Sorry sorry I couldn't update sooner - I was ill :( but the rest of the story coming soon! Thanks for reading :)
"Who keeps phoning you?" Zoe's dad asked her as they waited on plastic chairs, lukewarm plastic coffee in their hands.
Zoe was brought out of her trance and smiled up at her father. "What? Oh, no-one" she faltered, wanting desperately to tell him about her husband, the most amazing man she'd met. But she couldn't. Not at the moment.
"OK", a nurse appeared at the door of the room "She's ready to see you" Zoe clutched her plastic coffee. She'd agreed with her parents that she could have some time with her sister alone. Although she was glad, she was nervous. She'd seen hundreds of patients in a similar state, but it was different when it was her own sister.
"Hi" she whispered as she entered, her voice competing with the machines and their beeping. There was no response. She hadn't expected one. "How are you doing?" she asked the lifeless body of her sister. They'd known her chances were slim since the crash, but their parents had never let go of hope, had wanted Zoe to come, yes, to say goodbye, but maybe, just maybe she'd think of something…
"I love you" she told her sister, wanted to know she'd said it, she touched her lips. Had she ever told her sister that before?
She felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. Keeping a hand on Fran's, she struggled to get it from her pocket, disappointment at seeing it was a text from O2 about her contract, but her heart fluttered at the missed call from Max… what did he want?
She pretended for a moment that they were together. That she'd told him where she was going. He'd wanted to come, but couldn't get time off work, he was calling to see how it was going. He knew she'd need him. In whatever way he could be there.
"Sorry, I er.." Did she have to explain to her unconscious sister? "I got married over the summer". It seemed alien to say it. It hadn't even lasted for 24 hours, yet here she was saying that she was a wife. "I cheated on him. He was the most incredible man… is… and I did that to him" she shook her head at the memory of the fiasco. "Wish you could have met him" she glanced down at the phone, her finger hovering over the voicemail button. Should she press it?
No. Not now. This was the last chance she'd get to see her sister. Alive. If this was alive. She carried on talking to Fran, telling her about Max, about her job, about everything.
She couldn't take any of it in. Was Max really trying to get hold of her? Was her sister really dying? Where were her parents? She didn't want to leave her sister alone.
Eventually, visiting hours were over, and Zoe found herself back at her parents' house. Her heart aching for so much. She crawled up the stairs to her old bedroom, the reminder of being a small child without any fear or worry comforted her. She climbed into the bed, pulling her covers up above her head.
Max's voice played out from the phone, just loud enough to hear. She had to speak to him. She did need him. She pressed number 3, to call the person back and was almost surprised when he answered. "Hello?" "Zoe" She heard her name as a breath, as a sigh.