There was a mind-numbing silence when Katie woke up the next morning. She had fallen asleep in an armchair in Zac's living room and her ears were ringing, her heart beat pounding in her head. Somebody had covered her with a heavy red blanket and she figured it must have been him since he was the only person she'd seen that night. She felt like she had been sleeping for days but when she squinted at the clock on the wall she sighed. It was only six a.m.
She sat in silence for a few minutes, staring at Zac who was sleeping on the couch without a pillow or a blanket. He had dark circles under his eyes and his hair was sticking up straight, a sign that he hadn't slept nearly enough. She didn't want to wake him. However, three minutes later when the phone rang, he jumped and mumbled to himself.
Zac sat up and looked over at Katie, obviously still worried about her. "Good morning." He smiled and tried to say something else but the look on her face stopped him.
She was staring at the stairway. Somebody upstairs must have answered the phone quickly because it only rang twice. There was more silence and then the sound of more than one person moving around upstairs cause Katie to stir uncomforatbly on the chair.
"What's wrong?" Zac asked, eyeing her as she continued to stare nervously up the stairs.
Katie shook her head slowly, her face paler than usual. "I don't know..."
Three doors slammed upstairs within a period of five minutes. Katie still hadn't said a word and Zac was starting to worry. His heart was now pounding. The look on her face told him that something was very wrong.
"Zac..." Katie whispered.
Zac swallowed hard and stood up slowly. He quickly made his way up the stairs and disappeared. Katie sat by herself for what seemed like forever. The room seemed to be colder than usual but she was sure that it was just her imagination. Finally, Zac came the stairs slowly. He never really looked at Katie, he actually seemed to stare right through her face. He was now just as pale as her and he looked almost like he wanted to throw up.
"I don't understand." Isaac whispered as he sat at the kitchen table with his mother, Taylor, and Zac. Diana looked as though she had just finished crying.
"They were only in Mexico for a day and then Abbie wanted to go home. They were almost here and then there was a truck and a motorcycle... Jesus Christ, I don't even remember what he told me." It was the first time Isaac had ever heard his mother use the Lord's name in vain. She was very much against it.
"Where is she?" Isaac sounded as if he wanted to cry but no tears ever came out.
"The hospital."
"So she's ok?" Zac was staring at the ground. He had no idea where Katie had gone. He thought he remembered her saying something about going to the hospital but all the thoughts in his head were a complete blur.
Diana shook her head. "It doesn't look like she's going to be ok. Abbie and Todd were banged up pretty badly but Melissa..." She took a deep breath and tried to remember what Carter's dad had told her. "She had her seat belt on and when the truck hit them it... it pretty much crushed her."
Taylor stood up so quickly that his chair fell over backwards. "I can't sit here. I have to go to the hospital. Carter's probably there and..."
Diana shook her head. "No. Her dad said that Carter was in her room and wouldn't come out when he left."
"God dammit, why didn't anybody tell me?" Taylor raised his voice at his mother and picked up the salt shaker that sat on the kitchen table. With a loud yell he threw it across the room and watched it bounce off of the wall. "How much fucking crap does that family have to go through?! How many people does Carter have to lose?!" He ignored the shocked look on everybody's faces and ran up the stairs.
Taylor slammed the screen door to Carter's balcony violently and listened to it rattle on it's hinges as he ran through the hallway to her bedroom. He stopped quietly and knocked lightly on her door. There was no answer. He pressed his hand against the door and sighed. "Carter..."
After a few minutes he leaned his back against the door and slid backwards down to the floor. He had no idea what to do. He was scared for Melissa but he was also scared for Carter. She was the strongest people he knew but somehow, this seemed to be too much for her. He bit his bottom lip and tapped the floor lightly before going back to his house.
He kicked a path through the clothes on the floor of Zac's bedroom and picked up the walkie talkie that sat on his bed. Taylor's had broken a week earlier. Pushing the button on the side he almost whispered into it. "Carter... please let me in. I don't know what to do."
He heard a noise that sounded like she had pushed the button to talk but no words came out. "Come back." She finally whispered and Taylor thought it sounded like she was losing her voice.
He ran back across the balcony and down the hall to her room. After knocking twice, he turned the doornob and pushed the door open slowly. At first he didn't see her but after scanning the room he finally spotted her. She was sitting in the corner next to her closet with her legs pulled up to her chest and her face burried in her knees. Her shoulder length hair was hanging in front of her so that he couldn't see the tears on her cheeks.
He walked very slowly to her and sat down in front of her, waiting. She finally lifted her head and stared at him. He had never seen her look so miserable. She pushed her hair behind her ears and whispered, her voice strained. "I don't know what to do either." Taylor figured she must have been crying very hard to have lost her voice.
He placed a hand on her knee and before he had a chance to do anything else, she scrambled onto her knees and leaned forward, burying her face in his shirt. He wrapped his arms around her and laid his chin on her shoulder. "We need to go to the hospital."
