It's been five days since the accident and I still haven't been released from the hospital.

Kenny, Chris, Alex, and Isaac have though. Which I find entirely unfair.

"I want to leave." I whined to John for probably the fiftieth time in the two hours he's been here.

"Again Abby, I feel bad for you, I really, really do. But sadly I can't do anything about it."

"But why are they keeping me here? I feel fine. I have to get ready for school, it starts in two weeks John."

"I know that, but there's nothing you can do."

"But John."

"But Abby." I crossed my arms and turned away from him. "Are you ignoring me now?"

When I didn't answer I felt him sit down on the bed behind me. "Don't make me tickle you."

"If you tickle me I'll scream and get you thrown out of the room."

"So now you're using you being here against me? I thought we were on the same team."

"We are not on the same team, if we were on the same team you would get me out of here."

"You're impossible."

"I am not!"

"Just because you think this is some sort of prison doesn't mean it actually is."

"I know it's not an actual prison, if it was an actual prison it would have better food." He sighed exasperatedly and walked around the bed so I could see his face.

"You're being ridiculous, but I promise you'll be out of here long before school starts."

"Good. At least someone is giving me hope around here."

"You are being ridiculous though."

"It's one of my many talents."

There was a knock on the door and Matthew poked his head in. "Mind if I take a shift?"

"Gladly."

"John!"

"Sorry Abby, but I have freedom." He laughed maliciously as he gathered his stuff.

"We are not friends anymore Jonathan."

"Would it make you feel better if I told you I was leaving because Hayden and I have a lunch date?"

"Do you?"

"No."

"Then no." He was still laughing when he left.

"You know I don't need to be babysat." I told Matthew as he came to sit in the chair by the bed.

"I know, but we don't want you to be lonely either."

"Well I officially ban John from keeping me company."

"Duley noted." He chuckled and pulled out a book. Matt and I weren't super close, when he was here he mostly read or watched TV. We would talk a little bit, but nothing too personal, just basic conversation stuff.

Usually Isaac was here, like basically 24/7. He's spent the night here every night in the small chair and has rarely left my side. The only reason why he's not here today is because his mom told him he had to take Justin and himself school shopping.

I leaned back in the bed suddenly tired, the medication must be kicking in. "Hey Matt?"

"Yeah?"

"Can you turn the TV down? I'm kind of tired."

"Sure." He turned the TV down and I made the bed go back and snuggled against my over-fluffed pillow. I felt him pull the blanket over my shoulders and I drifted off to sleep.

When I woke up Isaac was passed out against the bed and it was dark outside. I gently sat up so I wouldn't wake him.

He looked so peaceful when he slept, his face was so relaxed. He looked like a little kid. I remembered what he said to me when he thought I was asleep, as long as you don't want me to leave I'm not going anywhere. I didn't want him to leave, not ever. He was probably the best thing that has ever happened to me.

I gently nudged his elbow and his eye lashes fluttered restlessly. "Isaac..." I nudged him again and his eyes opened.

"Hmm?"

"Wake up."

"Why? Did something happen? Are you okay?" He was suddenly wide awake and looking at me nervously.

I only laughed a little. "No, no I'm fine. I just don't want you to hurt your back sleeping in that chair."

"I'm not leaving, no matter what anyone says-"

"I know you're not going to leave, you're too stubborn to leave." I leaned forward and kissed his forehead gently. "I was going to ask you if you wanted to lay next to me, I think the bed would fit us both."

"Are-are you sure?" He blinked a couple times as if my question had taken him aback and then a blush rose to his cheeks.

I giggled and moved over. "Yes I'm sure, if you're not going to go home you might as well not sleep in an uncomfortable chair." He gingerly climbed into the bed next to me and pulled the blanket over himself. I snuggled into him as we both laid down.

"But there's a catch." I whispered as he subconsciously played with my hair.

"And what is that?" He had turned the lamp off so I couldn't see his face but I knew he was smiling.

"You have to sing to me."

"Sing to you?"

"Yes. I'm completely awake now so I need you to sing me back to sleep." He chuckled and readjusted himself so I was laying on his arm and we were holding hands.

