CHAPTER TEN

Taylor’s eyes widened, and he went pale. Zac suddenly felt faint. Taylor held a brief conversation with Shannon’s father before slowly hanging up. Zac’s desperately anxious eyes searched Taylor’s reluctantly. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to know what had happened to his best friend.

"She…she’s been in an accident. She’s in hospital being operated on now." Taylor breathed, his face still washed-out of its usual glow.

Zac gasped, tears quickly flooding his chocolate eyes.

"She may have a bad internal injury or something, but they don’t know. It’s exploratory surgery. She asked for us before she got to the hospital. We have to go."

Zac collapsed onto the floor, buried his face in his knees, and exploded into sobs. Taylor stood frozen for a moment; his mouth dropped open in shock. Just when he thought things were as bad as they could get…they got a whole lot worse. He knelt on the ground beside his brother, and placed his arm tightly around his back.

"It’s ok. It’s ok. I’m sure she’s fine." Taylor mumbled, unsure of what to say when he himself was so scared.

Zac just shook his head in disbelief, not even attempting to hold back his tears.

"We should go. We should get there as soon as we can." Taylor said softly, and got to his feet.

Zac pulled himself up, wiping his eyes on his sleeve. Taylor was already running down the stairs, and Zac stood still listening to his words.

"Mum, Dad, Ike, everyone we have to go now. Isaac? Ike get up. Stop ignoring me, Shannon’s in hospital. We have to go now."

"What?" Isaac exclaimed.

"Yeah, she’s in surgery now and we have to go see her." Panic was thick in his voice.

"Tay honey, what’s this?" Diana asked, worried.

"She’s been in a car accident, we have to go"

Diana saw the fear in Taylor’s eyes, and quickly realised the seriousness of the situation. She had always held a special spot for Shannon, and not knowing how emotionally stable her sons were, insisted on driving them to the hospital. Isaac and Taylor were already in the car, looking up the best way to get to the hospital in the street directory. Diana glanced up at the stairway to see Zac sitting half way down, looking a wreck. She sighed; it had been a hard day for him. She climbed the stairs and sat beside him. A tear fell from his eye, and she hugged her son tightly.

"I’m sure she’ll be ok honey." She whispered. "Right now she needs you so you have to be strong for her ok?"

Zac nodded silently, and Diana kissed his cheek. He had been such a good kid through all these problems with Taylor. Always held a happy face. He didn’t deserve something like this.

_ _ _

"Mum, can’t you go any faster?" Taylor whined.

Diana sighed in exasperation.

"For goodness sake Taylor, I’m going as fast as I can. We’ll get there when we get there."

Taylor sat back, pouting. Zac hadn’t spoken the entire trip, frozen in his anxiousness. Isaac was busy giving his mother directions.

"That way, turn off there!!"

"Oh MUM….God…how could you miss that?" Taylor growled, gritting his teeth. Diana slapped her hand on the side of the steering wheel in frustration.

"Tay, one more spiteful comment from you and you’ll be walking….understood?" She yelled. "I’m trying as hard as I can to get you guys there so just give me a break."

"Mum? Are you gonna turn around and go back to that turnoff?" Isaac questioned, concerned that they were getting further and further off track.

"Yes Isaac, I’m going back." Diana snapped harshly.

Isaac frowned a little.

"Sor..ry." He exclaimed.

Diana rolled her eyes. The boys were impossible when they were like this.

"Mum, could you put some music on?" Taylor queried.

"Taylor…this is a very inappropriate time to suggest that." Diana answered, refusing his request.

"I only thought it would get everyone’s mind off everything. Why is everything I do WRONG in this family?" Taylor sneered.

Diana unexpectedly pressed on the break harshly and pulled over on the side of the road.

"Get out Taylor." She stated.

"Mum…"

"I SAID GET OUT." She yelled.

Taylor looked at his mother in despair, not knowing what she expected him to do.

The confusion in his sparkling blue eyes touched Diana, and she closed her eyes and sighed.

"Taylor. Everyone here is very stressed, and very upset. You have to stop converting your emotions into anger, and find some other way to deal with this situation. Because at the moment you are just making everyone feel worse. Do you think you can control yourself from now until we get there?"

Taylor didn’t answer, just stared out the window sulkily.

"Tay honey?" She repeated, more softly this time.

"Yes." He answered gruffly.

Diana slowly pulled the car back into the traffic. He was pouting, and she knew it, but as long as he didn’t have anymore outbursts she could bare him.

_ _ _

The four Hansons rushed through the hospital to the waiting area. Zac’s heart was pounding sickeningly loud, causing his whole body to shake. They soon came upon Rachael, Caroline, and Matt Karvan. Taylor glanced uneasily at Rachael as he passed, and saw that she’d been crying. She wouldn’t take her eyes off him. He suddenly felt horribly uncomfortable, and ached to escape from Rachael’s piercing blue glare. Rachael knew he was uneasy, and relished in torturing him.

"Any news?" Diana asked.

"Yes, she’s going to be fine." Matt breathed, relief evident in his voice.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, especially Zac.

Taylor purposely sat away from everyone else. It was Rachael. Everything was to do with Rachael these days. The last time he had seen her, she broke his heart. He didn’t like this situation one bit. Rachael stared at Taylor. Now that her twin was ok, her mind moved to other things. Taylor looked stunningly irresistible as he sat there all alone. His blond hair was ruffled from the day’s incidents, and his blue eyes were submissive and lonely. Rachael got up and strolled over to where he was sitting. He saw her coming from the corner of his eyes, and kept his gaze to the floor. His eyes began to sting as he realised he wasn’t blinking, and he closed them deliberately. He felt paralysed.

"Hey Taylor." She murmured soothingly.

Taylor refused to answer, or to even react. Her voice was so familiar. It haunted his every thought every second of every day.

"Taylor?" She questioned. "Taaaylaaar?"

He shifted uncomfortably.

Rachael placed her hand on his arm. Taylor pushed her hand away reflexively and stood up in protest.

"Just…leave me alone ok?"

Rachael put on her best innocent face, and reached for his hand.

"Tay I’m sorry I…"

Taylor threw her hand away, and she recoiled in shock.

How dare she! He swore to himself, and walked out of the waiting area and down the hall. Zac looked over at Isaac. They had both seen the whole thing.

"Is Tay allowed down there." Zac questioned nervously.

Isaac shrugged, and watched Taylor duck through the maze of doctors. He could get in trouble, but Isaac knew he wouldn’t care. He was too scared of Rachael to consider that.

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