(Claire's POV)

"What about the cold ones?"

My question hung in the air for a long few seconds. I knew mom would be home soon with the pizza (thank goodness- pizza!) and I could tell that she was in on the secret. Quil didn't answer for a long few minutes as he stared out the window and into the night.

"Quil?" I asked quietly, noticing him almost jump as if I had startled him.

"Hm?" Before I could ask again, he answered. "Oh- uh, yeah, the cold ones," he seemed to stall, maybe thinking of an explanation.

"Well.. They're real, I won't lie to you." I felt my breath hitch in my throat. They still existed?

"Where?" I almost shouted, sitting up straight. I was demanding to know where they were. Would they want to hurt my Quil? Or me? They killed women of my tribe, the senselessly killed tons of people just for their blood! They were monsters.

"They're anywhere- they're not a danger to us. We all kind of.. keep to ourselves, Claire-bear." I sighed. He used my nickname as if he knew it would lessen the tension of my question. I spoke again, my voice barely even a squeak of a concerned whisper.

"They wouldn't be after you?" Quil actually laughed.

"No! No, of course not! We get along anymore."

"But, they're-!" I was interrupted as we both noticed mom's headlights in the driveway. The thought of pizza clouded my mind, but I had to ask one more question.

"Promise me that you're safe?" I whispered, staring into Quil's eyes with determination. He wasn't allowed to be hurt or to have anything bad happen to him. Not my best friend, not my big brother, not my Quil.

Mom opened the door, a large box of pizza and a two-liter of soda in her hand. Quil and I were quick to get up and help her put everything on the table. Quil opened the box and grabbed the paper plates while I took out the cups from the cupboard. Mom got her usual two pieces of cheese-only, and Quil and I, together, ate the entire half of the pizza that was cheese and pepperoni. I had two slices, he had four. It made sense how much he ate now- all of the wolves did. I assumed that their metabolism had to be faster or something.

My mind was at ease as I practically devoured my pizza. We saved Katie four pieces of the cheese only half since she wouldn't be home until the next morning. She was supposed to be over her one friend, what was her name- Amanda? Kelly? One of those two-'s house for the other girl's sixteenth birthday. Mom gave her the lecture that I had overheard- no alcohol, no drugs, no driving, call if she needs help, be good. I was glad that, while being a wild teenager, Katie was still smart. She never drove drunk when she did get in a car, she didn't do any drugs or anything and she still got good grades. I wished that I could be like her when I was older. I did the usual things- stealing her clothes and perfume, not that I even wore it. I even stole an eye shadow pallet of hers. She never seemed to notice- or she did, and she let me keep it anyway.

"So," mom interrupted my thoughts. "Everything okay, you two? Claire, you.. know?" She seemed unsure of how to word her question. I wouldn't know either, but yes, I did know. I nodded, swallowing a bite of pizza crust.

"Yeah," I smiled, hoping to reassure her. She seemed a bit.. what, weirded out by it all? I could understand why- anyone would.

"And you know that nobody else can know? Not even Katie?" I nodded again.

"Yeah, of course." Katie probably wouldn't believe me anyway. 'Oh hey, Kate! Good ol' Quil here is a big furry werewolf!' Yeah, right.

After we all finished our food, Quil had to leave so I could go to bed. It was already past eleven- longer than I usually was awake, and man was I beat. Mom was going to go to bed as well- even though it was Sunday, she still had to work the next day. Mom was brushing her teeth before bed and I was about to join her as I saw Quil off. I was sure to give him one of our usual bear hugs.

"See ya later, little buddy," he smirked, messing up the top of my hear. I stuck my tongue out at him jokingly and he laughed.

"See ya, Quil."

I watched my best friend leave in his truck and locked the door behind me as I went to brush my teeth. Mom braided my hair before bed, as was our nightly routine. I had recently grown out of bedtime stories, so we said our goodnight's and our I love you's and I was asleep before I knew it.

It felt as if I had just closed my eyes when mom woke me up. She was always so calm and collected, but she was incredibly frantic.

