The Broken Doll

Chapter three

Julian's pov

We decided that we'd take turns who would stay with Lily during the day. Today, it was my turn. It's been three days since we heard that Lily was in the hospital and she hasn't woken up yet. Yesterday, she squeezed James's hand. The doctor told us that it was a good sign, he said that if she could move her hand then it meant the swelling was going down and that she could be coming out of her coma. I couldn't wait for her to wake up, it's been way too long since I last saw her. I was so angry with my mother, not only for taking my baby sister away and never letting us see or talk to her, but for also abandoning her children. I have memories with her that are good and we used to have so much fun together but then something changed. It started when Nolan was born. She slowly stopped doing things with us and then stopped altogether. Then, the twins were born three years after Nolan, she had no interest in the girls or us. She didn't take care of the twins in any way, shape, or form. She got angry when they cried, she didn't want anything to do with them. Dad, Chance, and James ended up taking care of them and the rest of us. Dad got so angry with her that they would fight until it ended in divorce. She took Lily and left. 

Ella knew, even though she was a baby, that Lily was gone and she was inconsolable. Ella cried for days after. Then, one day, it was like she'd forgotten that she had a twin sister. Ella stopped crying and was back to her happy self. Over the years, we debated whether or not to tell Ella about Lily until one day, when the decision was made for us. Ella was six, she'd gotten curious about a box in Dad's closet and opened it. She found scrapbooks and ended up finding pictures of her and Lily. She took the books to Dad and Chance and demanded to know who the other girl in the pictures was. So, we had to tell her. Ella had so many questions and it was hard on Dad and Chance to answer her. For years after, she'd ask about Lily once in a while. It was so hard when she asked and we wanted her to have her sister back but we couldn't get in touch with our mother so we couldn't get in touch with Lily. Now, Lily was here again and I planned to never let her go again.

"Hey Munchkin, how are you? You know, I wonder what you're dreaming right now. The doc says you aren't dreaming at all but what does he know? You could be having all the dreams right now. He says you can hear us when we talk and I don't doubt that. You squeezed James's hand yesterday so I think you can hear us. I wish you'd show me you can hear me," I said.

I held her hand and waited to see if she would move again, but she didn't. She was just as still as she had been. I watched her for some sign of waking up but it never came. Lily was a calm baby, she didn't cry much except sometimes when someone put her down. I remember she'd always had a fascination with fingers. When someone held her and she could reach, she'd grab that person's fingers and just hold on. There are so many pictures of her and Ella sleeping next to each other and Lily's holding Ella's hand. I held her hand and I wanted her to grab my fingers. 

Later that afternoon, Liam, Nolan, and Ella came to visit after they had finished school. Liam, as usual, was trying not to show any emotion at all and yet his eyes said so much more. Nolan and Ella were excited to get to know Lily since they don't remember her. I watched Liam the most of my siblings and he had yet to stay with Lily. I remember he and Lily were very close when she was a baby. Lily wouldn't go to sleep at night unless Liam went to her and said goodnight. Liam always wanted to play with Lily or just hold her. It almost killed Liam to lose Lily, it was like all the life and light had left him. He became a very angry kid, he got into fights, he talked back to teachers and Dad, he was a very troubled kid that became a troubled teen. Now, Lily's back and maybe her presence will change Liam back to the happy kid we knew. 

"When you were little, you liked to be held. If you were crying and there was no other reason, just holding you made you stop crying. If you weren't asleep before we put you down for a nap or bedtime, you'd cry. You and Liam were very close, you wanted him to be with you all the time. You wouldn't fall asleep if Liam didn't say goodnight. You used to call him Li. "Li, Li" became something we heard all the time," I said.

As I talked, I waited and watched. I told her story after story, if she could hear me then she'd know somethings about us when she woke up. I wanted to see her awake, I wanted to get to know this older version of my baby sister. I wondered what her mother told her about us or if she knew anything at all. Maybe she doesn't know anything and maybe she does, it bothers me that I can't talk to her when she can talk back. I wonder what her relationship was like with her mother, I wanted to know if her mother actually cared about her or if she was just like she was with us. I'll never understand how she could behave the way she did with her children and then decide she wants one of them. I wish I knew why she decided to take Lily and leave the rest of her children.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Henry's pov

She looks like an angel, a sleeping angel. Lily looks so peaceful, like she doesn't have a care in the world. I wonder what she's dreaming about right now. I've heard that you don't dream when you're in a coma but then again, does anyone really know what's going on in someone else's head? I hope, if she is dreaming, that it's something beautiful but not so beautiful that she doesn't want to come back to the real world. I'm always amazed at the dreams the mind comes up with. They say dreams are the brain processing memories but I don't think that's true. I think it's the brain doing some weird things when we're asleep. 

Lily was always a light sleeper. It seemed at times, that a pin falling on the floor could wake her up. So, when it came to the twins bedtime when they were babies, we had to be super quiet. Meanwhile, Ella is a heavy sleeper. It's always been super hard to wake Ella up. Ella and Lily really are the opposite of each other in some ways but are incredibly similar in other ways. I wish I could have seen the twins grow up together, to see the ways they're similar and they ways they're different. It's our mother's fault that the girls grew up away from each other, it's because of her Lily was away from us for years. 

I get so angry when I remember that she hasn't been in my life for ten years. I missed so much of her life and I can't get those years back no matter what I do. I want that time back, I want to watch her grow up. I don't think I'll ever forgive my mother for taking her away from us. Lily's the innocent victim of adult decisions and now, it's ten years later and she may not even know who we are. I need my baby sister back to feel whole again. It never felt right without her, it didn't feel right to see Ella growing up without her twin. Now, we have a chance to fix it, to have our baby sister back and I'm not going to let her go again.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Lily's pov

I don't like this darkness. I want to get out of here. I need to get out of this darkness and back to the light. I can see the light but I can't move towards it. I can't reach my arms out to touch it. I can't make my body move. It's like my body doesn't exist here, but if it doesn't exist here, how am I here? Is this my spirit? My conscious? I don't know. All I know is that I want out. I need to get out of this as soon as possible.

I can hear those voices talking to me. They remind me that there's a world outside this darkness, they remind me that I need to get out of this dark pool. I listen to those voices and there are times that I can't hear them. I don't know if they just stopped talking or I just can't hear them anymore. But, those voices are the only thing I can hear. This silence scares me, it's like the darkness presses down on my ears so I can't hear. If it weren't for the bright light, I'd think I'd been buried alive. That's how it feel sometimes and that scares me more. It's also like sleep paralysis, I'm dreaming yet I can't move. Why can't I get out of this darkness? I need to get out! Help me! Someone, anyone, get me out of here!

================================================================================Author's note:

Thanks for reading! See you in the next chapter!!

Lots of love, Starfire