Alissa had been at the cabin for a few weeks when she finally decided to go out. She had been to the store up the street a few times but that was as far as she ventured out. She didn’t even leave her phone on. The battery had died long ago and she felt no need to charge it. No one was going to call looking for her.

There was a rainstorm coming in the day she decided to go out so she finally relented and charged the phone. She couldn’t risk being out in this weather with no cell.  As it turned on, it started vibrating. She noticed that she had five missed calls and all of them were marked the day before. She listened to them all and flew out to her car. She had to go back there!

 --------------------- 

 Alissa drove for 7 hours and finally made it to the hospital.  She raced up to the fourth floor and found Lucas sitting in the waiting room.

“What happened? Where’s Brooke?” she asked frantically.

“Alissa, sit down please. She’s in with one of the doctors now and they’re checking her out.”

“Why is she here?”

Lucas sighed. “Brooke’s pregnant. She’s about three months along. She was having sharp pains in her side and we rushed her here so they could figure out was wrong.”

Alissa looked shocked. She was about to ask why they didn’t tell her when the doctor came out. Both of them jumped to their feet.

“She’s resting now. We were able to stop the pains and we’re looking for the cause. She’ll have to stay here for a few more days. When we do release her, she’ll need to rest and not exert herself too much. Who does she live with?”

“Me.” Lucas said.

“She’ll need someone around pretty much all day. Will you be able to get some time off from work?”

Before Lucas could answer, Alissa told the doctor that she would stay with Brooke at the house.

“Are you sure you want to do that with everything going on?” Lucas asked. “I can try to take some time off.”

“I can do it. Brooke can’t work for a while so you’ll need a paycheck. You know your boss isn’t great when it comes to taking time off.” Alissa turned to the doctor. “Can I go in and see her now?”

The doctor nodded and told her that she could only stay for a little bit.

Alissa asked Lucas if it was ok for her to speak to her cousin privately for a few minutes.

“Sure. I’ll go get some coffee.” He went to leave but turned back around. “Thank you for doing this Alissa. I know it means you could run into AJ and I would understand if you had trouble with this.”

“I’m going to do it Lucas. She’s my cousin and she needs me. That’s my priority.” Alissa turned and entered Brooke’s room.

“Oh my god! It’s my long lost cousin!” Brooke said angrily.

“I’m so sorry Brooke. I should never have taken off and not told you again. I let my phone die and didn’t get your messages until today. I promise not to do that again. Please don’t be mad at me.” Alissa said tearing up.

Brooke’s attitude softened and Alissa sat in the chair next to the bed.

“Ok, I’m sorry. I was just so scared yesterday and I couldn’t find you. I needed you here. You’re not just my cousin, you’re my best friend!” Brooke said and started crying. “You had better not do that again!”

“I’m not going too. I just spoke to your doctor and he said that when they release you, you’ll need to have someone to stay with you. I know Lucas can’t take too much time off so I offered to stay here. I can go get my stuff tonight and head back down here. I don’t have a place here anymore so it means I’ll have to move in with you again. I mean if you don’t mind.”

Brooke looked at her. “I love you for coming and being here, but do you really want to do that? You’ve had such a hard time.” Brooke waited for a minute and Alissa didn’t say anything. “I saw the picture of AJ and that woman. It’s everywhere.”

Alissa just nodded and tried not to cry. Brooke reached over and held her hand.

“I’m supposed to be comforting you not the other way around.” Alissa said smiling faintly. “I’ll leave now and go get my stuff. I’ll be back tomorrow to see you.”

She leaned over to give her cousin a hug. “I love you and I’ll see you in the morning.”

“I love you too!”

Alissa picked up her purse and found Lucas in the hallway.

“I’m going to get my stuff and I’ll be back sometime late tonight. Is that ok?”

“Sure.” Lucas said. “You know where the extra key is right?”

Alissa nodded and left to get her stuff.