October to October

{Chapter Thirty-Seven}

  Lauren ran to Joan, and she tried to pull Joan up into a sitting position, but she wasn't responding. Lauren was screaming as she tried to get Joan to wake up. There was a large gash on her head, and blood was now covering the both of them. There was a metallic and musty smell in Lauren's nostrils as she screamed for Hope to call 911. Lauren pulled off her cardigan and pressed it to the gaping wound on Joan's skull; her eyes were rolled back in her head and her mouth was open.

  "Gary call 911!" Ruth was suddenly at Lauren's side. "I feel a pulse. She's going to be fine. Hurry Gary, please. We need to get her to a hospital."

  Lauren heard the distant voice of Ruth's boyfriend calling 911 as Ruth instructed Lauren to lay Joan back on the ground. The quiet cemetery was taken over by people shouting and people running to see what was going on, and Gary telling them to get back. 

 The wet ground had seeped onto Lauren's skin, and she was freezing, but she didn't care. She couldn't be in this world without Joan. She had spent most of her life without knowing her, and Lauren couldn't do it again. 

   Ruth was busy trying to keep Joan warm, and she was trying to stop the bleeding with her sweatshirt. Lauren felt like she was in a dream as they sat in the dark, damp cemetery with Joan's lifeless form in front of them; her face covered with Ruth's shirt. 

  It seemed like a century until the sound of the ambulance pierced through the night finally, and Lauren started crying even harder with relief.  Ruth kept telling Lauren over and over again that Joan was still breathing, and she felt a pulse, but Lauren didn't believe her. She wasn't waking up. She was limp on the ground, and her mouth was open wide as if she were trying to scream.

  "Please step aside ma'am," ordered the EMT as a whole crew of people raced to Joan's side, and Lauren was pulled away by Gary and Ruth. They kept Lauren between them as they quickly checked Joan's vitals before loading her into the ambulance. Lauren lunged forward to go with Joan. She couldn't be alone.

  "Let them work," Gary pleaded with her. "C'mon, we'll drive to the hospital right now. Please Lauren."

  "I am going with her," Lauren said firmly; breaking away from him. She didn't voice her fears that this might be the last time she saw Joan alive.

"Let her go," Ruth said, but Lauren barely heard her as the ambulance wailed away without her. Taking Joan.

    The cops arrived, and they swarmed the old cemetery. They wanted to question everyone. It seemed like forever until the cops allowed them to leave. No one knew anything. Lauren wasn't sure what happened to Hope. Did they take her in? Lauren didn't know or care as Ruth quickly led Lauren to her car, and they started towards the hospital. 

    Wren and her parents were already at the hospital. They were sitting in the waiting room as Lauren, Ruth and Greg rushed in.

  "Where is Henry?" Lauren finally found her voice; looking around.

 "I couldn't find him," Wren said in a tight voice; her face looked haunted, and her makeup was smeared. "Oh God, you're covered in blood."

  "We have to find Henry," Lauren said; ignoring her. "He's her only family."

  "We have to call her parents," Wren said. "They'll want to know even if she isn't close to them. She's their daughter."

  "We will," Ruth soothed her friend. "Let's all just calm down. Joan was breathing, and she's going to be fine."

  "You don't know that," Lauren said harshly.

  "We have to believe it," Ruth said firmly; her eyes flashing, and for the first time in a long while Lauren had to admire her sister's faith. "C'mon, let's sit down and pray."