We entered the quiet room, and I almost lost it. Rose was as pale as I'd ever seen her, and for the first time I could see how skinny she really was. Ethan held my hand tightly as he led me to the chair closest to the bed. He helped me sit, then sat next to me.
"Are you two okay?" Amy asked quietly, as if she was scared to.
"Just a little... shaken, I guess." Ethan spoke for us. "Especially (Y/n). Is Rose still asleep?"
Mark nodded. "Deeply, I think. Everything looks normal."
Ethan looked back at me. "Do you hear that, babe? She's okay. She's going to be okay."
I nodded, barely registering what he said. "She's going to be okay."
"Hey." Amy spoke again. "I just ordered some food from McDonalds. It's a good idea for you two to eat, since you haven't yet. We haven't ate either. It'll be here in about ten minutes, and I'll go get it when it gets here."
"Thank you." Ethan breathed. "You didn't have to do that, though."
"Of course I did. You two are like family. It's the least I can do for you right now."
The heart monitor picked up slightly, and we all turned our attention to Rose as she opened her eyes and blinked at everyone. "I... I'm still alive?"
A tear fell down your cheek. "God, Rose, you're alright!"
She looked at you with an angry look in her eyes. "Why? Why did you stop me?"
Your blood turned cold. "Rose, I-"
"Get out." She glared at you. "I hate you. Get out!"
More tears cascaded down your face. "Rose, please don't-"
"Get out!"
Ethan quickly jumped from his chair and pulled on your arm. "Come on, we shouldn't make her angry."
"But Ethan..."
"(Y/n)." You looked over at Mark, who had stood up as well. "Listen to him. Go. We'll watch over her and take care of her.
You glanced at Rose, who was shaking her head frantically. "I'm not supposed to be here! I'm supposed to be dead! Why didn't it work?"
You nodded at Mark, following Ethan into the hallway. He closed the door behind you, then put a hand on your lower back and ushered you into the waiting room. You tried to wipe your face. You opened your mouth to say something, but Ethan stopped you.
"I know what you're about to say." Ethan stated. "No, she doesn't hate you. She just doesn't get it right now. Amy and Mark will try to talk to her. She only said those things because she's angry, but she doesn't know yet that she's angry at herself for doing this. She will soon, though, and she'll forgive you."
You wrapped your arms tightly around yourself and spoke in a small, quiet voice."How do you know that?"
The doors to the parking lot opened, and Sabrina made her way inside. She immediately spotted the two of you and quickly walked over.
"Are you guys okay?" She asked. "What's going on?"
You fell onto one of the chairs nearby. "She hates me."
"Babe, she doesn't hate you." Ethan tried to comfort you.
"Then why did she say that?" You asked him, not really wanting an answer.
Sabrina sat next to you. "I'll tell you why. She's just... upset at the moment. She had everything planned out, but according to her, you ruined it. She'll see soon enough that you did the exact opposite of that, and she'll thank you unconditionally for it."
Mark came out from the adjacent hallway and approached slowly. "Are you doing alright?"
"She will be." Ethan reassured her. "How's Rose doing?"
Mark shook his head. "Not very good. She's still... upset. It might take a while for Amy to crack her."
You took notice of his still-wide eyes. "Are you okay, Mark?"
"Yeah. I'm fine. It's just..." He paused for a long moment, thinking, before looking at Sabrina. "How can you do this? How can you go through all of this without telling someone? How can you still be strong and supportive for others when you're falling apart on the inside?"
Sabrina smiled reassuringly. "It's really hard, believe me. The thing you want to do the most is let it be known to people that are close to you, but you also don't want to drag them into everything that's happening. You act as a brick wall, not letting anyone show who you really are, and it's hard to keep that wall from showing any cracks."
"God, that sounds terrible." Mark breathed. "I... I'm so sorry, Sabrina. I'm sorry about everything."
You stood up from the chair and gave Mark a tight hug. He hugged you back, breathing slowly to attempt to call himself down. "There's no need to be sorry for the pain others are going through." You slowly pulled away. "The most that you can do is be supportive and let them know that they don't have to keep their guard up all the time."
"Right. Thank you." Mark smiled back at you. "Anyways, Amy sent me out here to hang out with you guys until she could calm Rose down."
"Hey, do you think I could go help her?" Sabrina offered. "Maybe I could do something that can make her change her mind."
Mark gestured to the hallway he came down from. "Go on ahead. Room 207." Sabrina nodded confidently and smiled, quickly walking that way.
"Mark..." You stopped, searching in your mind for something to say. "I'm sorry. You didn't have to stay in there for me."
He stared at you. "You're kidding, right? (Y/n), no one should talk to you like that. Especially family. I don't care if they're younger, or older, or a fan, or anything. The way she said that to you, I... I had to do something."
Amy came down the hallway and quickly walked outside. We stared after her until she walked back inside, carrying two large McDonalds bags and a caramel frappé. She handed the bags to Ethan and Mark and gave you the frappé. "Here. I figured you would need it."
You smiled gratefully as you sat back in your seat. "Thank you. I really appreciate it."
Ethan sat next to you. "Why're you out here? Besides for the food, I mean."
Amy shrugged. "Sabrina wanted to talk to Rose on her own. She told me it would help if there were less people."
You took a deep breath. "How is she?"
"A little mad still? It's hard to tell if she's angry or just upset that it didn't go the way she planned. I'm sure Sabrina will get to her, though. Don't worry about it."
"Does your uncle know about this?" Mark asked quietly.
Ethan nodded, answering for her. "That's why we stayed in the hallway for a while- she called her uncle and Sabrina."
You took out your phone, scrolling through your notifications. "He actually texted me a few minutes ago- he'll be here tomorrow morning to check in and visit."
"He won't... take her away, will be?" Amy questioned.
"I don't know. I hope not, though. Even through all of this, I still want to take care of her."
"And that makes sense." Ethan said, taking your hand in his. "But you're not obligated to, anymore. This... just might be out of your control. Maybe you can't fix it for her."
"But I can try, and that's all that matters." You squeezes his hand. "I wasn't there for her until now. I never even knew she existed until just a few days ago. I want to make it up to her. I want to try to be the big sister I never got to be."
