Chapter 1

Chloe picked nervously at her sweater, avoiding looking directly into her brother's distraught eyes. Everything was wrong. The doctors had first guessed Fisher would die. Then he was supposed to live on, and be himself by last Thursday. Now they were supposed to just wait for him to recover. Chloe hated it--every stinkin' minute of it.

"Perk up, will ya'?" Fisher mumbled. The boy's eyes were tightly shut, and his hands rested on his chest. The sound escaping Chloe's brother's lips was barely above a whisper, but luckily he was audible. "It's your birthday." Fisher smiled to himself and squirmed ever so slightly, trying to shift his weight into a more comfortable position.

"Whoa! Don't hurt yourself, Fish, hang on." Chloe stood up quickly, drawn to her brother's struggle. After helping him to get more comfortable, she sat down again. "My birthday? Oh, I remember now! I was born exactly 15 years ago, wasn't I?" Chloe didn't let herself laugh, though it was what she wanted to do. Her entire day had been spent in the hospital. No presents for her, because all of the Tristant's spare money had been spent on hospital room expenses for Fisher. And Fisher was probably dying.

"Knock-knock, you two," The kids' mom giggled while opening the door. Her face was red, and Martin, Chloe and Fisher's father, followed behind.

"Where's Regan?" Chloe asked with fear drenching her voice.

"She's still outside. She didn't want to . . . See any blood." As Lily spoke, Fisher's eyes grew wide. Chloe raised an eyebrow and buried her face in her hands. Some birthday . . . "But the blood stopped hours ago, right? We don't have any worries here. Maybe I should go get her."

"Maybe you should," Chloe sighed. Regan was the one who seemed the most sure Fisher would die in his hospital bed, all because of the stupid drunk driving accident. The youngest Tristant sibling was something special. She was probably the smartest Tristant, Martin and Lily included, even though she was still in elementary school.