For exactly three days and three nights both Derek and I sat beside Liliane. Well, Derek sat while I paced around and around in endless circles.

The same doctor with a grey, receding hairline walked into the room. Naturally, I looked up at him while Derek continued to stare at his soundly sleeping sister. The doctor had been in an out every couple hours as well as a few nurses. It was always the same thing when they came: a stout hello, a quick check on vitals, 'goodbye', and then they were gone.

Why should today be any different?

The doctor came in and when our eyes made contact I knew he had news for us. I eagerly eyed him and waited for him to explain.

He offered us a thin smile. "Good news. Your sister is responding well to the surgery and is definitely getting better. I believe she should be waking up very soon."

Derek broke out into a grin and pumped the doctor's hand up and down, "That's great news Doc. You have no idea how happy I am to hear that."

The doctor nodded, his expression turning grim again, "I have to warn you though, given her injuries I am required to report them to the police. When she wakes up she will have to speak to an officer and maybe a therapist later on down the line."

"An officer? I don't know if she should be speaking to anyone about what happened to her right after she wakes up, I mean-" Derek began.

"Thank you, doctor," I cut in, "She'll speak to someone when she's ready."

His lips formed a tight smile, "Of course."

He turned and briskly left, leaving us on our own with Liliane.

Derek balled up his fists, "I can't believe that guy! How can he expect her to speak to a complete stranger about something so traumatic? The last thing I want is for her to die of shock right after she wakes up."

I gave him a look.

"Don't give me that. Death by a severe enough shock is a real thing."

I shook my head, "And I'm not debating that. But do you have to be so hard on him? He's just trying to do his job."

He sighed, "I'm being too overprotective aren't I?"

I tried to suppress a smile but ended up laughing instead, "That's what I love about you."

He grinned from ear to ear, "I love you too Katie."

I pulled him by the front of his tee and kissed his lips gently. It seemed like forever ago since it was just the two of us. So much had happened in the past couple of months with the marriage, the breakup, Evelyn, and now Liliane. He deepened the kiss and I found myself leaning into him with my hands wrapped up into his luscious, thick locks. His strong arms found themselves supporting my back. The kisses quickly turned into something feverish, our heads bobbing in a steady rhythm. I released a groan as he slowed down, ending with gentle touches along my neck to my nose.

"We can't do that here."Derek whispered along my earlobe, "My sister's here."

I frowned, "Later?"

He smiled, "For sure. But not here."

I faked annoyance, "It feels like forever since I last had you."

He winked, "Patience sweetheart."

"Ugh, you sound like my mom."

He let out a hearty laugh.

"I missed that laugh," I said as I smiled.

He pulled me back into a hug, "I missed you too."

"Derek?"

We both turned to locate the foreign voice.

Derek tore away from me in a heartbeat, "Lil' is that you? Are you awake?"

She frowned and looked around frantically, "Where am I?"

I slowly walked towards her, "The hospital."

She looked at me, almost as if she had noticed my presence for the first time, "Who are you? Why are you here?"

I bit back a happy smile, "Oh honey, I've heard so much about you from Derek. I'm Kate, it's so nice to finally meet you."

She eyed me suspiciously when suddenly she burst into tears, "I'm so sorry Derek. I did everything Mark told me to."

"Shhh. Lil' it's okay, I'm here now."

She gripped his arm tightly, her nails dug into his skin and I saw Derek visibly grit his teeth.

"No, it's not okay. He'll come for me. He said I can never leave him."

"Lil' slow down, you're okay. I won't let anything happen to you." Derek reassured.

She struggled to sit up and immediately flinched in pain, "OW!"

I sat by her side, "Don't try to sit up. You just went through surgery you need to rest."

"Surgery? What surgery?" She tried and once again failed to sit up, clutching her sides. "I feel like shit."

I smiled thinly, "You'll get better. You just need rest."

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Accident? Justin got into an accident? I hurriedly moved through the mass of people to get to the front door. I really hoped no one was hurt. When I finally reached the front door there were three police officers in my foyer, dressed in official on-duty clothes, and they each had very serious, very grim expressions on their faces.

"May I help you officers?" I asked, hoping they wouldn't catch the underage drinking happening at the party.

One of them eyed me suspiciously, "You seem a little young to be the owner of this house."

"You're right. I'm the daughter of the owners. Is there something you needed?" I asked point blank.

The officers exchanged glances between themselves, "There's no easy way to tell you this miss but I'm afraid that there's been an accident near the plaza where the froyo shop is. We have beliefs and strong evidence that it was your brother who was driving the car. He's being transported to the hospital right now."

My world spun around and around. My brother was hurt. He was hurt and he was going to the hospital. As if on cue, my parents appeared behind me. I collapsed on the ground in a fit of sobs as the police officers filled my parents in on the situation.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The party shut down right away. We got the cops to help us get the guests out of the house and into cabs or with designated drivers. Cass must've heard the news because she was right there beside me as we sat in the hospital awaiting further information about my brother. She was scared and it was the first time I'd seen her so scared in my life. Hell, I was scared too. I was so scared shitless. This was my brother we were talking about here. What if he died?

The thought just had me spiraling out of control. I broke down again, tears streamed down my cheeks as I cried and prayed for the safety of my brother.

Finally, after what seemed like ages, a doctor came to see us.

My parents rushed to him, "So, what's going on? Is he going to be okay?"

The doctor frowned and couldn't face my parents' expecting faces. In that moment I knew.

"I'm so sorry, but your son passed away on the way to the hospital. There was nothing we could do to save him."