Author's Notes: I warn you that this chapter contains somewhat graphic descriptions of injuries.

Chapter Five - Unknown

When I came home late that night, it took me a second to notice Heather on the living room couch. Ciara was long gone, probably at some club or another. It was only after I'd put CJ in his crib and gone back downstairs to get some water that I saw Heather sitting there, shaking all over the place and staring at the wall.

Great. Another breakdown, here we go. Brought to you by Heather Is Crazy Inc.

I walked over to her and did a double-take. A huge gash was covering her forehead, blood dripping from her cheeks to her shirt. On the right side of her face, there was a series of large cuts, and her lip was torn open and bleeding.

Heather's wrist seemed to be broken, as she was holding it with her other arm. I frowned at her; scrapes were all over her torso. Her shirt was ripped diagonally and covered in dirt. She looked absolutely horrible.

What the hell?

"Heather?" I asked, but she didn't turn. I waved a hand in front of her misty eyes, and still Heather did not move. "What happened to you?"

No response. Of course I didn't like my sister, but now I was scared. "Heather, can you hear me?"

Nope. Heather wasn't blinking as she continued to stare at the wall. Still staring. And still staring. And still staring.

I jumped about a foot in the air when she suddenly let out a scream and dived into the pillows on the couch, putting a hand over her head. I looked around frantically, expecting to see some physco with a knife or that dude with the hook for a hand you always hear about at camp, but it was just Heather and I sitting at home with CJ upstairs.

"What is it?!" I hopped around like a fool and tried to understand what she was so scared about while Heather lay on the couch and started trembling again. "Heather, what's wrong? What happened? Oh God, oh God..."

Blood covered the couch when I dragged her upright. Heather was crying by now, leaving a trail of red all over her cheeks, and I had no clue why. Now I was absolutely terrified. Had she gone insane? Was she hearing unknown things that made her scream like that? I didn't know, and it scared me.

Heather looked at the wall and started to say, putting her hands back over her head and curling into a ball, "I didn't..."

But then she stopped, rocking back and forth with the force of an airplane. "You didn't what?" I asked. "You didn't do what, Heather? Please say something..." I wrung my hands and bit down on my lip so hard it started to bleed.

"He-" she told the wall, crying harder by now, "-he said...he said...I thought...By now...Didn't expect..." Heather talked in mad bursts, stringing words together and making absolutely no sense at all.

I would have tried to press her for more, but Heather closed her eyes and lifted a hand to her forehead while I just stood there. Then she slumped over, unmoving, hand falling loosely to her side.

I couldn't tell if she was breathing or not.

"Heather!" I screamed. "Heather, oh God - oh shit, I don't know-" I frantically closed my hand around her uninjured wrist and felt no pulse. My blood turned cold and the world froze.

I was the one trembling now; I ran to the phone and attempted to dial 911, but got no dial tone. Great, the phone lines were down again.

What could I do, what could I do? I panicked for what seemed like hours before my mind clicked into emergency mode and I flung myself out of the front door, running outside faster than I'd ever done in my life. My feet pounded the dirt as I sped towards the line of houses nearby.

Lights were on in most of them, and I practically broke down the first door I saw with how hard I was knocking on it. Embry came to the door and looked down at me, frowning. "You okay?" he asked.

"No, it's my sister. She's fainted or something and she's hurt really bad and she's not breathing-" Why was I crying? I hated Heather. And yet here I was, standing in front of Embry's house with her blood all over my hands and tears streaming down my face. It made no sense. I hated her, I hated her, I hated her...

If I said this to myself enough times, maybe I'd start to believe it. Because I really did hate her. If she died, then I shouldn't care, right? Right?

Embry zoomed down the street, leaving me to stumble along after him. A few people from nearby houses were standing outside by now, and I thought I heard Seth saying something to me. But I ignored all of it and followed Embry.

By the time I was halfway to the house, Embry was already running back to his car with Heather in his arms. I crammed myself in his car and stuttered, "But my baby brother, he-"

"Sue's got it taken care of. It's okay, Willow," Embry said, giving my shoulder a pat, "it'll be okay. What happened?"

"I don't know. I came home and she was on the couch all beat up and stuff and she wouldn't respond when I said her name. And then she started screaming and said something about some guy saying whatever and she not expecting something and then she fainted." I was shaking like crazy by this point and the stupid tears wouldn't stop. I silently cursed whoever had made humans have to cry when in such situations.

Embry was going way over the speed limit, but I didn't care, didn't care about anything but the sister I kept telling myself I hated. I couldn't help but feel guilty that I hadn't been there when she got attacked or whatever happened. Even though I hated her. I hated her. I hated her.

The hospital was thankfully not too crowded, and they took in Heather immediately, though I had a feeling they would have anyway whether or not a million people were there. This left Embry and I to stand awkwardly by the front desk until we wandered over to the waiting room.

"Where's your mom?" he asked after a minute.

"On a date with her boyfriend," I said, not knowing if this was true or not. I was still crying, but it was more of a sniffle now.

"Do you have her phone number?"

"No. She just broke her phone, actually. A few days ago. So it won't work. I'll just have to wait for her to go home."

Embry gave my shoulder another pat and looked absentmindedly at a potted plant nearby. Then his head snapped up as the door opened and Seth came in. He was yawning, but he plopped down next to me and asked, "So, how's she doing?"

I didn't even bother to ask how he knew what was going on. "I don't know. They just took her in the emergency room." I wiped at my eyes impatiently and sighed.

Seth fished a Kleenex out of his pocket and handed it to me. I nodded gratefully at him and wiped my eyes again. The three of us sat in silence for a little while while I cried as quietly as possible, putting my head in my hands and trying to take calming breaths. This didn't help at all.

"Are you here for Heather Davidson?" a kind voice asked from above me, and I lifted my head out of my hands. A blonde nurse with a clipboard in her hand was smiling at me.

"Yes," I sniffled, straightening myself up. "I'm her sister, Willow."

She nodded gravely. "Well, Willow, I'm afraid that we have some bad news..."

Author's Notes: What happened to Heather will be explained in the next chapter. I know that this chapter was very unrealistic, considering that Willow hates Heather, but she's not really emotionally strong on the inside (even though she's tough as nails on the outside.) She doesn't like it when anyone in her family falls apart, even if she doesn't like them, because it shakes her ground. Besides, she may or may not secretly not hate Heather on the inside.
Dun dun dun!
Thanks for reading! I apologize for the sucky cliffhanger, but it had to be done. Reviews are loved.