Chapter 3 - What Came Back

Quiana

I stopped halfway down the staircase.

For one suspended second, my mind refused to understand what my eyes were seeing.

Cameron was sitting in our living room.

Alive and home.

After all these years.

My fingers tightened around the banister until my knuckles hurt. I couldn't breathe properly. I couldn't even move. The woman sitting across from Zack looked older than the sister I remembered, her once-bright face thinner now, her dark hair falling loosely around her shoulders, but there were some things time couldn't erase.

Those eyes, that smile and that face I had spent years trying not to remember too clearly.

It was Cameron.

My sister.

A man stood behind her wheelchair, one hand resting on the handle while the other held a small bag. He looked like a caregiver, perhaps someone who had been helping her throughout the journey. He didn't say anything. He simply remained beside her, giving her the attention of someone accustomed to caring for her.

But I barely noticed him.

My entire world had narrowed down to the woman in that wheelchair.

Zack stood a few feet away, completely motionless.

I had never seen him look like that.

The shock on his face was almost painful to witness. His lips parted, but no sound came out. His chest rose sharply as he stared at Cameron, as though he needed to convince himself that she was real.

Then, finally, he whispered her name.

“Cameron…”

Her eyes lifted to him.

For the first time since I had seen her, something moved across her expression. Her lips trembled before she gave him a small, almost hesitant smile.

“Hi, Zack.”

Something in his face broke.

He crossed the distance between them before I could even think, dropping into a crouch in front of her wheelchair.

“You're really here.”

His voice was different. More softer and unsteady.

Cameron nodded, and Zack reached for her hands.

“I thought…” He stopped, swallowed hard and looked away for a moment. “I thought I'd never see you again.”

I stood frozen on the stairs.

That was the first time in years I had heard Zack speak about Cameron without anger.

Without accusation or that coldness that always settled between us whenever her name came up.

He looked like a man who had just been given something he had stopped hoping for.

“I missed you,” he said quietly. “God, Cameron, I missed you so much.”

Her eyes filled with tears.

“I missed you too.”

He bowed his head over her hands, and for a moment, I felt like an intruder in my own home.

Not because I didn't belong there.

Because I suddenly understood just how much of Zack's heart had always belonged to the woman sitting in front of him.

I forced my legs to move.

One step.

Then another.

The staircase suddenly seemed much longer than it had a moment ago.

Cameron's gaze shifted toward me.

The moment our eyes met, everything inside me went still.

“Quiana.”

My name came out softly.

I reached the last step and stood there, staring at her.

“Cam…” My voice cracked.

She smiled.

That familiar smile nearly undid me.

I hadn't realized how much I had missed it until I saw it again.

I walked toward her slowly, unsure whether I was allowed to touch her, hug her, or even ask the hundreds of questions racing through my mind.

Cameron solved that problem for me.

She opened her arms and I broke.

I crossed the remaining distance and wrapped my arms around her carefully, terrified that I might hurt her.

She held me tightly.

For a while, we both said nothing.

I could feel her shoulders trembling against mine.

Mine were shaking too.

“You came home,” I whispered.

“I did.”

“After all this time…”

She pulled back slightly and looked at me.

“I wanted to come home.”

My eyes moved to the wheelchair.

I couldn't hide my reaction.

Cameron noticed and her smile faded a little.

“I know I look different.”

I quickly shook my head.

“That's not what I meant.”

“Then what did you mean?”

I didn't know how to answer.

There were too many questions.

Where had she been?

Why had she disappeared?

Why hadn't she called?

Why had she stayed away for so long?

And why had she returned now?

Most importantly, why and where had she run to her after the accident?

I looked at her legs again before forcing my eyes back to her face.

“Are you okay?”

Before Cameron could answer, Zack spoke.

“She just got here, Quiana.”

His tone immediately changed the atmosphere.

I looked at him.

“I only asked if she's okay.”

“And she said she's tired.”

“She didn't say that.”

“I know she's tired.”

The sharpness in his voice made me stiffen.

Cameron reached for his hand.

“It's okay, Zack.”

He turned toward her instantly.

“Are you in pain?”

“A little.”

His expression changed again.

Concern replaced the irritation in his eyes.

“You should be resting.”

“I know.”

“You shouldn't have come down here.”

A faint smile touched her lips.

“I wanted to see you both.”

Zack squeezed her hand.

“You should have told me you were coming.”

Cameron lowered her eyes.

“I wasn't sure you'd want me here.”

His brows pulled together.

“Don't say that.”

She looked up.

“I didn't know what would happen when I came back.”

“You're my family.”

The words came from him so naturally that I felt something twist inside my chest.

He glanced at me.

