Chapter 1 – When You're Gone
[When you're gone
The pieces of my heart are missing you
When you're gone
The face I came to know is missing too
When you're gone, the words I need to hear
To always get me through the day
And make it okay
I miss you
It's been a week since Conan died. Rachel mused as she stared out at the expansive lake. She had gone out to "go shopping", or at least, that's what she told her father. She was the only one that knew that she had actually gone to the park to mull things over. About a month ago, Jimmy had been calling every day, just to check up on her. What bothered Rachel was that Jimmy's suddenly stopped calling her. There was no apparent reason, and he hadn't mentioned any new case that he would be working on for a long time.
All this happened after Conan's…accident. Yes, his "accident". Rachel had to keep telling herself that it was all an accident. It wasn't her fault that he had decided to jump in the car with them. It wasn't her fault that the road was slippery, it wasn't her fault that her father had been trying to get his hair out of his eyes, and it damn sure wasn't her fault that the other driver wasn't looking where he was going. But it was her fault that Conan was crushed instead of her. After the "accident", Rachel woke up in a hospital bed, her father and a doctor leaning over her.
Rachel snapped out of her stupor and realized that tears were streaming down her face. She looked at her watch and realized that Serena would be worried if she didn't go back. For the past week, Rachel had been staying at Serena's house, confiding in her best friend, who had been unusually quiet. For once, she didn't talk. She didn't interrupt. She just sat there, staring at Rachel and listening intently.
Finally, Rachel decided to go back to her own house. She didn't want to inconvenience Serena's family any longer. They had all told her that she wasn't a problem, that they loved having her over, but Rachel decided that it would be best if she returned home. Besides, she wanted to check up on her dad and see how he was holding up after the incident.