Falling Awake

Part 7

"Oh god" I began "Cass, let me explain..." she was gone before I could even begin to defend myself.

"WHAT DID WE DO" I yelled at Denny. I saw that he too had tears streaming down his pale face

"I DON'T EVEN KNOW, IT WAS INSTINCT" he sobbed

"HOW ARE WE EVER GONNA MAKE THIS UP TO HER"

"WE CAN'T, THERE'S NO WAY WE CAN"
"WELL WE HAVE TO TRY, SHE'S MY SISTER" I wasn't going to give up on my relationship with my sister over this, I couldn't. "Alright then Denny, from now on, NOTHING happens between us, OKAY?" I demanded

"Of course, no offense, but I love her not you..." Denny began

"THEN WHY THE HECK DID YOU KISS ME"

"I DON'T KNOW, I DIDN'T MEAN TO..." he cried

"Okay so this starts here, okay? You treat my sister well, and you can have her, you NEVER give up on her, or break her heart, or be un-loyal to her. If i see you get even CLOSE TO BREAKING ONE OF THE RULES, YOU'RE OUT, YOU HEAR ME?" Denny nodded vigorously, so I continued "Cass can be a hard one, she's not an easy girlfriend, you have to learn her triggers, and how to calm her. She can get mad for no reason, but don't take what she says personally, the anger clouds her judgement. YOU DON'T LEAVE HER OVER SOMETHING SHE SAYS WHILE MAD, OKAY?!"

"Got it" Denny assured, determination in his eyes. We walked back home, keeping our distance apart. Letting Denny kiss me was the worst decision i had made in my life thus far, and I was confident that I wasn't going to repeat it. Never. Again.

As soon as we got inside, I went to Cassie's bedroom and knocked on the door. Nothing. I could hear her crying behind the door. As a last ditch effort, I tried the handle, but it was locked as expected. I sank to the ground, my back to the door.

"I don't know if you can even hear me Cassie, or if you're listening, but I just want you to know that I never should have kissed Denny, and you have no reason to forgive me, but I can assure you that it was just a kiss. He's all yours Cass, I'll never go anywhere near him in that way ever again. Like I said, I don't have any right to your forgiveness, but I don't think I can live without your friendship Cassie." I heard footsteps, followed by scribbling, before she slipped a note under the door. I took a deep breath, and opened it. On it were scrawled three words.

WE'RE IN COMAS.

I audibly gasped, "what do you mean Cass, did you have another dream?" I heard her scribbling again, and then another note slipped under the door.

I DREAMED THAT LIBERTY TOLD ME BEING IN A COMA WAS WORSE THAN JUST DYING BECAUSE IT GIVES THE FAMILY FALSE HOPE

"Oh god" I whispered "at least we're not dead..." My brain struggled to process all this new information, the dreams must be our family talking to us by our bedsides. The real question now was how could I know that it wasn't just me in a coma, and that Denny and Cassie aren't just figments of my imagination... it was breaking my mind. For now, I just wanted to believe that they were really here, I had to, I couldn't be here alone. I know that Cass would have absorbed a lot of the impact, being in the passenger seat, but being behind her I would have been hit pretty hard too. I'm picturing the car in slow motion, the metal crumpling in on us, sending me and Cass flying.

"I'm gonna go tell Denny, okay Cass?" I announced, and headed through to the living room. I placed the two notes in front of Denny "Cassie slipped these under the door" I stated. I watched him clasp a hand to his mouth in shock, I left Denny with the notes and wandered back to Cassie's room.

"That's all done now" I sighed "I'm trying not to get mad at Denny, but I think that ship sailed the moment he kissed me. Oh god, why did I ever let him kiss me, why?"

"I forgive you" Cassie whispered in a quiet, hoarse voice, and I started to cry. I was so relieved I hadn't lost my sister over this. Before I knew it I was all out sobbing.

"Thank you Cassie, oh thank you so much" I sobbed.

"Geez, it's no big deal" Cassie weakly laughed, I could tell she had been sobbing for hours.

"Cassie, I promise you, this will never ever happen again"

"Next time you won't get off as lightly" she half-heartedly giggled. Me and Cassie sat there, leaning on opposite sides of the door, for hours that night. We both fell asleep against that door, and we stayed there all night. I slept as soundly as a baby after a day without naptime. I slept like a puppy after running around all day. I slept like a girl who had just made the worst mistake of her life, and been forgiven for it.

"They say i'm supposed to talk to you," It was Libby speaking this time, sadly "they say maybe you can hear... I'm trying not to keep my hopes up, but I can't give up on you two yet. I just can't" her voice descended into tears and that was all I heard for the rest of the night. It was killing me, hearing her sobbing and not being able to comfort her, but as much as I kicked and screamed, I couldn't break out.