"Well what do you want me to sing? I don't know many lullaby's."

"Just sing any song."

"Okay but next time though you have to sing me a song."

"Deal."

He took a deep breath. "Give me more lovin' than I've ever had,
Make it all better when I'm feelin' sad,
Tell me that I'm special even when I know I'm not, Make it feel good when I hurt so bad, Barely gettin' mad,
I'm so glad I found you; I love bein' around you." He started singing really softly and I closed my eyes as his voice filled the room.

"You make it easy, it's easy as 1, 2- 1, 2, 3, 4. There's only 1 thing 2 do 3 words 4 you- I love you. There's only 1 way 2 say those 3 words and that's what I'll do- I love you.

"Give me more lovin' from the very start, piece me back together when I fall apart, tell me things you never even tell your closest friends- Make it feel good when I hurt so bad, Best that I've had, I'm so glad I found you, I love bein' around you.

"You make it easy, it's easy as 1, 2- 1, 2, 3, 4. There's only 1 thing 2 do 3 words 4 you- I love you. There's only 1 way 2 say those 3 words and that's what I'll do- I love you." I felt a couple tears fall but I don't think Isaac noticed because he just kept singing.

"You make it easy, it's easy as 1, 2- 1, 2, 3, 4. There's only 1 thing 2 do 3 words 4 you- I love you. There's only 1 way 2 say those 3 words and that's what I'll do- I love you.

"I love you Abby Taylor." He whispered finally and leaned in. He ended up kissing my noes before finding my lips and I kissed him back gently.

"I love you too Isaac Crawford." I laid back against his arm as his other wrapped around me as fell asleep.

~°~°~°~°~°~

"Why did mommy and daddy have to die?" My eight year old self was sitting on the porch of Aunt May's house, my hair was in a French braid down my back and we both still wore the black, lacey dresses from the funeral. I could plainly see the bright red lipstick Aunt May had let me where because we were supposed to look nice.

"That was just God's plan for them Abby."

"I didn't want them to die."

"Everything happens for a reason my dear." Aunt May was crying, I didn't understand why at the time.

"Will you die?"

"Someday, yes. We all die someday."

"But I don't want you to die." I wrapped my arms around her tightly as the tears ran down my face.

"Don't worry child, everything will work out." Her reassuring tone made me feel better.

All of a sudden I was twelve, walking down the street back from school. It had been one of the worst, a mean girl had made fun of my skirt in English class. She asked in from of everyone if Aunt May was my mom, even though she knew full well she wasn't.

My white sneakers had made light thumps up the stairs to the porch and I noticed Aunt May's car was there. It was odd, she's had a lot of doctor's appointments lately and has not been home when I got home from school.

"Aunt May?" I called as I came into the house. I slipped my sneakers off at the door and set my bookbag down on the couch.

Aunt May was in the kitchen, her head in her hands. "Are you alright Aunt May? Did they find out what's wrong yet?" It was practically the same thing I had been asking everyday when I came home for the past two weeks.

She looked up at me and I saw that she had been crying, but instead of wiping away her tears as she usually does when I see her, she took my hands in hers. "Yes, baby, they did."

"And?" I was hoping her tears were full of joy but there was no happiness in her eyes.

"I have cancer, Abby."

I remember the panic attack I had that day, the one that almost killed me. I remembered having to go to school and be ridiculed for crying even over the smallest of things. I remembered the night I spent at Brittany's, and Ms. Nancy telling me that Aunt May had died.

"Your Aunt May died during the night."

Even though I was dreaming and I knew I was asleep I could feel the panic rising in my chest. I wondered if it was possible to have a panic attack while you were sleeping...

"You guys are so lucky I'm the first one in here." I heard what the voice said but chose to ignore it until Isaac shot up in alarm, practically flinging me off the bed.

And of course, there was Alex grinning like an idiot by the door.

"You didn't see anything." Isaac said while quickly grabbing my waist so I didn't completely fall off the bed.

