Really quick contest here... just came to my head. If you can figure out a really basic thing about this chapter that's different from almost every other chapter in the story... and you're the first to e-mail me about it, I'll give you a little role in the next few chapters. I'm sure there's a few things different but if you can catch the one specific thing I'm looking for, you win:) Sound good? Ok:)
Carter took a deep breath and smelled the fresh spring air. She loved spring, it was her favorite season. The only thing about spring that didn't appeal to her was the birds. But somehow she managed to shrug them off every year when she went on a ten mile walk with her sister. "I love spring, don't you?" She smiled at Melissa and breathed in deeply again.
"I swear, your obsession with spring gets really weird sometimes." She laughed at her older sister. "But hey, our annual walk is always good." Melissa thought back to when they were younger and used to take the ten mile walk with their mother. It was a nice walk through a huge park and then into the woods. In the middle of the walk there was a dirt road that they walked up. It was very steep and at points, dangerously windy. Carter always vowed to never drive the road. Driving one mile per hour over the speed limit could be disastrous.
Carter grinned from ear to ear. She was wearing a pair of plain dark jeans and Zac's Doobie Brother's t-shirt. Her hair was pulled into low pigtails with little flowers behind her ears. She'd picked them while they were in the park. "This is the one place I hate about this walk." She commented as they made their way onto the dirt road.
Usually the road was muddy and the shade from the trees made it eerily cold. She shivered and thought of pulling her red sweatshirt out of her backpack but then decided not to. She smiled at the willow and birch trees that lined the road. She'd always thought that was unusual. Then, instinctively, like her mother used to do, pushed Melissa onto the grass, closer tothe cliff. Lacie used to make Melissa and Carter walk on the grass while she walked on the side closer to the road protecting them from nothing. Cars never drove on the road. At least not that she knew of.
Then, for some reason Carter began thinking about how lucky she was. Even though she had lost her mother, she still had a very caring father, a sister who was turning out to be very much like Carter, and friends who were always there for her through thick and thin. She smiled while she thought about Zac... his wavy thick hair and his great smile... the way he made her laugh whenever she needed it... the way his arms felt around her waist when he hugged her... and the way her hips tingled even hours after he let go. Then, in a split second, it was all gone.
Zac laughed and hit his oldest brother with a pillow again. "You really have to lighten up, man. Everytime you go a month without seeing Beth, you get all pissy. You're quite annoying when you're pissy."
"And you're quite annoying when you're hitting me with a pillow!" Isaac grabbed Zac's leg and flipped him over, throwing him onto the floor.
"Whoa." Zac said dazed, laying on his back. "That was unexpected." Usually it was Zac who did the tackling.
The sound of the phone ringing broke the silence and Zac's heart flew into the back of his throat, which scared him. The last time that happened was when Carter told him that Lacie was gone. "Hello?" He answered after jumping through the air and grabbing the cordless phone from Isaac's hand after Isaac had already pushed the talk button.
"Whoa... spaz." Isaac rolled his eyes and sat down on the couch. He clicked on the tv but his eyes wandered back over to his younger brother when he heard the tone in his voice. It was like nothing he'd ever heard from Zac before. The faint, distant, whisper... then he pushed the talk button again and dropped the phone onto the floor. Then he looked up and stared at Isaac. "Car... she..."
"Zac? What's wrong?" Isaac was scared to death for the first time in a long time.
"She's in the hospital..."
Melissa stared down at the cold, dark, marble floor. She always thought it was horrible for the Intensive Care Unit Floor to be black. She planned on telling the doctor as soon as she saw him, as soon as he came to tell her that Carter would be ok and she could go home that day. But that wouldn't happen. In fact, it would be two hours before Zac and Isaac would come running into the ICU to find out what had happened.
Melissa stared at the floor even as Zac knelt down in front of her. He lifted her chin and stared into her. "Mel... Mel..." He waited until she blinked and looked back at him. Then, she threw her arms around him. "Zac... it's... she... they won't tell us anything."
Zac looked over at Melissa and Carter's dad who looked just as out of it as Melissa was. "What happened?"
"I don't really know... we were walking on that road... and a car came out of nowhere... it was going so fast and I didn't even see it. Zac, it was going to hit us both..."
"And?"
"Carter screamed and shoved out of the way and the car was gone. I didn't even know what had happened. I stood up and looked around for her but she wasn't even there..."
