The Secret Life of the American Teenager: Aftermath

Chapter Twenty Two

My eyes widened and I sat there in disbelief, until tremors rocked Madison's entire body and we both sobbed. She sat next to me and we sobbed until there were no tears left.

"Lauren can't be dead, no. No, she can't, no, no she's not dead," I whispered to myself.

Madison straightened back up and answered the same cold, stone-hard expression she had before. "She's dead, Amy." She got up and left.

I turned back to Ricky, who I'd almost forgotten was there.

"How?" I asked him. "How did she die?"

He explained to me that the force of the crash had caused her to have brain injury. Then, when they tried to fix the damage, which was already pretty extensive, her heart stopped and they couldn't get it started again."

"Lauren, Lauren, Lauren, Lauren," I whispered. This was the girl who had an actual decent head on her shoulders, who has stable, and strong, and funny, and beautiful.

Lauren and I grew apart throughout the course of high school. We kind of went our separate paths. I had two kids before the age of 20. She planned on being a CEO before she turned 30.

But, she always had a place in my heart. Still a best friend, I still always felt so close to her.

And now she's dead.

Ricky stood up and went to the bathroom. I just stared at the wall in front of me. I felt so... Alone. My world was falling apart. Everything is not what I thought it would be.

It isn't fair she's dead. It's not fair at all.

Ricky came back from the bathroom. "Please stay with me tonight," I told him. He gave me a half-smile. "Are you kidding? I would never be able to leave you right now." He reached down and gave me a peck on the lips.

John, my mom, and Isabella came back in. Ricky produces a story book out of the bag and starts reading to John. I can't properly hold Izzy but my mom sits in a chair next to me and let's me hold her little hand and stare into her big, beautiful eyes.

Up until a few weeks ago, her eyes had still been that murky color all babies have, but now you could see that she was going to have hazel or green. Even though I had been sleeping for days, apparently, I drifted to sleep to the sound of Ricky's low voice and my daughter's beautiful eyes.

I woke up the next morning to light streaming into the window of my hospital room. It's early morning and there's a sticky note on my stomach that says that Ricky went to go get breakfast.

A doctor and Ricky come in and tel me that I need an MRI, just to make sure my brain injury is being healed correctly and that u should be able to go home soon.

After six more days of sitting in the hospital room with visits from my mom, the kids, Grace, Adrian, and Angie (who had to get back to class and our goodbye was heartbreaking) they told me I could leave.

As Ricky was packing up the room, we heard a knock on the door. "Come in," Ricky said, thinking it was my mom, probably.

At first, I didn't believe my eyes. Ricky gasped and I was speechless.

In strutted Ashley, my long lost sister. She acted like she visited me everyday of my life. Her hair was the same color and length, heavy dark eyeliner, maybe lost a little weight. But overall, she looked the same as she always has even though I hadn't seen her in two years.

"Hey Amy, mind if I stay with you for a few days."

Ugh, Ashley