Chapter 17:

"She's awake."

"She's… what?" She's awake? She was revived an hour ago, and she's awake already? Yeah, that sounds like Claire.

"Thank God!" Karen says. More tears run down her cheeks.

"Can we see her now, doc?"

"Yes, you can. But…" He raises his forefinger. "Keep the conversation short. She has broken ribs, which means talking too much is going to cause her pain. She's also on strong pain medication, so don't be alarmed if she seems disoriented or just drifts off in the middle of a conversation. For today, only one person can visit. 10 minutes, that's all the time you're allowed."

We nod.

"Go, Owen. Tell her I'm here and that I'll see her tomorrow."

"I will." I put my hand on her shoulder and nod. I follow Dr. Fukunaga to Claire's room.

We round the corner and I find myself in the same spot I was in an hour ago. Only this time, it is just Claire in the room. I hadn't realised before, but the right side of her face is badly bruised; from the side of her face all the way down to her neck. It's an angry purple.

The doctor seems to notice I'm looking at her face. "It looks worse than it actually is. She's only answered yes or no questions, so she hasn't quite moved the muscles in her face much, but expect her to feel some discomfort when she starts talking a bit more."

I nod.

"10 minutes, Mr. Grady." he reminds me.

I nod again and I open the door to Claire's room.

Her eyes are shut but I can tell she's not asleep, at least not deeply. I close the door softly; she doesn't move. The closer I get to her bed, the faster my heart beats. My eyes travel from her face to her left arm. I can see the burn through the gauze. It is at least 4 inches long.

There's a chair on the right side of her bed. I pull it closer and I sit down. I reach for her hand, but then remember the cast.

I call her name.

"Claire?"

She scrunches up her face just like she did a few days ago. Then she opens her eyes slowly. She blinks a few times before recognition floods her face.

"Hey you." she whispers with a hoarse voice.

That's when it hits me. Truly hits me, that I could've never heard her voice again. I could've never seen her beautiful green eyes again.

I break down.

I try to hold it in, but it just makes it worse.

"Hey, hey. I'm okay, just banged up pretty badly. But I'm okay."

I shake my head. Tears still streaming down my face. "Your heart stopped. I saw the flat line for 10 minutes. I thought I lost you."

"I'm here and I'm not planning on going anywhere. I promise. That was just me being over dramatic." she says softly.

I laugh through my tears. She laughs too, but when she does she gasps and stops laughing.

"Sorry. That hurt."

"Yeah, you have a couple of broken ribs." I sniff and wipe the tears from my face.

"What happened, Owen? The doctor only told me I was in a car crash."

"What's the last thing you remember?" I ask.

She thinks for a second. "I remember getting in the cab at the airport, that's about it."

I nod. "I don't know where exactly the crash was, but I do know it was a drunk driver. Went through the red light and hit you."

"Oh. What about the taxi driver? Is he okay?" she asks concerned.

"Yeah, he had minor injuries. He went home yesterday."

She nods.

We stay quite for a little bit. I look at her and see that she's thinking. She turns her head towards me.

"I'm sorry."

"You're sorry for what?"

"For how I reacted in New York. It wasn't fair on my part." She takes a shaky breath, as to not aggravate the pain in her ribs more. "Especially because there's something I haven't told you yet."

I frown. "What haven't you…" I stop myself. "You know what? Let's talk when you're better. You shouldn't even be talking this much right now."

She shakes her head. "No. I should've told you. I feel like such a hypocrite for reacting the way I did."

"What is it?" I'm starting to get worried now. What hasn't she told me that could be making her feel so bad?

Her eyes start to well up. "3 years ago… I was engaged."

I freeze and look at her. Did she say what I think she said?

"Engaged?"

She nods and tears start running down her cheeks. "He cheated on me a month before our wedding. 6 months later I took the job at Jurassic World. Owen, I'm sorry I didn't tell you."

Oh my God! And I thought I was the one with the big, fat secret! I stand up and start pacing.

"Owen?"

She was engaged? She was engaged? She almost married some other dude and she didn't think to mention it?! I'm about to voice all of these thoughts, but I remember we're in a hospital. Claire is in a hospital bed, recovering from severe injuries. I cannot explode. Not in front of her, at least. So I decide to remove myself from the situation.

