this is about to get very weird. and very emotional. i cried several times. i am...sorry in advanced
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TWO YEARS AGO st. michaels hospital, san antonio, texas
"YOUR SISTER COULDN'T HANDLE THE AMOUNT OF DRUGS IN HER SYSTEM AND THEN ANESTHESIA...She didn't wake up after surgery. I'm so sorry."
She had heard it a thousand times now. Blankly staring at the hospital wall, 16 year old Rory Aden was completely lost. It had been five days since that night and she still couldn't believe what had happened. Her sister was dead.
It was all her fault.
"It's my fault," she muttered once more.
She hadn't realized her father was in the room until he spoke up. Dark bags were under Tom Aden's eyes, his face lined with grief. "Sweetheart, no." She glared at him—who was he to try to comfort her. Tom continued, "You were trying to bring her here, to help her. It's my fault I haven't been around."
"Yes, it is your fault," she seethed bitterly. If he hadn't cheated on their—her mother, destroying their family and sending Rory into a rebellious, partying, and drug-abusing stage, Luna would still be alive.
Blaming her father was only a momentary reprieve—the cold darkness pervaded her mind once more. She never hated herself more.
Tom winced at her remorseless tone. "Her body will be cremated tomorrow, the funeral is being arranged for the end of the month."
Dragging her sister's funeral was probably for her benefit more than anyone else's considering Rory would be in recovery for a while after suffering a hairline skull fracture and concussion from the accident. Miraculously though, the doctors had initially thought she had endured much worse injuries when she was pulled out of the wreck, her parents seeing her before she was rushed in surgery, but once in the OR, they found the EMTs had mistakenly marked her sustained injuries as much graver than they actually were.
"I need to see her, one last time." The urge to say goodbye to her best friend and beloved sister was stronger than any pain she felt. It was almost maddening, a thought that kept pressing at the forefront of her mind despite knowing she should stay put.
"What?"
"I can't let the last time I saw Luna be when I was tearing him off of her." She felt sick again, but pushed through. It was late, her mother was properly sleeping for the first time since Rory awoke, and it was her only chance. "I have to say goodbye, properly. Dad, you have access to the morgue...please." She mercilessly guilted him, staring him down.
