A/NThanks for the great reviews, you guys! Sorry about the two that got deleted when I couldn't get my story updated and had to restart it.

Disclaimer: None of the characters or place names associated with the BSC belong to me. They all belong to ANM.

At 6 AM, my alarm went off. I rolled out of bed without hitting the snooze for once, and changed to go jogging. I was out the door in literally five minutes, with my headphones blaring and feet ready to go. I had always been a morning person, and it was a beautiful one. Red, gold, and orange leaves that contrasted against the blue sky covered the trees and crunched under my feet.

As I ran through the brisk morning air, I went over my schedule in my head. I had just begun to teach history at Stoneybrook High School, and I had a full schedule today. I also coached soccer after school, so it would be a busy day.

As I came back into my house, I noticed that the light on my phone was flashing, which meant I had a message. This was really odd, I thought. Nobody calls me at seven in the morning. Then I realized, maybe it was Kristy asking for a ride or something. She was also teaching at SHS, and coached softball.

But strangely, it was my mom who called. My mom used to be a workaholic until she had a mental breakdown was no longer able to work at all. She definitely shouldn't have been up at this hour.

I started to make myself some oatmeal with the phone perched on my shoulder. It rang a few times, and then she finally answered.

"Hello?" her voice sounded shaky.

"Hi, mom? It's Abby, are you okay?" I stirred my oatmeal, hoping whatever she needed could wait until I got home from work, or at least until after breakfast.

"Sweetie… I'm fine… I think." She stammered.

Now I was really confused, and I had a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. Something was really wrong.

"Honey," mom started before I could say anything, "I have some bad news. Anna's in the hospital. The prognosis isn't good."

I blinked a couple of times, trying to process what my mom had just said. Anna? In the hospital?

I was absolutely shocked. I started to shaking, and I felt quite dizzy. I had to sit down.

"What happened?" I managed weakly.

I heard my mom take a deep breath. "It looks like she fell down some stairs. Ummm, she has several broken bones and a severe concussion. She's in pretty bad shape, Abby. We'd better go see her."

I made plans with my mom to meet her at the train station, and head into New York, where Anna lived. She had graduated from Julliard and stayed in New York to play in the New York Philharmonic.I hadn't heard from her in about a year, not since we had a terrible fight. I had argued that Anna's boyfriend, Mark, wasn't treating her very well. It seemed to me that he was controlling how much time she could spend with us (her friends and family), and also seemed emotionally abusive. Anna got very angry with me when I pointed this out to her. I was really worried, but she refused to speak to me after that. She wouldn't answer my calls, and I had shown up a couple of times at her house, even - the first time, she refused to answer the door, and the second time, I discovered that she no longer lived there. She didn't tell mom she had moved, and it was a wonder anyone at all was told she was in the hospital.

I was so offended by this that I just gave up. I seethed about it for about six months afterward, but then I calmed down enough to deny that I felt anything anymore. I could deny it now, though. The old hurt and anger surged in my chest. The old wounds still stung. I sat down at the table, and tried to eat, but I just ended up absent mindedly stirring my oatmeal, no longer hungry. Instead it was my who was being consumed: by my selfish anger. I didn't really want to see Anna, but deep down I knew I had to. I called the school and told them what happened, and they set forth arranging a sub for me for that day.

I met my mom at the train station, and we bought our tickets and boarded one of the express trains. I sat most of the time and stared out the window. My mom went to one of the little concession stands and bought us coffee, but I didn't feel like drinking it. I felt like my insides had turned to stone.

Finally, my mom spoke. "Abby, I know that you're angry with Anna. I was angry with her too for a long time. But don't you think maybe the time has come for us to let those things go?"

I took a deep breath before I spoke. "I was just, well, so worried about her! I mean, she's my sister! She couldn't even tell me where she lived? How she was doing? She just cut things off! How could she do that?"

All of sudden, I realized that I was shouting and I looked around for a second. People who had been staring and attempting to listen in quickly went back to reading the newspaper or looking out the window.

"Well, maybe now things will have changed. This may be a chance to build a new relationship with your sister. I understand that you are angry, but try to not to let it get in the way right now, okay?"

I nodded my head, took another deep breath, and looked out the window, wondering what might come next.