In Search of Tomorrow ✓

Thirty

The next few days passed in a blur. I spent most of my time curled up on the chair beside Clare's hospital bed, dozing on and off and listening to the monotone beeping of machines attached to her still figure. Nurses and doctors filtered in and out, taking measurements and making notes, trying to reassure me with calming words.

My father spent time in the hospital, too, though he wasn't allowed in Clare's room until the court finished deciding their ruling. He sat outside in the waiting room, instead, his appearance growing scruffier and scruffier and his face more and more worn.

Maddie stayed at the house, and Katie stayed with her during the school hours while Cameron watched her after his soccer practices. Occasionally, I'd venture out to visit them for a few minutes, but I never spent longer than I had to away from Clare.

On the second day, though, I was dragged away from her to the court for the trial. Cameron, Katie, and Maddie were there, too, and the whole thing passed like a dream. The judges spent nearly all day debating, and finally, shortly before dinnertime, made up their minds.

They ruled that my dad was not a suitable guardian for my sisters and me, and that we were to be sent to a home for orphaned girls as soon as possible.

After the trial, I walked out onto the street in a daze, the sunlight harsh against my eyes. My father had stayed behind, but Cameron and Maddie were following me.

"Evelyn?" asked Maddie, scurrying up behind me and tugging at my hand, "Was that really Daddy?"

She had been so little when he'd left that she probably barely even remembered him, much less what he looked like—additionally, his appearance had changed so much I'd almost not recognized him myself. But what was I supposed to say to her?

"Yes," I said, "but he's not anymore. We're going to get a great new mommy and daddy, okay?"

Maddie's features arranged themselves into a pout. "Why can't we have Daddy?" she asked

I knew the trial had confused her. She had sat between Cameron and me on the bench, her eyes wide as she watched what was going on, not processing anything. She didn't know why her father, who I'd kept telling her had left, had disappeared for six months and returned, only to have us be sent to some orphanage.

"Because," I said. "We've been doing just fine on our own, haven't we? And Daddy doesn't have a job, and he can't take care of us like he wants to." Lie. I knew he didn't even want to take care of us, but who was I to tell my kindergarten sister that? "So we're going to a new family."

I didn't want to tell her she'd have a new mom, because I knew no mother would ever replace the amazing one we had, so I didn't say anything more.

Cameron reached out and took my hand, swinging it back and forth reassuringly, as we went to the car. I wasn't sure if I'd ever see my father again, and I wasn't sure how I felt about that. What had I been expecting of him? That one day he would come back and be the perfect dad again, like he was before? Or that he'd never return and I'd wait until I was eighteen and could officially be Maddie and Clare's guardian?

Thinking of Clare made my heart wrench. I had more important things to worry about right now than what might have been.

Cameron's convertible had been completely demolished in the wreck, so his parents had been letting him use one of their cars until he got a new one. It was sleek and luxurious, just like his old car, but this one was a black SUV, and it looked boxy and sturdy. When I climbed into the passenger's seat, my hands were still shaking, but I felt slightly at ease thanks to the car's sheer mass.