The Brightest Stars

Kristen

It's been a week since she's left.

I cried all night on the day she left. I let it all out when my brother walked through the door with that quiet face of his. Skyler and Mom weren't home at the time. Now Sky has fallen into the whole working lie with Mom.

I've lost them and now I've lost my best friend, too.

My heart ached with a sob I've held in since Dad's funeral. This was the last push to bring out all of my sorrow. I should've known that Belle would do this to me. I should've known she would leave me in the dark. I know she lied about the main reason as to why she's going to Spain. She keeps forgetting who I am. She keeps forgetting that I know her more than myself....

I remember sitting on my bed with my knees up my chest on that day. It felt as if a part of me had disappeared. I know she will disappear.

During the week, she's been sending pictures of the places she's been. She even sent a picture of Velvet.....

From that day, she stopped texting me so often as she used to.

I feel at fault. I should've been there. I should've taken her hand when she was drowning. But all I did was quit on her. I should've tried harder. And now....she's gone.

My brother has been quieter than ever. I'm afraid that this just might be who he will become into after everything we've been through. We've talked a little bit about school. He hasn't mentioned anything about his schools at all. The only thing he has in mind is following Dad's dream for him. Graduating as a businessman.

I can't say much about Skyler. She's been quiet and mysterious. More observative of everything and alert. I don't understand her. But I'm tired of trying to reach for people like her. Luna finally got this job she rejected on telling me details about, but it's the same one Xander attends to. At least I'm glad that she's figured out what she's going to do with the house her father left her in.

I'm not at all destroyed as I take Nate's hand and ride his motorcycle all the way to the hospital Belle used to go to a lot. The hospital where Max died....

We give each other an excited smile as he takes my hand and we walk through the front doors of the hospital.

"Nate and Kristen. Your next young interns," he tells the lady at the front desk. The lady observes us and scoffs at us. She thinks we're joking around with her.

"Um. Can we see Doctor Aaron Melchior? She's the one helping us with the internship," I say with a small smile.

The lady clacks around on her keyboard until she sighs and says, "She doesn't have any appointments with your names right now."

"She's my sister," Nate says sternly. I can tell he's losing patience just as much as this lady is.

"Yeah. I've heard that one before."

"Can we just get those papers?" I say.

"Is there a problem?" I look up and recognize the nurse that helped out Belle when she nearly died with her asthma attack. When she looks at me, a glisten in her brown eyes shows that she recognizes me as well. "Here," she says with a contagious smile. "Let me take you to her. I just got off a rotation with her."

"Thank you," Nate and I say at the same time. We quietly follow her through white hallways and I memorize every single aspect of the place. Every scrub color. Every corner. I make it into my new home....

"You two must be one of the special students," the nurse says with a playful smile. "It's rare having students so young around here."

"My sister helped us get in," Nate says.