Zac shook his head, totally confused. "She got hit by the car?"
"No." Melissa took a deep breath as tears formed in her eyes. "She fell... when she pushed me out of the way she must have tripped... she fell, Zac. She fell all the way down." She almost choked on the words as she spoke them for the third time that day.
Isaac sat down next to her and put his arms around her. "It's going to be ok. Carter is strong. Heck she could beat up Zac if she tried."
Melissa didn't laugh. "She's not that strong..."
Zac sat down on the floor in front of her, barely able to move. "How did you get to her?"
"I didn't. Her backpack fell off of her when she pushed me and I found your cellphone in it..."
Isaac sighed. "It was mine. She stole it last week."
"I'm so glad she did..." She whimpered. "I called for help but I had to wait an hour before they got there. I couldn't get to her... and she was awake..."
"How badly hurt was she?" Zac almost didn't want to know. He'd seen the cliffs in the woods and he was surprised she was awake.
Melissa shook her head. "I don't know. I just don't know... she was laying on her back and... her head was bleeding. But she was awake. Her eyes were closed and she was shaking her head. She kept asking for you..." She turned to Zac. "She wanted you..."
Zac felt like he was going to fall over but he still couldn't move. He was completely numb. He wanted to be there for her.
"And then they got there and they climbed down to get her. They put her in one of those backboard things and pulled her up. But when she went into the ambulance she wasn't moving anymore and... I don't remember anything else. I think I blacked out... but when I came to... they were giving her cpr." She looked around suddenly aware of the missing member of the Hanson clan. "Where is Taylor?" She asked, almost hurt that he wasn't there.
Zac looked guilty even though he hadn't done anything wrong. "He uhm... he's at the movies... we tried calling for half and hour but they wouldn't get him for us. We left a note." He looked at his watch. "He should be here soon."
"He's at the movies? With whom?"
"Uhm... Tanis." Isaac looked away.
Melissa nodded. Somehow she'd known that. She noticed it right away after Taylor came into his room after being freed from the closet. Melissa had been sitting there at his computer when he came back. He sat down on his bed, distant, and very much not himself. Somehow she knew.
Isaac watched as Mr. Porter stood up suddenly and chased after a doctor that walked by. Isaac followed him, hoping he could help.
Then, Taylor came in. He threw his leather jacket onto a chair and ran to Zac and Melissa. Zac had his hands on her knees and was trying to calm her down. Her tears were streaming down her cheeks now. "What the hell happened?" He blurted out as he sat next to her.
Melissa leaned away from Taylor without looking at him. Zac spoke for her. "Carter fell off the cliffs. Nobody knows if she's ok... they won't tell anybody anything. They just keep running back and forth. Ike and Car's dad just chased after one of them."
"Wait, what? When?" Taylor blinked hard through his wire-rimmed glasses, totally confused.
"They were walking in the woods on that dirt road...a car came, Carter pushed Melissa away, and she fell off the cliff."
"But she's ok, right?"
"I already told you all I know."
Taylor turned to Melissa and knelt down beside her. "Meli, how bad is it?" He asked, knowing all too well how high the cliffs were.
Melissa glared into his eyes not knowing what to tell him. "You should have been here with Zac and Isaac..."
"I came here as soon as I knew."
"She's hurt bad." That was the last thing Melissa said to Taylor. In fact, it was the last thing she said to anybody that night.
Before anybody had a chance to say anything else, Isaac, Mr. Porter, and the doctor came back. Isaac's face was pale and Mr. Porter looked a million miles away.
Melissa stood up and wrapped her arms around herself. "What's wrong? What happened?" She asked, terrified that she was going to lose the only thing she had in her life that she knew was real. Her big sister, the woman she looked up to, her second mother, and the only person who really knew her. "What happened?" She repeated.
The doctor held onto Melissa's hands and spoke as calmly as she could. "Your sister is in a coma."
Melissa fought back the tears. "But she's ok right?"
"Her injuries are extensive and I'm afraid if she doesn't wake up on her own within the next 24 hours... there really isn't much we can do."
Taylor sat back and watched as Melissa fell over into her father's arms and cried like a baby. He sat back and watched as Isaac bit his bottom lip and stared at the floor, tears streaming down his cheeks as well. And he fought back his own tears as he watched Zac put his head on his knees, his shoulders shaking, and his eyes closed.