"Nope. I saw nothing, a whole lot of nothing actually. Do you guys do anything? Because if you do I'm really torn- do I beat Isaac up because he's doing my sister? Or do I high five him and pat him on the back for actually doing a girl, and a hot one at that." He winked at me and I felt all the blood in my body rush to my face at once.

"Alex!" I screeched, I picked up an empty plastic cup sitting on the nightstand and threw it at him. He blocked, but not fast enough to not get hit in the jaw.

"Ow!" He rubbed the side of his mouth gingerly. "You threw a cup at me!"

"I did and next I'll come over there and beat you myself!"

"You couldn't-"

"Get out!"

"Okay, okay. I just wanted to let you know that I was here, geez." He practically ran out the door and I heard him yell "she hit me with a cup!" down the hallway.

"I am so sorry." I turned around in Isaac's loose grasp and saw his cheeks flushing.

"It feels so weird, usually I'm the one apologizing to people about Alex."

"Well now we can share the apologies."

"Okay, so my turn. I'm sorry for almost pushing you off the bed." He chuckled nervously. "Are you okay by the way?"

I leaned forward and kissed his lips gently. "I'm okay, I promise."

"Good, because I would feel terrible if I pushed you off a hospital bed and you broke your arm or something. Which would kind of be ironic."

"You're ridiculous." I scooted next to him so we were sitting directly next to each other on the bed.

"I think I'm great."

"Yeah, I guess you are pretty great." We lapsed into silence and I thought of the nightmare I had been having before Alex came in.

"Isaac?"

"Yes?"

"I want to talk to you about something." He was looking at me intently and probably knew exactly what I was about to say.

"What happened in the car, I mean, I know you probably figured out what was happening, but I just wanted to say I'm sorry for scaring you and also thank you for trying so hard to stop what was happening."

"You were thinking about your parent's deaths, weren't you?" He said it so bluntly I was caught off guard, usually people beat around the bush a little before actually coming out with something like that. I figured I would just go with it.

"Not only was I thinking about it, I was reliving it. Everything changed around me, it's like instead of going in and out of consciousness, I was switching between accidents and the aftermath of my parent's deaths. I remembered practically every detail, from what the paramedics said to me to what my Aunt May and I talked about when I woke up in the hospital. It was awful." I hadn't realized I was crying until I was done talking. "I'm sorry." I whispered

Isaac immediately turned and hugged me and I melted into his embrace. "There is absolutely, positively, nothing to be sorry about." He said into my hair.

"I can't stop thinking about it though! It's almost as if all the memories I've pushed down over the years are resurfacing all at once! I learned to live with my parent's deaths the best I could and it's all a waste now! It's like I'm feeling everything I did eight years ago but ten times worse because I actually understand what had happened! I feel like I'm constantly on the verge of a panic attack. The nightmares, constantly seeing flashes of memory, noises, everything is happening all at once and I don't know if I can take it, Isaac. That's why I'm telling you these things, because I can't take all this alone."

"And you shouldn't have to." He looked directly into my eyes. "You will not have to do this all alone, everyone else and I will be right there along with you. Every step of the way."

"I don't know if I can let everyone in, not everyone will understand."

"Just give them time. For right now, you need to focus on the present, not the past." I took a deep breath and pushed all the memories and nightmares flooding through me back down.

"Thank you, I knew you'd be able to help."

~°~°~°~°~°~

I haven't been able to leave the hospital but at least I could roam around.

Isaac, Alex, Chris, and I were all sitting around a small table in the cafeteria eating nasty fries and chicken sandwiches. I was still in my tank top and fuzzy pajama pants, not really caring what people thought.

"These are disgusting." Chris sat his fry back on the styrofoam plate and made a face. "Abby how are you eating that stuff?"

"I'm starving." I dipped another French fry into my ketchup and took a bite, it was awful.

"Well I commend you for your bravery." I went back to choking down my fries when I felt a hand rest on my thigh.

"I'll go get you food if you don't want to eat it." Isaac whispered in my ear. I shivered involuntarily and nodded.

"That would be most appreciated." I kissed his cheek and stood up. "Isaac and I are going back to my room."