"Claire, Claire, honey- Claire, wake up!" She whispered hurriedly to me. My eyes opened groggily, but I was wide awake the second that I could see that mom was crying. I got up quickly with her as we made our way outside and to the car. Sitting in the back as usual, I leaned forward to hold mom's free hand, which she held onto tightly.

"Mom?" I asked for what felt like the millionth time. She was crying, though trying to do so quietly. She had this thing where she never wanted us to worry, but it was hard not to. "What happened?" I asked, my throat feeling thick as well. I could feel the tears pricking at the corners of my eyes- something was very wrong. It all hit me when we parked in the lot of the Emergency section of the Hospital parking lot. Mom turned around after shutting the car off, sniffling and dabbing at her eyes with her sleeve.

"Sweetheart, your sister was in a car accident." I felt my heart drop into my stomach. A feeling of queasiness overcame me as I felt like my lungs were stripped of air.

"What?" I rasped breathlessly. A few tears fell down my cheeks. No. No, no no. Katie wasn't stupid like that. She wouldn't get in a car with a drunk driver. She wouldn't drive drunk. She wouldn't drink (too much, anyway) or do drugs. "How?"

"They said they could explain when we got here. All the doctor said to me was that we should get here as quick as possible." Mom admitted. She wouldn't lie to me- I could tell when she would, and I preferred the truth. I kept myself strong, holding back my tears from falling any further. Even though Katie and I didn't get along perfectly, she made it obvious she loved me. She even took me to the mall with her and her older friends every now and then. She offered to do my makeup and hair all the time, to draw with me, to come to my after-school things- and I loved her. Equal with Quil as my big brother, Katie and mom were my two favorite people in the whole world. They were the center of my universe. Nothing was allowed to happen to any of them.

Mom and I hurried through the sliding doors that lead into the emergency room. She held my hand tightly as we darted to the desk.

"What's your emergency?" The girl, who couldn't be older than twenty asked. She seemed bored with her job, but she still cared when she saw a frantic mother and daughter. "Who are you here to see, ma'am?" She corrected her question. I read her name tag- her name was Holly.

"I'm Jenna Young, Kathryn Young's mother, and her little sister." Mom only used Katie's full name in situations like these- I had rarely even heard it. Katie was Katie to everyone, even her teachers at school. The young girl looked like she didn't want to speak. "Whe-.. where is my baby?" Mom whimpered as a doctor emerged from the double-doors into the emergency room.

"Ms. Young? Please, come this way." The man spoke sympathetically. As the three of us walked down a long hallway, he introduced himself quickly.

"My name is Dr. Martin Howard, I'm the primary doctor in the Intensive Care Unit tonight. Your daughter was involved in a head-on-collision with a car full of other kids her age. She's lucky to have made it, a lot of the others, I'm afraid, did not, or are in grave conditions."

"How is she?" Mom pressed her question intently.

"She's.. stable. Kathryn is hurt very badly," he seemed to be speaking in a different way, as if minding that I was there. We were showed to a room- B-203. I squeezed my eyes shut as mom's hand lead me into the room. I heard her gasp, letting go of my hand reluctantly as she made her way to Katie. I kept my eyes closed.

"My baby.." she sobbed softly, and I heard the doctor continue explaining, sympathy obvious in his tone. I didn't dare to open my eyes yet.

"Ms. Young, Kathryn was in a vehicle with multiple other passengers. The driver wasn't under the influence of alcohol, but rather a hallucinogenic drug. I was told that it didn't have any affect on him until they were speeding down a back road. He was going over the speed limit by twenty miles an hour. Your daughter wasn't wearing a seatbelt, neither were the others. Three of the young men and women were found dead upon arrival. Your daughter needed resuscitated. She currently has three broken ribs, two skull fractures, a broken wrist and nerve damage in her leg due to a laceration she suffered. She is stable at this time, but there is only one concern."

I finally forced my eyes open. Okay, okay.. She didn't have any tubes in her throat or any big machines. Only some IV's and casts and bandages covered her, along with bruises. I quickly made my way to Katie's side, standing next to mom.

