A person often wonders whether they were put on this earth for a reason or they were here to make it even out. At times Ginger wondered if she was just put here to fool a whole bunch of doctors or if she was here to get married to Zac or what. All she knows is that everyone was put on the earth to live life, forever how short or long that may be, and then to die. The reason for all this is because the person who assaulted Kristina back in Tampa assaulted her again. This time it was at home in Chicago.
Ginger received a call from an Officer Sherwood, asking her to come to the hospital. Dr. Whyte had seen Kristina come in and immediately told the police to contact her. Ginger didn�t bother calling anyone that lived in the house with Kris, because Roni and Taylor were at class and Isaac was at work. They had no idea what went on until they came home and there was police and crew all around.
Zac and Ginger stood outside Kris�s room, looking in. It was hard enough to see her lying there helpless, but it was even worse to know this was the second time. Zac held onto her tightly. He knew all along that it was going to happen again, he just didn�t want to believe it. Ginger stared inside, her forehead against the glass as she lie in rest, confusing the hell out of her. She was alone in there; she seemed all right, why wouldn�t they let them in? Considering her eyesight was so bad and the window was so far away, she couldn�t see her clearly. But for some reason Ginger thought that was what they wanted.
The hospital was rather quiet; Ginger could make out that two nurses were talking but they were too far away to hear just what they were talking about. She could hear the shuffle of footsteps, but it was all distant. No sound was anywhere near except for her occasional gasps for air after crying hard.
Suddenly footsteps that were distant came closer. She didn�t take her eyes away from her sister until she heard someone clear his throat. She looked over and Taylor stood, worried out of his mind. He looked as though he had been crying, but he did a good job of covering it up. When he spoke, his voice was small and soft, fearing if he raised it he would choke up. �What happened?� She could hear the pain in his voice and suddenly she couldn�t lie anymore.
�Oh Taylor it�s happened again! When we said that Zac pushed her in a bush that wasn�t true, someone robbed her and stabbed her. Now the same person who did it before in Tampa did it again. The police didn�t tell me what happened because they don�t know yet.�
�What? You mean to tell me she got assaulted before, and now again and you didn't told me? I went home after my classes were over and all of a sudden there�s cops everywhere, they won�t let me in the house and there�s a reporter asking me all these questions. How I feel about what happened, what I�m going to do! When a cop came by and started taking pictures of the house I could of sworn Kris was dead in there! I knew it was her cause she was the only one who had nothing to do. Roni was still on the campus and Ike's still at work!�
�I just didn�t want to worry anyone, Taylor. I didn�t expect it to be so serious until they said we couldn�t see her for a while. We can go in later. I'm sorry I didn't tell you.� Zac�s grip on her waist tightened as her voice lowered. It had been three days since they put Ginger under strict observation. Every four days she had to go into the hospital and get her head examined, her weight checked, a questionnaire and blood work.
Her gaze returned to Kristina, lying in the hard hospital bed. She knew them well enough to know they weren�t the most comfortable things out there. She didn�t know what it was like to be in a coma; because when she passes out she falls asleep for an hour or so then wake up. Is that a coma? Falling asleep and not knowing when you�re going to wake up, if you wake up? It frightened her just to think if she didn�t wake up. A few tears slid down her cheeks but she didn�t care anymore. Her sister, her best friend, was being stalked and the guy who did it was still around.
�Honey she�s going to be all right,� Zac whispered, and stuck his head on her shoulder. �Everything always works out in the end.� She didn�t know whether to believe him or not. By the way things were going, she didn�t think anything was going to work out.
She stepped out of Zac�s arms. �You stay here and if anything happens I have the cell phone, call me right away,� she told Zac. �I need some time to think.� She trotted quickly down the hall and to the elevator. As she waited to reach ground level, she tried to remember where she was going and how to get there. When the doors opened again she bolted for the exit.
�Please God help me,� Ginger whispered. She sat in the back of St. Vincent Church in a corner. She was kneeling, her eyes closed and her hands folded, a crystal rosary entangled in her fingers. She had never been a spiritual person; never in her life. Her family was spiritual; they had her going to church every Sunday until she moved out. It was by chance that both her natural and her foster parents were Catholic, so she was dragged to the same church all the time. Ginger normally went along and sat in a corner, watching the people participate. That part of her life wasn�t very clear; it never had been. Zac being a prominent Christian questioned her faith often, just to be ignored and blown off. She�d never turned to God in her life for anything, but now she needed help. Normally she would turn to Kristina, but it was Kris she needed help with.