"What you just said hasn't quite settled on my brain yet, so I'm going to let it… settle."

I walk closer to the bed and kiss Claire on the forehead. I don't want her to think I'm going to disappear or anything. I just need some time to think and I can't do that in her presence.

I walk to the door and stop when I remember I haven't told her Karen is here.

"Karen is here. She asked me to tell you she's going to see you tomorrow."

She nods. There's an incredible amount of sadness on her face. I make sure she knows I'm coming back.

"I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

"Okay." Her voice's shaking. "I'm sorry."

"I know."

I close the door. I see Yolanda sitting behind the desk.

"Will you be looking after Claire today?"

"Yes, I will."

I nod. "Good. See you tomorrow then."

"See you tomorrow."

She buzzes me out and I push the door. Karen's reading a magazine, she raises her head when she hears me coming. She's about to stand up, but I sit next to her. I look forward. Thinking.

"Owen? How is she? Did something happen?" she asks a little uncertain.

"She's as good as she can be after what happened to her."

She's looking at me, searching my face. "Then why do you look like that?"

I slowly turn my face to look at her. "She told me she was engaged 3 years ago."

Her eyes widen a little. "Oh. I wasn't expecting her to tell you now." She looks a little confused at me.

I bark out a laugh. "She was engaged! And she didn't tell me! Why didn't she tell me?! She knows she can trust me! You're her sister, please make me understand!"

She puts the magazine down. "I didn't know Patrick that well. I talked to him like 4 times probably. They met in a cocktail party for the company she was working for at the time. They were together for 2 years maybe, before he proposed. She told me over a phone call she was going to get married. She was excited. I could tell she loved him. But, I always felt there was something off about him. He didn't look at Claire the way she looked at him. Deep down I think she knew that, but she decided to ignore her gut feeling about him."

I'm not enjoying this story.

She continues. "A month before the wedding, she was going to his apartment to have breakfast with him. I guess he forgot, because when Claire stepped off the elevator, right in front of her, Patrick was kissing another woman. She had obviously spent the night at his apartment. She basically told him to go to hell, threw the ring to his face and left. She took the job at Jurassic World not too long after that."

I shake my head slightly. "What kind of moron do you have to be to cheat on someone? Cheat on Claire? He obviously didn't know what he had."

"I know. Claire changed after that. She has always been a driven person, but after Patrick, she became obsessed with her work. She pushed everyone out of her life little by little. I was lucky if she answered my phone calls and even luckier if she called me." She looks at me. "I guess, to answer your question, I think she didn't tell you because she was afraid of trusting you. Claire is a very smart woman, but sometimes she thinks things too much. She needs to learn how to trust others again. Although, to be honest, I think you've mostly achieved that already."

I look at her. Now I know why Claire said she had taken a leap of faith before and it didn't work out for her. I understand Claire better, now. I guess I'll just have to make sure she knows, understands, that I would never, will never do something like that to her. I love her and I will go to my grave making sure she knows that. I only have to make sure I say that at the right moment. I don't want to scare her off.

I nod at Karen. "Thanks for telling me that."

"You're welcome." she smiles. "Now what?"

I shrug. "I don't know. Do you think maybe we should sneak Claire a cell phone? That way at least we can text her."

"Can she text? Wouldn't her cast get in the way?"

"I don't think so. It's not too thick around her wrist. She would be able to ho-"

"Are you conspiring to get Claire a cell phone?" Dr. Fukunaga says.

I look at Karen and we both look at Dr. Fukunaga. "No." We say at the same time.

He stands in front of us with his arms crossed. "I thought so. You don't need to do that anyway. We'll be keeping her in the ICU for 48 hours, then we're moving her to a regular room."

"Oh, that's great! We can visit her longer when she's there right?" Karen says.

"Yes and the two of you can go in at the same time too. Within the visitor's hours, of course."

We nod.

"I was told by the police that they managed to pull Claire's belongings out of the car before the fire reached the trunk. They asked me to give you this." He pulls out of his pocket a card and gives it to Karen. "Her emergency contact is the only one allowed to take her things."

Karen takes the card. "Thanks, doctor."

"Okay, see you tomorrow then." The doctor shakes our hands and leaves.

"We should go to the police station now. Take advantage of our time."

"Yes, I'll call them right now."

We start walking out of ICU and step into the elevator. Karen pulls out her cell phone and dials the number on the card.

