30. Noah
Lizzie’s still in the hospital, unconscious and hooked up to a ton of wires. Summer is flying by, I don’t know how July is almost over already.
This isn’t the first time my sister’s been in the hospital.
When we were younger, she was always accident-prone. Bad luck followed her everywhere.
She was in her tomboy phase when she was in her early teenage years.
She got into skateboarding. Well, she tried to get into skateboarding. She took a tumble down the hill near our house when she was fourteen and sliced her knee open. It took months for that wound to heal.
It’s hard to believe my sister is a detective now for the Sunset Cove Special Victims Unit, solving sex crimes and helping victims. It’s something she’s been passionate about since she was in high school, giving a voice to the voiceless and helping people who can’t help themselves.
It’s inspiring.
She’s always inspired me to chase after my dreams and not let the assholes out there get me down. I should compliment her more often to her actual face, and not just in my head.
I do have to say Dani has been amazing through all this. She hasn’t left my side since she got here.
I don’t deserve her.
The more time I spend with her, the more I fall in love with her. It’s hard not to fall in love with a woman like Dani.
Every time she walks into a room, it’s so bright I’m blinded. If she was a witch, I would’ve been cast under her spell.
It’s getting harder to be around her though without blurting out the truth about how I feel. I want to tell her when the time is right. She deserves to know how I feel even if there’s a chance she may not feel the same way.
I blink my eyes multiple times to pull me out of my daze.
I’m sitting on one of the chairs in front of Lizzie’s room.
It’s the afternoon. We’ve all been here for hours, anxiously waiting for the moment when my sister wakes up from her prolonged slumber.
Dani fell asleep in the crook of my neck, holding my hand with her arm interlocked with mine. She looks so fucking cute when she’s sleeping.
Mom and Celia are sitting inside Lizzie’s room, talking about God knows what.
She wakes up, slowly lifting her head out of the crook of my neck. She’s rubbing her eyes. “Shit, how long was I asleep?”
“I’d say like thirty minutes.” I smile at her, staring into her rich dark chocolate eyes that make me melt.
Her eyebrows lightly furrow and she smiles back at me. “Why are you looking at me like that?”
“I’m getting deja vu. We sat in these very same chairs a month ago, and you asked me the very same question when I woke up from my power nap.”
She laughs into my shoulder, her breath heating me from the inside out. “You’re right. I totally forgot about that.”
“You forgot about something that happened a month ago?”
“In my defense, a lot of shit has happened over the past month. My brain isn’t functioning like it normally does, and neither is yours.” She wiggles her pointer finger in my face.
I grab it, moving it out of my face and interlocking my fingers with hers.
I’m finding every excuse to touch her in some way whether it’s holding her hand, hugging her, or putting my hand on her thigh.
The interesting thing is she doesn’t seem to mind any of it.
She doesn’t flinch like she did before.
Out of nowhere, I hear screaming and crying. Dani and I look at each other all bug-eyed. We get up and run into Lizzie’s room.
Mom is hugging Lizzie, but Lizzie doesn’t seem too happy about it. Celia is smiling at them.
I’m doing my best to hold back tears because I don’t want to be the domino causing all the women in the room to fall.
“Hey,” my sister says in monotone through a rasp, barely smiling. “Can I have some water, please?”
Mom runs out of the room to get some water for her.
When she returns, she has a styrofoam cup in her hand with a bendy straw dancing around inside it.
Mom walks over to Lizzie and puts the cup in her face.
My sister’s lips wrap around the straw, sipping on the water. “Where the hell am I?”
Mom looks at me and back at Lizzie. “You’re in the hospital, honey.”
“Why am I in the hospital?”
Mom glances at the floor, closes her eyes, and falls onto the floor. Celia helps her up, guiding her to the chair pushed under the desk across from Lizzie’s bed.
Celia sits down on the chair in the corner of the room.
“There was an accident,” I say.
“Is Mom okay?” Lizzie squints her eyes tightly. “Wait, an accident? What kind of accident? Where’s Dad? Is he here?”
My shoulders tense up as my chest constricts.
Dani walks over to me. “You need to sit down.” Dani smiles at her mom as a gesture for her to stand with my mom.
Once I sit down on the chair that Celia was just sitting in, my chest heaves faster. Dani notices and she sits down on my lap.
No questions asked.
She gently places her hand on top of mine as she leans back, moving her mouth closer to my ear. “Breathe.”
God, I love it when she touches me.
My breathing slows, getting back to normal.
Holy shit, Dani’s sitting on my lap. Now is not the time to freak out about this. It’s about being there for your sister. She’s your priority. Focus, Noah.
“Dad’s not here,” I spit out.
A confused expression takes over Lizzie’s face. “What do you mean he’s not here?”
“What’s the last thing you remember?”
“Dad and I were in the car on our way to the grocery store and now I’m here.”
I gulp hard. “You don’t remember anything?”
She shakes her head as a silent answer to my question.
“That’s okay.” I take a deep breath and let it out. “You and Dad got into a car accident. Dad’s injuries were really bad. He was in critical condition when he arrived here like you were. Unlike you, he was on the receiving end of the impact. He got more of it.” My hand is shaking as I’m looking at the bed. “Dad’s gone, Lizzie.”
Her eye twitches. “You’re lying.” She scratches underneath her ear, lips trembling. “Noah Matthew Kaplan, tell me the truth.” She looks at Mom. “He’s lying, right? Please tell me he’s lying.”
I find my eyes gravitating in Dani’s direction because I can’t bear to look at my sister right now.
This is why I was terrified to tell her.
She’s fractured on the outside and now she’s completely broken on the inside like I am without the fractured part.
I’m just broken.
Leaning back on the top edge of the chair, I take Dani with me and wrap my arms around her even tighter.
“It’s going to be okay,” she whispers in my ear.
I slowly close and open my eyes, breathing in and out.
Mom’s jaw vibrates, and her eyes blink rapidly to stop more tears from pouring out, but it’s no use.
Celia answers for her before she runs after Mom when she leaves the room. “I’m so sorry, honey. Your brother is telling the truth.”
“So, y-you’re telling me I-I came in here with a father…and I’ll be leaving here without o-one?”
I nod. “Yes,” I whisper.
God, I hate that Lizzie has to go through all the stages of grief on top of getting back to her old self.
Sometimes life fucking sucks.