"Katie.." I whispered. I held her hand, my thumb gently rubbing her slightly lighter tanned hand. The majority of Katie's body was under the blanket- I wondered why. I noticed mom forced herself to turn away from Katie and back to the doctor, her face seeming paler than usual.

"What is it?" She spoke gravely, her voice dry. The doctor sat on Katie's other side, looking sympathetically into mom and I's eyes.

"Your daughter suffered skull fractures, as you know. She is in a non-medically-induced coma from how long she was deprived of oxygen. As of right now, we are not sure if she will wake up from it. She can still breathe for herself, but she doesn't seem to be able to wake up right now. We will be running scans on her tomorrow to look for brain activity. There is a chance that she may not wake up and her brain may continue to deteriorate- our best case scenario is that she has moderate brain damage and will be severely impaired mentally impaired. However.."

I glanced at mom, noticing how she stared at Katie, who seemed peacefully asleep. Mom's face seemed expressionless- or like she had felt so many different emotions that I couldn't identify them all. Tears still continued in a steady stream down her face.

"We are certain that she can still hear you. As with most other patients who are still in a coma, sometimes, the voices of their loved ones can wake them up. Even so, she can still hear you and know that you are here. I can give you some time alone with your daughters now, if you would like. We can talk tomorrow after her brain scans and discuss our options."

"Yes, please, thank you," mom nodded, smiling just the slightest as the calm doctor. His short black hair, thin-rimmed glasses and aged face showed nothing but pure sympathy and empathy for us. I thanked him as well. I looked at Katie's face.

Her pitch black hair was under her head mostly, a bandage covering most of her head. Her face was paler than ever before and her eyes seemed to have a dark tint around them, as if she hadn't slept for days, just like how she looked last spring during her finals week. I smiled softly at the memory. She had square stickers on the part of her upper chest we could see, just below her neck and above her heart. The monitor behind mom beeped rhythmically as Katie breather and her heart beat steadily. The blanket was covering the rest of her, aside from her other arm, which had a cast due to her broken wrist. I was no longer tired as I stood next to my sleeping big sister. I realized that, while I was with mom, I needed someone else there with me.

"Mommy?" I whispered as she was busy talking to Katie, asking her to be strong 'for mommy and Claire-bear'. Mom sniffled, turning to me. She smiled sympathetically, pulling me into a tight, one-armed hug. I hugged her in return.

"Yes, sweetie?" She kissed my forehead. I nuzzled into her side and leaned my head on her chest. I could hear her heart beating then- much faster than usual. I could feel a tear slip down my cheek again.

"I need Quil," I spoke quietly, muffled by the fabric of her shirt. She sniffled again, digging her cell phone from her purse as I let go of her reluctantly.

"Here y'go. Stay close to the room, baby," she spoke, her voice cracking at the end. As I walked over by the doorway, I could hear her talking to Katie again.

"See, baby? Claire and me are here, and Quil Ateara's gonna be here for you, too. You're not gonna be alone, I'll stay here until you wake up, I promise. You're gonna be okay, I promise. I love you so, so much.."

Mom continued as I stood outside the doorway, scrolling through her contacts to find Quil's. I tapped the call button and held the phone to my ear, sliding onto the floor by the doorframe. My free arm wrapped around my knees and hugged them to my chest. The phone rang twice before I heard Quil answer. He sounded groggy at first, then wide awake.

"Hello? Jenna? It's late, is everything okay? What's going on?"

At my Quil's voice, I felt the tears flow again, no longer stoppable.

"Quil," I whimpered into the phone, a soft sob. I heard some shuffling in the background.

"Oh, shi- Claire? Claire, what happened? I can be there in ten minutes. What's wrong?" He spoke hurriedly. Quil waited patiently for my reply. I inhaled a big, shaky breath.

"Forks, hospital I think," I spoke in a soft sob. "Um, Katie, she was in an accident.." I sniffed, wiping my tears away with my free hand. I looked up, looking for the room number again. "Room B-203."

"Okay, okay, I'll be there in five minutes. Alright?" Quil tried to reassure me.

"I need you here," I whispered, holding back tears as much as I could.

