Zac bent over my arm cast, intently scribbling.
I regretted letting him sign my casts because now my once white casts were covered in black marks.
"Z-A-C R-U-L-E-S." he spelled aloud.
I laughed as he underlined his note. His hair fell onto my arm, and I touched it.
"Mm. Nice hair, Zac."
He sat up and raised an eyebrow. "What?"
I winked. "Nothing."
He shrugged and went back to finishing his Aliens vs. Mankind diorama.
I grabbed my bottle of water and took a sip. "You know what, Zac?"
"What?" his slightly muffled voice came from under the hair.
"I once heard that if you sing to someone who's hurt, they'll wake up."
He raised a doubtful face.
"It's true. Once, LeAnn Rimes sang to a girl in a coma, and the girl woke up."
He laughed. "You're lying."
I shook my head. "I'm not. Go try it."
He stood and took up my challenge. "Fine. But will it work with unconscious people? Jamie's not in a coma."
I rolled my eyes and nodded. "It should."
He ran out of the room.
"No rock songs, Zac!" I yelled behind him.
"Oof!" came from the hall followed by "Sorry Tay!".
Taylor limped in dramatically and collasped before my chair. "Mistress, heal me!" he choked.
I thought about it. "Mmmm. Nah." He collapsed down dead and then got up, somehow 'reborn'. "So how are you?" he asked, pulling himself up with my chair.
"I'm alright. Got my nose bandage off." I said proudly.
He nodded. "I thought something was different."
I laughed slightly. "I'm leaving the hospital in 4 days."
"So I heard."
I fiddled with the black marking pen. "Tay?"
"Yeah?"
"I don't want to go home until I've done one last thing."
He cocked his head. "What's that?"
I shook my head. "Not now. But may I stay with you until I do go?"
He furrowed his brows. "Well..."
I laughed. "I won't be there for years. Or months. Or Weeks. Just a few days. That's all I need."
He nodded. "I'll ask Dad." he sighed and pulled a chair over next to me. He took the pen from my grasp and began to search for a place to write.
"Try the leg cast." I directed.
He nodded and moved his chair down. "Anyways, we've missed 7 concerts. Our next is in Oklahoma City. After that, it's finished."
"When's that?"
"In 6 days." he mumbled, writing 'TAY' on my cast.
"Are you going to do it?"
He shook his head, slowly. "I don't think so. The whole tour may be cancelled."
I cursed. "I'm sorry, Taylor. I would've done this towards the end if I knew you'd want to do it."
He looked up with a funny look on his face. "What? I don't want to do it because you guys are here. How could I?"
I said nothing.
He took a deep breath and exhaled noisily. he scribbled some more and I tried to see what he was writing, but he hid it.
"Now, look." he said, wide grin over his face.
" 'Tay wants Kris to.. something ...him' ."
He uncovered the first letter of the hidden word. " 'Tay wants Kris to f-' TAYLOR!" I yelled, praying that he didn't write what I thought he wrote on my cast.
He laughed and uncovered the rest of the word. "Forgive."
I read it all together. " 'Tay wants Kris to forgive him' ." I looked up at him. "For what does Taylor want Kris to forgive him about?"
He looked at me dead on. "For yelling at you."
I laughed and he looked hurt. "For that? No, if you hadn't yelled, I wouldn't have bothered. Besides" I grinned "I love to see you angry. Your face explodes in red and your eyes-"
He lunged and pretended to choke me. "Take that back!"
I saw a nurse come in over his shoulder. She just grinned and backed out quietly. I couldn't stop laughing.
"What?" Taylor asked backing off as I cackled on.
"A nurse just walked in and thought we... we PBBTH!" I laughed harder.
He smiled slyly suddenly. "Well, let's not disappoint her, shall we?" He drew closer and leaned down close, hands bracing himself on the arms of the chair.
I slowly stopped laughing. "Man, Tay, you have GOT to give me your eyeballs when you die." I chuckled.
Taylor laughed. "You sure do know how to ruin the mood."
I put on a straight face. "What mood?"
He drew closer. "This mood."
Somone else entered the room. I glanced over Tay's shoulder and expected to see the nurse. It wasn't.
"Taylor? Can you see that piece of dirt in my eye?" I asked loudly and he stopped.
"What?" he asked, confused.
