Disclaimer: I do not own Flight 29 Down, or it's characters.
And now, silence. Taylor's world was always filled with so much noise that she had almost forgotten what the quiet sounded like. It was mysterious and suspenseful; it gave her the feeling that anything, tragedy or miracle, could happen. And would happen. The silence gave no clues toward what card fate was going to throw on the table. But that didn't matter. There was only right now, this very moment; and in this moment there was only Taylor and the quiet. She felt as if she were half asleep, unable to think clearly or move any part of her body. She wanted so badly to remember this feeling, but couldn't tell exactly how she felt. She guessed she was either feeling a great peacefulness or a great shock.
"Taylor." A hand came to rest on her shoulder breaking her thoughts and chasing away her calmness. She turned to see Daley urging her towards the car. "Come on, we're going to the hospital. I called dad and Olivia, they're meeting us there." She turned in the direction of her car not noticing that Taylor wasn't with her.
Taylor stayed rooted to the sidewalk battling with herself whether she wanted to follow Daley or not. Maybe if she didn't go her parents would walk out of the fire all right. Maybe avoiding the hospital would make this whole situation better: snap her back to reality because everything seemed so unreal. Or maybe she was just too afraid to go.
Daley had only walked a few yards before she noticed that she was alone. She turned back to see Taylor still on the sidewalk nodding and shaking her head as if someone were talking to her. Daley bit her lip so hard that a small bead of blood escaped as she walked back over to Taylor. She stood right in front of her, only a foot away, which made Taylor take notice of her presence.
"Hey," she spoke softly, her voice bursting with compassion. "C'mon let's get outta here, we gotta get to the hospital."
"I don't think I can..." Taylor's voice broke and she covered her mouth with her hand. A few tears rolled over her fingers, and dropped down onto her new pink flip-flops.
"Hey, hey..." Daley speaking just as before guided Taylor's hand down and held onto it tightly. "I'm here, I'll always be here. I won't leave you... unless you want me to." Taylor squeezed her hand into Daley's.
"Promise?" she whispered.
"Yes." Out of reflex she leaned forward and lightly kissed Taylor's forehead. "I promise."
"Oh... ok." Taylor, a little more stunned than before, kept a firm hold on Daley's hand as she lead her back to the car.
At the hospital
"Daley!" A man with his arm around a dark haired woman called out to the girls as they entered the ER lobby.
"Dad!" Her cradled the redhead in his arms; the dark haired woman kissed the back of her head before turning her attention to the blonde girl.
"Taylor, honey. Are... are you ok Are you hurt?" She cupped the young girl's teary face in her hands, and then began to gently stroke her hair.
"No." She realized that 'no', could be mistaken as an answer to the first question so she added, "I'm not hurt."
"Oh, thank God. Thank God both of you are safe." She pulled Taylor into a long hug, which Taylor accepted gladly. The four stayed this way for a long time, Daley in her father's arms, and Taylor in Olivia's.
A/N- This is a little shorter than what I usually write, but I thought this would be a good place to end this chapter. I have had writers block on this story for a really long time, so reviews would be appreciated, as they always are. Thanks to girlyworld95 for encouraging me so much while trying to write this chapter! Thanks for reading!