Hello! Thank you for reading. :) I hope this chapter isn't as slow as the last one (I tried to make sure it wasn't). And thanks to my beta-reader for being her usual awesome self! ENJOY!

48: Family Revisited.

"My Annabelle Lee, you are just a sight for sore eyes," my mother smiled as she opened our front door wider to let me through. There she was, beautiful and warm, just like I left her.

I stepped through the threshold, toting my small bag. All I'd brought for the weekend was textbooks and one change of clothes, that's all I'd need. I'm sure they'll be keeping me busy, "Hey Mama, how long before we have to be at the game?"

"Enough time to drop that bag of yours and give your old Mama a hug," I set the bag down and she immediately swallowed me up in her arms. I missed these hugs. One of the things school didn't have was these hugs. One of the things the world didn't have enough of was these hugs. I really need to make more trips over here. Once a month or something. I could do that. The drive isn't that bad.

"I missed you," I said into her shoulder. I had missed her so much. I didn't feel it all the time while I was away, but at the same time deep down I did. I always thought it was funny how you normally don't realize how much you miss something until it's right there in front of you. Then I started to wonder how I'd ever gone a day without these hugs, or the smell of her perfume, or the smile on her face. "How's everything been over here?"

"Can't complain," she released me and started walking into the living room. Nothing had moved since I'd visited a few months ago, "Some scouts came by and talked with us a couple weeks ago."

I took a few steps and leaned on the couch, "I remember you said something about that on the phone."

Pride filled her face, "Looks like Joey has a few options for next fall still." She brushed my cheek, "He'll be happy you're here for his last big game."

"I wouldn't have missed it for anything, you know that."

I heard my dad walking down the hallway before he called out, "Who are you stranger and what have you done with my daughter!"

"Who you calling a stranger, Dad?" I pushed off of the couch as he approached, "I've been calling as often as I can, this semester has just been a massive pain in the rear."

"Come here," he pulled me into a tight bear hug and didn't let go for a long time. I couldn't breath, but I didn't care. I was glad he didn't let me go. I was glad to be home again. "We need to be in the car, leaving, in twenty minutes," he spoke after releasing me and patting my shoulder.

"I better hurry up then," I picked up my bag and headed up the stairs to my old room. It was good to be back, even if it was just for a couple days. I could use the recharge of my personal batteries.

-o0o-

"Annie!" My sweaty brother picked me up in a hug for a second before plopping me back onto the ground, "I'm glad you made it."

I smiled back at him. He'd grown a foot since I'd last seen him, so that now he towered over me. "Me too, it was a good game."

He turned to our mom, "Hey Ma, the guys want to go out for a victory dinner tonight. Is it alright if I go?"

"Your sister came all the way home to see you, Joseph." I let out a laugh. She always used his full name when he was in trouble. He hated being called Joseph. He made this goofy and grossed out face whenever she called him Joesph.

"Oh, let him have his fun," I slapped his arm, "He'll be stuck with me all of tomorrow."

She still looked angry when she folded, "You get home at a decent time, none of this midnight sneaking in crap you've been pulling."

"I'll be back before 12:00, I promise."

-o0o-

"So have you met anyone this semester?" I hated it when she did this. She was always doing this whenever I came home, nagging me. You'd think my time was almost up with the way she pressured me into finding a man. I didn't want to have to find someone. I wanted to get into a good medical school. "Lots of cute boys over there I'm sure."

I sighed, "I'm focusing on school right now, Ma, I told you that."

"What ever happened to that boy, Johnny? Was that his name?" She always brought him up. She didn't even know him except for the one dinner he came to when he visited me that summer. If she knew anything about who he really was she wouldn't be bringing him up.

"That was over two years ago," and two years was not nearly long enough for me to get over the things he put me through.

She didn't let up, "He was such a nice boy, though."

"He just wasn't my type," I'd never tell her how mean he'd been to me, how cruel and controlling. I just wanted to forget about the jerk.

She got up from the couch in a spell, waving her hands around, "You're always doing this. When I met your daddy he wasn't my type either, but we're still happy."

"I'll try to be more friendly when I get back, alright?"

"Good," she moved to the armchair just as the door opened and Joey came in.

"You're home early," my papa said from his book. He was always nose deep in a book, especially when my mom would lay into about finding someone. Part of me thought he was warning me, because every time I'd see him pick up a book five minutes later there she would be. I loved her, but the badgering didn't help with anything.

I smiled as I looked up at the giant that was now my brother, "Missed your big sis that much?"

