Zac strolled into Carter's hospital room with a box full of odds and ends. She was told she'd be there for a week so that the doctors could follow up on tests. They wanted to be sure that she was ok. Most of the doctors were still silently surprised that she had pulled through.
Zac smiled and plopped the box onto her bed where Melissa was squeezed in, laying next to her. "Looks like Zac did some shopping."
Zac laughed. "Are you crazy, I don't have any money. But... I do have..." He pulled out a bag from Carter's favorite specialty, Italian bakery. Carter's eyes widened and she grabbed the bag.
Almost tearing it open, she looked inside and gasped. "I LOVE YOU!" She screamed, pining over the chocolate covered oreos. Zac wasn't sure if she directed that comment to him or the cookies. "But am I allowed to have these?"
Zac looked behind him and bit his lip. "Yeah sure, why?"
Melissa laughed. "Where did dad go?"
"I told him to go on home to get some sleep. He's been up for 3 days straight." Zac answered, yawning himself.
"Yeah well, so have you two." Carter smiled, appreciating them more and more. Then she sat up and peered into the box. Her eyes widened once more. "You brought me Charmed!"
Zac laughed. "Every episode ever aired. I still can't believe you've taped them all."
"Correction, all but one." She sighed. "My favorite episode too. Taped it once, and then taped over it the next week."
"Coyote Piper?" Melissa asked, hearing about Piper's moves in that episode way too many times. "That's on tomorrow."
Carter let out a squeal and hugged her sister. "Now you'll finally get to see it!"
Melissa rolled her eyes. Carter had made her watch every episode of Charmed at least seventeen times each, all except of course, Coyote Piper. However they had watched Coyote Ugly four thousand times.
"As long as I get out of here before next Thursday. I've heard that Orgy is gonna be the guest band*** and I don't want to watch it from this craphole."
Zac laughed and watched as Carter grabbed the diamond pendant around her shoulder and twirled it around her finger. Then, a look of concern spread across her face and she looked up at him suddenly. "Zac... that girl..."
"What girl?"
"I didn't hear her name. But I heard her in here with you. She gave me this. I felt her put it on. Where is she?"
Zac jumped up. "Sara. I'm hoping she's still here. She wants to meet you." Zac turned as Taylor walked quietly into the room and watched Carter from the doorway. He smiled at her and waved.
Carter smiled back.
"Well, I'll leave you two alone." Zac offered, leaving to get Sara.
"I'll go with you." Melissa jumped up and went with Zac, not wanting another confrontation with Taylor.
Taylor waited until they were gone before he walked slowly to Carter's bed. "Hi." He watched as she laid back down, tired again. "I'm sorry I wasn't here when you woke up. I should have been, I just couldn't."
Carter nodded. "I know."
"You know?"
"Well yeah, my body was in a coma, but my mind was working overtime. I heard everything you said to me and I really appreciate it." She smiled and tucked her messy hair behind her ears. When she was with Zac she could care less about her appearance. She was so comfortable with him. But when Taylor walked into a room when she was in her pajamas and her hair was sticking straight up, she felt miserable and overwhelmingly self conscious.
He smiled. "So you're ok now?"
"I guess so. The doctor gave me this weird look when she walked in and I was awake. I think she figured I was gonna shuffle off this mortal coil."
Taylor frowned. "Don't joke about it like that. It's not funny."
She shrugged. "How do you think I make it through the day? You have to think about life as just another step of eternity or else you'll go through every being scared out of your mind that you're going to get hit by a bus or electrocuted in a freak thunderstorm."
"You've seen 'Final Destination' way too many times." He laughed. "So you aren't mad at me?"
"Not for that. No." She stared at him. "You really hurt my sister."
"I'm sorry... I just... I never know what I'm doing with girls."
"No kidding. Taylor, you've had more girlfriends than I can count without falling asleep. It's like counting freakin sheep, and most of them have about the substance and depth of a sheep, too. But my sister? I can't believe you'd hurt somebody like that. I can't believe you'd hurt her."
"I said I'm sorry."
"Oh well. Don't sweat it. She'll get over it." She sighed and closed her eyes.
Zac walked into Sara's hospital room to find her bed empty, and made. He looked around, confused. "Maybe they moved her."
Melissa shrugged. "Maybe she went home."
"I don't know. I kind of got the feeling she'd be here for a while." Zac said, uncomfortably as another female doctor walked into the room. She flipped her chart over and shoved a red envelope into her pocket. "Can I help you?" She asked, pushing past Zac and Melissa.
"Yeah, was Sara moved?"
The doctor looked at Zac, suddenly. "Sara passed away last night."
Zac's expression fell and Melissa grabbed onto his hand. She knew how much Sara helped Zac through the day that Carter was unresponsive. "I... How?" He asked.
"Her heart just stopped working. But she knew that was going to happen."
"She knew?"
"Yes. Last week when she came in here we told her she'd only have a few days left. There just wasn't a match for a donor and there's so many people waiting. I think she was ready to go though." The doctor looked at her chart again. "I guess I really shouldn't be telling you this but she was such a special girl. We'd all grown attached to her. She had that affect on people."
Zac thought back to everything Sara said to him. He kept telling her to meet Carter and she never made any plans. She even gave the total stranger her most precious possession. He didn't know why he hadn't caught on yet.
The doctor stopped suddenly and reached into her pocket to pull out the red envelope. "Are you by any chance, Zac?"
"Yeah."
"We found this in her journal. She spent all last night writing letters. I think we knew she was about to just let go. This one said 'Zac' on the envelope and nobody knew who that was."
Zac took the cold, red envelope from her and and smiled. "Thank you." On the way back to Carter's room, he read it quietly to himself with Melissa by his side.
Dear Zac,
I just wanted to thank you for these past two days. I know we just met but you really kept me holding on. I wanted to wait until Carter woke up, but I'm afraid I don't have a lot of time left.
I just wanted you to know how special you are. I could see it in the way you took care of people while you were here, the way you hugged Carter's sister whenever she needed it, and how you tried getting her father to go home to get some sleep. I saw it in the way you sang to her. But most of all, I saw it in the awy you opened up so quickly to me. That means so much to me.
I don't think I'll see you again, so I wanted to write you this letter to say goodbye. Give Carter a hug for me and most of all, hang on to her. I could see it in your eyes how much you love her. Most people don't think fifteen year olds are capable of that emotion, or the understanding of that emotion. But what is there to understand about something so true and real as what you feel for her.
Hold onto that love. It will get you through eternity. But most of all, don't be sad for me. I'm finished with this life now, I think I've been done for a while. I can't wait to start my next one. Who knows, maybe we'll meet again. Until then, thank you for being you. You don't know how powerful you are.
Sincerely, and with love, Sara.
Zac folded the paper up and put it back into the envelope. Then he smiled at Melissa. "She was some special girl. I just wish Carter could have met her."
Melissa nodded. "Don't worry. Carter remembers her voice. And she's always going to have that necklace. I don't think she'll ever take it off."
Zac smiled and gave her a quick hug before going back into Carter's room to give her the news.
*** Thanks for this information Robbie! It's so great to find a guy that's a fan of Charmed for all of the real reasons and not just because of the "braless, strapless... fearless attire", not to mention a HANSON FAN. You rule dude. Talk to ya soon:)
Carter
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