I don�t pray, I don�t go to church anymore, I don�t follow any rules, I�m sorry. I�m not spiritual at all, but right now I need help and the only person I can turn to isn�t there. She sighed, letting a few tears escape her eyes. Please make Kris okay, everyone always says that you don�t give me more than I can handle but it sure as hell feels like a load. She�s my sister; she�s my best friend, my sidekick. She�s helped me through so much that I can�t even remember. She knows how to work with me and no one else does. Zac tries but Zac can�t understand. He�s in a pit of self-depression himself and that doesn�t help much at all. What am I supposed to do? I know it�s the same person doing these things to her, please help the police find whoever it is. I don�t want him around at all. He�ll just take her from me and I don�t know how I can live without her. I don�t like to say it but I just might die without her. I can�t have that happen, I can�t have that happen to my family, to Zac. Zac loves me so much and I don�t want to lose him. I will if all this continues. I just want to go back to the hospital, look in the window and see her watching TV or something. I just want her back with me. Please� She broke down, crying hard but trying to keep quiet. Her cell phone rang, and she quickly answered it before disturbing anyone. �Hello?� she gently said.
�The doctor said we�re allowed in to see her. Taylor�s in there right now, I suggest you come back before the visiting hours are over. We don�t have that much time. Taylor�s almost done cause he doesn�t have much to say�he�s just in there crying.�
�That poor boy. Zac, he loves her too much. She doesn�t know so when she comes to someone has to tell her.� She looked around and quickly got up. There were a few other people there, and she didn�t want to disturb them further. As she talked she walked out of the church and to the car. �And let me guess, you want me to do it?�
�You mentioned it so you should do it, that is if he�s not in there confessing his love to her right now. If he is I�m not sure she can hear him anyway.�
�All right, I�m coming now. Bye.�
�Bye,� Zac said. She turned off the phone and threw it on the floor of the car, then proceeded to drive back to the hospital. It took her a half an hour to find the church and her spent nearly an hour in there just looking and thinking, and trying to pray. She decided not to tell Zac where exactly she was or he�d get all holy on her and she didn�t want that. So it took her about fifteen minutes to find her way back to the hospital, and she ended up missing the turnoff a few times. As much as she knew that part of town, her mind was clouded with memories and thoughts that wore her down.
She parked the car without hitting anyone or scratching anything so she was all right. The ride in the elevator seemed like forever. Something was better about the whole issue, not much but better. Knowing that she was all right enough to have Ginger see her was just fine. It felt weird, having the shoe on the other foot. For the first time she knew what Kris went through when she went into a spaz. This time it was Kris in the hospital instead of Ginger. She had and does have so many things wrong with her. She'd stopped counting how many times she�d been pricked with a needle.
Once she got out of the elevator Ginger saw Zac leaning against the window to Kris�s room, his eyes shut. His face was a little red, and it made her worry. �Zac? Is everything all right?� Ginger asked. He opened his eyes and turned to her.
�Kristina�s fine. It just made me really upset when I saw Taylor come out of there. He�s blaming himself that this happened, and he�s been sitting in the corner for ten minutes. That boy is a wreck.� It was weird and she couldn�t believe it, because she never imagined Taylor to be this way.
Ginger glanced in at Kris and she was still lying in the bed, her eyes closed. She tried to imagine her sitting up and watching TV, but it wasn�t happening. Ginger's eyes flickered to Zac, still leaning against the wall with his eyes closed. Figuring her moment was now, she opened the door and walked inside. The smell in the air was cleaner once her was in the room. Outside it smelled clean but the air was upset. Everything in the room was sanitized, from the curtains on the window to the corner of the floor. Everything was pure white, and she just wanted to take a bucket of paint and throw it across the room, just to break the silence.
Slowly Ginger headed to the corner of the room where Kristina lay. It hurt her with every step as she got closer and her wounds were clearer. She already had numerous scars, and now there was more and they were larger. Ginger couldn�t believe this was happening now, to her, to all of them. She was the one going through the pain and the rest of them were even more affected by it.