He laughed, "That must be it," he took a few steps towards the hallway. "Ma, can you come help me in the bathroom?"

"What is it? What's wrong?"

"This crazy guy bit me," she was out of the room at roadrunner speeds before he could continue, "It's not bad, but I need help with the Band-Aids."

When she returned my dad spoke up once more, "Someone bit him?"

"He'll be fine, don't you worry." She seemed to be saying it for herself, more than him. She picked up her knitting, "Just needs a bit of rest, that's all."

"That sounds nice," I stood up, and brushed my pants with my hands, "I'm going to sleep."

Papa looked at me over his glasses, "Not without saying goodnight, sweetie."

"I love you guys," I went to each of them and kissed their foreheads, "Goodnight." On my way to my room I stopped by Joey's, "Buddy?" He was sitting on his bed flipping through some book, "Whatcha reading?"

"Oh, just stuff for school," he set the book on the end table. "What's up, Sis?" He looked sicker than I'd ever seen him. It worried me more than I thought it would.

"You were awesome today," I sat at the edge of his bed.

"Am I not always?" and he was back. His trademarked cockiness that he'd adopted my first semester away, "How's being a paramedic?"

"Good," I nodded a few times. It was a hard job and it took me a little while to qualify, but they were flexible with my schedule and the pay was nice, so it worked out. "I think it will give me an edge on med-school applications, plus I get to see some cool stuff."

He smiled, but it was weaker than his usual grin, "And school?"

"Almost done," I gave him the thumbs up, "Been studying like mad for the M-CAT though."

"When do you take that?"

"A few weeks after the semester is over."

"You ready for it?"

I shrugged, "Not totally, but I will be."

"My sister, the genius." I missed talking to him like this. I know it was wrong to pick favorites, but I couldn't help it. He'd been my shadow for so many years that when he wasn't around it was like part of me was missing. We'd text each other, and I'd call him sometimes, but it was nothing like getting to just sit with him. Hopefully he'd pick a college close to mine and the deadly duo will be reunited more permanently. Until then I'll have to settle for these visits.

"My brother, the athlete." I patted his foot before standing up, "Feel better, brother."

He tried to hide a cough just before he spoke, "I'll try to."

"Love ya," I ruffled his hair.

"Love ya," he patted my arm before I left his side to get some sleep of my own.

-o0o-

"When are you heading back?"

"After lunch," I tired to hide my anger as I sat there in my Sunday's best. I'd wanted to get to spend some time with Joey this weekend, but he was stuck in bed sick all day yesterday. I went in to hang out with him, but he shooed me out saying he needed to sleep. I didn't know when I'd be back to visit again, so I just wanted a bit more time with him, just to tide me through finals and the M-CAT.

"I'm going to go check on Joey," my mother sounded resolute, "I don't care if he's still sick, he can go to church with us." She disappeared upstairs muttering what she'd planned to say to my brother.

"Your mom been bothering you about finding a man?" I nodded to him and he gave a low chuckle, "You take your time, ain't no rush. Let him find you." That had been the plan. He'll find you. Just focus on being ready for it when he did.

I cracked a smile, "Thanks, Pops."

I was about to say something when we heard a heart-shattering scream from upstairs.

"That can't be good," he smiled at me and gave a wink, "That brother of yours probably pulling one of his jokes. He better be careful, we're getting old. Might have a heart attack one of these days."

"You better not!" I called at him as he made his way to the stairs. I sat there for a few seconds, twirling my hair between my fingers and hoping that if Joey was joking then he'd be good enough to spend some time with me before I left.

Then I heard my father's voice. It was low and had this weird inflection that I'd never heard him use before. "What have you done?" It was a cross between… It couldn't be. Anguish and anger?

I got up from my seat and stood at the bottom of the staircase, "Is everything alright up there?" There was no answer at first, then there were a bunch of thuds and I could hear rustling. Were they putting me on? I took a few cautious steps up, "You guys?" No answer. I repeated myself a few times before a guttural growl responded. I cracked the door open.

That's when I saw them.

Dad was lying there, only his neck was bleeding and he wasn't moving. Mama was close by, lying there too, not moving. She was bloodier than Papa, and it looked like… "Oh my God!" Joey looked up from her stomach. He was, he was eating her. He was eating our mother. He started moving towards me. I looked around through the tears that were now draining from my eyes, spotting the baseball bat and taking a swing. I hit him right in the stomach and he stumbled back, "Joey, what did you do?!" He came for me again with that hissing, with the blood of our mom covering his face. His eyes, they weren't his anymore. They didn't look like his. I swung again, "Please, just stop." He kept coming for me and I just kept begging him to stop. He wouldn't. He kept biting at me and I knew what I had to do. I swung at his head and he fell, then I hit it again. And again. Until he stopped moving.

