Enjolras's POV

It took a moment for me to take in my surroundings. I was standing in a fairly small, dimly lit room that was crowded with doctors, nurses, and countless other people. In the center of all the commotion was a single hospital bed. Jennette was lying on it, hooked up to at least half dozen IVs and with a breathing tube down her throat. She was wearing one of those hospital gowns with the open back, and the scars on her arms were fully exposed. My sister looked even tinier than usual. Paler, too, but that was probably from all the blood she'd lost. I noticed that the bullet hole had been cleaned, but not sealed up.

"Jennette," I whispered, hurrying over and kneeling beside her. "Oh my god… I'm so sorry."

I grasped her hand. It was cold and clammy, as if all the life had been drained out of it. But I knew Jennette wasn't dead yet; the tube that was forcing oxygen into her lungs was connected to a machine that was keeping her alive.

Dr. Burliss stood over me, looking worried. "We may have to take her off life support eventually, I'm afraid."

"What?!" I cried. "Why?"

"We can't remove the bullet. If she loses anymore blood during surgery, she'll die," he replied. "Normally we'd use some of our donor blood, but there's no substitute for her blood type. It wouldn't work."

"What blood type does she have?" I asked.

"Type O."

"That's my blood type!" I exclaimed. "I can donate some."

The doctor gave a sigh of relief and smiled, breaking the intensity a little. "That would increase her chances of living by a lot."

I smiled a little back, keeping my eyes on my sister. "When can I get started?"

"We'll set you up in another room," Dr. Burliss replied. "I'll get one of the nurses to draw blood."

I sighed heavily with relief. At least I knew my sister would probably
live now.

Five minutes later, I was sitting in a smaller, less crowded room—with a needle jabbed in my arm. It hurt a bit; I'd never been a fan of them. This is for your sister, I reminded myself. This is so she'll live.

She HAD to. It was my fault she was like this.

I should've visited her, like I'd promised. But back then she'd been just a little kid. I'd never taken her seriously; my only priority had been to keep Jennette safe, and happy—only because my parents hadn't. I remembered how I used to take Jenne to the local playground after school. And I have to admit, it was adorable, the way she'd beg me to push her on the swings, or play tag with her…it made me smile thinking about it. But then I recalled always looking forward to leaving for college, so I could get away from my family... Jennette included. A wave of guilt washed over me, and I blinked away tears for about the fiftieth time that day.

"Um…Excuse me…" a female voice brought me back to reality.

"What?" I snapped.

The nurse blinked nervously and looked startled. "We're finished."

I looked down at my arm. The needle had been removed, and she'd put a bandage on it. "Oh, okay, great."

She led me back into Jennette's room, where Dr. Burliss was waiting. "Wonderful," he said, taking the pouch of my donated blood from the nurse. "We'll begin immediately."

"Wait," I said. "Could I…..could I have a couple minutes alone with her, please?"

He sighed. "Five minutes, that's all."

"Thank you!" I exclaimed, watching as he asked everyone else in the room to clear out. When everyone was gone, I went over and sat by Jennette's bed, staring at her nearly lifeless body. I took ahold of her hand, even though touching it sent a chill down my spine.

"Hey…Jenne… I know you can't hear me right now, at least I don't think you can….. But… I just want you to know…. I'm sorry. For everything. I should've come back for you. I shouldn't have treated you like a nuisance the way I did yesterday. I…."

My apologetic ramblings were interrupted by a sob. I didn't realize that it had come from me until the tears I'd been holding in all evening starting to fall in torrents down my face. "Jennette, I'm sorry!" I cried, not caring who heard me. "I've been a horrible brother….you deserve better than this."

I watched her for a couple more minutes, waiting for myself to stop crying. Then I stood up and exited, taking what could be one final look at my sister.

Dr. Burliss was waiting outside. "Ready to go?"

I nodded, and the two of us started walking back down the dead quiet hallway. The awkward silence between us didn't make things any less hostile.

Finally, the man turned to me. "Do you know anything about her scars?" He was looking at me with such a suspicious expression that I realized that he must have a hunch it was me.

I swallowed hard. "Yes, they're from my father."

His expression softened. "Oh…. I… I'm sorry to hear that," he murmured, lowering his gaze. "We'll do everything we can for her."

"Thank you," I told him gratefully.

He left me at the door to the waiting room, his footsteps echoing down the stone-cold hallway.

Gavroche's POV

The moment Enjolras walked in, we pelted him with questions.

"How is she?"
"Is she still alive?"

"Is she going to be okay?"

"How much longer are we going to have to wait?"

Enjolras looked up. I could see the remnants of tear streaks on his face.

"Oh Enj… You've been crying." Jehan (looking very close to tears himself) stood up and wrapped his arms around his friend. "What happened?"

"She…She's still alive," Enjolras stuttered. "They're going to remove the bullet now, and then…then she'll hopefully be just fine."

Hopefully?!

I wasn't sure how I'd carry on if Jennette didn't survive, even though she barely knew who I was. To her I'd been just another face. The moment Jennette had walked into La Musain, I knew things would never be the same again. And it wouldn't be, if she died.

We all sat there in icy silence for a few minutes. There really wasn't anything we could do except wait.

"Hey, um, Enj…" Courfeyrac said after a while. "Those scars on Jenne's arms…. What are they from?"

Enjolras looked down. "My father… he… he's been hurting her ever since I left," I watched as our once-mighty leader in red buried his face in his hands. "And now she might die, and it's all my fault."

Jehan promptly burst into tears and clung to Courf.

My sister gave Enjolras a sympathetic hug. "Enj, she's going to live!" She didn't sound very hopeful, though. "We're staying until everything's over."

"You guys don't need to wait here all night," Enjolras told her. "All of you can just go home, and I'll call when I get some news."

We all started protesting, but he held up his hand. His decision was final.

Most of the Amis started to leave, but 'Ponine and I stayed behind for a minute.

"Enj, how are you going to get home?" I asked. "You don't have a car."

He gritted his teeth. "I'm staying in a hotel nearby for the night."

I turned to my sister. "Can we do that too?"

She sighed. "Sorry, Gav. As much as I want to, it's too expensive."

"Oh…. Okay." I answered, following her out the door. Enjolras watched us go.

On the car ride home, I stared out the window, watching the downpour which had just begun.

Jennette never left my thoughts.