Isaac carried Jessie into the hospital. Taylor had Avery by the hand and Zac was holding onto Mackenzie.

Maddie followed them.

Doctors wheeled Jessica off, Taylor and Isaac filled out paperwork, Zac searched for a pay phone. Avery and Mackie were left unsupervised by their brothers and Maddie took it upon herself to watch them.

Everything was spinning. It was too familiar. The blue chairs in the waiting room, the doctors and nurses passing by periodically. Maddie knew it all. Like a sickening dance formed from memories, everyone and everything floated by.

So this was the girl.

For the first time, Isaac really looked at the girl who had hit his little sister. She had long blond hair and brown eyes - just like Jessie(note, I’m guessing about Jessica’s eye color). Actually, this girl looked a lot like Jessie. Their faces were the same shape and so were their mouths and their noses.

However, no matter how much she resembled the sister he loved so much, he hated the girl. He hated her with everything he was. She had hurt Jessica, and he hated her.

After what seemed like forever, a nurse walked over to where Maddie was sitting. “You can come see your sister now,” she said.

Isaac, Taylor, and Zac, whom Maddie hadn’t noticed had been sitting next to her, all stood. The nurse gave a small nod of her head and started out of the waiting room.

Mackenzie and Avie stood up as well and started after their brothers. Maddie followed the two of them, knowing that neither Isaac, Taylor, nor Zac had noticed they were tagging along. She was afraid that if they got lost in the hospital, she’d be responsible for that as well.

The nurse led the way down a corridor and into a large room divided into cubicles. Jessica was in the third cubical to the left.

“Well,” the nurse, began, speaking to Isaac, Taylor, and Zac. “We took Jessica down for an X-ray. The bone wasn’t broken - it’s barely a hairline fracture . . .”

As if in a dream, Maddie made her way to the blond girl’s bedside. “Jessica?” she asked quietly.

“Yes?” she replied after a moment. Her brown eyes searched Maddie’s face. “Are you another nurse?”

Maddie managed to smile. “No,” she told her.

Jessica searched her face again. “What’s your name?”

“Madison Patrick. But you can call me Maddie,” she replied.

“Okay,” Jessica said. “My name is Jessica Hanson, but you can call me Jessie,” she told her. “Do you know my parents? Or are you my one of my brothers’ friends?”

“No. I . . . Actually . . .” Maddie couldn’t think of a way to word what she wanted to say. Finally, she decided to be blunt. “Jessie, I’m the one who hit you.”

Jessica squinted her eyes critically. “Hit me?” she asked.

Oh, god, she has amnesia, swept through Maddie’s mind. However, she fought herself and did not panic. “Don’t you remember?” Maddie asked softly.

Jessie closed her eyes. “I remember . . . Isaac yelled at me for knocking over a bag of chips so I went outside to wait in the parking lot. And then . . . I saw a kitty, so I went to go pet it. It was a pretty black kitty. And then the kitty ran out into the street and I went to follow it and I slipped on . . . Something. I hit my head and I woke up here,” she explained.

Maddie let out a shuddering breath. Thank god, she thought. She doesn’t remember. She won’t have to live remembering. Maybe she won’t have to live through the nightmares . . .

“They took X-rays of my legs,” Jessie said openly.

Maddie smiled. “Really?” she asked.

“Yep,” Jessica told her. “And the doctor said my legs were very flexible and asked if I was a -”

“A ballerina,” Maddie finished for her. Oh, god, a ballerina, she remembered. The X-ray machine had been massive and the doctor had bent her legs in all different directions. And then he had told her she was very flexible and asked Maddie if she was a ballerina . . .

“Did you see my cast?” Jessie asked, breaking into Maddie’s memory. “The nurse said that I probably won’t have to wear it long. But I’ll still have to use crutches ’cause she said I can’t walk on it.”

Maddie didn’t have to look at Jessie’s legs to know what was there. It was a soft cast: A hard plaster cast on the back of her calf and the bottom of her foot with an ACE bandage wrapped around it.

However, she looked down anyway. Everything she had imagined was there. The soft cast was exactly as her own had been, except hers had been on her right leg, and Jessie’s was on her left one.

Maddie looked back at Jessica’s face. “Do you know why you have to wear the cast? How your leg got hurt?”

Jessica puckered her brow. “Um . . . No,” she said at last.

Swallowing hard, Maddie said, “Well, I was driving down the street and I couldn’t really see what was going on and . . . My truck ran over your legs, Jessie.”

Jessica studied her critically for a moment. Maddie prepared herself for screaming and yelling and other hysterics, but they never came. Instead, Jessie cocked her head and asked, “What’s wrong with your face?”

