Asleep

Chapter One

"Ellie,"
"Ellie, I don't know if you can hear me, but I love you,"
"Please, wake up darling,"
It had been five years since the accident, Margaret's broken leg had healed long ago, though she still walked with a slight limp,  probably her own way of holding on to her injury, her husband thought.
He hadn't been in the accident, he was working overtime that evening and Margaret and Ellie were on their way to surprise him. The phone call replayed in his mind over and over -Hi, is this Tom Bryant. Yes? You need to come to the hospital. There's been an accident. Your wife and daughter- He blamed himself, the same way Margaret blamed herself for losing their first baby.
The doctor entered the room. He was bald and chubby and seemed emotionless.
"Just checking everything is alright?" He muttered, hardly taking his eyes off the clip board in his hand. He wasn't a pleasant man, preoccupied with work and other worries probably.
Ellie's nurse, Jenny, was much nicer, she had only been  a year out of college when the accident happened and had been looking after Ellie since.
Tom and Margaret were grateful to have somebody who actually cared about Ellie. A lot of doctors would find it difficult to care about an emotionless girl lying in her bed for five years.
Jenny was a busy nurse though, Ellie was only one of her many patients that she looked after.

Tom couldn't help but notice how beautiful his daughter was, he rarely cried but he felt a pang of guilt every time he thought about how Ellie's life was wasting away. She would be fourteen now, a teenager. If Ellie ever woke up, her childhood had already been lost, she won't ever get back those years spent in a hospital bed.
Unlike Tom, Margaret was more hopeful. She clinged on to that spark of hope that her girl would wake up again. It was the only thing keeping her sane.
She had been in a bad place when Ellie was born. After losing her first daughter, to miscarriage, Margaret doubted if she would ever have a chance at being a mother again. It was nobody's fault that her and Tom had trouble conceiving but of course parents always find a way of blaming themselves.
When they found out Margaret was pregnant with Ellie, there was always a risk that something could go wrong, but Ellie was healthy and happy. Until the accident of course.
Margaret squeezed Ellie's hand, she wished she  had told her about her sister. Ellie had always wanted a sibling, but Margaret could never bring herself to tell Ellie that she did in fact have a big sister, who was dead.