16"Hey, Casey," Lizzie began nervously, "Everything's been kind of crazy since you left. Since the groceries were in the car when you got hit, we still don't have any food in the house. We've been living off of take-out and Derek made us make chocolate milkshakes. You would have hated to see the mess it left in the kitchen. But maybe I shouldn't be telling you about the stuff you'd hate because I don't want that to make you want to stay in bed. Umm… I took a trip to Toronto. You would have liked to go back with me, wouldn't you? I went to Oakwood Park. The one you took me to when we were little that had the big lake where we could feed the geese. It looks a lot smaller now, but maybe it'll look big again if you come there with me. It would be nice for both us to visit Toronto, right? Right now we're all here visiting you… please wake up, Casey. I… I still need a big sister."
Lizzie opened her eyes.
To her dismay, Casey looked every bit as banged up and bruised as she did before Lizzie closed her eyes and started talking.
Lizzie was old enough not to believe in magic, but she couldn't have helped but hope that once she opened her eyes Casey would somehow wake up and be okay. Just like in Sleeping Beauty. Aurora always was Casey's favorite Disney Princess.
Stupid fairy tales, Lizzie thought as she stood up and exited Casey's room. She found Edwin and Marti waiting right outside the door.
"Your turn," she told Edwin as she took Marti's hand and walked back to the vending machine, wishing there was someplace, any place else she could go to.
"Are you still scared?" Marti asked, looking up at Lizzie.
"I'm not scared," Lizzie answered bluntly as she pretended to examine the different types of potato chips in the vending machine.
"But you were," Marti persisted, "Are you better now?"
"I don't know," Lizzie admitted. It was hard lying to someone as perceptive as Marti, "It was a little scary having to see Casey like that, but it was a lot scary thinking she might be like that for a long time. I was just hoping Casey would wake up like Aurora does in Sleeping Beauty but she didn't."
Marti's face instantly lit up, "I bet I know why Casey's still asleep!"
Before Lizzie could stop her, Marti took off running down the hall back to Casey's room.
"It's my turn to talk to Casey!" Marti announced to Edwin, "Wait, where's Derek?"
Edwin shrugged as Lizzie caught up and joined them in Casey's room.
"I thought… you wanted… to talk to Casey," Lizzie said between breaths, still panting from chasing Marti down the hall.
"I do, but Casey needs Derek so she can wake up!" Marti said excitedly.
"Why would—"
"Who needs me?" Derek sauntered into the room with his eyes clear and no sign of tears before Edwin could finish his question.
"Casey does!" Marti shouted, "You two, out!" she motioned to Edwin and Lizzie before grabbing their wrists and leading them out the door. Once the two were standing in the hallway, Marti made them promise to stay out for now and closed the door in their faces.
"What is she doing in there?" Edwin asked.
"Shh!" Lizzie hushed him, "If we complain about being thrown out, we can't eavesdrop!"
Edwin's face instantly transformed from disgruntled to excited as he placed his left ear on the door.
Unfortunately, all the two stepsiblings could distinguish through the thick wooden door was a collage of "Smarti, no!" and "Smerek, yes!" before an aged nurse they hadn't seen before admonished them for "playing" in a hospital and asked them where their parents were.
"Playing in a hospital, huh?" George questioned as he neared the bit of hallway where Lizzie and Edwin were still waiting outside of Casey's room. "Anyone want to tell me why you're out here and Derek is—where is Derek?"
As Edwin explained Marti's latest antics to his father with Lizzie occasionally jumping in, cheers suddenly erupted from Casey's room. Instantly, Edwin and George's conversation ceased as George opened the door to Casey's room and Edwin and Lizzie followed him inside.
"It worked! It worked!" Marti shouted.
A faint groan could be heard from Casey's bed. Casey! Lizzie and George immediately pushed past an elated Marti and a dumbstruck Derek to crowd Casey's beside.
Slowly, Casey opened her eyes and shut them again, emitting a low moan. A smile lit up Lizzie's face. That moan was the single greatest sound she had ever heard. It meant Casey was still alive. Casey had barely stirred, but it was something. George excused himself to call Nora and tell her the good news and it wasn't long before word of Casey's awakening reached the head nurse on duty who ushered the McDonald-Venturi's outside into the hall.
By the time five of the McDonald-Venturi residents sat down to eat Derek's infamous mac and cheese for dinner, word was that Casey's condition appeared to be improving. She could open her eyes and speak simple phrases such as "Water" or "Mom" and the machines tethered to her body indicated strengthening vital signs and regular brain activity. But they weren't out of the woods yet.
After George and the kids had been asked to leave due to "overwhelming the patient" and violating the hospital's "no children in the intensive unit" rule, Nora had returned to the hospital to sit with Casey. She spoke briefly with Casey's doctor who emphasized that waking from a coma does not mean that Casey was okay. She was fine in the sense that she was still alive, but the risk of brain trauma and complications were high. It would take at least a few days of brain scans and testing to rule out any permanent damage.
Once George hung up the phone and broke the news to the kids, Lizzie lost her appetite. She managed to choke down just a couple bites for the sake of humoring Derek, who had been boasting about being the greatest chef in the house, before excusing herself to go to her room.
Casey is alive. Lizzie tried to focus her mind on that comforting fact, but she couldn't help but be haunted by the doctor's grim expectations. There's a high risk of complications. That's what George had said Nora said the doctor said. What did that mean, anyway?
When Molly Mousekevitz sprained her ankle pretty badly, she had said that there was a chance of complication that would mean she couldn't play soccer anymore. But Casey didn't hurt her ankle and she didn't play sports. No, Casey wrote poetry and joined a debate team. And she had hurt her brain. What did a brain injury mean? Would Casey be able to think the same? Lizzie didn't know. She wasn't sure if she wanted to know.
Lizzie also didn't know what Marti had planned that evidently jolted Casey out of her coma, but that a question she wanted an answer to.
Soon after Marti's bedtime, Lizzie crept down the hall into her younger stepsister's room. Sure enough, Marti was still awake, reading a bedtime story to herself. She looked delighted at the opportunity to stall bedtime by entertaining her unexpected guest.
"Marti, do you remember when Casey woke up today?" Lizzie asked in a hushed tone as she sat on Marti's bedside.
"Ahuh," Marti nodded as her face broke into a smile.
"Do you remember the plan you had to wake her up?"
Marti nodded again and let out a giggle.
"Can you tell me?"
Marti shook her head, "Derek made me promise not to tell anyone."
"But I'm your stepsister, can't you at least tell me?"
"No," Marti said assertively. Then she leaned closer to Lizzie and whispered, "But I can tell you this: you were the one who gave me the idea."
Lizzie looked at Marti in confusion and Marti lifted her storybook so that the cover was now visible. The book was an adaptation of Sleeping Beauty.
Lizzie's eyes widened, "He kissed her?" she whispered in shock.
"You didn't hear it from me," Marti chirped happily.
Author's Note: Sorry it took so long to update. Only one chapter left (I think) and hopefully it won't take me so long to get it uploaded. Thanks so much to everyone who has reviewed, favorited, alerted and even just read the story!