I was glad when we got back home. It had been a tiring day. I just wanted to fall right asleep, and that’s what I did until about noon.


Within the 下一个 few days, Courtney was allowed to be released from the hospital along with baby Lyric. Trent had stayed with her the whole time; he was stranded anyway since no one bothered to take him back to Sierra’s house to get his car.


Courtney had called me and asked me if I would take the small family back to Sierra’s so that Trent could drive them back to their apartment. I agreed, but I was told that they wouldn’t be able to take Lyric 首页 unless if a car 座位 was properly placed into the car so I had to drag it out of Trent’s car, which was back at Sierra’s house.


“How do we get it out?” Sierra asked as we stared at the car 座位 in the back of Trent’s car.


“I don’t know. It’s strapped to the 座位 或者 something,” I replied, still just staring at the cushioned object.


“Have 你 tried pulling it out?”


“Yep.”


“Did it work?”


Seriously? ‘Did it work?’ Why did she ask that?


“Does it look like it worked?”


“Oh.”


There was a silence and we both just stared at it.


“Maybe—wait, no. Um, did 你 pull the straps?” She asked.


“No, try it.”


After testing a few different ways, we had finally gotten it out.


I walked over to my car and started to open the door, but remembered the car seat.


“Hey Sierra, could 你 throw it in the backseat?”


“Sure, Heather,” She carried it over and threw it into the backseat, “Are 你 leaving to pick them up now?”


I nodded.


“Wait a minute! I want to come with you.”


She ran into the house, coming back out with her computer bag, her camera along with her phone dangling haphazardly out of separate pockets. She placed the bag in the back on the floor; she plopped down into the passenger seat, “Ready.”


I rolled my eyes and finally got in. I closed the door behind me. I started the ignition. We were finally off.


“I can’t wait to blog all about this. I think Trentney—that’s the name I came up with for them—could be the 下一个 IT couple and—“


“That’s nice.”


I wasn’t really paying attention as I drove. I could less about whatever she was blabbing about.


“Oh, don’t worry Heather; AleHeather still has a huge fanbase. You’re one of the 收藏夹 among my readers—“


“That’s nice,” I repeated. I was hoping that she would understand that I really didn’t care at the moment. Her blabbering was kind of distracting.


“Then there’s Coderra. My readers just love—spelled L-U-V, love—that Cody and I are finally officially together. They’re also so excited for the reunion coming up. OMG, I can’t wait for it either. Oh and then—“


I sighed when I realized that no matter what I said, she wasn’t going to shut up. I reached for the volume knob on the radio and cranked it up, not even caring what was playing just as long as I could drown out Sierra’s voice.


“I hop off the plane at LAX,
With a dream and my cardigan,
Welcome to the land of fame excess,
Am I gonna fit in?”


“Seriously?” I groaned, reaching to change the station to anything that wasn’t Miley Cyrus, “No…no…NO!...no.”


I sighed as I finally just landed on any 随意 station.


“Just own the night,
Like the Fourth of July,
’Cause baby you’re a firework,
Come on, 显示 ‘em what you’re worth.”


I let out yet another breath and started skimming through 更多 stations.


“I have a CD that Cody gave me in my bag!” Sierra screamed. She unbuckled her seatbelt, flying back into the backseat. Her legs flailed back around in every direction. I’m surprised that she didn’t hit me; she nearly did, though.


“Sierra! I’m trying to drive! If you’d like to live, I would suggest that 你 sit back in your seat.”


“Got it!”


Just as quickly as she had gotten into the backseat, she had flopped back into the front passenger seat. She ejected the CD that I had had in the player, glanced at the 标题 (“The Fame Monster Disc 1”), and then throwing it into the backseat. She forced her CD into the disc player.


Suddenly, the sound of a 吉他 filled the speakers.


“Turn it down,” I ordered.


“On certain Sundays in November,
When the weather bothers me,
I empty drawers of other summers,
Where my shadows used to be,
She is standing 由 the water,
As her smile begins to curl,
In this 或者 any other summer.”


I had no idea what this song was, but I kind of liked it.


Suddenly, I realized that we were nearly to the hospital. I turned left into the parking garage. Took the ticket telling me where I couldn’t park before heading up to the fifth floor. I found a parking spot and parked the car there.


“Come on,” I said, pushing the car door open.


