Cracked

Chapter 6- Leo

I trudge through the mud towards the Fields, where many men and women are working. I'm about to start working when I hear my name.
"Leo!" Tom the manager comes running through the Fields, panting and waving his arm. "Leo! I've been looking for you all over. Your sister... she's in the hospital," he pants, his hands on his knees. "You've been excused from your duties to go and see her."

I didn't expect what I ended up seeing in the hospital.
For starters, I didn't expect Kara to be the one in the hospital. I honestly thought it was going to be Carmen. Carmen was very fragile, and she was always getting hurt. I'd figured she'd just fallen down the stairs again.
What I hadn't expected was to see Kara unconscious in a hospital bed with a bloody shoulder.
Aida was next to her, sobbing her eyes out. Jay sat in the chair closest to her bed, holding her hand and murmuring things to her softly. My mother was in the corner, all bunched up and scared. They all looked at me when I came in.
"What... what happened?"
Everyone looked at Aida. They all looked like they were wondering the same thing. She starts to cry again.
"We've been trying to get an answer for ten minutes. She won't stop crying enough to say anything." Jay says, now drawing circles on Kara's hand with his thumb.
I sit down next to Aida. She glances over at me.
"This is all my fault. If Kara hadn't have had to take me home-"
"No, it was my fault. I shouldn't have let her leave alone." Carmen says.
"It's my fault. If I had been there on time, then I could've gone with her," Jay argues.
"Stop!" I say loudly. "What's going on? Where was she supposed to go?" No one answers me. I look at Aida. "Aida?"
Aida lets out a loud frustrated sigh. "Kara and Jay were at the park at the same time as me and Lena. Lena was my best friend, and she came here with me from our home district. We didn't know why we were sent here, but we both knew too much. Lena got killed. Kara came and made me feel better, and took me back to your house." She takes a deep breath and closes her eyes. I glance around the room and see that everyone is holding on to her every word. "Kara and Jay left, and when they came back, Kara was supposed to do a really dangerous mission- she was told to take me home. And Jay wasn't aloud to come. Kara got mad at Carmen and I because we wouldn't stop questioning her. When we got to the train station, she was really tense, and she kept glancing around like she was looking for someone. I suppose it was Jay. But Jay never came. We were sitting there, and I thought she was going to open up to me when she screamed for me to get down. I did, and she jumped in front of me, and got shot in the shoulder."
She slumps forward and sobs then. I look at her, and then drape my arm around her shoulders.
"Is the man that shot her alive?" Carmen asks from the corner.
"No. He was shot as well." She keeps her face in her hands, and her shoulders start to shake. "This is all my fault."
"No, Aida, it's not." Jay says. "You're only... how old are you?"
Everyone looks at her.
"I- I'm eleven." she says softly. I elbow her lightly.
"Hey. Me too."
"Hmm." Carmen says from the corner. I turn my gaze sharply to her.
"Yes?"
"Kara thought she was seven." Carmen says and I see Aida wince.
"Everyone thinks that until they hear me talk," she responds coolly. I grin at her.
"Not everyone. I thought you were eleven or twelve." Aida smiles at me. But the grin falls from her face when Kara stirs.
She bolts up suddenly, and yells out in pain.
"OW!" She looks at her shoulder and takes in the bloody bandages. She looks at her heart monitor. "I'm... alive?" She holds her hands out and examines them. "Huh."
Then she spots us and jumps. "What... what're you guys doing here?"
I study her for a moment before answering. "You were hurt. We came to see you."
"But I- I don't even know who you are."
We all stare at her. Eventually mom answers. "Honey, we're your family. You have to remember us. Remember me? I'm your mom." She reaches out to touch Kara, who flinches backwards. Her expression hardens into a face I've seen too many times.
"I don't know who any of you are. Will you all please leave?"