I crumbled then, "No."

I reached out to my brother's hand. It was covered in blood, but that didn't stop me from holding it to my face, "No." My shoulders shook as the cries came. I lost him. I lost my shadow. I lost my Joey. I held the hand against my face harder, so hard that it hurt. I didn't want him to be gone. I didn't want him to leave me. We were supposed to have these lives, these lives that were strung together. We were supposed to have families and Christmases and we were supposed to see each other old. We were supposed to be wrinkly and frail when we said goodbye.

I don't know how long I sat there with him. I couldn't tell you if it was hours or minutes, but I know it felt like a millennium. It felt like the world had stopped. Time had stopped. Everything had stopped. "Please," I wheezed through the mess of salt water and mucus. Please, let this not be happening. Please let this just stop, let me wake up, let this rewind. Please, don't let him be gone.

A gurgling broke my focus, and through the veil I saw my father get up and move towards me. "Papa, please." His eyes just as Joey's had been, his mouth biting at the air as he staggered. I picked the bat back up and did the one thing I didn't want to do. I smashed and cried out and it was all I could do. When he finally stopped moving I just stood there, heaving deep breaths, a pool of tears forming at my feet.

Then came the sounds from my mother. Those same dead eyes, the biting. I had to do it again. I had to do that to my mother. When I was done I sat against the wall and pulled my knees in. I held on to them as tight as I could, wishing that I could just squeeze myself into non-existence. I wanted them back. I wanted my dad to walk me down the isle at my wedding. I wanted my mom to see it when I finally found something. I wanted them there when I graduated. And when I got my MD. I wanted them here. I wanted them to stay with me and laugh with me and hug me. I wanted to feel their warm arms around me again. They couldn't leave me. I looked up and alll I could see when I looked up was the blurry outlines of the people I loved. The people who I spent my whole life loving. The people whose faces I'd just bashed in. "Please," I whimpered to the empty house. "Please," my voice grew louder as I kept repeating the word. Please. Please. Please. Please. Please. Please. Please. Please. Please.

I prayed. I begged. I pleaded. But there was no answer.

It was nighttime before I'd calmed down enough to move. The moonlight shone across the bodies of my family, and the day was done. I crawled over to my brother, my best friend, and held his hand to my face once more. He was so cold now. I sat there for as long as I could, until my swollen eyelids started to fall. I didn't want to leave his side. I wanted to stay there until he got up and then we would laugh and it would have never happened. But I couldn't. I carefully set his hand at his side and took a seat on his bed. The last time I'd talked to him was here. The last time I saw him smile. I reached over and turned on the light. The book he was reading was sitting there, and there was a piece of paper shoved in it. I took the book and set it in my lap, examining the title. It was an anthology of WWII era poetry. I felt the sting of new tears briefly before opening to the page.

The paper had one word on it. 'Annie.' That was it, just Annie. I turned it over ten times, hoping to find some small note, anything that came from him. Nothing but Annie.

I looked at the page beneath it and a stray tear of mine fell to the page, leaving a small wet circle. I scanned the page. Do Not Stand At My Grave And Weep by Mary Elizabeth Frye.

Do not stand at my grave and weep,

I am not there; I do not sleep.

I am a thousand winds that blow,

I am the diamond glints on snow,

I am the sun on ripened grain,

I am the gentle autumn rain.

When you awaken in the morning's hush

I am the swift uplifting rush

Of quiet birds in circling flight.

I am the soft starlight at night.

Do not stand at my grave and cry,

I am not there; I did not die.

The tears returned with new questions. Had he known he was leaving? Why didn't he say anything to me? Why didn't he leave anything for Mom and Dad? Why just me? Why did he leave me? Why was he gone? Couldn't God just bring him back, just this one time? Just for a few minutes? Just for a second? Can't I just have him back for a second? I'd do anything for that second, anything at all. I reread the page a few times, memorizing the words, memorizing Joey's last message to me before I set the book down and turned the light off.

I curled up at the end of the bed and looked up through the window at the sky. I am the soft starlight at night. When I looked up I almost thought I caught a glimpse of his smile. Just a tiny flash of it and then it was gone.

They were gone.

As always I'd love to hear your thoughts. Now you know exactly what happened to Annie at the start of all this. Review you amazing people!