𝐎𝐍𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐔𝐒 𝐈𝐒 𝐋𝐘𝐈𝐍𝐆, 𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦

iii. the lost sister returns

MIA was thankful to see Tara awake and responding when she entered the hospital.

While worry was still bubbling in her chest, it was good to see that for the time being, Tara Carpenter was okay.  She was breathing, alive and was responsive—and, for almost being murdered.....pretty normal.

The group had shown up minutes after one another, and after getting respective side hugs and greetings with the injured girl, took a seat.  The Meeks-Martin twins took up two hospital chairs while the Hicks twins sat on the empty hospital bed across from Tara's, Amber sitting next to Mia.  The six sat awkwardly for a few minutes—unsure on what to say—before Wes spoke up, trying to distract the girl from her attack.

Mia tagged on to the whole 'distract Tara' act and started rambling about Friends and soon enough everyone was taking turns talking about the new school assignment, or a memory the group had shared in the past.  For how much murder was brought up within the group, nothing was mentioned for a solid ten minutes.

Until it was.

The door creaked, and all five high-schoolers looked to see Samantha Carpenter in the doorway. Mia, Wes, Mindy, Chad and Amber all stood up, looking at the long lost sister—some more happy than others.

"How are you feeling?" the older Carpenter spoke up, kneeling down to be more at her sister's level.  She placed a reassuring hand on Tara's forearm, the other meeting her shoulder—acting as if this wasn't the first time seeing the girl since she left.

Tara stared at her sister in awe, a light smile on her lips. "You came."

"Of course I came." Samantha had felt guilt-stricken the moment Wes texted her about her sister's attack.  Maybe if she'd been there—if she hadn't ditched her baby sister the minute she could—Tara wouldn't have been attacked as easily as she was.  She hoped that maybe showing up now could make up for the years she missed.   Just because she ran away didn't mean she wouldn't see her sister after she almost died.

Pushing down her emotion, Sam gestured to the man behind her, "This is my boyfriend, Richie."

Richie, who had been awkwardly standing behind Sam, came forward with an apologetic expression. "It's so nice to meet you.  I'm so sorry if I'm intruding."

"Nice to meet you, too." Tara gave a small, awkward, wave. 

While the two spoke, Sam had made her way through the friend group, embracing each one of them.  She'd been close with the group when they were little, and while they rarely admitted it....they missed Samantha—minus Amber, of course. 

 Sam started with the Meeks-Martin twins, before embracing Mia with a warm smile.  The Hicks was now taller than the Carpenter—she'd missed a lot of time.   It felt good to see the older girl, even though she'd ditched them without reason all those years ago.

"You're taller than me now, Mia." Sam pulled away, eyeing up the lanky girl.  Sam had been a sister figure to everyone, and the fact that she was pointing out small details reminded Mia of the bond they once shared.  "You're making me feel old—I remember when you were this tall." She used her hand to inference a smaller height.

"Yeah, well, you missed a lot." Mia gave a small smile, despite her words having a sharper meaning behind them.

Sam moved on to Wes, tightly embracing the boy.  She held on to him longer than she did the others, the blonde having been the reason she knew about Tara—the reason she returned to Woodsboro.  "Thank you for calling."