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Is she...?"
"Nothing else is wrong," Leanne replied, unable to form the words ‘She's fine'.

Kara wasn't fine. Leanne and Sam went down the hall to the pediatric wing and into Gina's room. Their youngest hadn't been too badly hurt in the accident. At least, nowhere near as bad as Kara had been. Gina's legs were in casts up to her waist, and her right arm was in a cast and sling, but the little girl was sitting up and smiling. "How's Kara, Daddy?" Gina asked as her parents sat beside her. "Is she okay, I heard someone scream..."
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It was night when I woke up again and I saw Tom sitting next to me. "Hey."

My older brother looked up and smiled. "Hey, yourself. How are you feeling?"

"I hurt. My back, my arms..." I looked around the room and saw the calendar on the wall. "Tom..."

He looked at the calendar and then back at me. "Dr. Jacobs induced a coma so you could sleep through the initial pain. You've been out for a whole month, little sister." I groaned and Tom said, "They also did surgery to stabilize your leg, pelvic, and spinal fractures."

"When can I go home?" I asked Tom, and I mentally cursed the whine in my voice.

"Not for another couple months. But good news: Gina's being moved in with you tomorrow. She's got about another month before they start her on physical therapy so she can walk again." I looked away and Tom sighed. "Oh, shit, Kara.... I'm sorry, I didn't mean..."

"Forget it," I muttered. "I don't care." I looked at Tom and forced a smile. "I'm happy for Gina. I hope she has a full recovery."

Tom, however, knew me too well. "I know you're not really happy, Kara." He got up and went to the door to my room and opened it. "That's why I brought back-up."

Looking up, I squealed with delight as my best friend, Nicolette, known primarily as ‘Nica' rushed in. Tom came back to my bed and used the bed control to get me into more of an upright position. Nica hugged me as gently as she could and smiled. I'd missed her the last few years. Nica had been diagnosed with cancer when she was 10-- when we'd just started being friends. She'd been in remission on and off and for the past 2 years her parents had bounced all across the country for various cancer treatments. But after she'd finally kicked her illness in the last few months of treatments, Nica and her parents had decided on a long family vacation. "Oh, Kara..." She said, running her fingers through my messy, yet still curly hair. "Are you okay? God, what am I thinking? Of course you're not! Jeez, and I've been hopping around New Zealand for the past month... Where are my priorities, huh?"

"New Zealand?" I asked, surprised. "As in... ‘Lord of the Rings' New Zealand?"

"One and the same," Nica said, grinning. When she'd left, she'd been bald from chemotherapy. Now, though, she looked alive and energetic and the pixie haircut she had looked great on her. "So what's been happening? You and Charlie together yet? And don't give me that ‘Charlie says he's not ready' crap. I know better."

"We've been dating for a year," I said, grinning.

Nica jumped up and started whooping.