Carter pulled herself away from him and stood up quickly. "No. I can't go there!"
"What?" He didn't quite understand. "I know you hate hospitals and all but..."
Carter shook her head and for a moment, looked angry. "No. I can't go. I can't watch her die."
Taylor stared at her for a moment, the situation finally hitting him. "You don't know she's going to die. She'll be fine. She's going to be fine."
"Katie had a dream about her. She came over really early this morning and Zac came over to borrow some dry clothes out of Melissa's dresser. They didn't tell me but I heard them talking."
"So what if she had a dream about her?" Taylor muttered. "That doesn't mean anything."
"Taylor..." Carter wiped the tears off of her face and stared into his eyes. "Please don't make me go."
Taylor hugged her tightly again before finally answering her. "You know that you have to go. You know that whatever happens, you will be very upset with yourself if you don't go."
"I can't." She whispered and her voice was almost gone.
Taylor nodded. "I have to go. We're all leaving in a couple minutes. I'll call you from there. Ok?"
Carter nodded and kissed him lightly on the lips. Tears were still streaming down her face and she had started to shake. Taylor hugged her again before leaving for the hospital.
After three hours of sitting in the waiting room, Melissa's doctor finally came out of her room and told everybody that they could go in. "Two at a time. No more than that."
Isaac waited for his turn for an hour and finally, he slowly made his way to her room. He requesting that he go in by himself, afraid to let anybody see him cry. But he didn't cry. He pushed her door open slowly and walked in to find her laying very still. Every machine he had ever seen in a hospital tv show was hooked to Melissa. Most of her face was covered in bandages. Her eyes were blacked and there was a large slice that covered her bottom lip. Her left arm and both of her legs were cast. He couldn't tell how much damage was done to her body just by looking but the doctor had told her father that her heart was very weak and that both of her lungs were severely damaged. He said that there wasn't much hope of a recovery.
Isaac took a deep breath and sat down in the chair that was next to the bed. He wasn't really sure if he wanted to talk or if he had just wanted to see her.
He sat for a long time, just staring, until finally he heard the door open with a squeak. Carter shuffled slowly into the room and after closing the door behind her, she stood as far away from the bed as she could.
"Hey." Isaac jumped up and walked to her, hugging her tightly.
Carter didn't say anything. She just stared at her little sister.
"Taylor said you weren't coming."
Carter was no longer crying but her eyes made her look as though she hadn't slept in weeks. "They don't know I'm here." She whispered, finally letting go of him. "Have they said if..."
Isaac shook his head. "It doesn't... she's not..."
Carter nodded, understanding.
"Uhm. Do you want me to go?" He asked.
Carter shook her head. "No. Stay. I don't think I can do this alone."
Isaac nodded and watched from the wall as Carter walked slowly to Melissa's side. She stood there, quietly for a while before taking a deep breath and laying her hand on top of Melissa's.
Melissa's eyes opened slowly and she stared up at her sister. "Hi." She whispered and smiled.
Carter's voice caught in her throat and tears began to fall down her cheeks once more. She leaned down and wrapped her arms around her as best as she could. Then, she stood back up quickly, afraid she had hurt her.
"It's ok." Melissa's voice seemed to be damaged as well and it sounded like it was hard for her to speak. "It doesn't hurt. Nothing hurts."
She closed her eyes again for a few minutes and Carter thought she had fallen back asleep. Then, she opened her eyes for the second time and smiled. "Will you do me a favor?"
Carter nodded and wiped her eyes again. She half expected to hear a dying wish.
"Will you bring me my bear?" She asked, referring to the small white teddy bear she had slept with since she was three years old. "I really don't like hospitals very much and..." She trailed off and closed her eyes again.
Carter looked up at Isaac. She had no idea what to do.
Melissa stirred again and finally opened her eyes. "Sorry."
"It's ok." Carter laughed lightly. "I uhm. Meli... I ..."
Melissa shook her head. "Don't." She strained to find words. "If you're thinking of telling me that you love me, I already know. If I don't... If I..." She paused. "I don't want you to be sad."
Carter's eyes filled with tears again. "How can I not be sad?"
Melissa smiled. "I'll be with Mom."
Carter started to cry. It wasn't just tears this time, she covered her eyes with one hand and started to cry, her shoulders shaking. She didn't think she could handle this. She wasn't as strong as everybody thought she was.
Melissa lifted her arm that wasn't broken and shifted slightly to the left. "Come here." She touched Carter's arm and motioned for her to sit on the bed.
"It doesn't hurt?"
"Nothing hurts."
Carter, not wanted to think about how bad of a sign that was, pulled herself onto the bed and layed down next to Melissa. Melissa wrapped her good arm around her sister and rested her chin on the top of her head. "Will you stay here?"
Carter nodded, even though part of her just wanted to go home and go to sleep. "I'll stay as long as you need me here."
Melissa closed her eyes again. "Thank you."