Art Deco ▷ Ned Leeds | ✓

18 - EMOTIONAL HIGH

Her mother was in hysterics. Maybe it was her body shutting down so at least one of them was calm. Like any mother, Doris couldn't handle the thought of anything happening to either of her children—her mother wasn't neglectful and she wasn't a terrible mother.

Brooke just sat there in her mother's field of vision as she watched her call Liz, the girl answering in seconds, seemingly in shock as she explained the whole ordeal to her mother, distracted as she went to comfort the rest of her team who were all younger, all alone, and all scared.

"I'm okay," Liz promised, "I'll be okay. We're heading back soon, we'll be home tonight."

Doris had sobbed at that, screaming into the phone; not angry, just hysterical. "How are you so calm about this, you nearly died!"

"Shock?" Liz offered, sounding as if her mother was asking what time she would be home for dinner, "I'm team captain, Mom, I need to be here for them."

"Who's there for you?" Doris demanded, covering her mouth and shuddering, "Liz—"

"Mom, is Brooke there?" the older Allan girl interrupted.

"Yeah, I'm here," Brooke called into the speaker, "Is everyone okay?"

"Yeah," Liz sighed, "Peter just showed up, he wasn't with us. Ned is okay, he's pretty happy, he said he'd call you. Uh, Michelle wasn't up with us. Charles, Cindy, Abraham, and Sally are all calling their parents. Flash is with his mom and sister and Diana. I think we're all okay."

"What about you?" Brooke asked, and Liz didn't respond.

"I'll talk to later, okay?" she said instead, calling out a goodbye before hanging up, leaving the two women alone in their living room.

Brooke still didn't know what she was feeling, didn't even remember how to think.

She watched as her mother tried to get ahold of her father, leaving a frantic voicemail before trying again, demanding to know where he was and if he was okay, if he knew what had happened in D.C. and to call her back.

Brooke glanced towards the top of the stairs, wishing she had grabbed her phone so she could listen in on her father, to see if he was okay. She hadn't listened to him when she got home, as she was in too good of a mood to try and ruin it, and she had admittedly forgotten all about it in the morning.

"Adrian, please call me back," her mother pleaded, leaving her third voicemail, looking incredibly broken, and Brooke knew that, if she could feel anything, she would be panicking at the sight.

Giving up on trying to contact her husband, Doris sighed, settling down next to her youngest daughter who immediately reached out to hold her hand, the two sitting on the couch in silence, Doris thinking too much and Brooke not thinking at all. There was nothing either of them could say. All they could do was wait.

Doris sighed, rubbing at her eyes. "You know I just want the best for you? I know I'm not the best mother and I haven't been any good to you, but I—I just wanted you to have the best opportunities."

"I get it," Brooke sighed, wishing she had her phone, "I'm not Liz, though. I'm not any less because of it."

"I never thought you were," Doris said, shaking her head, "But you're very different than Liz. And I wasn't prepared for that, I didn't know how to react. And with Liz going off to college...I'm just really, really sorry."

Brooke sighed, moving to rest her head in her mother's lap, closing her eyes, still feeling as numb as always. "It's okay, mom."

"No, it's not," Doris said, shaking her head and running her hand through her daughter's hair, "I'm sorry."