Exception (74 page)

With one last look at his best friend, he left the bed and followed Charlotte to the living area.

The sun was high up in the sky as Charlotte carried the wooden tray with a bowl of their favorite comfort food, Kraft’s Macaroni and Cheese, to her sister’s bedroom. It was past noon, and Emily was still unresponsive and refusing to eat or drink. Worry crept through every inch of her. She hated to see her sister in that state, stuck in zombie-land.

If there’s anyone in charge of this universe, you’re a dick, and fuck you for putting her in this much pain again. She’s had enough, dammit!

Taylor’s parents were still seated on the large couch by the window with desolate looks in their eyes. As a mother, she couldn’t imagine the pain they were feeling, but as a sister, she couldn’t allow herself to dwell too much on the pain of others. Emily needed her, so she hurried with the tray to the last door in the hallway.

Jody was sitting on the armchair, watching Emily. The fact that Zack and Jody had cleared their schedules to help watch Emily gave Charlotte some hope in that hopeless moment. Three people urging her out of zombie-land would definitely be better than just one.

“I think she woke up twenty minutes ago. I tried to talk to her, get her to drink some water, but she didn’t even acknowledge me,” Jody said in a voice filled with grief.

Not knowing what to say, Charlotte moved closer to the bed and sat by her sister’s side, placing the tray behind her. “Emmy, sweetie,” she called, refraining from shaking her sister’s shoulder like she always did. “I made you some mac ‘n’ cheese. Think you could eat some for me? It’s Kraft’s, like Nana used to make for us.”

Without answering a word, Emily simply closed her eyes.

I can’t eat . . . I can’t even breathe, Charlie.

“Emmy, you gotta eat.”

No, I don’t.

I gotta go find him. I gotta see him. I gotta tell him yes.

Unwanted lips touched the very top of Emily’s head. It was a loving kiss. It was also a painful kiss, because it was like his.

Don’t touch me! Don’t kiss me . . . please don’t.
Just let me go back . . . I need to see him.

“I love you, sissy. When you’re done with Lewis, come back to me. I can’t lose you both.” The words sounded beyond sad and far away. Emily knew that, if she still had one whole piece of her heart, it would break. However, her heart was nothing but broken shreds. Without acknowledging her sister, she turned her body and drifted back to sleep.

The mold and dust in the air tickled her nose as her shaky hand opened yet another door. Loud, hysterical shrieks coming from her mother filled her ears as soon as she took her first step inside the threshold.

You had it coming, bitch
, she thought bitterly.

It had been almost two years since she’d stood in that dimly lit street. However, as soon as her eyes connected to the little broken body lying between the rubble, limbs torn at unnatural angles, she made her way across the wreckage with incredible ease. Unlike her last visit to that awful place, she made it to her brother’s side and knelt next to him.

Her shaky fingers applied pressure to the wounds but blood kept pouring out of him. His icy blue eyes met hers; they were wide and scared. His face was growing so pale from the blood loss that he looked like a ghost.

“Hold on, rascal, the paramedics will be here soon,” she pleaded.

A small, bloody hand cupped her face and her broken brother smiled at her. “They won’t, and he’s not here either.”

She took a long, sad breath and pressed against his wounds harder. “Was it like this for him?”

“I dunno, Millie. I wasn’t there,” Lewis replied in a breathless whisper. “Are you a happy adult, Millie?”

Without hesitation, she replied with the most honest voice she could muster. “Up until a year ago I wasn’t. Then I was, and now I don’t think I’ll ever be again.”

A tiny smile curled his lips as his eyes started to glass over. “But that’s because you keep coming back to this sad, sad place. Go away, silly.”

His eyes closed and his breathing stopped. The blood kept soaking Emily’s hands as she doubled over his body and hugged him tight. “I can’t, rascal. He’s not there, so he’s got to be behind one of the doors. I’ve got to see him again. I’ve got to tell him yes.”

She cried over her lost brother and her lost hope.

“Has she ever been like this before?” A desolated voice asked in a whisper that was almost too low for Emily’s sleepy ears to hear.

“Yes, I’ve seen her like this once back in California. She had some problems and came to live with Charlie and me, but it wasn’t as bad as this. She ate and stayed awake. She just avoided speaking and contact with anyone who wasn’t her sister, me or her therapist, Alec.”

Rick let out a long sigh and the sound was unbearably sad. “I’m worried about her. She is everything to my son; it would kill him to see her like this.”

Well I can’t kill him any more than he already is, Rick.
With fresh tears lining her eyes she rolled over and begged for the sweet oblivion of sleep to reclaim her.

The full moon was shining bright in the sky and Penelope was sitting on the king-sized bed in an old t-shit and men’s boxer shorts. Her hair was wet and her eyes were as puffy and pained as Emily’s.

“Ems, please talk to me. I’m lost,” the young woman said, between tears. “Mom is not as bad as you, but she’s an empty shell. Dad and Gabe are pissed, and calling the cops every five seconds asking for news. They don’t have anything new to say; no positive ID on Tay’s body or anything. Gabe and Nate went over there demanding to know why it was taking so long, but Diana wasn’t there so they talked to this other guy who was a dick, and Nathan almost beat the shit outta him. Things are crazy and I need you. Please . . . ” An involuntary sob escaped her. “You’re my last connection to Tay.”

For the simple reason that Taylor worshiped the floor on which his baby sister walked and she didn’t want to disappoint him further, Emily turned to face the young woman and brought her pinky to hers, curling them together. Penelope held Emily’s finger like it was a lifeboat.

Scooting down the mattress, Penelope lay down next to Emily and cried heavy, desperate tears. “Thank you,” she whispered.

Emily walked that familiar corridor until she reached the last door. With a heavy sigh, she opened it.

The air was freezing, as was everything around her, but she wasn’t cold. She walked barefoot down the snow-covered lawn and up to the narrow wooden dock. She looked around for any signs of Lewis, but he was nowhere to be found.

When she reached the end of the dock her eyes narrowed on a figure walking over the frozen lake towards her. There was no mistaking the navy coat and brown hair.

She wanted to jump on the ice and run like the crazy, desperate woman that she was towards him, but his voice reached her first. “Stay on the dock, babe.” Afraid he would disappear, she obeyed.

“I found you. I’ve been looking for you all over, and now I found you,” she yelled in his direction, making him smile as he walked toward her with those long sexy strides she loved.

Emily fidgeted in place, anxiously waiting for him to reach her so she could wrap her arms around his neck, kiss him and feel whole again.

He was no more than a couple steps from the little dock when the sound of thunder rolled in the sky.

Taylor froze in place and looked up.

“No babe, look at me,” she pleaded.

He looked straight at her blue eyes and smiled his boy-on-Christmas-morning smile, then winked and mouthed a silent “I love you.” In the next second, the ice beneath his feet broke, dropping him into the frigid water.

“NO!” her voice mixed with the sound of thunder. She jumped down the dock into the broken ice and sank into the cold river below. The salty water from her tears mixed with the freezing water around her.

But he wasn’t there.