"Hello, this is Karen Mitchell. I was told I could pick up my sister's belongings. Her name is Claire Dearing. Yes, I'm on my way there. Okay. Okay, thank you." She puts her cell phone back in her purse. "They said they have everything ready for us to take her things."

"Good. Now we have to see if the paparazzi will follow us, 'cause the reporters won't and the onlookers won't either unless they have nothing else to do. I really don't get it. In New York no one followed us, and if there's anywhere in this country that you're guaranteed you'll be followed by paparazzi, it's New York."

"Well, you and Claire were on TV a lot. Plus, the paparazzi wouldn't follow you because there was nothing juicy. Now they know who your family is. That's juicy and sells."

"Yeah, I guess. But I don't like being seen as juicy."

She laughs.

We step off the elevator and walk to the hospital's main entrance. The same policeman that escorted us in is standing by the doors.

"Mr. Grady. Heading out already?"

"Yeah, the doctors won't let us see her for long."

"Oh. Well, you folks are going to need some help getting home. Would you guys like to be escorted?"

"Actually we're going to the police station." Karen says.

"Oh, well. That settles it. I'll give the guys the heads up and they can make sure you two get there without a problem."

"Thanks."

We step out of the hospital and once again, the crowd explodes. The policemen did their job fast though. There are barricades, letting us walk to the parking lot without us having to push our way through. We get into the car and we hear the police car sirens. I drive out into the street fast before we get corralled by people. There are 2 police cars escorting us. We get there super fast. I park the car, we thank the guys and walk into the station.

"Good morning. I'm here to pick up my sister's things. My name is Karen Mitchell."

"Can I see your ID, please?"

"Yes." She opens her purse and pulls out her wallet. She hands him her ID.

"Okay. Follow me, please."

He takes us to a room and asks us to wait. A few minutes later, a woman comes in with two suitcases and a ziploc bag.

"Good morning. These are the things we managed to pull out of the car. The suitcases are pretty much intact. Here in the ziploc bag are her cell phone and wallet. Her purse was completely burnt, these apparently flew off the car at the moment of impact."

She hands Karen the ziploc bag and I take the suitcases. Karen's asked to sign some papers and then I drive us home. When we get there, the house seems empty. I leave Claire's suitcases by the door and walk to the living room.

My parents are probably working and I don't know if Isabella had any plans for today. I look at my watch. It's 11:30am.

"Hey, Karen. I want to talk to you about what's going to happen once Claire leaves the hospital."

She walks to the living room and sits down. "Yeah, I was thinking about that too."

I sit down on the couch right across from her. "Obviously Claire has the final word, but I think we should have certain things laid out."

"Agreed. Dr. Fukunaga hasn't told us how long Claire is going to be in the hospital. We'll have to ask him tomorrow, but when she's released from the hospital, I really doubt she's going to go back to New York. I mean, even if it's a short flight, I don't think she'll tolerate being sat in the same position for 40 minutes."

"Yeah, I know. I was thinking she could stay with me. There's plenty of room in this house. She would be more than comfortable here. I think she should stay in New Haven for as long as she needs too, until she feels better at least."

She nods. "I agree. She's going to need you, Owen. I have to go back to Madison soon. I can't just leave the kids with Scott and I have to go back to work. I'll talk to her tomorrow. I'll probably be going home tomorrow evening. I can catch a flight on Friday night or Saturday morning and then go back home on Sunday evening. I could do that until she gets out of the hospital."

"Yeah. It'll be good for Claire to have you close to her."

We talk some more. I ask about Zach and Gray and how they're handling what happened at the park. She tells me Zach is the one to have changed the most. He has become very overprotective of Gray. He listens to him now, he's reduced the amount of times he rolls his eyes at her. Gray had nightmares at first, but with Karen's reassurances and Zach's support, they have mostly stopped. They were both very scared when they heard what happened to Claire. Gray wouldn't stop crying and Zach was doing his best to keep his emotions in; trying to be strong for both Karen and Gray.

"Speaking of which, I told them I was going to call them as soon as I left the hospital. I think I'll just skip to the good news and not tell them about Claire's heart stopping." She shakes her head. "I still can't believe that happened."

"Yeah, you know what she told me?"

"What?"

"She told me she was just being over dramatic." I laugh.

