Later, in the afternoon, the Hanson family came back to my house. There cheeks were full of tear stains and they all looked tired. Almost everyone went right to bed, except for Isaac. He stayed awake and decided to join me in my room. Zac had fallen asleep on the couch in the living room.
This was the first time I had ever seen signs of Ike crying. I didn't think it was possible. He also looked as tired as anyone could be.
"It's all my fault..." he said quietly as I walked over towards him. I looked at him strangely.
"No, it's not."
"Yes it is. If I hadn't taken Zac's dare then nothing like this ever would have happened."
"Ike.. don't blame yourself. It was the cars fault. It decided to stop!" I know it was a lame excuse, but it was all I could think of.
Ike looked up. "If it wasn't for me, Taylor would be going out with you right now instead of being in the hospital and you wouldn't have a broken arm. Not to mention my sprained wrist, but even that isn't as bad because it heals faster."
I went over and sat down on the bed next to Isaac. I didn't know what to say to him. I smiled weakly at him, but that obviously didn't cheer him up because he just went on and on again about it all being his fault.
After a while, I put my 'Third Eye Blind' CD in and Isaac shut- up. We listened for a while and I cleaned my room as something to do. After that, I sat down on my floor and looked at my Hanson scrapbooks. In all of the pictures, Taylor smiled so sweetly as if nothing had ever happened. It made my feelings brighten some, but then it also made them darken because I knew that Taylor wasn't out having fun.
I looked up and saw Isaac staring blankly down at the pin-ups without any expression on his face. I didn't know what to do. My mind wandered into what would happen tommorow. Would Taylor be alright? He was in intensive care so did that mean that the doctors didn't think he had a chance? I couldn't help it.
I hurt so much inside and I was also so tired. I found it harder to concentrate on the pictures of Taylor...
... I stared up at the ceiling and wondered what had happened. I think I had fallen asleep on my floor because the clock said that it was six in the evening. My scrapbooks were beside me and my CD player was left on. I stretched and looked towards where Isaac had been.
He was stretched out on my bed and out like a light. I guess we were all tired. I was hungry. I hadn't eaten all day. I made my way up the steps to the kitchen and noticed my family at the table.
My sister looked up at me. "Hey Jen! Hungry? We got some pizza," she said happily and bit into a slice.
"Sure, I guess I'll have some" I said in a groggy voice.
"Jennifer, will you get up the rest of the kids. Diana and Walker are at the hospital right now," my mom told me.
I felt hurt again. I wanted to go back to the hospital too! I wanted to see Taylor. I wanted to see that he was okay again. I wanted to look into his deep blue eyes and see his sincere and sweet smile. Instead, I found myself going back downstairs to find everyone.
"Jessica? Avery?" I said and wandered out to their sleeping bags. I saw them move around and heard one of them mutter something. They were up.
"Hey Mackie," I said and gently patted the four-year-old on the back. "Time to get up so you can have something to eat."
After some effort, he looked up at me with sleepy eyes and climbed out of his bag. I went over to the couch where Zac was balled up with a collection of pillows. "Hey you. Get up!" I said. When Zac didn't respond, I hit him with a pillow. He gave me an annoyed look and went back to sleeping. "Zac!" I whined. "C'mon. We've got pizza upstairs."
I was surprised when he grumply told me to go away. I didn't know that Zac could resist food! "Oh well, just come up when you're hungry."
I saw Isaac already making his way up the steps so I didn't need to wake him up. I felt someone tug at my shirt.
"Carry me," said a small voice. It was Mackenzie. I ignored my arm and obediently picked him up and carried him up the steps to where Jessica and Avery and Ike and my family were eating. Zac continued to snooze through the night.
* * *
On Monday, my mom wouldn't let me go to school. She said I still needed my rest. Taylor was still carefully watched in intensive care. He was still unconsious as well. I felt horrible and I hadn't seen him yet.
Of course, the Hansons hadn't left on Sunday. They couldn't leave Taylor. It was a miracle that word about the accident hadn't even reached the fans yet. I felt sick all day long. The entire day I sat on the couch watching television as if there was no tommorow. My arm began to hurt like crazy and I found myself taking lots of pain reliever!
After Ike and Zac did their studies, the whole family took off towards the hospital. I felt like screaming at the top of my lungs for them to take me too, but I knew my mom would have killed me for it. Instead, I looked sicker than before as I layed on the couch and cryed silently. At that moment, nothing mattered more than going to the hospital to be with Tay.
"Jennifer," my mom said after entering the room. "I found this earlier and I was wondering if it belonged to you?"
She handed me a small charm on a necklace that looked so familiar. I grabbed it out of her hands immediately and held it close. It was my half of the sunshine necklace I'd given to Taylor.
"Okay, I guess that means it's yours," she said and stopped when I started crying hysterically. "Jennifer, what's wrong?"
"Everything!" I cried out and held the necklace close to me. "Taylor's in the hospital, I've got a broken arm, I'm in love, but everyone just thinks it's puppy love! I hate my life and I want Taylor here right now. I need him and he needs me!"
"Oh, sweety, it's okay," she cooed and hugged me. "Taylor will be alright."
"You're just saying that to make me feel better," I said accusingly.
"Jen-"
"Don't Jen me! I want to go to Taylor!" I yelled and got up.
"You can't," my mom started. "Ms. Hanson set the rule to allow family members only."
I was shocked! How can she do that! No one can seperate us! I thought and more wild thoughts ran through my mind. "Mom, I have to!"
"Shhh. Just rest, honey," she said and layed me back down. Fresh tears spilled from my eyes. "Look, I've got to go get a few groceries so I thought I'd just slip out for a few moments. Would you mind?"
I shook my head. "Good, I'll be right back then."
After she left, I closed my eyes and tried to get some rest. After all, I needed it. Only a few minutes later, a plan popped into my head and I sat up straight. Once I had hooked the necklace around my neck, I raced down the steps to my room to put my plan into action because I had only until my mother came home.