Chapter 7

I sat at a table in the restaurant at the hospital. Nancy had told me to meet her here. I looked up and sure enough, right on time she walked into the restaurant. She was holding something in her hand. Her eyes scanned the crowded place and finally landed on me. She made her way through the crowd and sat down across from me.

"Hi Mr. Jordans," she said as she leaned in slightly.

"Who's Jeremy?" I asked, getting to the point. She sighed.

"Jeremy Williams, he was Lizzie's little brother. Her mom, well, lets just say she barley took care of Lizzie much less Jeremy. Sarah and Mathew tried to take care of their little brother but really just didn't have the time, so Lizzie took over. She raised that little boy and she was only nine at the time. She took him to the doctor, dentist, daycare, even pre-school when he was three, he even called her mommy. But then, one day, about six months ago there was a fire at his pre-school. He got locked in the bathroom and died of suffocation. She was so depressed so many thought she'd die right along with him. Sarah and Mathew said she screams in the night sometimes, begging for him to come back to her. She might have been his sister to everyone else, but she was his mother by everything she did for him," Nancy whispered the last bit. I couldn't believe it; my sweet Princess had been through so much, so very much.

"About a week ago she was sad, was it…?" I stopped. Nancy nodded her head.

"It would have been his fourth birthday. This is him," she said handing me Lizzie's silver iPhone. In it was Lizzie; she was smiling with her arms around a little boy's neck. She looked so happy, and the smile, I'd never seen her smile like that. "She hasn't been the same since he died. Some think she's dead inside," Nancy whispered.

"I can't even imagine," I whispered as I stared at the little boy.

"No one can, not even Sarah and Mathew," Nancy whispered.

"We should… um… we should go see Lizzie, I'm sure she's freaking out being by herself," I said as I got up from my chair and started walking to the elevator.

When I got to her room I found her in her wheelchair, staring out the window into the garden.

"The water's beautiful. I wish I could swim in it again." Her eyes were glassy as she looked at the sparkling lake outside the hospital. I could see children in robes playing at the riverside with nurses or family watching them. One girl in particular caught my eye. She had long brown hair, and a fluffy pink bathrobe; she was sticking her hand in the water from the dock. A nurse was a few yards away, watching her carefully.

"You can still swim," I said to her.

"It's not the same; I can't feel the water on my skin anymore. I can't feel if it's cold or warm, I just can't," she whispered.

"You want me to take you down there?" I asked.

"No, I want you to leave me alone," she said as she wheeled herself back to her bed (she's not aloud to walk for a little while).

"Lizzie," Nancy pleaded.

"NO! JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!" she screamed as she flung herself onto her bed.

"Lizzie," I said taking a step forward.

"Just go away," she said into her pillow.

"Alright." I turned to go; I could hear her heart wrenching sobs that were muffled by her pillow. I put my hand on the door frame, looked back at her, then left.

Lizzie's POV

I knew it wasn't fair what I was doing. It wasn't Nancy or Shane's fault that I couldn't feel anything anymore. It was mom and dads. They did this to me.

I continued to sob into my pillow till I heard someone call my name. I turned to see my mom and dad standing in the doorway. "Sweetheart we're so sorry," My mom said as she glided to my bedside.

"Yes sweetheart, we just heard," my dad cooed.

"Get out, I'm tired of you, I don't care if I never get to go to college!" I screamed as I recoiled from my mother's hand.

"Sweetie."

"No, I never want to see you again; you're the worst parents anyone could EVER HAVE!" I screamed as I flung myself face down back onto my bed.

"Honey?"

"It's your fault Jeremy died if I hadn't had to take care of him he never would have been there!" I continued to scream. I heard my mother gasp, then she grabbed my arm, made me look at her and…

SLAP!

A/n In answer to Lilly's question, she can't feel anything, not any part of her body. And know, their parents aren't out of town. Kelly's parents died in a car crash and Jonny's mother just abandoned him and his father is in jail for attemped rape, rpae, murder, and stauking. The one his father raped and murdered was Jonny's very own sister, and she was only eight or nine. :'(