�Hey girl,� she whispered, then cleared her throat and raised her voice. She knew Kris wouldn�t be able to her a whisper. �I don�t know if you can hear me but I need your help. As usual, you don�t need to do anything, I just want you to listen to my problems.� Ginger sat down and kept her back against the chair. �My depression is coming back. I have to admit it�s because of what�s been happening lately. With you all again, damn that pisses me off! We got to find this guy before he does anything else. They say you might be able to give a description when you wake up, I hope so. I haven�t told anyone yet, not even Zac knows, but Dr. Whyte says that the radiation isn�t doing a thing, and the chemo didn�t work either. They have to operate and cut away the tumor. I don�t want that. Luckily it�s at the base of my brain so they don�t have to shave off all my hair, but still they have to go in there and cut things. It just gives me the shivers thinking about it. They don�t know what�s going to happen after that, if that�ll help at all and if they can take me off treatments or not. That really screws me up because I want a kid so bad and I can�t with the treatments. I�ve waited years to have a kid and now that I�m married and everything, I have cancer. I know I�m only 18 and that I just got married a few weeks ago but dammit I want a kid more than I want anything right now. I haven�t talked about it with Zac yet, that�s mostly because we have to wait a while. I could imagine everyone�s reaction, though. �Dammit Ginger, you�re not old enough to be pregnant!� That�s another reason why I�m putting it off.� She sighed, looking out the window at Zac. �He�s just perfect; Zac I mean. He�s funny, he�s tolerable and he loves me to death. Why is it that I look at him and see a whole different person than everyone sees? Everyone is telling me he�s depressed and he has problems but I can�t see it at all. He doesn�t look like that kind of person. But then I guess a lot of people would look at me and think the same exact thing. Dr. Whyte told me I was to giddy to be depressed.� She put her head on the bed, sighing. It was hard to be the talker and not the listener. She hated pouring out her soul and getting no response in return. Kristina remained motionless and she got up from the chair. �Well Kris I�ve said what I have to say. I�ll be back soon. You wake up all right? I miss you and I want you to get better quick everyone won�t have to worry about what happened to my big sis. Zac�s telling me Taylor poured his love for you out and I don�t think he�s gonna do it again, so you build up and get strong cause once you�re out of here we�re back to running five miles every day.� She cleared her eyes from any access tears and walked out of the room, more quickly then she came in. Taylor sat in the corner, his knees to his chest, slowly rocking back and forth. His eyes were closed and his cheeks were red. Ginger knew she had to talk to him.
�Hey,� she said, sitting down next to him. He turned his head and revealed red, glossy eyes. He looked horrible, much worse than she had been the entire day. But then again this was all new to him, and it wasn�t to Ginger. She knew it was going to happen, he didn�t and he had been scared out of his mind.
�Is she gonna be all right?� he asked. �I don�t know, the doctors won�t tell me anything.� Ginger nodded.
�She�ll be fine, Taylor. She�s just out of it, she�ll be back soon.� He sighed and looked away, shaking his head.
�You�re lying.�
�I know.� He put his head on his knees and closed his eyes again. �Taylor she�s in a coma now. You know that. She�s going to do what she�s going to do. But I know her and she does not give up easily.� He was restless; he couldn�t keep his head in a single position for more than a few minutes.
�Damn chairs, so uncomfortable.�
�You know she�ll just break your heart.� Taylor stiffened, suddenly motionless. Ginger didn't mean to startle him, but it popped out. �You know in the end she really doesn�t know what she wants.�
�You just don�t want me with her; you�re just like Zac.� She sat back, her eyes on Taylor. He didn�t move at all. �She loves me, I know it.�
�She�s weird, Taylor. She doesn�t know anything about love. She admitted to me and Zac that it�ll take her through hell and back to find out whether or not she loves someone. Well I consider this hell and back and I suggest that when she comes to that you have a discussion with her. Set her straight because she needs you.�
�Why the sudden concern now? Why didn�t you mention something sooner and not let me get all beat up about it?� he asked, a bit of anger in his tone.
