The Franklin parents waited outside anxiously for news about Victoria. It had been almost three hours and there was no news of her.

Mrs Franklin called Betty to inform her that Victoria was in the hospital and they probably won't be home until the morning.

Finally, at four in the morning, a doctor gave them news.

'Your daughter is extremely weak and will have to stay in the hospital. She was soaked through and has pneumonia. Also, she is... unresponsive.'

'What do you mean, unresponsive?' asked Mr Franklin.

'She's in a coma,' said Mr Franklin.

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Everything was subdued in the Franklin household. Everyone was worried sick about Victoria. Josh was the least affected, mainly because he was too little to fully understand the situation. As far as he knew, Victoria was just sick and would recover soon.

Annie was the most affected. She hadn't visited Victoria in the hospital yet. She had heard enough from Betty to give her chills. According to Betty, Victoria was lying in the hospital bed, completely unresponsive.

'She looked terrible,' Betty had said. 'Her skin was paler than Snow White's. Her breathing was ragged and her skin would be ice-cold one second, then burning hot the next.'

Annie was quiet in school, much to her friends and teachers' astonishment. Usually Annie liked to talk about anything and everything that was on her mind. She kept getting sent to the nurse's office as her teachers thought that she was sick.

Annie realized that she had to make things right with Victoria. Even though she was grounded, she felt that all those troubling thoughts were a greater punishment.

Betty had heard about what Annie had done and had reprimanded her.

'Annie, I can't believe what you had done! I know that you were upset about having to share your room, but that's no excuse to be so horrid to Victoria. She just wanted to be loved. Why is it so hard for you to be nice to her?'

Annie had stayed silent throughout the whole lecture. She knew that Betty was right. There really was no excuse for her to be so mean to Victoria.

There was no point putting it off any longer. Annie felt that she had to apologize to Victoria, even if the latter was in no state to listen to her.

After school over a week after Victoria had fallen into a coma, Annie told her parents that she wanted to visit Victoria in the hospital. Although they were surprised, the Franklin parents eventually agreed to take her there.

Annie always felt nervous in the hospital. She had always associated hospitals with everything she feared, such as needles, injections, blood and sharp objects. But this wasn't a good time to get nervous.

Annie almost threw up when she saw Victoria's condition. Victoria was sickly pale and had dark circles under her eyes. Annie gingerly walked closer to her.

'Victoria?' asked Annie. 'It's me, Annie. I...   I owe you an apology. It was very wrong for me to leave you all alone. And... there's no excuse for my behaviour to you this past month. You have been so kind to me, and I treated you like dirt.'

Now that Annie had started, it was easier for her to go on. She spoke with more confidence.

'I was jealous. I thought that my parents would stop paying attention to me once you got adopted. When Josh was born, I was unhappy as well and did a lot of bad things to him. But now I want to fix things. I would like to be a proper sister to you. But if you don't want to forgive me, I understand.'

'I forgive you.' Victoria had opened her eyes and said those words to Annie.

Annie gasped. 'Victoria, you're awake! I thought... I thought that I have lost you!'

Victoria tried to sit up, but she was still weak. So she just held Annie's hand.

'Hey, it's alright,' said Victoria. 'Everything will be alright now. I knew that you were truly sorry when you apologized when you thought that I was unconscious. Let's not talk about what had happened.'

Annie smiled. 'Sure sis,' she said.