Chapter Twenty-two

Her Parents

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I wonder what happened, the nurse wouldn't say anything. 'sigh' I should've left a note for Sammy...And on top of all things, I don't have my phone, or money, or anything...I should call someone, but I have to get to the hospital, I really want to see my parents. She saw the hospital right ahead so she sprinted right to the main desk.

"Where are they? Are they okay?" Serena asked in a hurry.

"Ma'am, please, slow down. Who are you here about?" The nurse tried to calm her down.

"Okay, sorry. My name is Serena Tsukino and I just received a phone call saying that my parents, Ilene and Ken Tsukino, are here." Serena refrained from loosing her mind again.

"I'll inform the doctor that you're here and he'll let you know of their status. You can wait for him over there." She pointed to the waiting room.

"Okay, thanks." She turned to walk away. "Oh, is there a phone I can use?"

"There's a pay phone in the waiting room."

"I kinda rushed out of the house, I don't have any money..." Serena trailed off.

"You can use this one then." The nurse grabbed the phone from on the desk.

"Thank you."

..RI..

"HELLO?" Someone shouted on the other end.

"Darien?" Serena sounded completely confused.

"SERENA!? Where are you? What happened?"

"Calm down, Dare. I got a call saying my parents were at the hospital I rushed out with out money, my phone, and forgot to write a note. I was so worried, I'm here in my pajamas."

"Okay, I'll be right there, don't leave okay?"

"Thanks, but why are you at my house?"

Sammy woke up and saw you were gone and your patents weren't home yet. He called your cell and discovered you left it in your room. He then took it and called me."

"Oh, well the doctor is coming to talk to me about my parents."

"K, love, I'll be there in a few minutes with Sammy."

"K, bye." She hung up.

The doctor walked up as she was giving the phone back to the nurse.

"Hello Serena." The doctor said, recognizing her from a few days ago.

"Hi, Dr. Top. Are you working on my parents?"

"Yes-." He was quickly cut off.

"How are they, what happened?" She quickly shot at him.

"Let's go over-"

"No, please, just tell me what happened."

"Okay. Well from what we could gather, they were taking a walk in the park when they were attacked. We don't know any details of the attack, but they suffered from gun shot wounds."

"WHAT, where are they, I have to see them!" She screamed, tears running down her cheeks.

"Serena," He put a hand on her shoulder. "They passed away in the ambulance. There was nothing we could do to help them, I'm sorry."

"NO!" She fell to her knees, sobbing.

The doctor helped her to a seat in the waiting room. She launched into the doctor's arms, needing the human contact. She stayed there, crying, for about ten minutes before the front doors burst open.

Darien ran into the hospital looking for Serena. He spotted her sobbing into the doctors scrubs.

"SERENA?" Darien rushed to her side.

Serena, startled by the screech, looked up, red, puffy eyes and all. Before he could even move 5 steps, she was in his arms.

"They died, Darien. They're gone." She whispered into his coat.

He stood there shocked by her words, not sure what to do or say. He just held her tighter in his arms, laying his head on hers. "It's okay, Serena, it's okay."

"How am I supposed to tell Sammy? How are Sammy and I going to live, I have no job or money..."

"Calm down, we'll think about that later. Just try to relax right now." He said, slightly rubbing her back.

"You're right." She said, looking up into his eyes. "Thanks." She had finally stopped crying.

"Well Sammy fell asleep on the way here, so I'm going to go leave a note for him. Okay?"

"Okay, thanks a lot Darien."

"Anything for the one I love." He said, leaning down to kiss her.

He left to go leave the note for Sammy and lock his car.

"Dr. Top, when Darien gets back, c..can I see them?" She said, trying to hold back fresh tears.

"Of course."

"Thanks." Darien walked back in. "Darien, w...will you come with me to see them?"

"Sure, if you think you're ready." Darien said, walking back over to her.

"Right this way then." The doctor led the way.

Darien wrapped his arm around her shoulder, and she took his free hand in hers, snuggling close.

They walked in and Serena froze. Shocked to see her mom on a gurney, motionless.

"Mom..." She put her head on Darien's chest, making him tighten his hold on her.

They walked up to her mom's side.

"I love you mommy, I really do." She said, looking at her mother. "Where's my dad?"

"He's in the next room over." He pointed to the connecting doors.

"Thanks." She said, a tear escaping her eyes.

They walked into the room where her father was laying.

"Daddy, why, why did you have to leave. I love you both so much and you just left me and Sammy?" She said, sounding angry and sad at the same time.

"Serena." Darien wrapped her in a hug as she started crying again.

"I thought I could do this, but I can't. I just need to go ho-" She stopped. "I can't even go home, it's too painful."

"You and Sammy can come stay at my place."

"But if my dad ever-" She realized what she was saying. "WHY, I don't even have overprotective parents anymore!" She started crying harder.

"Serena, it'll be fine, you need to get some sleep."

"Okay, let's go. And thanks."

They got into the car and drove off to Darien's house, Sammy sleeping the whole way. Serena soon joining him in slumber.

Darien picked up Sammy, taking him into the house. He placed him on a bed in their spare bedroom. He then went back to his car, taking Serena to his bed. He wrote a note for Serena.

If you need anything, and I mean ANYTHING, I'll be in the living room. Come and wake me.

I'll love you always.

He left for the living room, putting notes on his friends doors.

I'm not in my room. When you wake up, be extra quiet please. I'm in the living room. If you see Serena, don't ask questions, I'll explain in the morning. When the first one of you wakes up, wake me.

Darien.

He looked at the clock. It's already midnight. He sighed and laid on the pull out bed, falling to sleep.

"Darien?" Kevin whispered, shaking him gently.

"Huh? Oh, Kevin, hi. What time is it?" Darien asked, sitting up to stretch.

"8, but why are you on the couch, why does the note say if we see Serena, and why did you write the note?" He asked, sitting on the couch next to Darien.

"Well, Sammy called me last night, saying that Serena was gone, and their parents hadn't returned yet. So I went over there and waited for something...anything. She finally called from the hospital saying that her parents were there. When I got there, she was crying. Her parents were attacked, and killed. That's why I'm here on the couch, she's sleeping in my bed, she couldn't go home for obvious reasons, and Sammy is in the spare bedroom." Darien explained.

"Man, that stinks. What's she gonna do?" Kevin asked.

"Well I have no idea. She doesn't have any money except for what her parents left, and she won't want to stay at her old house, because of the memories." Darien said trying to think. "Maybe she can stay at one of her friends' houses or something."

"Or here." Kevin blurted out.

"Wouldn't that be kind of awkward though?"

"Well you two are dating."

"But, what about Sammy?" He pointed out.

"Where is he sleeping right now?"

"Oh...But I think it'd be kinda weird if Serena and I were sleeping in the same bed, I mean we just started dating, and I can't really sleep on this couch every night."

"Well don't we have an extra bed in storage?" Darien nodded. "We could set that up in the spare room, or in your room." Kevin suggested.

"True, I'll guess I'll have to ask her. OH, and Sammy doesn't know yet, so try to avoid the subject, well try to avoid it all together, Serena took it really hard yesterday."

"I know how she feels."

"Yah."