectly fit him, exposing his ripped body. He took the phone and exchanged few words with him before giving it back to Devin.

"Drive to the office," his cold voice sounded from the back of the car.

****

****

"Hayden stop! Stop! You'll be hit by a car if you don't stop! Okay, fine. It's not your fault. It's my fault for not being careful, it's my fault for being childish! Just stop, okay!" Aviana shouted, tears clouding her eyes.

After the argument, Hayden ran as fast as he could, away from her. At first, she thought that he would run for a while and only stop when he was at a far distance from her, but he kept running. When she saw things were getting out of control, she ran after him to stop him. 

As soon as Hayden stepped on the road, he was hit by a fast approaching car. The whole world became quiet. It was quite a while before Aviana came to herself and realized what happened. She ran to the scene with a pale face, shocked to see that her brother, Hayden was lying flat on the ground. Blood oozed from his forehead. What she feared the most happened. If only she knew, she wouldn't have blamed him. If only she knew, she wouldn't have made him run away. She regretted it all. She regretted coming to LA, in the first place. 

Now her brother lay there, unconscious. If anything bad happened to him, she would die. 

"Hayden! Hayden! Wake up! Wake up please! I beg you, open your eyes and look at me! I'm sorry Hayden, please don't leave me! Don't die! I'm sorry for blaming you! I'm so.....sorry Hayden! I promise, it will never happen again!" Aviana could hardly choke down her tears. Her face was flooded with tears. A tear after another kept rolling down her cheeks. 

Realizing what happened, Ethan rushed over to the boy. He knelt next to his chest and begun to gently shake his shoulders. He didn't respond. Placing one hand on his forehead, he tilted the head back and with his two fingers from the other hand, he lifted the chin. The boy was still unresponsive. 

He placed his ear above his mouth, looking down his body, he listened for sounds of breathing to feel his breath on his cheek. He did this for ten seconds. The boy wasn't breathing. Ethan tore his pull neck and wrapped the piece around the boy's forehead, before picking him up. He held him in his arms and rushed to the back seat of the car. Aviana followed him and sat at the back sit with him, to accompany her brother to the hospital. 

"To the hospital," he ordered, his voice no longer cold as always.

A flash of light appeared in his eyes but disappeared the next second. He was anxious. Holding the boy in his arms, he felt scared. But scared of what? Maybe he didn't want his hands to be stained with blood? Although, in his line of business, he had killed so many people. That was what business demanded. Doing what you have to do to get what you want, to be successful. 

But, this felt different. The boy was young and innocent. He didn't deserve to die. Looking at the little woman who sat next to him, a sudden feeling of sadness filled his heart. Deep down in his heart, he felt sorry for her. He wished to tell her, how sorry he was. He wished to tell her that everything would be fine. That she should be strong for the boy, anything that would comfort her. But, his pride wouldn't let him. Or maybe, that was not it? Maybe, he didn't want to admit to himself that for the first time in twenty-seven years, he cared for someone. 

Arriving at the hospital, nurses stood at the gate of the hospital with a wheeled stretcher. Kindred hospital was the biggest hospital in LA,with the best medical services. And, to top it all, it was owned by the Urkel family. Earlier, Devin had informed the doctor of the emergency and told them to prepare everything that would be needed. He set the boy on the stretcher and the nurses wheeled him inside the hospital to the large room set aside for the operation.