"Jesus. She's always so fast at making those kinds of jokes. I know she doesn't look like the kind of person who would be funny, but she really is. Especially with those fast, witty one-liners. She hasn't done that in a while. You're helping her go back to the person she was, Owen. For that, I am thankful."

"Thanks."

"I'll go to my room to talk to the kids and let them know I'm coming home."

I nod. "I'll let you know when lunch is ready."

"Okay, thanks."

I sit back on the couch. I've seen the side of Claire Karen was talking about. A bunch of times, really. When we were at the pizzeria and she kept telling about that 'yummy guy', or when she started seducing me in her room the day she got the migraine. When she told me she was not Darth Vader. There are so many moments we've created in the last 2 weeks; I can't even begin to imagine the memories we'll have for a lifetime. I'm not planning on spending any less time than that with her.

I hear the front door opening and see Isabella come in carrying bags. Nonna Francesca is right behind her.

"Nonna."

"Mi amore, come here." She hugs me. "I'm so sorry for what happened to Claire. How is she?"

"She's awake. I talked to her. I was only allowed to talk to her for a little bit because…" I still cannot believe what happened. Talking about it makes me nervous still.

"Because what, Owen?" Isabella asks.

I take a shaky breath. "Her heart stopped. It took them 10 minutes to bring her back."

They gasp. "Oh my God." Isabella hugs me. I welcome the comfort.

"But she's okay, though?"

"Yes, she is. It was just really scary to see the flat line in the heart monitor."

"I can't even imagine what you must've felt, amore. But she's okay and you should focus on that. I saw the videos of her leading that big dinosaur after the other monster. She's a strong one. She'll be okay. Now, you probably need a distraction. So, you're going to help Isabella and I make today's lunch."

"We're making raviolis from scratch. Oh, where's Karen?"

"She's in her room talking to her kids. I told her I would let her know when lunch was ready."

"Okay. Well, let's get started then."

The three of us walk to the kitchen. The kitchen is big. There's an island in the middle. There's a big oven on the wall, kinda like the one's you see in cooking shows on TV. The kitchen is mainly white; lot's of light comes in through the big windows. All the appliances are chrome coloured and the cabinets are mahogany.

Isabella puts the bags on top of the island and starts pulling the ingredients from the grocery bags. I help her. Teresa comes into the kitchen and asks if there's anything she can do to help.

"Yes, Teresa. Make a capresse salad, please. After that, we are going to need as many hands as possible to stuff the raviolis." Nonna says.

"Yes, Mrs. Vernelli. How many people are going to be eating lunch today?"

"Did your parents answer you, Isabella?"

"Yes, nonna. They're coming to lunch."

"Then we're 6, plus you and the 2 other girls. Make a salad for 9 people, Teresa."

"Okay."

We get working. Nonna tells me we're making raviolis stuffed with ricotta cheese and spinach. I'm in charge of washing, boiling and cutting the spinach. Nonna is in charge of making and kneading the dough and Isabella will help mix the spinach with the ricotta cheese and making the actual ravioli.

"Isabella, it's too quiet in here." Nonna says.

"Oh right! I forgot, give me a minute." She washes her hands and leaves the kitchen.

"Where is she going?" I ask.

"To bring music, of course. Isabella and I have decided that every time we're in the kitchen, we should play music. That way we can create a more fun atmosphere and she can practice her singing."

"Teresa tells me she's very good."

"Teresa is right, amore. Your sister has inherited your grandmother Veronica's ear for music. That woman had a true talent for it."

"Yeah. I don't remember her much, but I do remember her singing to me. I remember how she could make me stop crying every time she sang. Too bad Isabella never met her. They would've been attached to the hip, I bet."

"Oh, yes. Plus, Veronica had that easy going personality. One of the friendliest, nicest people I've ever met. She left this Earth to soon."

"Yeah."

My grandma Veronica died when I was 6. She died of kidney failure. I remember her taking me to the park for walks, she would baby sit me from time to time. She would always sing and she would tell me to sing with her. After she died, I remember feeling sad every time I heard someone sing. It was odd. I was a kid and the concept of death was still strange to me. I hadn't been touched by it until my grandma died. A few years later, I picked up the guitar and started learning. It would make me happy to play music. I stopped playing it when I got into college. Haven't picked up one since.

