"Your brother and sister? Elena and Dom?" he asks. I raise my head a little and nod. "I haven't seen them in three years. I want to see them again and be with them, Mark. I miss them," I tell him, with tears forming in my eyes. The thought of going another day without seeing my family drives a stake into my heart. There is nothing more that I want than to just know that my family is okay, and that they're waiting for me to come back. Mark sighs.

"That's perfectly fine, Nicole. Go on Whitepages and look them up. They should be there, and you'll probably get a phone number. Just in case your family changed a number here and there," he says.

I raise an eyebrow at him. "How's Whitepages going to be my answer?" I ask snarkily. I really doubt that it's that easy to find someone's contact information just by a few searches and a few clicks.

He smirks. "I've looked myself up on Whitepages. It's effective. They got my number and my address down and it was on point. I think you should try looking up Dominic or Elena on there," he says.

I sigh. "Fine. I'll do it. I'll look them up. Should I do Elena or Dom? Because I don't know if Elena married Roy yet," I say.

He smiles. "Atta girl. You should probably look up Dominic, because I don't think that he's changed his name. Elena may have married Roy, so I don't know if her last name will be Roy's. But, that's just my two cents. I'll be right back with your things. The IPad is right next to you, and there's no password. Go ahead and entertain yourself," he says, and he walks out of the door.

I lift a bandaged arm up and my hand hits the IPad on the dining table. My fingers wrap around the edge and I pull it towards me. I prop it up on my lap, and I press the "home" button. I unlock it, and I immediately go to the Google app Mark has.

I press it, and then I type "Whitepages." When I find the website, I type in "Dominic Wilson, Santa Ana." I do so, and there are only a few results for that. One of them shows his birthday, "April 12," and says, "Related to Elena Wilson." My heart starts to beat like crazy after that. It doesn't take long to get the answers I need, and it brings me one step closer to connecting with my family once more.

For some reason, I want to call Elena first. She's a lot less busy than Dom, and not only that, she lives closer to me than Dom does. She'd get me out of here as soon as she possibly could. I click on Elena's Whitepages, and then her number shows.

My eyes meet the phone on the table, and my sore hand grabs onto it. I drag the phone to my side, and I apply my fingers to the number keys. I glance over at the number displayed, and I press the appropriate numbers to reach Elena.

When I dial them, I look at the phone. This is my chance to see them again. I hope that the number is correct, and that I can hear her voice again. Without any further hesitation, I press the "call" button, and I press the phone to my ear. With each ring, the butterflies in my stomach flutter faster. My heart beat starts to accelerate to an uncontrollable pace.

Will Elena be happy to hear from me? Has she moved on and forgotten me? Will she take me in with open arms? Eventually, I hear the line click, and the same familiar voice says, "This is Elena Wilson speaking. How may I help you?" I exhale deeply.

I could recognize that voice from 100 miles away. She's just so familiar and so distinct. I've struck gold.

"Hello?" Elena asks. She sounds like she's going to hang up if someone doesn't talk within the next two seconds.

With my voice shaking, I say, "Elena. It's me."

A gasp escapes Elena's lips when she hears my voice. The sound of her whimpering brushes my ears. "N-Nicole?" she asks, and I can hear her voice breaking.

"It's me, Elena. I'm here," I say, and I can hear Elena sobbing in the background.

"N-Nicole. I- I can't believe you're okay. Where are you? I need to talk to you in person," she says. I sob as well. The feeling of talking to your sister again is the most amazing feeling in the entire universe. I'm so glad to hear her voice after 3 years, and I only hope to see her in person next.

"I'm at someone's house. Are you in Santa Ana?" I ask, with tears starting to flow down my face.

"I'm in Tustin. I'm really close. Does the cafe on Bristol Street sound good at 5 o' clock today?" she asks.

I nod. "Of course. Sounds perfect. I'll see you soon, Elena," I say.

I can feel her smile on the end of the line. "See you soon, Phoenix. I can't wait to see you again," she says, and the line clicks, signaling her hanging up.

I remove the phone gently from my ear and let the tears escape my eyes fully. I never imagined that I'd get to see my siblings again. Throughout my marriage, that seemed like only a fantasy that no amount of imagination could achieve.

Warmth starts to fill me up from inside.  But, all I want to do is just fast forward time so that I can see Elena again. Please, just speed up time already. Once I end the call with Elena, my body turns into a sponge so that the thought can soak in. I'll be seeing my family again for the first time in over 3 years.

When I lived with Colin, his priority was to keep me as his prisoner so that I could never escape his wrath. Now, I'm free. The chains he wrapped around me have been broken. I can finally rise, and spread my wings. This is the start of my rebirth.