Maddie’s hand immediately went to her right cheek. She had forgotten entirely about Trevor and her resolve to kill him. She had forgotten how her face throbbed and how it must look by now. “Oh, I, um . . .”

“What are you doing in here?”

She spun around to see Isaac standing behind her, Taylor, Zac, Avery, and Mack beside him.

Before Maddie had a chance to reply, Jessie was talking. “This is my friend Maddie Patrick,” she said. “Maddie, those are my brothers, Ike, Tay, Zac, and Mackie, and my sister Avie,” she introduced.

“Hold on,” Isaac demanded. “Your friend?” He glared at Maddie. “What did you tell her?”

Jessie puckered her lips. “Yes, my friend. She told me that she was the one who hit me and that she was the reason I have this cast. And it’s okay because I’m okay, right?” she explained in an all-knowing nine-year-old way. “Ike, you’re not still mad at me are you?”

Isaac looked appalled at the thought. Forgetting about his death stair aimed at Maddie, he walked to his sister’s side and took her hand in both of his. He kissed her forehead. “No, Jessie. I’m not mad at you. I . . .” He kissed her forehead again. “I’m not mad. I’m so sorry.”

Jessie put her free arm around her brother’s neck. “It’s okay, Ike,” she said quietly. “Don’t cry.”

Isaac stood up. “I wasn’t going to,” he told her.

She rolled her eyes and shook her head slightly. “Yeah, right,” she said.

All of her siblings made their way around Jessie’s bed to give her hugs and kisses. As they did so, Isaac walked over to his little sister’s new friend.

“Well, Maddie,” he said quietly, making sure nobody else heard him. “You are aware that my parents will probably take legal action against you, right?” he asked softly.

Maddie looked at him. “I don’t advise it,” she said simply.

“Why is that?” Isaac demanded, his tone still soft. “Are you trying to make a threat.”

Maddie closed her eyes and took a deep breath before replying. “No. It’s not a threat. It’s my advice to you. Nothing will happen. I’ll be held accountable for any problems that may stem from this accident until Jessica’s eighteenth birthday. But, chances are she won’t have any problems.”

Isaac shook his head. “I can’t believe this,” he said. “You’re a real piece of work, you know that? My sister is in pain, and you’re standing here playing oracle -”

“Jessica is not in pain,” Maddie snapped. “She might have a headache from smacking her head on the pavement - which, might I add, is no fault of mine - but other than that, she’s fine.”

Isaac glared at her. “How the hell do you know that?”

“Mommy! Daddy!” Jessica cried before Maddie had a chance to reply.

“Oh, baby,” Diana Hanson breathed, making her way over to her daughter’s bedside. She handed her youngest child, Zoë, over to Taylor and hugged Jessie tightly. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, Mommy,” she said. “I’ve got a little headache, but that’s all.”

Diana nodded and walked away from her. She motioned for Isaac, Taylor, and Zac to follow her. As the four of them gathered by the edge of the cubicle, Walker Hanson made his way to Jessica and hugged her.

“Well, I have some bad news,” Diana said to her sons. “The hotel didn’t have our reservation and every other hotel and motel in the area is booked solid.”

A groan came up from the guys. “What are we gonna do?” Zac asked his mother.

Maddie stepped forward. “I’m sorry, but I overheard what you just said,” she began, ignoring the icy glare she received from Isaac. “If you’d like, you could stay at my house. There are three rooms there you could use - no, actually, four. I could always sleep on the couch,” she offered.

Diana gave her an odd look. “And you are . . . ?”

“Maddie Patrick -”

“The girl that hit Jessie,” Isaac introduced coldly.

Maddie ignored him. “It’s the least I can do.”

“Don’t you have to consult your parents, Maddie?” Diana asked.

She shook her head. “No. My parents are on a plane to . . . France, I believe. A business meeting with some bigwig tycoon of some kind,” she explained.

Diana nodded slowly. “Well, Miss Patrick, the Hanson family accepts your invitation. Thank you,” she said. “Are you going to wait around until we check Jessica out?”

Maddie nodded. “Yes, of course.”

“Good.”

Just as Diana spoke, Jessie called for Maddie. “Come meet my dad,” was her request.

As Maddie walked to Jessica’s bed, Isaac looked at his mother. “Mom, are you crazy? She ran Jessie over with a truck!”

Diana nodded. “I know,” she said. “But have you looked into her eyes? She feels regret and sorrow and . . . I don’t know . . . Something else, too. She’s truly sorry for what she’s done, Isaac. I can tell.” She glanced over at the girl who had just offered her home to a family of strangers. “Besides, haven’t you noticed her face? I think she might be better off if she has someone in that big house with her.”