Mary awoke later that day to the sound of squealing. She had forgotten how well Sam and David got along with their cousin Erika. Although she was slightly annoyed to have been woken up, she was glad to hear that the twins were not upset by what had happened that morning. Squinting at the clock she saw that it was 6 pm. Wow I was really tired! She thought. I guess guilt can do that to you. Stumbling out of the spare bed she had been given earlier by her aunt and uncle, she headed downstairs. Matt, Robbie, and Ruthie were sitting silently around the kitchen table. "Hurry up and eat" Matt said, his voice cold. "We're going to the hospital in ten minutes" Why does he sound so angry? Mary thought, panicking. Does he know what I did? How could he? Finally she got a hold of herself and thought logically. Calm down. He's tired, he's scared, he's stressed. We all are. No wonder his voice sounds weird.
"I'm not hungry" she replied. "Let's go now."
"Ok" Matt replied. "Aunt Julie and Uncle Hank said they'd watch Sam and David" He stood up and headed toward the door, followed by Mary, Ruthie, and Robbie. When they reached the car, Mary climbed into the back seat, next to Ruthie. She spent the whole ride praying that Lucy would be all right.
When the group arrived at the hospital, they headed immediately to the floor that Lucy and Simon were on. Mary spotted her parents sipping coffee and looking exhausted. It scared Mary to see her parents looking so old and helpless. "How are they?" She asked the second she reached them.
"Simon woke up this afternoon. He should be released tomorrow. He's a little confused because of the medicine and being hit on the head, but you can see him. Lucy is about the same. The doctors tried taking off the oxygen mask, but her lungs are too damaged from the smoke for her to breath on her own. They did say that they should get better though. She should be breathing by herself in a few days."
"What about her coma? Will she wake up soon?" Ruthie asked the question that was on everyone's mind.
"I just don't know" Annie replied, tears filling her eyes.
"Um, Ok let's go see Simon" Matt said cheerfully, trying to change the subject. Everyone agreed and Mary led them to his room. He looked better than he had in the morning, mainly because he was awake now. Mary was glad to se that the IV had been removed from his hand.
"Hi, guys" he greeted them, sitting up in bed.
"Hi" they all chorused. "How are you doing?" Robbie asked.
"I'm OK" he answered. "My leg and my arm hurt. And my head too, but not too bad. At least I get to go home to tomorrow"
"Do you remember anything about this morning?" Mary asked, praying he hadn't seen the lighter in the twin's room. It was possible that he had since his room was connected to theirs by only a door.
"No, I remember going to bed last night and then waking up here. I can't remember anything about the fire. It's really frustrating."
Suddenly Mary remembered something that she had been trying to forget. Last night, when Mary got back to her room, Lucy had said she knew that Mary smoked. So if she ever woke up, she would figure out that Mary had caused the fire, and then tell their parents! No! If she wakes up, Mom and Dad will hate me, but if she doesn't, will I ever be able to live with the guilt? Realizing the situation she was in, Mary began to breathe quickly and she felt light headed. Her siblings continued to talk as if nothing was wrong. Mary turned and ran from the room and into the nearest bathroom. She sat down on the closed toilet and began to cry.
A few days later, Mary lay in the bed at her aunt's house crying. Lucy was still in a coma, and Mary was about to collapse from guilt. Mary had hardly slept all week and she had dark circles under her eyes, which were red from crying so often. Her family was beginning to notice that she wasn't herself, but assumed she was just worried about Lucy. Simon had been released from the hospital the day before and was fine except for the cast on his leg and bandages on his arm. Lucy was still the same.
Sometime around 5 am Mary finally drifted off to sleep. When she awoke at 10 the next morning, she was told by her Uncle that the hospital had called and her entire family had rushed over. They hadn't wanted to wake her, since she had seemed so tired lately. He offered her his car to drive to the hospital and join them. Mary thanked him and flew out of the house. The ride to the hospital seemed to take hours. One minute she thought in a panic, She died! The next minute she tried to calm herself down, thinking, she woke up!
When she finally arrived, she ran to the 2nd floor, where Lucy was and spotted her family. "What happened?" she gasped. Her family acted as if she hadn't said a word. They were talking loudly about something.
"Honey!" Annie cried, noticing Mary. "Lucy woke up! She's going be Ok!" Mary's first thought was "Oh no now she'll tell on me" and then she felt even more guilty, if that was possible. How could she think that when she was told that her seriously injured sister would live?
"That's great!" Mary managed to say even though her heart was pounding. "Have you um, gotten a chance to talk to her yet?" she asked, trying to sound calm.
"Yes we went in. Would you like to speak with her?" OK Mary thought they aren't screaming at me, so she must have kept her mouth shut. For now.
"Sure, I'll go, but can I have a little time by myself? I um, need to discuss something with her."
"Sure" her mother answered "But don't talk about anything bad. We need to keep her thinking positive"
Mary took a deep breath and headed to Lucy's room. She opened the door and gasped when she saw her sister. Lucy lay in bed, looking pale and tired. Her head and arm were bandaged and a tube came from her mouth. An IV was stuck in her hand, and with her eyes closed she almost looked dead. "Hey" Mary greeted her.
"Hi" Lucy whispered her voice hoarse. "Sorry about my voice, it's from the tubes. I still need a little help breathing."
"Ok, listen" Mary said, deciding to come right out with it. "Do you remember what happened the night before the fire?"
"Yes" Lucy said, looking confused "You were smoking"
"You're still not going to tell mom or dad?
"No."
"But I might have caused the fire!"
"I know. But I said I wouldn't tell and I'm not going to. It's up to you to decide if you tell or not. Anyway, if you did cause it, they will find out anyway. The firefighters are investigating and they will find out what started it."
Oh no Mary thought I totally forgot about that. Mom and Dad will find out and they'll send me away to Buffalo and never want to see me again! To Lucy she said, "I gotta go talk to mom and dad"
"I hope you're gonna tell them what you did!" Lucy called after her weakly.
Mary ran up to her parents and asked breathlessly, "Do you know what caused the fire yet?"
Annie turned to her, looking upset. "It's funny you should ask that" she said, in a strange voice. "We just got a call from the fire department and they have found something out."
Mary's heart began to pound in fear. They know, they know! Mom looks so upset. It's because she knows her daughter almost killed her whole family. And now she wants to kill me! I'm not ready for this!
Annie spoke again. "It seems that the fire was caused by…"
That's it for now! Please, please, please review! J Thanks!