Introduction
It all happened so fast. The phone call. The last ‘I love you’. The unfinished chores waiting to be done. The unmade beds in the bedrooms. The tears that never stopped. Visits to the hospitals. Endless bills need to be paid. Thoughts of suicide. Multiple jobs to keep up. A little brother that's clueless. It happened so fast. Like in a blink of the eye.
It happened on a rainy Saturday morning. In California, we don't get much rain. When we do, people don't know how to drive. My parents and three of my siblings, Rue, Killian, and Aidan had to go to the store. I stayed home along with the youngest, Henry aka Hank. They said bye and closed the door, the sound of the car getting quieter until it was no more. After 30 minutes, I got a call from my dad saying what chores needed to be done, he said he loved me and hung up.
Hours past and the driveway was empty. I called and called but no reply. After another hour my phone goes off. I rush to it hoping to see my moms contact name, but it is an unknown number. I ignore it over and over again until I couldn't anymore. I wished I hadn't for the news made me cry. I found out that there was a terrible accident. Some of my family didn't make it. My little brother heard me. I told him that some of our family was dead and the rest were in comas. The person on the phone told me that they were coming to take me and my brother to the hospital.
We arrived and made our way and my eyes are still wet with tears. The lady on the phone told me three out of five were dead. I had no clue and I couldn't even imagine who died. Just thinking of it made me tear up. I reached down to pick up Hank. He saw my tears and wiped them with his hands. I reassured him that it was going to be okay but I didn't believe my own words. I let him cry on my shoulder.
We walked and asked the front desk what room the two family members were in. The look the lady gave me was pitiful but I didn't want it. She told us we needed to go to room 765. I hated how no one told me who was dead or not. I wanted to know, I needed to know. We made our way in and I almost dropped Hank. There on beds with machines around them were my parents.
I ran to them, jumping over wires. I grabbed my mother's hand and let the tears fall down my face. Henry started to cry more than I was. I reassured them by saying they're not dead. The words seemed to soothe him for a bit. A doctor walks in and I leave Hank to cry.
“How bad is it?” my voice cracks.
“You must be miss Murphy. I’m sorry about what happened to your family,” he told me, “Your parents are fine we had to put them in comas. Your mother's heart is failing and your father's lungs from the smoke. We can do surgery but it a long waiting list to get the right organs.”
“How long?”
“Bout a year give or take.”
A year? That a year too long. He can tell by my reaction that was not the answer I was hoping for. How am I going to survive? Will we be put in foster care? Are they going to separate us? No, I won't let that happen. I look over my brother whos laying on mom. Maybe I can make a deal with the child service. I pay rent and get a job or two. I mean I'm old enough to get one.
