Saving Caroline

Chapter 30

Three months after Zoe's birth...

"Go to sleep," I coo a three month old, Zoe, back to sleep.

She has been fussy all day. When she finally calms down I rock her on my arms until she is asleep. I rest her in her crib.

"Danny," I say walking up the stairs.

"In here," He says from Zoe's room.

"Hey," I say walking up behind him.

I wrap my arms around his waist. I rest my chin on his muscular back.

"Hey," He says back.

I crane my neck up to kiss him, and he cranes his down.

I hear a knock on the door. Shit. Zoe is taking a nap in the living room, which is right by the door. Danny and I run down the stairs. I open the door and Riley, Jase, and Avery come in.

"Hey," I say and we hug.

"Where's Zoe!" Riley gushes.

I point to the crib. Riley walks over to her and picks her up. Really? After I spent hours trying to have her take a nap!?

I sigh and slump down on the couch. Danny sits beside me. I rest my head in his lap. Damn I'm tired. He plays with the pieces of hair that fell out of my messy bun. I close my eyes, and soon I'm asleep.

When I wake up Danny is in the kitchen. He is shirtless and Zoe is perched on his side. He is making coffee. I walk in the kitchen and rub my eyes. I kiss the top of Zoe's head.

"Hey, Pay," He smiles down at me.

"Hey," I smile up at him.

I stretch my hands up to the sky, and yawn.

The house phone rings. I pick it up.

"Payton McCain," A man asks.

"Carson," I correct.

"I regret to inform you that your friend, Caroline Sky, has passed. If you could come down to the stat—" I can't breath! I drop the phone, and it breaks when it makes contact with the floor.

I'm struggling to catch a breath. Zoe is crying in her crib, and Danny is standing in front of me. He is trying to get me to breath.

"Babe. Babe, what happened," His words finally break through.

"Ca-Ca-Caroline!" I stutter.

"What happened? What did she do?" Danny asks.

"Sh-she's d-d-dead!" I sob.

Danny pulls me into a hug.

I sob into his bare chest.

~
After I collected myself the best I can I get into my car. To get to the police station I have to drive past Caroline's house. Police tape is in front of the house. A police woman stops my car, and asks me to get out.

"Payton?" She asks. I give her a slow nod.

"Follow me," She says.

I follow her up the familiar stairs of Caroline's house. She takes me in.

"You are the closest to a relative that Caroline has," She says and I nod.

She takes me to Caroline's bathroom.

"What happened to her?" I ask as she opens the bathroom door.

"She impaled herself with a shard of glass," She says.

There is broken glass every where. Huge spot of dried blood on the floor.

I grip my hair. Tears prick my eyes and I let out a sob.

"I should have stopped her!" I cry.

"She didn't deserve this!" I start saying things I 'should have done'.

"She left a note," The lady says.

She hands me a bag with a piece of lined paper inside. There is a bloody thumb print at the bottom. Caroline's hand writing. She wrote it to me.

"One more thing." She hands me the notebook.

The note book Caroline and I fought over. The note book I read when she slept over.

My hands tremble, but I take them.

"Thank you for your time," She says, "sorry for your loss."

Tears slip out of my eyes. When I walk out of her house to go back to my car, I see her. I see her bloody hand hanging out from a black sheet. I gasp for air. Im full on sobbing now. I get in my car. I shutter as I sob.

I collect myself enough to drive. I pull into the drive way of my house. I park the car, and grab the things she left me. I get out, and walk up the steps of my house. Tears still streaming out of my eyes. I open the door. Danny is sitting on the couch. His hands in his hair. I shut the door, and he looks over at me. He walks over to me. He wraps his arms around me, engulfing me in a hug. I return it. I sob into his now clothed chest.

"She's dead," I sob.

He rubs my back.

"She couldn't take life anymore," I continue.

"Sh," Danny coos.

I sob a little more.

I sit on the couch, and Danny sits beside me. I take the note out of its plastic bag and begin to read it.

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Tear, tear, cry, cry! Everything has been leading up to this! I'm sorry. Also I left you with a cliff hanger! What does it say?

Short chapter but A LOT of sad details.

Next chapter: the funeral.

Don't forget to vote!

-Sarah 😘