Then his expression hardened.

“Whatever happened before, you're here now.”

Whatever happened before.

The words lingered.

I knew exactly what he meant.

I also knew there was a part of that past he had never allowed me to forget.

My gaze returned to Cameron.

“Where have you been?”

The question slipped out before I could stop it.

Her fingers tightened slightly around Zack's.

She didn't answer.

“Cameron?”

She looked at me.

I softened my voice.

“We spent years wondering what happened to you and where you had gone. Dad and Mum—”

“I know, Quiana.”

Her voice wasn't harsh.

If anything, it sounded tired.

“But where did you go?”

Silence settled over the room.

Zack looked at her too.

This time, he didn't interrupt me.

Cameron lowered her gaze.

“I've been somewhere safe.”

“Where?”

She hesitated.

Then she brought a hand to her temple.

“Can we not do this tonight?”

I frowned and asked softly.

“Why?”

“My head is killing me.”

The man behind her immediately stepped forward.

“Should I get your medication?”

Cameron nodded.

“Please.”

He moved toward the small bag he had brought with him.

I stared at Cameron.

“You're sick?”

“Not sick,” she said gently. “Just exhausted.”

Zack immediately looked at me.

“She needs to rest.”

“I know, but—”

“She has been through enough.”

The words came out cold.

I flinched.

Cameron noticed.

“Zack…”

He didn't take his eyes off me.

“its all your fault this happened to her in the first place. It's all your fault she's sitted like this!.” He roared.

My chest tightened.

“Zack, I wasn't—”

“Not tonight.”

His voice was low now, but there was nothing gentle about it.

“This is the first night she's been home in years. Can you give her one night without interrogating her?”

“I'm not interrogating her.”

“Then stop.”

The humiliation burned hot behind my eyes.

I glanced at Cameron.

“I just want to understand.”

“And you will.”

Zack's jaw tightened.

“But maybe start by remembering that she's the one sitting in that wheelchair.”

The room went silent.

His next words landed harder.

“And honestly, Quiana, you're the last person who should be questioning her about what happened to her.”

My stomach dropped.

Cameron looked uncomfortable.

“Zack, please.”

But he wasn't finished.

“Her life changed because of what happened.”

I stared at him.

He held my gaze.

“You know that better than anyone.”

The familiar guilt he always placed at my feet pressed against my chest.

I wanted to defend myself.

I wanted to remind him that I had suffered too.

That I had spent years carrying the weight of Cameron's disappearance.

That I had never stopped asking myself what I could have done differently.

But looking at Cameron sitting there, unable to move her legs, I couldn't bring myself to turn this reunion into another argument.

So I swallowed everything.

“I didn't mean to upset her.”

Cameron's expression softened.

“Its okay”

She reached for my hand.

I hesitated, then took it. Her fingers were cold.

“I don't want us to start like this.”

“Neither do I.”

She gave me a small smile.

“I've thought about you so many times.”

My throat tightened.

“I thought about you too.”

“I wanted to call.”

My heart jumped.

“Then why didn't you?”

Cameron looked down.

“I wasn't ready.”

“For years?”

She didn't answer.

Zack shifted closer to her.

“You don't have to explain anything tonight.”

I looked at him.

There was no hesitation in his voice.

He meant it.

The caregiver returned with her medication and a glass of water. Cameron took it, swallowed the pills, then closed her eyes briefly.

Zack immediately noticed.

“See? You're exhausted.”

“I am.”

“You need to go upstairs.”

Cameron gave him a tired smile.

“I've missed being bossed around by you.”

For the first time that night, Zack smiled.

And seeing it hurt more than I expected.

Because I couldn't remember the last time he had smiled at me like that.

Cameron noticed the silence that followed and looked between us.

“I didn't come back to cause problems.”

Nobody answered.

“I came back because…” She paused, looking directly at me. “Because I missed my sister.”

My eyes stung.

“I missed you too.”

“I know things aren't the same. But maybe they can be.”

I squeezed her hand.

“I'd like that.”

Zack looked at me, and whatever softness had been there disappeared.

“Then let her rest.”

I nodded.

Cameron leaned back against the wheelchair.

“I don't want to go anywhere tonight.”

Zack frowned.

“Cameron—”

“I mean it.”

Her gaze moved around the house.

“I've been away for so long. I don't want to spend my first night back somewhere else.”

I understood what she was asking before she said it.

She looked at me.

“Quiana…”

“Yes?”

“Can I stay here?”

I glanced at Zack.

He was staring at Cameron, his expression unreadable.

Then Cameron reached for my hand again.

“I don't need anything complicated.”

Her voice softened.

“I just want to be close to my sister again.” she smiled.