"Here." Isabella comes in again and places a speaker in a corner of the kitchen, syncs it with her iPod and music starts playing. She puts the iPod next to the speakers.

"Does this mean I'm finally going to hear you sing?" I ask.

"Maybe, I don't know. I usually just set it on shuffle and sing if a particular song feels right. Sometimes I don't even sing at all. Other times I just hum to it."

"We shall see then."

We each go back to our assigned duties. The smell of the spinach combined with the ricotta cheese is so good. It smells like home. Nonna is kneading that dough like a pro. I mean, she is a pro, but still! 88 years old and you would never know it. She turns the dough into a ball, grabs a knife and cuts it in two. She rolls one half of the dough and dusts it with flour. Then, she picks it up and rolls it through the pasta machine. She repeats this process a couple of times until the dough is paper-thin.

Isabella starts dusting the counter. "Owen, we need some egg wash. Could you make some?"

"Sure. You guys use water or milk?"

"For ravioli, water."

"Okay."

I grab a small bowl and break an egg. I start whisking lightly to break the yolk and then I add water little by little until it reaches the consistency I want. I open the drawer and take out a brush.

"Here."

"Awesome. Brush it all over the dough and then we start putting about a tablespoon of filling about 2 inches apart."

"Gotcha." I start brushing egg wash all over the dough, while nonna starts rolling the second half.

I had forgotten how therapeutic cooking is, and the music does set a nice vibe to it. I grab a spoon and start putting the filling on the dough. Isabella does the same. When we finish with the filling, nonna puts the other half on top and we start pressing the dough around the filling to press out any air pockets that are in there. Nonna passes us all cutters and we start cutting, first making sure the raviolis are sealed completely.

By the time we are done, we have an approximate of 65 raviolis.

"Are we going to feed the whole neighbourhood?"

"Do the math, bro. Don't be lazy. There are 9 people in this house that have to eat. 9x7 is 63. There you go."

"Right. Where are the other two people who work here? I haven't seen them at all."

"Well, Teresa is in charge of the kitchen. Then there's Patricia and Augusta. They are the ones who clean the house; sometimes they help T in the kitchen. Patricia makes really good cookies and Augusta is like the female, not angry version of the hulk. She has super strength, I swear. But she is so sweet, you wouldn't know it."

I laugh, it seems like my family is surrounded by cool, nice people. Teresa fills a pan with water and puts in on the stove so it starts boiling.

"What about the sauce?" I ask. We can't have raviolis without a sauce.

"We have tomato sauce left over from yesterday. We'll heat it up when the majority of the raviolis are ready."

I nod and start cleaning up.

"Oh. It's okay. I got it, Owen." Teresa says.

"Thanks."

"Amore, tell me about Claire. I don't know when I'll get to meet her, but I want to know her a little more. I barely know anything about her."

I smile. "Have you met her sister yet, nonna? Karen?"

"No, I haven't had the pleasure. Isabella tells me she's staying here."

"Yes, I'll introduce you to her at lunch." I sit on a chair behind the island. "Let's see. Claire is a very stubborn woman. When she sets her mind to something, it's very difficult to change it. She's extremely smart. She was basically running Jurassic World all on her own. She's sweet, she's funny, she's brave and she has a way of making me feel confident about myself. It's weird. I don't know how to explain it. She beliefs I can do everything I set my mind to. I feel strong when I'm with her. She's the best thing that's ever happened to me."

There's silence.

"Oh, Lord. You two saw that, right?" Nonna says looking at Isabella and Teresa. They nod.

I look at them confused. "Saw what?"

Nonna walks in front of me and grabs my chin delicately. "You, my dear grandson, are in love."

I look at her and smile. I knew that already, but for some reason it isn't until now that I realize what that means. No one has told me up front how I feel about Claire. Karen asked me if I loved her. I'm sure Phillip and Isabella had a pretty good idea, but no one has told me what they see when I talk about her. It feels incredibly good for someone to tell me that.

"I do. I love her."

I hear a chorus of 'aw' from Isabella and Teresa. I look at them and Isabella starts jumping up and down and then hugs me.

"My brother is in love! You're so cute when you're in love!" She squeals.

"Okay, calm down. Don't make such a big deal out of this."

"Don't make a big deal?! This is the first time ever, that I've seen you like this! I'm so happy for you!" She hugs me again.

