The first thing I noticed when I regained consciousness was how beautiful shattered glass could be. When I cracked open my eyes, my head was throbbing, but all I could see was the broken windshield, still reflecting the moonlight, spattered with red.

Then I noticed the lights flashing all around me. When I looked out the misshapen window I saw that there were police cars, ambulances, and even a fire truck at the scene. A sharp pain shot towards my head and I thought I'd pass out again, but I managed to maintain my presence of mind.

I wasn't sure how much I could move, so I just swiveled my head to the driver's side to look for Cameron. He was nowhere in sight, but his side of the car didn't look incredibly ruined.

Someone tried to wrench open my car door, but it was practically demolished. I looked up to see a state trooper finally pry open the door and poke his flashlight in the car.

"Are you all right, miss?" he asked, angling his flashlight into the backseat. I twisted around to see into the back and saw that I could do so easily, with no pain.

"I'm fine," I said. "But my sisters—and my boyfriend. Are they okay?"

The trooper flicked off his flashlight, suddenly looking urgent. "Ma'am, I need you to get out of the car if you're able," he said. "Are you in pain?"

"My head just hurts a little bit; I'm really fine..."

He grabbed my wrist gently and pulled me out onto the soggy grass; rainwater splashed up onto my legs. "Your boyfriend is standing over by my car; can you please go over to him? We need to take care of your sisters..."

Even as he spoke, he was gesturing wildly for the team of medics to head over to the car.

My heart was now pounding to match my head, but I obeyed the trooper and went over to Cameron. He didn't look at all injured except for a bandage on his forehead that the on-site medics seemed to have wrapped up hastily. I wondered if that explained the blood on the windshield.

"Evelyn!" he exclaimed, hurrying over to me and wrapping me in a tentative hug. "Are you feeling okay? Are you hurt?"

I felt myself swaying on the spot, and I had to grab onto his arm to right myself. "I'm fine," I lied, shutting my eyes. "Maddie and Clare. Are they okay?"

When I glanced at him, I saw he was frowning, and my heart froze in my chest.

"Cameron," I repeated, my voice urgent. "Where are my sisters?"

He gripped my hand so tightly I probably lost all the blood in it, but I welcomed the pain. "I don't think they're doing well at all," he said. "The medics are with them now."

Afraid of what I would see, I turned back to Cameron's convertible. It was completely wrecked. The car that had hit us, a mini SUV, didn't look as destroyed but was still in bad shape. A man in handcuffs was standing near it with a police officer, gesticulating wildly.

The convertible was smashed in from the back, and the damage on the right side of the car seemed most severe. Several pieces of the car lay on the road, and glass from the windshield was sparkling in the moonlight. Medics and police officers were swarming around the vehicle, yelling urgently.

"Maddie and Clare," I said hoarsely, starting towards the car.

Cameron grabbed my arm and pulled me towards him, restraining me. "You can't go over there," he said. "Wait just a little while. They're going to be okay."

The world seemed to revolve in slow motion. Everything I heard and saw was strangely muted: the flashing colors, the shouting, the hum of the redirected traffic. Cars on the other side of the highway were slowing down to watch the scene, a procession of red headlights in the rain.

Finally, one of the medics came over to me, looking grim. "Your sisters are being taken to the hospital in the ambulance," he said. "The younger one looks okay—we just need to check up on her and run and few tests. The older one..." He trailed off.

"Is she going to be okay?" I demanded, already walking towards the ambulance.

He followed me but didn't argue as I made to get inside the vehicle. "Her condition is very uncertain right now," he said, helping me climb inside. The ambulance was extremely cramped. "We'll know more after we get her to the hospital."

The medics had just finished loading my sisters into the ambulance, and then the doors closed and we were off.

My sisters were each on a stretcher, and medics were hovered over them so that I couldn't see either of them clearly. I sat in the corner of the ambulance as it pushed through the traffic, sirens on, towards the hospital. Every second seemed too long. They need to get there now, I kept telling myself, glancing worriedly at my sisters. They have to make it to the hospital in time.

The medics all but disregarded me when they arrived, carrying Maddie and Clare in through the emergency door and disappearing down a hallway. I was still dizzy and my head was still throbbing as I made my way towards the lobby and front desk. Nobody had thought to check up on me, but at that moment I didn't care.

"My sisters," I told the receptionist when she looked up to acknowledge me, "They were just in a car crash and they just arrived here. Can I see them?"

She asked for their names, then glanced up at me with pursed lips. "I don't even think they're in the system yet," she said. "They must have just arrived. How about you sit down and wait for a while?"

I did, collapsing into one of the colorful chairs in the lobby and twisting my hair around and around my index finger nervously. I remembered I'd been to this hospital before, a long time ago, when my little sister was born...

Tears sprang to my eyes. My precious baby sisters. Would I ever see them again?I had completely lost track of the time when someone sat in the hospital chair beside me. Glancing to the side, I saw it was Cameron; he had a fresh bandage on his head, but he looked just as tired and afraid as I felt.

"How are they?" he asked me anxiously.

