The Harbor

Missing Yesterday (Part 2)

LaFontaine's chest moved up and down so slowly you wondered if they were breathing at all. Their face had several big gashes that were covered in gauze with short ginger hair sticking up all over the place. With a shaky hand, Perry smoothed it down. The stupid blue gown they were dressed in was covered with a brace for their chest and neck. Their left arm and right leg were sporting the same matching casts.

They looked nothing like the ones Perry remembered from their childhood. LaFontaine had broken a few bones when they were young, but they were colorful back then. At the end of the day, the color was slightly different from all the signatures from the kids at school and the story of why they had a cast had changed. LaFontaine was always a story teller. Always wanted to take the adventurous route and make memories. "How can you tell stories if you don't have proof that they happened?" LaFontaine would always say, touching a small scar or a bruise.

This story isn't one that Perry could bare to hear over and over again. She might barely get through it once. At just the thought, the sobs returned. She bowed her head so LaFontaine's hand was touching her forehead.

Even though Perry knew should shouldn't, she blamed herself. She should have gone down to the caf. She should have insisted LaFontaine stayed. She should have... Her body trembled. What if LaFontaine never woke up?

--

"Poor Perry..." Laura sighed, looking through LaFontaine's hospital room window.

The small girl crossed her arms over her chest and moved back to the bench. On one side of her sat a somber-looking vampire. Carmilla sat in the edge of the seat, elbows resting on her leather-covered thighs. Her head rested in her hands,looking down at the floor. On the other side sat a very gangly athlete with a few tears that would well but never fall. Danny had her elbow on the benches' armrest and her chin sitting in her palm.

"How's it looking?" Danny asked, not looking at the other two. She didn't want Laura seeing her cry or Carmilla seeing her so vulnerable.

"Not good... I don't think Perry will willing leave the hospital anytime soon," Laura slouched. This was kind of her fault and she was feeling all kinds of guilt.

"She's gonna have to. The German students have that test on Monday," Carmilla stated.

"She could explain the situation and I'm sure-" Laura began.

"It doesn't work that way, cupcake," Carmilla sighed. She seemed sad, like she was remembering something from a long time ago. "The test date is the test date. If you aren't there, you don't take it,"

"This is all my fault," Laura slumped against the back of the bench, her head hitting the wall behind her.

"Hey, no it's not." Danny turned to Laura, placing a large hand on the tiny girl's shoulder. "You couldn't have stopped that crash,"

"But I'm the one who gave her the idea to go buy me things," Laura shook her head like it could go away.

The door opened slowly, almost as if were fragile. The three girl's heads snapped up at the noise to be greeted by a disheveled looking Perry. Her normally lively, caring eyes never rose from the steady gaze at the floor.

She cleared her throat. "I have to go to the restroom," her voice cracked and she wiped away a stray tear. "C-could someone..." Perry drifted off, unable to finish the sentence. She just gestured to the door, looking about to cry again.

"I'll look after LaF..." Danny stood up.

"An-and I'll go with you," Laura stood up, feeling so tiny compared to the tall girl next to her.

Perry pierced her lips together gently and nodded, moving out of the way for Danny to go in. With one last long look back at the room, Perry walked with Laura down the hall. They had been there for at least 3 hours but Perry already looked sleep deprived.

The two walked to the bathroom in silence. Laura waited outside the stalls as Perry did her thing. Once Perry was out and in front of the mirror, she just stared at herself. Laura took a deep breath and grabbed a paper towel and wetted it down. She rubbed off the salt trails on Perry's cheeks.

"I'm sorry," Laura started, throwing away the paper towel.

"Don't be," Perry muttered. Her voice made Laura's heart nearly break.

"This... This is my fault," Laura fixed some of Perry's wild curls. "I'm sorry. If... If I hadn't asked LaF to-"

"Laura!" Perry sternly shouted in a motherly discipline voice before quickly clearing her throat. "Just... Can we not talk about this now?" Perry requested, fixing a lock of her hair as she walked out of the bathrooms.

They walked back together in silence, pausing in front of the door that protectively shielded the healing LaFontaine from the rest of the world. Perry reached for the door but couldn't open it. She didn't think that she could handle seeing LaFontaine like that again. But she was going to have to.

Danny noticed Perry through the window so she came out slowly, not saying anything.

"I think uh," Perry cleared her throat. "I think you guys should go back to Silas."

"But, Perry-" Danny started, cut off my the mother hen herself.

"Go back to Silas. I've got everything under control here," Perry looked up in the other's eyes and tried for her best smile. "I think I can handle myself here over night"

Laura and Danny looked at each other. There was no doubt that Perry was the most mature and fit to take care of herself. However, in a time like this, the girls questioned if it was mentally okay for her to be by herself.

"Are you sure?" Danny asked, turning to Perry. "I mean, I can stay until 11 if you'd like,"

Laura nodded "Yeah! I can stay too,"

"I couldn't ask you to. Especially not you, Laura. You still have that paper to finish," Perry muttered, not trusting her voice to be anything but quiet.

"Wait you still haven't finished that?" Danny looked down at the tiny girl next to her. "After all the help I gave you?"

"Well... I couldn't..." Laura scrambled for an answer. She couldn't say that she had been preoccupied staring at Danny's lips all night. "I.. Just work better when you're around,"

"Yeah, okay. But you need to finish that. I've already given you three days extension,"

"A-Actually..." Perry sniffled. Danny had almost forgotten where they were and the situation they were in. This wasn't the time to talk about homework. "C-could you stay h-here?" Perry wiped away a tear. "Danny, I mean,"

"Yeah, anything,"

--

Danny jolted awake from her head falling back. She had been sitting for hours and it was almost 11. It was time to go back to Silas but she couldn't just leave Perry.

Speaking of, Perry had cried herself to sleep about three hours ago, after having the doctor come in and explain that LaFontaine was part of a hit-and-run and was even lucky to have a heartbeat right now, with her head on LaFontaine's good arm, grasping onto it for dear life like it was the last bit of her sanity. She still sat on a chair and it didn't look like a very comfortable position. But right now, that didn't really matter. Danny stood up and grabbed a blanket on the spot next to her that the nurse left. She draped it over Perry's shoulders and pet the soft curls a few times.

Danny couldn't just leave but she couldn't just stay either. Sighing, trying to think of an idea, she put her thumbs in the back pockets of her jeans. Wait, she still had her post-it notes from her studying session earlier today. She could easily just leave a note and come back early before her first class. So, that’s what she did.

“Perry,

Sorry that I couldn’t stay longer but it’s 11:30 and you’re asleep.

I’ll come back tomorrow morning at about 8.

See you soon

-Danny”

The tall woman didn’t care if the note was crap, she was tired and needed some rest. She stuck it on one side of the hospital bed post. The post-it was florescent blue, it wasn’t hard to miss. With that, Danny sighed and nodded before quietly leaving the room to return to her dorm, forgetting to pick up the remaining stack of post-it notes.