"Don't worry, kiddo, I'll be right there." Quil continued trying to calm and reassure me, but I felt a soft sob make its way through my lips.

"I'll run there as a wolf, okay? I'll be there as soon as I can, Claire." Quil had to hang up. I waited only two and a half long minutes, before I heard a voice at the end of the hallway.

"Claire!" I glanced up, my eyes picking up Quil making his way to me quickly. He knelt down and I stood as quickly as I could. My arms wrapped around Quil's neck as hard as they possibly could. I let all the tears out at that point. A warm hand rubbed my back reassuringly.

"What happened, Claire-bear? Is your mom in there?"

I could only nod silently as I cried into his shoulder, staining his t-shirt. Quil lifted me and carried me briefly into the room. He sat on the chair on the opposite side of the room, letting me sit in his lap and continue holding onto him for dear life while mom explained to him.

"-He said she can still hear you, though, if you want to say anything." I felt Quil nod.

I fell asleep before I could hear Quil saying anything to Katie.

I woke up the next morning to the unfamiliar smell of a hospital. A silent room, aside from the steady beeping of machines. I only opened my eyes a sliver, seeing that mom wasn't in the room, but Katie was still fast asleep. I could hear Quil's naturally-fast-beating heart as he snored quietly, obviously still asleep himself, even while still holding me tightly in his lap. I pulled away from his warm chest, looking at his sleeping face.

I felt much more okay with him there, even though he was asleep. I was just calmer with him near. I spoke quietly, my voice a light rasp from crying the night before.

"Quil?" His brows furrowed, but he opened his eyes, straightening his back out. "Where's mom?" I questioned. As if on cue, my mom made her way back into Katie's room. She sat in her seat, the lack of sleep obvious in her eyes. Her sleepy eyes met mine and she smiled sadly. I felt my heart drop once more.

"They did her brain scans this morning and again about two hours ago, Claire." I glanced at the clock- it was two p.m. Darn. I waited for her explanation. She took a deep breath, as if preparing herself.

"This morning, she had 70% activity, as of two hours ago, they just told me that dropped to 67%." It dropped. That was bad, right? It was. Her face seemed so.. sad. And I felt that sadness as well. I turned to Quil, and his eyes held the same expression. Silently, I left Quil's lap and slowly made my way to Katie's non-casted arm. Mom let me hold her hand instead of her, and I spoke to her. I held back tears once again, the lump in my throat almost unignorable.

"Katie.." I sighed. I tried to smile for her. "I love you. You're the best big sister I could have ever wished to have been blessed with. I look up to you, I wanna be just like you, honestly. If- no, when you get out of here, I'm gonna make you breakfast every morning! French toast with strawberries, your favorite." I sniffed, having to let go of her hand. It was too hard to talk to her like that. Usually, she would have something smart or funny to say back. Mom held my hands and looked into my eyes, trying to smile for me. I knew she was trying really hard for me.

"Claire, I won't be home for a little while. I'm going to stay here with your sister. I think it might be best if you take an early summer vacation and stay with your aunt Emily in La Push. You'll not only get out of school earlier, but you'll be close to the hospital, all of your friends, and you can see Quil and your little cousin as much as you want. What do you say?"

She had a point. I expected her to stay with Katie until she woke up- she would do the same for me, too. She was right. I could visit Katie and her every day, spend time with my favorite aunt, and see Nessie. I nodded, feigning a smile.

"Of course."

With Katie showing no changes in any activity all day, Quil took me home to pack my clothes to stay at my aunt's house. Emily and Sam had two kids then. A son, who was two and a daughter, who was nine months old. Their names were Anthony, named after Emily's father, my grandpa and Allison, named after Sam's mother. I had only met them twice. I packed a big duffel bag of my clothes, hair brush, and shoes. I was thankful that I didn't need to bring school things- I was out a whole month early. Quil gladly carried my bag out to his truck for me. I sat next to him and leaned against his warm shoulder. Quil held me tightly, and we remained silent the whole ride to Emily and Sam's.

((Well... Yeah. XD What did you guys think? Should Katie make it or no? What do you all want to see? :D)