Chapter 24

The last thing I remember from that night was Nathan throwing himself in front of me and the weight of him and the car bearing into me; the pain of my bones splintering. The next thing I knew I was in hospital room three days later.

I feel like I'm paralyzed with my limbs stiff and tightly bandaged and my head throbbing like it was clubbed with a baseball bat. As my eye sight comes into focus I realize I am alone and my throat is too dry and hollow to call out.

Just then Madeleine enters and sits down in the chair against the wall followed by the twins with their identical tear stained cheeks. They don't notice my eyes open and as soon as their bodies hit their seats the begin to bawl.

"Mummy, is Nathan going to die?" Asks Lavinia in a long drawn out sob. "He looked so pale and still. I'm scared for him."

"I know you are dearest." She whimpered comfortingly, her lips trembled and her eyes were glassy. "But there's nothing I can do, I'm afraid your brother is going to pass away soon...I'm sorry, there's nothing I can do..." She breaks off into heaving sobs.

My throat hardens and closes up. Nate couldn't die. I couldn't fathom it. It was impossible. What would I do without him?

"Mamma, is Elizabeth going to die too?" Rosalie asked, sniffling. "She'll get better, won't she?"

"With any luck she won't get any better. With any luck she'll die." She answered coldly. I felt her thin fingers slide into my hand as Rosalie gasped.

"B-but how could you say that? I-I thought you loved her?" Rosalie cried. "Please don't die, Eliza. Not you too!"

"She only means that Elizabeth would be better off with Nathan in heaven than here all alone." Lavinia said primly but her tone was watery and solemn.

"Exactly. We don't want her to suffer any more pain." Madeleine assured.

"But if she does get better, we could look after her. We could even adopt her; I've always wanted a sister who didn't look like me!" Rosalie cheered wiping her eyes.

"I'm afraid she won't recover, dearest. The nurse says that her brain is damaged too severely. It is unlikely she will ever wake. If she does then I'm afraid we'll have to send her away somewhere. No doubt she'll be mentally unstable after that."

"But why can't she be our sister? We've already lost our brother and now we have to give up our sister?" Rosalie wailed and Lavinia rolled her dark eyes back in her head.

"There, there, darling." Madeleine comforted. "It's all for the best."

I had once again lost the world I knew in one night. Only this time, it didn't seem for the best.

A week later, I had proved everyone wrong. So had Nathan.

I was on crutches, hobbling from hallway to hallway, passing time until Nathan woke up and I could be with him. That night as the car slammed into us he had launched himself in front of me to shield the blow. The incoming car should have crushed me instantly but Nathan's body was in the way. I should have died that night; instead I came away with a broken ankle, shattered knee caps and a severe concussion that made my head throb and vision blur. Nate, who would have walked away with a few breaks and bruises if he had stayed in the driver's seat, had a collapsed lung, three broken ribs, a broken elbow, a fractured skull and whiplash in his neck.

Nathan should have died during the week I was still in bed, but he didn't. He held on for me. He was never was supposed to wake up, but he did and he told me it was so he could hear my voice one last time. By the next week I was convinced, despite his corpse like appearance that he would overcome it. His doctors told me different over and over again. His mother would hover over his bed telling him it was okay to let go now, but he would not. Not as long as I was there.

Madeleine was already planning my move to a recovery center up North. She was not convinced that I was well or ever would be again. The doctors thought it would be better if I waited until Nate passed away, that way I could have closure. But she was insistent I get away from her and the girls. They finally agreed with her.

If I was separated from him he would die. He wouldn't be conscious enough to know I had gone. She'd tell him I'd died so he would give up and she could get on with her life. That is what she wanted to do, move on. But I would be moving in two days, and I wasn't ready to let go.

That night, when the doctors assigned to Nate were on call somewhere else. I shuffled into Nathan's room wearing a dark over coat and carrying one in my arms for him. I had snatched a wheel chair from the lobby and braced my bad leg so I could lift his limp body into its seat.

"What's going on?" He moaned half consciously as I fit his arms into the sleeves of his coat.

"We're getting out of here. Before they send me away. Just tell me if I'm hurting you."

"Eliza? Where are we going?" He asked voice tapering off into a rattle in his chest.

"We're going home."