Kacey’s lips curved into a slight smile for the first time since arriving back at her house. “Thank you for telling me that. Seriously. It means a lot to me that you’re able to see that.” Her smile dropped as she looked away from me. “Tonight isn’t about me though. It’s about you.”
Before I could argue, she walked away and came back a minute later holding a small wrapped box. “This is your birthday present.” Her hand shook as she handed it over to me, and when I looked into her eyes, I saw that she was trying to fight back tears.
I put the gift into the pocket of my jacket that I was still wearing, then put my hand under Kacey’s chin, directing her eyes toward me. “Hey, just because it’s my birthday doesn’t mean you have to act strong. Let’s go up to bed. You could use some sleep. That was a lot to take in.” I pushed a lock of hair behind her ear and placed a kiss on her forehead before taking her hand and leading her upstairs.
We both changed and got ready for bed. Kacey looked at me with tired eyes as she lay down beside me. “I’m really sorry the night didn’t go as we expected.”
“Stop. Anytime with you is perfect, Kacey. I promise.”
Kacey nodded her head, then burrowed it into my neck, clinging to me like a child to a parent. I ran a hand through her hair and tried to will myself to fall asleep.
Sleep didn’t seem likely though. First there was Kacey’s constant tossing and turning, with little bouts of tears and asking why she had been so wrong. When we finally fell asleep, we were startled back awake to the sound of sirens not very far away that seemed to last forever. I was drifting off to sleep again when the faint sound of my phone vibrating woke me back up. I pushed the side button to stop it, then tried to ignore it when it started up again. After it repeated several times, I ripped it from the nightstand and found missed calls from both my parents and Bo, as well as a text from my mom telling me to call her right away.
“Mom, what’s going on?” I asked sleepily when she picked up the phone.
My mom’s voice was so shaky, it was almost hard to discern the words she was saying, but when they registered, it felt like my whole world came crashing down. “You need to come to the hospital. It’s your sister. She’s been in an accident.” The phone dropped from my hand at the same moment I felt my stomach drop.
Chapter 16
Kacey and I rushed around the room putting on clothes and grabbing anything we might need at the hospital. Once downstairs, I tried to catch my breath while Kacey frantically searched for something. “I can’t find the small backpack I wore to your parents anywhere. It has my car keys, license, and all of my cards in it.” She took a deep breath and ran a hand through her hair. “I’m too overwhelmed to remember where my spare keys are.” She shook her head and groaned. “My car is blocked anyway. Give me your keys. I’ll drive us in your car. You’re in no condition to drive right now.”
I fumbled with my keys as I tried to focus on Kacey through my tear-filled eyes. She wrapped her arms around me and pulled me tight against her. “She’s going to be okay. She’ll be okay.” The tone of her voice made it sound like she was trying to convince herself just as much as she was trying to convince me and even her strong arms couldn’t ease my anxiety.
I gently pushed her away and started to walk toward the door. “We should go.” I couldn’t focus on anything as I crawled into the car, but Kacey’s whispered expletives caught my attention. “What’s going on?”
“My sister’s damn car is gone. I have a feeling that’s where my backpack got to.” She forced a smile and squeezed my hand. “It’s not worth worrying about right now. Let’s just make sure your sister is okay.”
I looked at my phone and found another desperate text from Bo. “Bo hasn’t left yet. Could we pick him up?”
Without saying a word, Kacey nodded her head and directed the car toward Bo’s house. When we arrived, he was already waiting outside, pacing back and forth while he talked to himself. As he slid into the back seat, he ran a hand through his hair and let out a low growl before breaking into tears. “I should have been with her. She told me she wanted to stay at your parents’ house longer, and I decided to go home. I just wanted the chance to shower and clean up a little before she came back over. It was so stupid. Why am I so stupid?”
Kacey kept one hand on the wheel while reaching the other back to take Bo’s. “You can’t think like that. Beating yourself up isn’t going to help anything. All we can do now is to be there for her, okay?”
I reached my hand back so all three of our hands were connected and we rode to the hospital like this, no one speaking for the duration of the drive.
Once we were inside, Kacey led the way until we arrived on the floor that we were told to go to. As soon as the elevator doors opened, I saw my parents and ran to my mom, collapsing in her arms. “What’s going on? Is Kylie okay? Mom, please tell me she’s going to be okay. Please.”
I could tell my mom was trying to stay strong for me, but was barely hanging on. Her face looked tired and tear-streaked and it was covered in worry. “We don’t know, sweetheart. We don’t know anything. They said the injuries were extensive and that she needed emergency surgery, but that’s as much as we know.”
“But she’s going to be okay, right?” My voice was desperate and I couldn’t stop the tears that continued to run down my face.
“We can only hope,” my mom said solemnly. “Come on. Let’s go sit down, and I’ll tell you everything we know.”
We walked over to where Kacey and Bo were sitting on each side of my dad, each holding one of his hands. They all looked just as scared as I felt, but Kacey tried to give me a reassuring smile. I sat down beside her and laid my head on her shoulder and Bo moved over so my mom could sit beside my dad. “What happened?” I asked, almost afraid to hear the answer.
My dad cleared his throat and looked out into the distance. “We don’t know much. She was hit head on coming into your neighborhood. They think the other driver ran a red light, but they aren’t sure because it was a hit and run. Most likely a drunk driver.”
I looked at Kacey and I could tell she was thinking the same thing I was by how pale her face became from learning this new information. I had to look away because the thought was too upsetting. She ran her fingers over my hand, trying to encourage me to take hers, but I couldn’t will my hand to move. Her touch no longer felt comforting and even though I could feel her eyes burning into me, I couldn’t force myself to look at her, afraid of what I might feel if I did.
My eyes shot up at the sound of footsteps approaching. A doctor who looked way too young to have gray spots in his hair, but still did, stopped in front of us. He looked between my parents, avoiding eye contact with me completely. “Are you the parents of Kylie Adelberg?” he asked, the tone of his voice giving nothing away. When my mom nodded, he took one more step toward us, dropping his voice slightly. “I’m going to need you to come with me.”
As my parents started to follow him out of the waiting area and into a different part of the hospital completely, all of the worst thoughts came to my head. “He took them back to tell them something. Oh God. Isn’t that what they do when they need to tell someone that...” I couldn’t even say the words because speaking them out loud made it feel too real and I didn’t want to believe it. I couldn’t even begin to imagine a life without my sister. Never again hearing her laugh. No longer enduring hours of teasing. Losing the simple things that I always took for granted, but meant so much to me, like her hugs and the way we could talk for hours about nothing at all.