Possible trigger warning? :( I have reasons… And lots of flashbacks here – those should be obvious, but in case they aren't, those are the passages that will be entirely italicized.

Chapter 16: Family

Kendra's dream that night was vivid. She was walking through a field of vibrant flowers – deep reds, shimmery golds, royal purples and blues – but every time she bent over to smell them, they'd close up and shrink back into themselves. She thought it was odd, but it also made her smile a little as she pretended that they just had shy personalities. She laid down among the flowers and watched white clouds move across the sky as soft music played in the background. Each one seemed to take on a funny shape – an elephant. A bathtub. A cushy chair.

She raised her eyebrow as the cushion on the chair appeared to raise and the cloud itself said her name. For some strange reason it made sense on a wild level and she shrugged it off and closed her eyes.

Again she heard her name – and again, she shrugged it off.

"Kendra," she heard once more. "Kendra, answer your cell phone."

It began to register with her that the background music she heard was the same as her ring tone. Affection filled her being as she reflected on how much she liked that song – and then she suddenly woke up as she realized that her phone was actually ringing and Bracken had been actually trying to wake her up through their link in her necklace.

Sorry, she said. I must have really been tired to sleep through all of that. What's up?

Answer your phone, he said eagerly. Vanessa and Warren are on their way to pick you up. They should be there in about forty minutes.

Kendra confusedly looked at her phone and saw that she'd missed quite a few calls from her grandparents' house and also from Vanessa. She called her grandparents' number and was surprised when Dale answered the phone.

"Hey Dale," she said. "I was asleep, someone's been trying to reach me. What's going on?"

"We've all been trying to reach you," Dale said, voice full of apprehension mixed with relief.

"Why, what's the matter? What happened?" she asked, growing nervous as she picked up on Dale's unease.

"Your dad is in the hospital," he answered. "Warren and Vanessa are coming to get you. They left maybe 20 minutes ago. Vanessa is driving, so they'll be there soon."

"What!?" Kendra shouted. "What happened to my dad!?"

"I don't know," he answered honestly. "The rest of your family is at the hospital with him. Hank, Gloria and I stayed behind to keep everything running here."

Kendra's cell phone beeped in her ear and she looked at it quickly. "Dale, I have to go," she said. "Vanessa is calling."

"Be safe," Dale replied. "Call when you know more."

"Will do," she answered before switching lines to Vanessa's cell phone. "Hello?" she asked once she'd hung up on Dale.

"Kendra!" she heard Warren's voice cry out. "We're coming to get you. Pack your things. We'll be there in 30 minutes. Your dad is in the emergency room at the hospital."

"I was just talking to Dale," she responded. "What do you know?" she asked urgently.

"Not much," he answered. "Your mom found him collapsed in the kitchen a little over an hour ago. Get ready to leave – we'll drive straight there."

"Okay," she agreed. Warren hung up.

Kendra looked down at her phone and saw that it was almost 2:30 in the morning. She was jittery from her nervousness and looked around her room helplessly, as though not sure what to do first. A soft knock sounded at her bedroom door and she ran to answer it. Kendra's roommate stood in front of her, dark hair and pajamas disheveled from obviously recent slumber.

"Is everything alright?" Julie asked. "I heard your voice. You sounded, I don't know… frantic."

Kendra placed her hands on her head and grabbed fistfuls of hair, then ran her hands down her face in distress. "My dad is in the hospital and no one knows why. I don't know much about what happened. My cousin and his wife are coming to pick me up, they'll be here soon," she spat out quickly. "I don't know where to start!" she shouted, feeling like she was on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Julie said, all traces of sleep fleeing from her face. She took hold of one of Kendra's arms and led her to the kitchen where she poured Kendra a glass of water and made her sit down. "Drink it," she commanded. Kendra complied.

"Alright," Julie began once Kendra had finished drinking. "Let's get you packed. How many days will you be gone?"

Kendra shrugged her shoulders. "I have no idea. I do have some clothes back home," she said.

"Good. First things first, let's get you three changes of clothes. You pick out your outfits and I'll get your toiletries. Okay? Three of them, Kayla."

Kendra nodded, way beyond used to her fake name by this point. She would be graduating at the end of May after four years of college – it was presently mid-March.

As she rushed about her dresser drawers pulling out extra shirts, pants and undergarments, she felt a sort of buzzing in her brain – a sign that Bracken was trying to contact her and she was effectively blocking him, albeit unintentionally.

Hey, she sent to him hurriedly. Thank you for waking me up.

I'm glad it worked, and I'm sorry I had to disturb you… I thought this was important, she heard in response. I've just been in contact with Seth. He's at the hospital with your family. The doctor told them that your dad had a heart attack.