"Can you?" I asked, glaring at him, hiding my face behind his shoulders.
Tay caught on. "Nope. Sorry. Maybe you got it out already." he stood and turned around to see Drake Browning in the doorway.
"I'll leave you two alone." he said, face red.
When Tay left, Drake smiled slightly. "You think I don't know about you two?"
I smiled sheepishly.
"I saw he was in for you since last year."
I nodded and picked at my cast.
He looked around like he was lost. "You've got visitors."
I raised an eyebrow.
A couple came into the room, looking awkward.
Drake sighed. "I'll leave you three alone." he backed out and shut the door quietly.
The woman sidled forward and hesitated. "May I sit down?"
I shifted my gaze from the door to her face. She looked frightened and ashamed. "Yes. Of course."
She sat in the visitor's chair. The young man with her sat gingerly on the bed.
She cleared her throat. "I'm Teresa Perry, and this is my son, Michael."
I nodded. "Kristen Harmont."
She smiled. "I know who you are. The young lady in Zodiac touring with Hanson." she fiddled with the handle of her bag. "Your album has been released now. We've got it."
I nodded again.
Teresa glanced at her son. "We like your music. You have a lovely voice, Kristen."
"Call me Kris." I said automatically. I sighed impatiently. She obviously wasn't here to get my autograph, and I wanted to go to sleep.
The young man cleared his throat but did not say anything. I switched my gaze to him. He looked about 19, long dark hair. Dark eyes. He wore a black Manson shirt and torn baggy jeans. Scuffed shoes. The kind of guy who barks alot, but doesn't bite.
I turned back to Teresa.
"The accident.." she said softly.
I titled my head.
"The other driver. In the car that hit you." she stopped.
I could see the guy drop his eyes to his feet out of the corner of my eye.
"That was my eldest son, Jakob." she drew a shaky breath.
I stared at her, stunned.
"I know this may not mean anything to you, but we are deeply sorry for what has happened. If I could change it, I would-"
I stopped her. "Mrs. Perry, this past month or so, I've had to put up with 'if I could'. I'm sick of it."
She looked away. "What I am saying is that we cannot change what has happened. It has, and that is it. I'd like to move on. Not forget, but heal." I turned my eyes to the young man.
He looked up slowly.
I nodded as if he'd answered a question right. "I'm sorry for your loss. You lost your brother..." I glanced at Teresa "and son, and I lost my best friend, band mate, and sister. We're all hurting."
I looked from the teen to his mother. Her eyes welled up and tears fell down her face. "Kris, thank you."
I felt the stinging behind my eyes. "No, thank you for coming. I feel better now that you have."
She smiled. "No, I am glad that I came. Thank you, Kristen Harmont. You are a very mature young lady. How can we ever repay you?"
I glanced from her to Micheal. "Keep in touch." I scribbled my personal mailing address on a slip of paper and handed it to her.
I felt lighter. It was cruel to punish this woman for the deed her dead son had done. I could tell she had problems with work and her other son. She didn't need me to burden her more.
She grasped my hand, smiling gratefully. "Oh, thank you. Thank you."
I nodded, but kept my eyes straight on Micheal's. "Just learn from it." I whispered.
He stood and helped his mother out.
I sat back and sighed, rubbing my eyes. Who was I? Mother Theresa?
Someone walked back into the room. I opened my eyes to find dark eyes on mine.
"I apoligise for what happened." Micheal said in a deep tone, regret written on his face.
I looked down at my cast. "It's done."
"Yeah."
I looked back up, a wry smile on my face. "Manson, huh?"
He grinned slowly. "Yeah."
"And you like my music?" I raised an eyebrow.
He nodded. "Yeah. You guys kick ass."
I chuckled. "That's odd."
"My friends like you as well. Think you're hot..." he stopped and looked away, ashamed.
I laughed outright. "Am I so hot, now?"
He looked back, grinning. "No."
I frowned. "Aw, fine."
He nodded and tucked his hair behind his ears. "Well. I better go."
I suddenly acted on impulse. "Can you give me your address?"
He looked at me suspiciously. "Sure..." he wrote it in my palm.
"Thank you." I said.
"No prob..." he walked to the door. "Thanks for not upsetting Mom. She's bad enough as it is."
I nodded. "I know. I know."
"Well, Harmont, later." he walked out.
I sat back again. "Later, Perry."