I stopped twisting my hair and took his hand instead. "I don't know," I said. "I haven't heard anything. Cameron, what if...?"

I couldn't bring myself to finish my sentence, but I broke down into fresh tears again.

"Is your head okay?" I asked him, extending my head nervously to touch the bandage.

He nodded. "It'll be all right. They just released me from the hospital after running a few tests. Are you okay? Did anyone check on you?"

"No, but I'm fine," I said, though dizziness was beginning to overtake me again. I had barely finished my sentence when red and black spots overcame my vision and I'd passed out in the waiting room chair.

When I woke up, a machine was beeping and I was in a room full of white. A nurse was attending to me and Cameron was by my side, clutching my hand.

"You're awake!" he exclaimed when I opened my eyes, brightening instantly. I noticed his face was more pale than I'd ever seen it. "Are you all right?"

"Fine," I muttered, trying to sit up while fluffing my pillows at the same time. For a second, I forgot where I was, but then I remembered everything. My nerves went on high again and my heartbeat instantly increased. "How are Maddie and Clare?"

Cameron looked away for a moment, and when he glanced back his eyes were glossy. "Maddie's okay," he said. "She just had a few cuts and she was in shock. She's waiting in her room for you to be released."

"How about Clare?" I demanded.

He cleared his throat and turned to the nurse, who stared back at him helplessly. She wrote something on her clipboard, smiled in what seemed like an apologetic way, and then left the room.

Everything seemed so familiar—when I had woken up in a room of white so long ago...

She's dead, Evelyn. And it's all your fault.

"No," I whispered, hoarse. Suddenly, I regained my voice. "No!"

"Evelyn." Cameron leaned forward and wrapped his arms around me, rocking back and forth. "It's fine, she's still alive. She's is a coma. The doctors..." He inhaled sharply and said, "The doctors don't know if she'll make it or not. But there's a good chance she will. Just—"

"Don't you dare tell me to calm down," I said, my voice shaking. Then red over black swarmed over my eyes and I was out again.

~*~*~

This time, when I woke up, Cameron was sitting on the edge of the bed and there was no nurse in the room. The machine was still beeping incessantly, though (which I supposed was a good thing), and my head was still throbbing.

I didn't dare ask the question that was haunting me, because I was too afraid of the answer, so I just sat and stared at the pale white wall on the other side of the tiny room.

"Evelyn?" asked Cameron. "You still okay?"

"No," I murmured, my body shaking as I tried to hold back tears. "What about Clare, Cameron? What will I ever do without her?"

He scooted closer to me and wrapped his arms tight around me, so that I was nearly suffocated in his grasp. "You don't have to lose her," he said. "It's fine, she'll live. I know she will. She's a fighter."

I buried my head in his chest and cried, wondering how my life could ever be the same now that it had changed so much.

I was sobbing so hard I was barely conscious of the door opening until a clipboard was set against the bedside table. When I looked up, I saw a tall, fair nurse studying me, her expression sympathetic.

"Evelyn Caverly, right, honey?" she asked me, smiling slightly. When I nodded, she flipped through her clipboard and said, "I'm the nurse who's taking care of your sister, Clare."

"How is she?" I demanded. "She's still alive, isn't she?"

The nurse kept flipping through her papers, nodding. "She is. She's in a coma, but the signs are favorable that she may wake up."

I exhaled in relief and slumped against the headrest—when I looked back up at the nurse, though, I saw that her face was hollowed and she was trying to hide her frown. What if she's just saying that? I thought, my spirits plummeting. What is she's trained to say that—what if Clare is dying right now and she can't even tell me?

Cameron's arm was strong around me, and he smoothed my hair as I turned back to the nurse, a single tear dripping down my cheek. "When will we know if she'll be all right?" I asked.

"The first twenty-four hours are crucial," said the nurse, sorting her papers back in order and placing them back in the clipboard. "She may wake up as soon as later in the night, though. It all depends on the progression."

"The car must have hit her side," I said, twisting my fingers anxiously around my tangled hair. "Cameron and I aren't even hurt that much at all. And Maddie—she's okay, right?"

The nurse nodded. "She's been cleared; she's just waiting for you."

She must have noticed my still-tense expression, because she said in a sincere attempt at a motherly tone, "It'll be okay, honey. I just need your parents' contact information so we can get them over here to the hospital. They should have been notified at the scene of the crash, but it must have been overlooked in the scuffle."

Cameron's arm tensed around me, and I froze. "You want my parents' phone numbers?" I asked.

The nurse popped open her pen, poised to write. "Yes, please. Whichever one can get here the quickest."

I thought about the likelihood of my dad rushing to the hospital from wherever he was just because his daughter was in a coma. And Mom—she'd left us long ago.

When I glanced up at Cameron, I saw he was looking down at me expectantly. Somehow, though, I knew he wasn't waiting for me to spit out some phone number.

He was waiting for me to tell the truth.

Anxiously, I tugged at my hair, glancing at the nurse. She was waiting, clearly confused at the delay.

I weighed my options. My sister's survival would very well depend on the outcome of my decision, and that was when I knew...

I had to tell the truth.