Any word on how he's doing? she immediately asked.

He's in surgery right now, Bracken stated. That's all we know. I didn't make it to the caravan before everyone left the house, but I'm on my way to the hospital now. Hopefully I'll be able to help him if they can't.

Kendra heard a knock on her door frame and turned around to see Julie carrying Kendra's small travel bag with her. "I packed your shampoo, conditioner, face wash, toothpaste, tooth brush and floss," she began. "You keep your moisturizer and make-up in here, right?"

"Yeah – over on top of my desk," Kendra responded. Julie fetched the remaining items and then presented Kendra with the stuffed travel kit.

"What about your books?" Julie asked, pointing to Kendra's desk where her textbooks and homework were currently sitting.

Kendra bit her lip. "I'd better take them," she said. "I don't know that I'll get anything done, but it'd be good to have them just in case." Julie filled Kendra's backpack with her school books while Kendra finished shoving everything else she needed into a duffel bag. Before they knew it, Warren was ringing the doorbell to their apartment.

"Thank you for all of your help," Kendra said, giving Julie a tight hug.

"I hope your dad will be alright," Julie responded. "Let me know what happens. Now go!" she insisted, releasing her roommate and pushing her toward the front door. Once Kendra opened it, Warren immediately grabbed her bags and ushered her into Vanessa's car. They sped away as soon as Kendra had buckled her seat belt, a tight knot of nervousness welled up in her chest.

Please be alright, she thought repeatedly. Please be alright.

Kendra seemed to drift through her final exams the next week. Try as she might, she couldn't concentrate. Her mind kept replaying the events of the weekend, over and over again, like a broken record.

Bracken was standing outside of the hospital when Vanessa pulled up at the entrance to the emergency room. His arms were stiff at his side and his aura wasn't as brilliant of a blue as it normally was. As soon as he saw them approach, he leapt up from where he was leaning against the wall and opened Kendra's door, ushering her out of the car. Once she was standing up, he enveloped her in a tight embrace.

"How is he?" she asked urgently, pulling away from him and heading toward the doors.

He pulled her back. "Kendra," he said, looking into her face. The tone of his voice said it all.

She stared at him blankly and spoke after a brief pause. "I have to go see him."

"Kendra…"

She closed her eyes and bowed her head.

"I just talked to him yesterday on the phone," she said softly.

"I'm so sorry," Bracken said, doing his best to catch her attention. He sounded somehow more than just sincere – it was like he was speaking from his soul.

"I have to go see him," she repeated, refusing to turn her attention away from her shoes.

"The doctors haven't allowed anyone to see him yet," he explained. "Your grandparents, mother and Seth are all inside. You are all dealing with a terrible loss – I didn't want them to have to break the news to you on top of everything else."

Large, hot tears started to fall down Kendra's cheeks and onto the pavement below her. Still keeping her head bowed, she leaned forward against Bracken's chest and he reflexively wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her head. "I'm so sorry," he whispered.

Seth had been staring blankly at a wall in the waiting room when Kendra walked in. He recognized his sister long enough to wave her over and give her an awkward half-hug while she continued to cry and he went back to being nonresponsive. Her mother had been a disaster – Marla had held her head in her hands and couldn't stop sobbing. Grandma and Grandpa Sorenson were both in tears as well, but they tried to hold themselves together well enough to help Marla with all of the paperwork the hospital was required to have her complete.

Kendra and Seth stayed in the waiting room for a good two or three hours with their family before Marla had insisted that they go home.

"Come with us, Mom," Kendra said, tugging on her mother's arm.

Marla shook her head sadly and looked close to tears again. "No," she started, then paused to regain her composure. "I want to be with him for a little while."

None of them could find it within themselves to argue with her, even if they had wanted to. Kendra, Seth and Bracken crowded into Vanessa's car with Warren in the front passenger's seat. Grandma and Grandpa Sorenson stayed behind to wait for Marla.

A heart attack. Mom said that he had gone to bed complaining of indigestion, so she told him to take some medicine before retiring for the night. When he left their bedroom at close to one o'clock in the morning and didn't come back after twenty minutes or so, she thought he was having more discomfort and assumed he'd just decided to watch some television or read the newspaper. She'd resolved to get up and find him to try and help him or at least keep him company, but what she found instead was the crumpled form of her husband on the kitchen floor with a half-empty glass of water sitting on the counter near where he'd fallen.

He never woke up.

There would be a small funeral service in four days. Scott would be buried next to Kendra's first stingbulb, per a request he'd made in passing to his wife a long time ago.

