That next day, we found out that Nick actually had to go home to L.A. to be with Zara. Poor thing was having sore throats all of that week, and had to get her tonsils taken out. Which was fine by me, Nick should be with his daughter in her time of need. So Amanda drove me to school that day, and it was the first day I didn't have any type of safety with me, because Amanda had to go to work. So, when I walked through the doors of the school, Aria met me and she didn't leave my side the entire day, G-d bless her.
During lunch we sat together, alone, but together. Talking about the dumbest things, our favorite colors, our favorite TV shows, things like that.
"Okay, school lunch has never been good, but in highschool it's even worst." I complained, pushing the tray away from me, pretending to gag.
Aria laughed. "Olivia packed my lunch today, I haven't had that in a really long time. It was nice actually."
"How's living with Olivia?" I raised my eyebrows. "I stayed at her house once when Amanda went to Georgia once, but other than that I don't think I've ever stayed with her long term."
Aria smiled at the thought of Olivia's home. "It's really nice. She's, really nice. Yesterday I was scared to be alone, so she stayed with me wherever I went. When I took a shower, she sat in the room and worked on some paper work, and then when I went to bed she stayed while I fell asleep."
I smiled. "Olivia's a really great woman."
She nodded in agreemant. "I wish I could stay with her, forever."
"I'm sure she would love that." I said, "She's only had Noah since now. I think she would enjoy having a daughter..."
My thoughts went to the night I stayed at her house, I asked her why she never had biological children. She had told me she never had the time, but she always wanted a daughter, that I was the mirror image of what she would want. It made me happy that someone other than Amanda and Nick wanted me back then.
"Anastasia Rollins to the front office, Anastasia Rollins to the front office." The speakers in the lunch room sounded.
Aria furrowed her eyebrows, and I shrugged my shoulders in confusion.
"Want me to come?" She offered.
I nodded.
So, side by side we walked to the other part of the school. The office was right next to the entrance, so we walked for awhile before actually reaching it as the lunch room was on the complete other side.
I walked up to the desk lady, "You called for me?"
She nodded towards the back where all the people sit when you're in trouble. My heart sank. I turned around, and saw Carisi and Olivia sitting on the black chairs.
"What's wrong?" I asked.
"It's Amanda." Carisi said first.
"What about her?" My heart started to pound, it got so loud I thought everyone would hear it. Nobody did.
"Annie," Olivia took a deep breath, "Amanda got into a car accident."
"She's okay, right?" I asked, my eyes filling with tears.
"She's at the hospital, in surgery. We're not sure what's going to happen, she was very damaged when they found her." Olivia said softly.
Suddenly, the tears spilled over to my cheeks. I sobbed, and sobbed. Olivia wrapped me in a hug, I continued to sob into her chest. "No, it's not fair! She promised not to leave me, Olivia. She promsied she wouldn't leave me!"
"I know baby, I know. It's okay. It's okay. Shhhh." She cooed.
Suddenly, I felt my vision go blurry, then black, and I couldn't hear or see anything.
When I woke up again, I coughed. My lungs felt as if they were filled with water, even though they definitely weren't.
"It wasn't a dream, was it?" I mumbled.
"No, sweetie. You fainted." Carisi replied.
I rolled my eyes, my eyes beginning to get wet again. I sat up, wiping away the tears. "Can I go see her? Please?"
Olivia helped me up, Carisi wrapped an arm around my shoulder, and we headed to the car. Aria waved goodbye, and I waved back, tears slipping down my face.
When we got to the hospital, which was an hour later, as the traffic was worst than ever, Amanda was out of surgery and awake.
"Only one at a time." The doctor said, before leaving.
"You go, Annie." Olivia rubbed my back, "Go see your sister."
She didn't have to tell me twice before I sprinted to the room. "Mandy?"
"Annie." Her voice was raspy, and hoarse.
I started sobbing again, I ran to her bedside. "Are you okay?"
"Baby, don't cry." She mumbled, her own eyes filling with tears.
"I was so scared you would leave me." I wiped my tears.
Amanda scootched over, wincing in pain. "Come here, sweet girl."
I got into the bed with my sister, wrapping my arms around her softly.
"I'm never leaving you, do you hear me?" She said, her tears spilling over her eyes.
"Don't cry, Amanda." I mumbled, wiping away her tears for her, as both of her arms had been broken in the crash.
She bit down hard on her bottom lip. "I was scared I was leaving you too, Annie. I was so scared I was going to die. I was scared I wouldn't be able to get to tell you how much I loved you."
I sniffled, rubbing my eyes harshly.
"I was scared about where you would go. What you would do without me." She sobbed. "What I would do without you."
"Please stop." My voice was highpitched and squeeky, something that only happened when I cried. "You didn't die. You're okay. You didn't go any where, and I wont have to live without you."
"I wish I could hug you." Amanda rolled her eyes. "Now my arms don't work."
I sat up slowly. "And I'm going to be right beside you. Like you were with me. I'll do anything you need."
"Can you start by tying up my hair?" She smiled at me softly.
I grabbed my extra pony off of my wrist, she lifted her head off of her pillow just enough so I could tie it up for her.
"Don't leave?" Amanda said.
"Not a chance, Mandy." I said.
She closed her eyes.
I played with her hair as she fell asleep. "There's not a chance I'm leaving you again."
That night, I was ripped away from my sister by Carisi. He kept telling me I needed to eat, I needed to sleep. But I didn't want to eat, I didn't want to sleep. I wanted to help Amanda eat, and I wanted to be there while she slept so nothing bad could happen. But he coaxed me enough, and I ended up going home with him with Amanda's harsh scolding that I needed to be healthy so I could take care of her when she got out of that damned place. Her words, not mine.
So, I put on my sisters NYPD sweat shirt, and my black leggings as soon as I got to Carisi's apartment. He ordered chinese food and we lied back on the couch to watch a movie.
"Did you tell Nick?" I asked.
He nodded. "Yeah, he asked if he needed to come down and I told him not to."
"Good." I mumbled. "He needs to be with Zara, for now, Amanda has us."
Suddenly, Carisi's phone buzzed. He unlocked it and looked at the text. "It's Liv. She said that she'll be staying with you and your sister when she gets out of the hospital."
"Is she with her?" I asked.
He typed something into his phone, and with another bing he replied, "Yep."
"Good." I breathed a sigh of relief.
