18 Letters to You [Completed]

SIXTEEN

Rory

We finished the record. We're celebrating with sparkling apple juice and nachos, we've been laughing for what feels like hours, the three of us. We made amazing music that we are going to share with the world. We are high off of it, excited, and giddy.

Stella is refilling her glass when her phone starts ringing. She looks at it and her eyes widen, "hello?" she says.

Perry mutes the T.V and we both wait for her to say something else but I could already see it in her face that something was wrong.

"Is he okay?" she asked.

My heart is beating rapidly in my chest because I know she was talking about Caleb. What could have happened? My mind flashes back to that night so many years ago where he was cold and blue and we could do nothing to save him. I hope Stella wasn't thinking about that too.

"Okay. Okay, thanks," she says and hangs up the phone.

Perry and I sit there silently and wait for her to tell us what is going on. We've always known how to handle situations between the three of us because we've been doing it for so long.

Finally she speaks, "Caleb fell during physical therapy. He has a concussion so they put him in an induced coma. They think he will be okay but--" her voice breaks and the tears began falling freely.

I wrap my arm around her and she cries into my shoulder. Perry grabs his phone and walks into his bedroom. We sit like that for a while. We soak in this new information. Information we weren't expecting to receive tonight of all nights.

We should be used to life changing in an instant by now but we aren't. Is anyone ever really prepared for anything? We can try to plan out our lives but in the end things happen that are out of our control and there is nothing we can do.

Perry comes back into the room, phone still tightly clutched in his hand, "I called the airline we have a flight tonight. We have to leave in about an hour. Violet is going to head over to be with Caleb until we get there."

I nod at Perry hoping my nod alone lets him know how thankful I am that he did all of that in the fifteen minutes he was gone. He smiles and I know he gets it. We don't need to show our appreciation because we're family. Families help each other.

"I'll pack up a few things for us, okay?" I say.

Stella barely acknowledges me. She is staring at the muted T.V when I leave her on the couch to pack up some things for us.

It isn't long before I'm back and I see Perry talking to her quietly, "this doesn't change anything, Stella. Just another bump in the road of the longest bumpiest ride known to man."

We are out the door and to the airport with little to no time to spare. We are all on autopilot trying to make it back home to Caleb.

"You okay?" I ask Stella once we are seated on the airplane.

"I just want to see for myself that he's okay. Thank you both for coming home with me," she says.

And I realize once again that that town will always be our home.