“Okay!” Sierra grabbed her computer bag.


I knew that this wasn’t going to be good. She was planning to blog every little detail.


Just as I was passing the opposite side of the car, Sierra suddenly burst out excitedly, “Coming!”


We walked inside the small room and down the walkway to the main lobby of the hospital. We made our way up to the front desk.


“What room is Courtney Winters in?” I asked.


The bored receptionist looked up from her magazine that was laid out across the desk. She blew a bubble in her bubblegum and it popped. She looked over to the computer before answering, “Room 302.”


“Thanks!” Sierra exclaimed.


“Yeah, whatever, I get paid to do this,” The woman answered.


Sierra frowned at the woman’s reply.


“Come on, Sierra,” I groaned, dragging her off to the elevator. I reached to press the “3” button; Sierra grabbed my wrist away, “I want to push it!”


I rolled my eyes, “Go for it.”


“YEEEEEEE!” She yelled as she pressed the white button.


The elevator doors closed and it started its trek up to the third floor. The doors open, alerting us to get out. We made our way to Courtney’s room.


Courtney was all packed and dressed while holding Lyric in her arms. Trent was 下一个 to her, looking astounded as he stared at Lyric.


“Here, go strap the car 座位 into my car,” I threw my keys at Trent. He became surprised; I guess he didn’t even realize that we were here. He stood up and hurried out of the room.


“OMG! I need to take pictures!” Sierra exclaimed.


She laid her computer bag down on a nearby chair and pulled her laptop out, “I’m going to take some webcam pics and type a blog entry! Eeee!”


Courtney glared at her, “You’re not taking pictures of him yet.”


“Please?”


“Fine, one.”


“Yay!”


She sat down 下一个 to Courtney and turned to me, “Come on, Heth, get in the picture too!”


I sighed before obliging. I sat down 下一个 to Courtney. Sierra hit a button on her computer just as a nurse came in, “I know you’re getting ready to leave, Miss Winters, but there’s a police officer who says that he needs to see you. Can I tell him to come in?”


Courtney looked shocked. I could tell that she had no idea of what was going on.


“Uh…s-sure,” She answered shakily.


“Aw! The picture’s all blurry,” Sierra whined.


I looked over at the screen. She was right; 你 could only see a blur of Sierra, Courtney, and me and a blur of black hair and mocha skin that was Lyric.


“Miss Winters?” A police officer stepped into the room.


Courtney stood up, “That’s me.”


“You may want to sit back down to hear what I have to say,” He replied.


She did what he suggested. She looked up at him, “I’m not in trouble am I? Because if I am, 你 better be sure that I’ll find another lawyer right away and they’ll be ready to sue you’re a—“


“Rest assured, you’re not in any trouble whatsoever. It’s actually about your parents.”


“My parents?”


“Yes, they were vacationing in New York City for the holidays and they were shot and mugged. Your father died on the spot, but your mother is alive in critical condition in a hospital back in New York. They don’t think that she’s going to make it through the rest of the night.”


Courtney went silent, staring down at her lap. I noticed a tear fall down her cheek.


Suddenly, Sierra spoke up, “Can I blog this?”


Courtney shook her head, “Not right now, Sierra.”


It was really quiet and awkward.


“Woah!” Trent’s voice pierced the silence, “What’s going on here?”


Courtney looked up at him, “My parents…they were shot and mugged…my dad died on scene and my mom’s in critical condition…they don’t think that she’s going to make it.”


Trent made his way over to her. He took Lyric out of her arms, handing him over to me, “Could we have a moment alone?”


The rest of us nodded before making our way out. Sierra was the last one out because she stuffed her laptop back into its bag. We stood outside the door.


Out of nowhere, Lyric started crying. I had forgotten that I was holding him. I had no idea what I was supposed to do; I had never handled a baby, “Sierra, 你 take him. I don’t know what to do.”


“I know what to do! I took a parenting class back in grade eleven and I had to take care of this doll and I named him Cody Jr. and—“


“Just take him,” I ordered, passing Lyric over to her.


Wait—it all hit me. If I couldn’t figure out what was wrong with Lyric, how could I figure out what would be wrong with Marisol? I would have to look after her for twenty-four hours a day. If I couldn’t take care of a baby for two minutes, how could I take care of one for the entire length of a day?


I was doomed.