Gone

Mom

Piper POV

I walked down the hallway, guided by a group of nurses. I didn't need the help, but they insisted. Apparently they were taking me to see my mother. They hadn't said anything about Dad or Henry. I had a pit in the bottom of my stomach. Why weren't they telling me anything? My family was all I could think about.

We stopped outside Room 216.

"Okay," The nurse smiled at me. "Your mother is waiting for you. Head on in!"

I tip-toed into the room. Mom was sitting in an armchair. There was a tray of food in front of her, but she hadn't touched it.

"Mom?"

She looked up at me. She could've passed for the living dead. She had huge dark circles. Her eyes were bloodshot. It looked like she hadn't slept in a long time.

"Piper," Her voice was low and raspy. It didn't sound like her at all.

She opened her arms. Her lip was quivering, and that's when I knew.

They were dead.

The two most important men in my life. Gone. My father, my biggest supporter, my protector. And my big brother, my greatest ally, my partner in crime. The two boys I thought would never leave me.

Mom was crying. Her chest was shaking. She was moaning. I had never heard so much pain.

We sat there, mother and daughter, crying over our broken family. Our family would never be whole again.
________________________

Mom and I walked away from the hospital with a few scratches and two broken hearts.

Grandma drove us home, our car being totaled. The house seemed empty. Grandma flicked the light on, and all I could think of was the thousands of times I'd followed Henry through the front door, or sat next to Dad on the couch and vented about my day.

A million memories buzzed through my brain. Bickering with Henry over my pointless problems, cracking jokes with Dad.

I heard Grandma mutter something about funeral arrangements to Mom. She didn't want to listen, but she seemed to follow what Grandma was saying.

None of this should have happened. It should've been a typical spring break, sleeping in late, cooking extravagant breakfasts, playing in the backyard with Henry. In an instant, my life changed. Everything can change in just one second.

We started out with four of us. Dad, Mom, Henry, Piper.

Then, in an instant.

Mom, Piper.

In an instant.