AN: this is in the same universe as my other two stories. Here they are in 3rd year of college.
AN #2: warning – character's death
Tragic end
Kara and Cat have been dating for the past 2 and a half years. They kept their relationship a secret. Only a handful of people know about them. Being in the same college and in most of the same classes made it even harder to keep it a secret. They had to pretend they didn't know each other, the longing looks and the lingering eyes had to be put on a minimum. They tried to interact less at college, tried to not be in the same crowd, but more times than they can count it didn't work out for them. They were so in love that they couldn't keep it in their pants, so sometimes they bolted out of class and went to the car in the parking lot. When they were bored or not interested in the class they sex-ted. When the weekends came, they went out on parties, had a good time.
One Sunday night party had really bad consequences for them. The weather conditions were really bad. The roads were frozen, everything was covered in thick layer of snow. It was snowing heavily. No one in their right mind would have gone out, but they did. They were out partying with friends. They were celebrating the passing of their exams. They had a blast. It was three in the morning and it was time to go home. With conditions like this the taxi services were not working. Cat called her father to come get them. They hopped in the car and went to drop Kara off.
On their way to Kara's place the drive was ok. There was no traffic. Cat and her father were buckled because they sat in the front seats. Kara sat in the back and wasn't buckled in. They were making small talk and were talking about the party and the start of the semester in the morning. When they were crossing a big street a truck came out of nowhere and hit them in the driver's side. The car spun a few times and came to a halt. All of them were unconscious. Kara was the first to open her eyes. Her head was pounding. She slowly took note of her surroundings. She saw that Cat and her father were still unconscious. She touched them to find a pulse. They had pulse but it was too weak. Next she tried to shake them gently and called their names, but they weren't responding. She looked around a found her cell. She called an ambulance. The dispatch tried to keep her on the phone but after reporting the accident she fainted.
They all had severe injuries. Cat's father died on the spot being the one hit directly. Cat died from her injuries in surgery. Kara had a head injury, as well as a broken arm and severely injured leg. Her leg was amputated, they placed screws and plates to stabilize her arm, and they fixed her head injury. She was in a coma for three days.
Their classmates and teachers found out about the accident on Monday. Some via internet, others by colleagues. Cat's and her father's funeral were on Tuesday. Kara's parents were there to pay their respects as well. Some of their colleagues, and most of the professors at the college too. Classes were canceled for the entire week. What people didn't know was that Kara was in the accident as well. They were all told that she was abroad, and that she would be returning in a few weeks time.
Kara woke up on Thursday. Her entire family was there. Her parents, her brother, and other family members. The doctors didn't let anyone visit her till after they have examined her. The head injury didn't cause consequences, or brain damage. After the exams the doctors transferred her from the ICU to an ordinary room. Her mother was the first one to visit her. The first thing she did was she embraced her and didn't let go for a while. Kara knew that she had scared everyone. When they told her about her injuries and the coma she was still on pain killers and she accepted it somehow. The first thing she asked her mother was about Cat. Her mother not knowing how to respond just held her tight. Kara cried in her mother's embrace. Her father and brother were next to visit her, and then the rest of the family. No one stayed long, a minute or two to say hi and get well soon.
As the days went by, she was getting better. Her recovery was going well. She stopped taking pain killers. Kara knew the road to complete recovery and a somewhat normal life was very long. She's been in the hospital for a week now and the doctors told her that they would be releasing her by the end of the week. Her brother and parents visited her regularly. On Thursday she received a visit from an unexpected person, Cat's mother. They talked for a bit, asking questions about one another. Before Cat's mother left, Kara said "Please don't hate me. I know you do, at least a little bit." Cat's mother was shocked, and turned towards Kara to say something, but she didn't have a chance as Kara continued "I survived. I'm here. They're not. I already have survivor's guilt. I don't want you to hate me because I survived. I already hate myself. That's not going to change. If I could go back and change everything I would. I know you miss them. So do I. I don't know what I'm going to do, or how I'm going to cope with this, so please don't hate me. If you're going to hate someone, hate that damn truck driver even though he's dead."
"I don't hate you. On the contrary actually. I'm happy that you are alive and well. I just want to tell you that if you need anything I'm here for you." After a few more spoken words she left. Kara was released on Saturday. The first thing she did was visit her girlfriend's grave. She didn't want anyone to see her so over the course of the next three months, she only went to physical therapy, the graveyard and her prosthetics fitting. Having her arm in a cast made her learn how to use her left hand for everything from eating to writing, and doing almost everything else with it.
Kara tried to keep up with her college assignments, but not attending the classes made her fall behind. When she felt comfortable with herself she decided to go to the college or at least try for one day and see how it goes. This happened in the beginning of May, about two weeks before the exam session started. When her colleagues and friends saw her, they started asking questions like where was she the entire semester, why didn't she show up for classes, and stuff like that. Her only response was that she was abroad visiting family.
Kara knew that she was going to need help preparing for the exams. She scheduled individual meeting with some of the professors to ask them things from the study material that she didn't quite get. Most of them were forthcoming and explained some of those things. But there was this one professor that was stuck up the old ways that she didn't pass the students who were not attending her classes nor delivering their homework. Kara knew this was going to be a challenge for her, so before going to the meeting with this professor she told herself 'don't play the cripple card' and she went inside. The professor explained her the unknown material, but told her that in order to pass the exam she'll need to be excellent on the test, and that her biggest grade can be a D. After some more talking about the material she left the professor's office. On her way out she saw Cat's mother. They stopped to say hello. They talked for a bit about different things. Kara said that these few days were the first time she came to the college this semester, and that she feels very weird being here after all this time. They parted ways because Cat's mother had a class to teach, and Kara had to go to her class.
Over the following month they saw each other a few more times, so she could help Kara with her exam material. Kara passed all her exams. When Kara saw that she had passed her last exam she started crying. The tears were a mixture of joy and pain, happiness and sadness, and how far she came in just a few months and all that she has endured just made her stronger.
When the school year ended, Kara transferred to study abroad. She finished college abroad. She found a job there, started a new life, but every year she came back to Macedonia on the anniversary of the terrible accident that took the lives of her girlfriend and her father.
FIN