I guess being in love with someone makes people, more than just the couple, happy. I'm okay with that. I love watching my family smile.

"Do you want some advice from an old woman, amore?"

"Of course, nonna."

"Now that you know how you feel about Claire, tell her. Don't waste precious time dancing around each other. She came to New Haven to talk to you. If my years on this Earth are anything to go by, I belief she came here because she loves you too. Life is short, so make sure you exploit every single second you have with her."

I nod. "I will. I promise."

"Good boy." She pats my cheek and turns around. "The water is boiling. Owen, start putting the raviolis in, please. Teresa, start putting the olive oil, salt and pepper on the capresse salad and Isabella, start heating up the sauce."

Just like that she changes the topic and prevents me from getting overwhelmed.

I'm putting the last raviolis in, when I hear my mum's voice.

"It smells good in here. Mum, what did you decide to cook today?"

"Well, piccola. With the help of my grandkids and Teresa, we made ricotta cheese and spinach ravioli with tomato sauce and capresse salad."

"Smells amazing, guys! Can't wait to eat it! Owen, how's Claire?"

I can't keep repeating the fact that I almost lost her. "She's good. I talked to her for a little bit. Something else happened, but I'll tell you later with dad, okay?"

She looks at me a little worried. "Sure, but she's okay?"

"She's okay."

She nods.

"Please, let me take care of things. I can handle it from here." Teresa says.

We nod and go to the dinning room.

"I'm gonna go tell Karen lunch is ready."

I start climb the stairs and knock on Karen's door. "Come in."

I open the door and she's sitting on her bed with her laptop open. "Lunch is ready. We made raviolis. You like them?"

"Who doesn't like raviolis?" she closes her laptop and stands up.

"How are the kids?" We start climbing down the stairs.

"They're good. They're relieved Claire is okay. I told them in very general terms her injuries, no doubt Gray will research them all."

I laugh. "Hey, my grandmother is here. She wants to meet you, I hope that's okay."

"Oh, of course."

We walk to the dinning room and everyone is already sat in their places.

"Nonna, this is Karen. Karen, this is my grandmother, Francesca."

Nonna stands up and hugs Karen. "It is so nice to meet you, Karen. I'm so sorry for what happened to Claire, but I'm sure we'll all be having dinner together soon."

Karen laughs. "It's nice to meet you too. I hope so. I think Claire would really like that."

"Well, let's sit down and eat. Let's see if having my grandkids help me cook ruined lunch or not."

"Nonna! I've been cooking for years with you. If it's bad is because of Owen." Isabella says pointing at me.

"Hey! I'll let you know I'm a pretty good cook."

"Why don't we let everyone else be the judge of that?"

Mum raises her hands so her palms are towards us and silences us. "Children, please. Behave."

Isabella and I look at each other and smile. "Sorry, mum." We say at the same time.

"Hey, is dad coming for lunch?" I ask

"No. He called about an hour ago, he said there was some trouble with the sand processor and he had to take care of the paperwork to repair it."

"Oh, too bad. He's going to miss some really good raviolis."

"That's yet to be seen…" Isabella says. I give her a look.

Teresa comes out and serves us the raviolis. They are damn good! We barely talk, everyone is focused on the food. When we finish eating I realise something.

"Isa, you didn't sing!"

"I told you there was a chance I wouldn't."

"I'm starting to think you don't even sing."

"Are you calling me a liar?"

"Hey, you said it."

She puts her utensils down and looks at me. "There's going to be a charity event at the youth centre in a month. They asked me to sing and I accepted. I'm still in the process of choosing the song but, give me 2 weeks and I'll sing for you whatever song I choose for the charity event. Sound good?"

"2 weeks from today?" I ask.

"2 weeks from today."

"Done." I never actually doubted Isabella could sing, I just wanted to make sure she sang a song that would show her range. I would've asked her to sing happy birthday if I wasn't expecting much.

"Cucciola, are you going to be singing with Alexander?"

"Yeah, I am. I'm going to sing a song by myself first and then his going to join me."

I drink some wine. "Who's Alexander?"

She looks at me for a minute. "My boyfriend."

Boyfriend? "What?! Since when?! I want to meet him." No one dates my baby sister without my approval.

She rolls her eyes. "Here we go…"