CHAPTER 5

Wishes don't come true.

At least that applied for Kelly.

She had pushed open the door to the room with so much faith and hope that her brother was fine and awake but instead, she was greeted by the presence of her still unconscious brother.

He laid still on the bed, the IV still in his hand and the machines were still around him. The oxygen mask was still there too. He was no different from the last time she had seen him back in Washington except that the injury was slowly healing.

She shut the door and walked up to his bed, his eyes were closed. His dark hair was tousled around the pillow, his lips were puckered and his face held a neutral look. She picked up his limp hand from the bed and held it firmly but not too tight.

"Kevin. Kevin wake up. Please wake up." She cried. She hated seeing him this way. He was always so happy-go-lucky. Very restless.

"Please, I miss you. You're all I have left. I don't want to lose you too." She choked on her sob. "Please respond to treatments. It's been three weeks Kev. Three weeks. Please wake up." She cried, holding his hand tightly.

"Answer me please." She cried desperately.

But, of course he didn't.

"I-I-I miss you Kev. Please come back. I promise I'll buy you all the action figures you want, I'll play with you and together we'll build buildings with your Legos. I'll even let you braid my hair. Please come back." She said crying harder.

By now, the tears were flowing freely down her face like a broken dam.

She placed her head on the bed and cried silently, hoping he'll wake up. She'd heard of people being in coma for years, she didn't want his to be like that. But it could, if he didn't respond to treatments. That only made her cry more.

She felt a tear flow down her face and watched it drop to the sheets of the bed. Then another. Then another. Then it turned into a full blown waterfall. The sheets were soaked when she raised her head up.

She didn't want to cry anymore, she wanted to be tough. All these crying was a weakness to her but she couldn't help it, the pain was crushing her. It was hitting against her heart like an hammer and she just had to let out the pain by crying. She frowned as she felt her head ache, the pain starting out slowly. She rested her head down on the sheets to dull the pain. She didn't realise when she slept off on the bed though.

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A call from Ann had woken her up. She was just checking on them. Kelly looked at Kevin and pleaded with him again to wake up even though she knew it was pointless.

She checked her phone and it was 5: 34 pm. She picked up her bag, looked at Kevin with teary eyes and gave him a kiss on the head before leaving the room. She felt empty as she walked out of the hospital, as though a piece of her was locked with Kevin in that quiet, dark room.

The streets wasn't so busy as she walked home. The air was slightly chilly and she wasn't comfortable in the clothes she was wearing anymore. The maroon top reminded her of blood and seeing cars just made her jumpy. She was terrified of cars now.

She took out the key from under the footmat and slid it into the key hole. Everyone was already home except for her uncle. She passed the kitchen where she saw Paris biting down on a granular bar.

"Hi." She greeted.

"Hi." Paris replied a bit harshly.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing. Everything's fine." She replied turning her head away signifying the conversation was over.

Kelly walked to her room quietly and quickly washed herself. The sweat, the tears, she washed them off then changed into a loose black shirt and grey shorts. Her hair was tied up in a messy ponytail and she curled up into bed to read a book.

She loved to read. It was her life. She'd love to be a writer but she also really wanted to be a Medical Doctor. She had always wanted to be a Medical Doctor since she was 7 when her dad had told her interesting stories about them.

Her dad. She wondered where he was. How he was doing. What was after life like? Right, he was dead. And nothing could change that. She would have probably been dead too if she had followed them, if only she had made them all stay home. If only.

What had happened had happened, nothing could change it. She told that to herself many times to stop the waterfall again but it couldn't. The pain was there, raw and sharp. It wormed it's way into her heart and tore it apart slowly, breaking her the more.

She placed the book on the nightstand and walked to the bathroom to wash her face. She wanted the tears to stop but she couldn't stop them. She wanted to stop being so vulnerable, crying weakened her. So instead of returning to bed, she went down the stairs to see what was for dinner.

No one was in the kitchen when she got there and no food was cooked. She picked a granular bar from the fridge, tore it open and wolfed it before walking back to her room to continue her book.

"Hey." Paris said pushing open her room door and stepping in.

"Hi."

"Sorry I acted that way the other time, I was just annoyed." She said.

"It's fine."

"I was curious about something."

"What's it?" Kelly asked placing her book down.

"I saw you talking to the Storm clique today. I was wondering how you met them."

"The Storm clique? Is that a thing? The only people I was talking to were Ian, Lloyd and Liam."

"Exactly. That's the Storm clique!"

"Oh."

Who names themselves the Storm Clique??

"Well I met Ian in the library and he introduced me to the others that's all." She shrugged.

"Okayy." She seemed to be thinking before shrugging it off. "So umm I saw your text. How is he?".

Kevin.

She sighed. "He's okay. Still the same but the injury is healing. The doctor said he'll be fine."

She didn't believe that.

"I hope he wakes up soon, it's been three weeks."

"Me too." She sighed again and slumped down letting her head rest on the pillow.

"He's a strong boy."

"Yes he is. So what's up? I didn't see you in school all through." Kelly said, not wanting to dwell on the topic. She'd cried enough for the day.

"Yeah I had Cheerleading practice and I bunked last period with Jacqueline. Then we went to the mall. Then ate at a diner. Then I came home."

"Sounds like fun." Kelly remarked. She'd rather be doing those than having to deal with accepting that her family was gone.

They sat in silence for a while before Paris suggested they watch some movies on Netflix till whenever they fall asleep even though they knew it was a school night.

Three hours, twelve granular bars, two bowls of ice cream later, they were both sprawled down on the floor, sleeping. Their bodies were twisted in awkward angles and their hair was scattered around.

But into the night, Kelly woke up gasping for air.

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~EnnyWrites 💕💕