Chapter 2 002

She realized the voice from her dreams was Matt's; no one else called her 'kiddo' as he did. But she also knew that hearing voices in her head was never a good sign; she was sure it could mean only one thing...

Dr. Taylor exchanged a glance with the nurse, whose eyes were pricked with tears. He felt bad having to tell the girl, especially after just coming round from her ordeal. He'd have preferred her to rest a while before getting herself upset, but it seemed it was too late for that. He saw her eyes glaze over as she stared up at him.

"They're dead, aren't they?" she said, her voice cold and hollow. He'd heard that tone so many times before, but this was the hardest so far. The kid was just twelve for Christ's sake; barely a year older than his youngest daughter.

"I'm so sorry honey...there wasn't anything we could do," he said softly, trying not to choke up.

Lena just nodded and looked away, unable to speak. She'd known from the moment she saw the truck that they were all going to die, but finding herself alive like this had given her the slightest flicker of hope; perhaps, if they saved me, they saved them too, she thought. Perhaps this was all just a horrific nightmare and she'd soon wake up in the back seat, her head resting on her brother's shoulder, as dad drove to the concert in New Hampshire. She wished the nurse and doctor would leave her alone, so she could wake up from her nightmare. But she knew that it wasn't going to happen like that. You couldn't wake up from reality.

"Honey, I've gotta ask you a few things, do you mind? I just need to check your ok and that your memory's not been affected." Dr. Taylor asked.

Lena nodded. The doctor pulled out a torch and told her he had to check her eyes, while Nurse Jansen dabbed her cheeks with the back of her hand. Lena watched her walk to the end of the bed and pull out a file, where she began to record information from the screen above Lena's head.

"Hmm, ok, that's alright...can you tell me your name and date of birth honey?" The doctor asked.

"Yeah; Lena...Lena Marie Harris...May 23rd, 1982." She managed to say.

"That's great. Really great." He said, smiling brightly. Lena couldn't really understand his enthusiasm at the time, but she later realized now how unaffected she was by her coma. "Do you have pain anywhere?" Dr. Taylor asked.

Lena tried to nod and experienced blinding pains in her head and neck. She'd noticed it hurt most when she tried to move her head or left leg and tried to explain that to the doctor, though her words were choked and mumbled.

He nodded his understanding and sat down in the seat beside her to try and explain. "You've broken your lower leg in three places and taken a nasty blow to the head. You'll feel pretty sore for a while, I'm afraid, but you'll be ok. We'll look after you." He said. He paused, as though unsure of whether to continue. "The paramedic said he didn't think you'd have survived at all, had your brother not been protecting you. It seems he saved your life."

Lena had thought how strange it sounded to have someone say that to her; it was like those heroic stories you read in the paper, where someone saves someone else's life, and then there they are, smiling up at you from the front page of the morning news with the great story they have to tell. But that wasn't like this; things weren't alright; her hero had died and nothing was ever going to be alright again.

Lena had turned her gaze away and resolutely stared into the corners of her vision, where things weren't so cold and certain. After some moments, where she felt the doctor and Nurse Jansen exchange knowing looks, they both stood up and left the room. The Nurse had squeezed her hand before she left and said in a tiny voice; "I'm so sorry Lena...so very, very sorry."

Lena stayed unmoving until she heard the door close and their footsteps recede. Then she'd quaked and burst into tears, causing herself intense head pains, but she didn't care. She could barely feel it when compared to the aching inside. She slowly managed to lift her arms and wipe away her tears with shaking fingers.

Just then, a voice filled the room, seeming to come from somewhere behind her head, but Lena couldn't turn towards him. "Don't cry kiddo...I'm coming to see you soon, I promise...just hold on a while longer. You just go to sleep, huh?"

Without trying to understand, she trusted her brother's words and closed her eyes. she so wanted to sleep now. In the darkroom, Lena whispered; "I love you, Matt." And then fell asleep. Just before she gave in to the dark, she was sure she felt a hand brush against hers.

"I love you too kiddo." Matt sighed.