While I'm letting the infection of joy spread throughout my body, the click of the door lock snaps me to attention. The feeling of joy inside me is replaced with a sudden fear. Mark isn't back yet, so the fear of something happening to him was suddenly spiking throughout my body. Once the lock finally turns and the door is pushed open, the familiar figure of Mark is standing at the door.

A suitcase is enclosed by his right fingers, and his keys are enclosed by his left. Once my eyes register that Mark is here, the fear is sucked out of my body. All sorts of tense feeling is also accompanied with the fear, and my body flops on the couch like a fish. Mark trudges inside the apartment, and his eyes drink the worry that resonated from me. "Nicole. Relax. Nothing happened to me. I just went to get your clothes," he says.

My head bobs up and down in a nod. "That's fine. But I called Elena, and we're meeting at the cafe on Bristol Street in Tustin," I say. Mark's arm gently sets down the suitcase on the hardwood floor.

"I'm glad that you're meeting her again. When are you meeting? I can give you a ride," he exclaims.

A smile sweeps across my face. "Thanks a bunch, Mark. And we're meeting at 5," I thank.

Mark's lips curl into a slight smile. "Awesome. We'll leave around 4:30," he commands, and his feet sweep him to his bedroom to mind his own business from there.

At 4:00, my eyes meet the suitcase that's next to me. My fingers gently touch the suitcase that Mark brought to me. My fingers then pinch the zipper, and they pull it to my right to expose the contents inside.

My hands slide under the top of the suitcase, and I push open the suitcase so that my clothes are visible. A blue top catches my eye, and my arm immediately shoots for that. Black jeans catch my other eye, and my other arm bolts for that. I strut over to the bathroom, where I gently slip them on.

I open the door, and I find Mark sitting on the couch. A newspaper is in between his hands, and his eyes are reading the written content inside. When I exit the bathroom, Mark's glance shifts from the newspaper to me. A smile sweeps across his face. "You look good, Nicole. Your hairbrush is on the table, if you want to use it. And Elise applied a fresh layer of concealer on you when she was examining you," he says.

I smile. "Thanks, Mark," I say, and I grab my hairbrush. I travel back to the bathroom, and I run the brush through my dark locks.

Once my hair is not a clumped up mess, I open the door again, and Mark puts down his newspaper. "Wanna go?" he asks. I nod. "Let's do this," I say, ready to see my family again.

Throughout the whole car ride, butterflies are swarming in my stomach. What will her reaction be? Will she recognize me with dark hair? What will happen? Will Dom be there? All these questions were swirling throughout my mind. I wanted answers to them so badly. I needed the answers. But, before I could fill my head with any more questions, the car comes to a halt.

"We're here," Mark's voice announces. We're in the parking lot of the cafe. People are walking with their cups of scalding coffee, or just browsing the internet while eating pastries.

"Nervous, Nicole?" he asks. I gulp and nod.

"If I'm being completely honest, then absolutely. I'm so bloody nervous. Gosh, I'm excited to see them again," I say.

Mark smiles. "Elena will be so happy to see you again, Nicole. She'll give you a big hug when she sees you," Mark says. With his words, a new sense of confidence overcomes me. I feel like I'm ready to do anything right now. I want to take on the world, and I want to conquer everything that's in my way. I'm ready to do this.

"It's getting close to 5. You should go," he says. I nod, and I push the car door open. With my legs shaking, I glide into the cafe, where the crowd of chatting individuals doesn't stir at my entrance. Not far from the entrance, there is an empty table with two chairs visible.

I march over to where the two chairs are, and I plop myself down on one of them. Now, the hardest part is to wait for the good events to happen. Gosh, I'm so excited. I can't wait to finally see Elena after so many years apart.

Not long after that, a familiar voice says, "Nicole." In an instant, my ears recognize the voice. My head shoots up, and my eyes wander to the source of the voice. Standing five feet away, with tears forming in her eyes, is the woman who I thought I'd never see again.

My sister, Elena, is standing right in front of me, with tears in her eyes. My eyes start to fill with tears once they register the sight of her presence. And everything jump starts from that point.

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Yay! Nicole and Elena see each other for the first time in years! Ah, I love meetings like these! How do you think the Wilsons are doing, and how do you think they'll react to finding her? Let me know in the comments!

Hey everyone! How are you doing? So, we are SO close to 1k reads! I can't believe that. First of all, I just want to say thank you to everyone who has helped me get this far. I've got a little surprise planned. Keep your eyes peeled for that, because I think you will like it!

That's pretty much it. Hope you all liked this chapter!

Please vote/comment/share/follow/message/share if you like my work! See you all next Saturday with a new chapter of Phoenix! Have a great week!

Love you guys,

Shree