"Have fun." Chris winked at me

"I wouldn't call it fun, they don't do anything." Alex said to him and Isaac gave him a look which made him shut up immediately.

"That's good, because unlike you, I would just beat him up."

"I'd like to see you try." Isaac grabbed my hand in his and started leading me towards the door. I heard Chris say something to Alex but I ignored it.

Once we were back at my room Isaac called in a small pizza for us to share.

"When do you think they'll let me out?" I've probably asked this question hundreds of times.

"I have no idea Abby."

"Well they should do it right now."

"Right this second?"

"Yes, right this second." He chuckled and sat down on the side of the bed, narrowly missing my leg under the covers.

"I wanted to ask you about what we talked about earlier-" he was cut off when there was a slight knock on the door and Dr. Reeves and a middle aged women came in. "Hold that thought." He whispered

"Ms. Taylor, it's good to see you're up and about." Dr. Reeves said in his gruff, yet soft doctor voice.

"Yes, well I'm feeling fine as you can see." I motioned toward my body practically sprawled across the bed. "So can I go home now?"

"Actually we've come to discuss that." There was a certain underlining to his tone that suggested there was more to what he was telling me. He motioned to the middle aged women standing beside him. "This is Dr. Joanna Marie, she's a clinical psychologist." And there it was, how did I not see that coming?

"Nice to meet you Abby." She politely shook my hand. "Hello again, Isaac."

"You know her?!" I asked Isaac quite loudly

"I've talked with her a few times, yes." I didn't know what he meant by "talk to her" but I didn't like it.

"What do you mean-" Dr. Reeves cut me off with so much patience it was scary.

"Ms. Taylor, as you know we've been keeping you here longer than Mr. Crawford and your brothers, you're probably wondering why. Well the simplest way to explain it is that we've been keeping you under observation. Dr. Marie has been studying your mental state based on the things reported to us by Mr. Crawford-"

"What?!" My eyes shot to Isaac so fast he sat there frozen on the spot. "You told them?!" When he didn't answer Dr. Reeves filled in.

"Mr. Crawford has been giving us details of your behavior that seemed out of ordinary, yes. Along with details of what happened in the car after the accident and your nightmares and night terrors you seem to he having so Dr. Marie and I could assess your mental state." That was enough for me.

"You told them everything?! I trusted you Isaac! I said I didn't want everyone knowing everything!" I was yelling now and both doctors seemed to be very uncomfortable.

Isaac looked as if I'd punched him in the face. "Abby, I-I was just trying to help."

"Trying to help? I poured my heart out to you! I told you things I've never told anyone before, and you repay me by telling two complete strangers who are just going to put me on all kinds of drugs? I don't call that help, Isaac."

"Abby-"

"Ms. Taylor, I realize you're upset and we will do everything in our power to make you comfortable with these new changes but some things must be addressed immediately before they do a lot of damage."

"Isaac has to leave." I said quietly

"Excuse me miss?" Dr. Reeves inquired

"If I'm going to sit here while you assign me drugs for my supposed 'mental instability,' Isaac has to leave because I can't trust him to keep things like this to himself." I fought so hard to stare ahead and keep the tears from falling, I just couldn't believe what Isaac had done.

"Abby, please I was just trying to help. If I had known-"

"Mr. Crawford, if you don't mind waiting out in the hall, I believe it would be most beneficial to both you and Ms. Taylor." I saw Isaac stare at me out of the corner of my eye and then nod. He silently got up and walked out the door. Every muscle in my body was straining not to look at him, to stare ahead, but I couldn't do it. Just as the door closed I glanced at his retreating figure and felt the dams break.

I quickly looked away and buried my head in my arm, a sob racked my body and I felt a light hand touch my shoulder. Dr. Marie was standing next to me, holding out a tissue. I gently took it and wiped my eyes.

"Ms. Taylor," Dr. Reeves began in a much more soothing tone than before. "We have already discussed things with your guardian, he asked that we go over it personally with you and to make sure everything is in order."

"So what did you all decide on?"

