Two And Twenty Misfortunes

Sean pushed open the worn wooden door to Ellie's house, as he stepped over the threshold, Craig trailing closely behind him.

"What exactly are we doing here?" Craig asked as he stepped inside the house.

"I need to find something." Sean said as he walked further into the house.

He walked down the hall and to the kitchen, still surprised to see that not much if any work has been done since the fire. He would have thought someone would have done something. Maybe toss on a fresh coat of paint or something. But nothing has been done. The walls were still chared and black, the stove had several burn marks all over and the blinds were burnt to a crisp. He looked around, as he walked over to the stove, staring down at the overturned pot. Sean's eyes immediaty landed on the small drop of a dried red spot on the countertop. To a stranger it would look like a drop of red paint, but Sean knew what it was. It must have been some of the blood that fell from Ellie's arm when she got burnt by the flames. Sean ran his fingers over the spot, staring down at it he found himself getting lost in a daze, realizing everything Ellie has gone through.

"Sean..yo..Earth to Sean.." The sound of Craig's voice shook Sean from his trance as he looked over his shoulder at his friend.

"We need to find it." Sean mumbled softly to himself as he quickly rushed down the hall and into Ellie's room.

He walked right over to her desk as he began to shuffle through the drawers, pulling out piece of paper after paper as he searched for the number or address of where her father was stationed.

"What exactly are you looking for, again?" Craig asked him.

"The number or address of where her father is." Sean said as he continued to search through the drawers.

"Why?" Craig asked from the doorway.

Sean stopped searching as he straighed his back up and turned to face Craig.

"Look..when I left I hurt her..more then I ever wanted to do. I did the one thing I never should have done. I left her. Just like everyone else. Her mom..her dad..and then me. Her dad and her mom..they didn't have a choice though. They were both forced to leave but me? Me I-I could have stayed. For her..I should have. But I didn't. And the least I can do is bring back the only other person who she would want." Sean said.

"Yeah but thats just not possible." Craig insisted.

"Yes it is. All I need is the number or address and I can figure something out.." Sean trailed off.

"No..Sean you're not listening to me. It is NOT possible..don't..don't you know?" Craig asked as he walked further into the room and over to where Sean stood.

"What? Know what?" Sean asked.

"Ellie's father's dead." Craig responded.

Sean's eyes widened as Craig's words slowly began to sink in. iEllie's Father's Dead.../I Sean could not believe it. How could he not know? How could she not tell him? Why didn't Marco tell him when he called? Why..why..why..so many questions began to swim around in his head as Sean pulled out the chair and collapsed down on it.

"Dead?" Sean asked, looking up at his friend.

"I..I thought you knew..." Craig said sadly as he sat down on her bed across the room.

"This..and then I.." Sean could no longer form a coherant thought as he bent down and buried his face in his hands. Nothing is ever going to be able to bring back the Ellie he loves..nothing will ever be able to pull her from this slump..nothing makes sense anymore.

-----------------

Ellie watched as the sun slowly began to shine in through the shades, the slight tint of orange filled the room causing her to have to squint if she were to continue to stare. Normally she would not be up so early, but for the past few weeks she has hardly gotten a full nights sleep. Nothing was how it used to be, nothing was easy anymore. Not that her life was ever easy. Nothing came easy for her, everything has always been difficult, everything has been a stuggle, everything has always started out good and then ended up hurting. Why she continued to wake up every morning has always managed to cross her mind on a daily basis.

The sound of a knock at the door forced Ellie to pull herself away from her thoughts as she turned around and watched as Marco walked in.

"Hey." He said with a smile as he walked over to her bed and pulled out the chair beside her, sitting down.

"Hey.." Ellie whispered as she managed to force a smile.

"What are you doing up so early?" Ellie asked him.

"No matter what they say, waiting rooms are not a good place to sleep. Especially in a hospital with people running in and out screaming over the stupidst things." Marco said with a chuckle.

"If they're in the hospital it can't be stupid." Ellie said.

"Oh yeah? Some guy came running in because his zipper was stuck on his underware and he thought something else was caught. It turned out it was just his shirt. I was laughing so hard I almost peed on myself, he was so drunk too." Marco said as he laughed.

Ellie forced a laugh as she watched her friend laugh hysterically beside her. She knew he was trying to cheer her up, trying to make her smile. And while it was forced, Ellie did feel slightly better. Not enough to actually let out a genuine laugh but enough to fool Marco.

"So I talked to your doctor. They're relasing you today." Marco said with a big smile.

"And me and Ash have both decided to take shifts staying with you. We're both staying over tonight and then you get to decide who stays tomorrow." Marco said to her.

"Marco you don't need to babysit me." Ellie said as she rolled onto her side to look at him. Her red hair was sticky with sweat, sticking to her forehead.

Marco moved his chair closer to the bed as he looked at his best friend.

"Ellie..you almost died." Marco said softly, as he looked her in the eyes. "I can't lose you." He said to her, reaching over he grabbed her hand, wrapping both of his around her fragile little hand.

"I'm fine, really." Ellie insisted.

Marco sighed as he shook his head.

"That doesn't matter. You can't stay there alone. Don't fight with me. You can't change my mind about this." Marco said to her.

Ellie smiled, yet this time it was not fake, it was not forced. This time it was a real smile. Just knowing that while Sean may have said he would never hurt her, never leave her he did. And now here is Marco basically making the same promise, only in not so many words. Yet for the first time in days, Ellie actually found herself allowing a slither of hope to enter. She always knew she could count on Marco. He will never break his promise.