"I'm proud of you. My daughter – the college graduate!" Dad's voice resounded from her cell phone.

Kendra smiled. "Not yet, Dad," she'd answered. "I still have final exams to make it through."

"Pfft. You've got those in the bag, Miss 3.85 GPA." He pulled the phone away from his ear and shouted behind him, "My girl is graduating from college!" When he put the phone back to his ear, he whispered conspiratorially, "Your classes this term are easy, right? No-brainers? I'm not going to be surprised with a postponed graduation, right?"

"I'll have you know that ceramics 101 is more difficult than you'd think," she answered, grinning. "I have a couple of essays to turn in next week in lieu of a final exam for my writing and English classes, a sculpture to paint and fire, and my last math test to get through. Not much left at this point."

Their conversation came to a pause and after a few seconds, Kendra asked, "Dad? Are you still there?"

"Yeah," he answered. "I'm just… I love you."

"I love you, too," she answered.

"So, when's this graduation thing going to happen!?" he asked, pride creeping into his voice again.

"At the end of May, so in a little over two months."

"Two months!? What are you going to do until then?"

"Well… I figured I'd come home, if that's alright," she responded cheerfully.

"HA! You think you can just come home whenever you want? Well, you're right!" He moved the phone away from his ear again and Kendra heard him shout, "Kendra's coming home next week!"

She could hear her mother in the background, asking her dad to pass the phone over so she could have a chance to talk to their daughter. Kendra laughed as Dad refused and teased Mom about her lack of sufficient height to pull the phone out of his hand.

Her heart ached. She'd cried enough tears to fill a swimming pool, she was sure. Her homecoming after her last final exam was pathetic – no one felt like partying, although her Grandparents Larsen did their best to make the evening a nice one. Grandma Larsen had made a juicy pot roast for dinner and dessert had been provided courtesy of the brownies – some odd, marshmallowy concoction that seemed to melt in their mouths like cotton candy and was simultaneously full of differing, marvelously full flavors.

After dinner, Seth had holed himself in his room again – no longer in the attic since he had come of age a couple of years prior, he was officially downstairs along with most everyone else. He'd taken over Vanessa's old room, since she had moved into the cabin with Warren after they were married. Dale had relocated to the main house to give them their privacy.

Kendra excused herself to unpack her suitcase and just be by herself for a little while. As much as she loved her family, she really just didn't feel like talking to anyone much these days. She'd even removed the necklace that Bracken had given her for the time being.

Unloading her suitcase took maybe twenty minutes at most, despite her best efforts to drag it out. As she walked down the hallway to re-enter the kitchen and subsequently the dining room to see who was left hanging out around the table, she overheard her mother and Bracken speaking to one another in hushed tones.

"I don't want to be insensitive. Do you… is it too soon?" she heard him ask quietly.

"It's two months away," Marla said. "True, that's not extremely far into the future, but it's far enough for some of the hurt to have healed." She heard her mother take a breath. "The earth keeps spinning, Bracken. Time continues to pass. The world doesn't stop just because of us. And honestly, I think we could all use something to celebrate."

Bracken shuffled his feet. "I just don't want to be insensitive. I've waited this long, I can wait a little longer."

Kendra felt a tap on her shoulder and she spun around to find her brother right behind her.

"I was just going into the kitchen… Seth? Are you alright?" she asked, concern showing in her voice. He looked stricken, which surprised her.

Seth shook his head and looked like he was either about to start screaming or burst into tears right in front of her.

"I've been summoned," he said. "Just now. I have to be there by noon tomorrow, which means I have to leave like… now."

She stared blankly at him. "You mean… the Singing Sisters…?"

"Yes," he said. "They summoned me. The stupid… They summoned me now of all times!" He looked like he wanted to punch the wall behind Kendra, and she noticed the magic around him seemed to be somehow darker or more intense than usual.

Kendra stood still, mouth agape, brain racing at a mile per minute. She refused to linger on the thought of whether they would be burying Seth alongside her father this weekend – the mere idea caused her intense grief and, quite honestly, angered her.

Warren walked past them right then and once he'd noticed their expressions, he said, "Judging by the looks on your faces, I'm assuming we're finally taking that road trip?"

The next chapter is almost completely written. I'm finalizing the last paragraphs and then have to read it through for continuity and to catch as many typos as I can find. I'll have it up in a day or two, but in the meanwhile I wanted to get this one out.

No Brackendra in the next chapter, but there will be lots in the one after. I like writing mushy stuff. :)

If you didn't follow: Kendra is now 21.5, which would make Seth 19 (nearly 20).