"It seemed from your last report that Xanax seemed to work well, so we'll keep you on that, perhaps up the dosage a little. We also agreed that an antidepressant might help." I sighed, I highly doubted anything I would say would make them change their minds.

"Will I feel numb?"

"Excuse me?"

"Antidepressants can make you feel numb, I don't want to know what that feels like with an anti-anxiety also."

"We would be putting you on a very low dosage."

"That doesn't answer my question."

"At first you may feel a little different because you're not used to it. If anything strenuous takes place we encourage you to talk to us and we will all go from there."

"Alright."

"But there's more."

"Of course there is." I stared out the window as Dr. Reeves talked.

"We are requiring you to meet with Dr. Marie once a week, her office is luckily just down the street from the school that you'll be attending so it won't be too much. Only one day a week, for an hour."

"I think I can handle that." I was honestly barely paying attention, too focused on everything, yet nothing at all.

"We also suggested to your guardian that you should attend a group therapy session, it would be with children your age and we believe it would help you make some new friends, possibly ones that even go to your school." It was true I didn't really have any friends.

"When would this be?"

"Twice a week, Tuesdays and Thursdays. It would be in the same office building as you would meet Dr. Marie."

"Great." I felt a hand on my shoulder and turned to see Dr. Marie smiling at me.

"Don't be too hard on him. He honestly thought he was helping you, and he was." I looked away but she squeezed my shoulder lightly. I turned to look at her again. "It was great meeting you Abby, if you ever need anything give me a call." She handed me what I presumed was her business card.

I smiled back at her. "Thank you."

Dr. Reeves shook my hand and they both left the room, closing it behind them.

It didn't take long for Isaac to come in. I was expecting it but when there was a knock and the door opened I still managed to panic.

What was I going to do? What was I going to say?

He honestly he was to helping you, and he was.

Well whether he was trying to or not, he told some of my deepest darkest secrets to complete strangers without my knowing.

"Abby, listen okay? I-"

"I know you were just trying to help, but there were better ways of going about it." I fought back the tears that threatened to roll down my face. "I trusted you Isaac."

"I know I went about it the wrong way, and I'm so sorry Abby. I really am."

"I don't know if I can trust you." I felt the dams starting to break again. The look on Isaac's face was pure horror and sadness. I couldn't stand to look at him.

The silence in the room was so loud, so noticeable that I thought it would crush us. "You said that as long as I wanted you around that you would always be here."

He was quiet for a really long time, and as he spoke I could've sworn I heard his voice crack. "I did."

"Well I think we need a break." That's when my voice cracked too but I held the tears in, he would not see me cry.

"If that's what you want." Did I want it?

"I need some time to get through this, Isaac. I still love you, I think we just need to take a break for a little while."

"So we're not breaking up?"

"I don't think so." My voice was skaky, and I struggled to keep what last composure I had.

"I understand then." I heard him take a deep breath. "I'll be here when you're ready." That's when I couldn't take it anymore. I turned abruptly towards the window and let the tears fall, but made no sound.

"Goodbye Abby." I heard him say before the door opened and then shut. I waited a little while before letting myself fall against the pillows and cry out.

~°~°~°~°~°~

Later that day I was released from the hospital. I hadn't told anyone what had happened yet so when John came to pick me up and I didn't say anything I could tell he knew something was wrong.

He silently put my small bag in the trunk and got into the driver's seat. I stood on the sidewalk for a couple seconds and watched the dark gray clouds as they rolled across the sky.

"You coming?" John called out the window. I only nodded and got into the passenger seat.

As he drove away I saw the first drops of water on the windows and found it terribly banal that it was raining.

Finally, the last chapter.

It's been a long, hard journey and I know I've been very difficult with the whole publishing process but it's so rewarding to know that people will be able to read a full story that I personally wrote. I can't say that I did it alone though, my best friend writingxobsessed helped with editing and was my firm support system that I counted on for almost everything. Without her this story wouldn't successful at all.

I will be uploading an announcement soon that I've been working on for a while so you all can look forward to that.

I thank each and every one of you that have read this story and loved the characters as much as I do and supported me through it.

Until the next story, enjoy!