�Well I never really thought that you would be like this. I never thought that I would hear from Zac that you poured your heart out to my sister not that long ago.�
�He actually saw that?� Taylor asked, amazed.
�Hey dude, there�s a big window on the other side of the room, you could notice anything in there.� He looked away. �Taylor I don�t know what to tell you. I know Kris more than I know myself and she�s really complicated. She doesn�t have a million things wrong with her but emotionally she�s complicated and she doesn�t know what to do with herself. For years she�s been with me and I have so many problems and I complain about all of them; she hates the fact that she�s normal.�
�She�s far beyond normal, Ginger,� Taylor said.
�Then that�s something you have to tell her. She won�t be able to decide anything if you just sit around and be dumb. She doesn�t pick up hints very well so just say it and get it over with.�
�Well we do have to wait for her to wake up.� Ginger stood up and walked over to Zac. But Taylor still sat in the corner, thinking about what Ginger said, about what he had said, about what he wished to come. He let his eyelids fall and his thoughts overwhelm him.
�Hun I think we should go home and get you some sleep; you�re obviously tired,� Zac told her once she approached him. She shook her head and looked in Kris�s room.
�I want to stay. She might wake up over the night.� He took her hand and kissed it.
�Taylor�s staying here, he�ll let us know the first moment something happens. Come on, let�s go home.� Ginger sighed and took a longing glance at her sister. Zac gently tugged on her hand and she followed, her other hand trailing on the glass. She silently gave her regards to Taylor and he nodded in response. Roni and Ike wouldn�t be long. Zac told Ginger that he called them and they were on their way over, obviously caught in the evening traffic.
She hardly noticed the slight drizzle as Zac pulled out of Northlake Community Hospital and to North Avenue, which was the street they used to get everywhere. �Do you want to stop at Johnnie�s before we go home? You haven�t eaten all day.�
�Sure,� she said, not really hearing what he said. It had gotten dark already and everything was lit up. Seemed that whenever they went to Johnnie�s it was dark. Zac pulled up to the stand and got out of the car. She stayed put, looking out the window to the stars. He knew what she wanted; she always ordered the same thing when they went there. A few minutes later Zac came out with a bag of food. He handed her a hot dog with the works and fries. She stuck it in her lap and slowly started to eat it. He actually did a good job of driving while eating and got them home in one piece. For the first time Ginger looked at the house and how similar it was to what it was before when it was Dani's old home. Inside it was completely different but outside it was the same thing.
Ginger got out of the car and stuck a fry in her mouth. Just down the street, at 9654 West McLean, police still swarmed around the house. She had a feeling that Ike and Roni were going to be sleeping in her house tonight. Before she could get into the house, an officer ran up and stopped her, showing his badge. Zac had already gone inside. �Excuse me, but can I ask you a few questions?� he asked. She nodded.
�Would you like to come inside?� she asked, gesturing to an open door.
�Sure,� he said, and followed her inside. Ginger flicked on a few lights and made sure the door was closed. He followed her into the living room and took a seat on the couch. Ginger sat down in a chair across from him. �I�m guessing from your absence all of today and the tired look on your face that you knew the person in the assault.� Ginger nodded.
�Yes, Kris is my sister.�
�Could you tell me about the people she lives with? I believe there was three that stopped by today.�
�She lives with her boyfriend, Taylor, and our two friends Roni and Isaac. Isaac and Taylor are my husband�s brothers; Roni�s a long time friend.�
�Where were they today?� he asked. Ginger sat back and crossed her legs, already bored with the conversation. She wanted to get to sleep but she knew in the end this just might help out Kris.
�Taylor and Roni were at classes at Northwestern. Isaac was at work.� Ginger noticed a bruise on her leg and pulled down her skirt to cover it. �May I ask why you want to know about them? I can tell you she was alone all day.�
�Our first concern was the people she was living with; if they did this to her. But all of them seemed equally concerned when they came to the scene. We�ve found little evidence and we�re thinking he raped her�� Ginger bit her lip and took a deep breath in. �We just need to wait until she wakes up so she can tell us what happened.�
Zac walked in the room and saw another bruise on her leg. �Hey, they�re coming back again aren�t they?� he asked, pointing. She nodded. He noticed the officer sitting on the couch. �Hello.�
�What are coming back?� he questioned. Ginger looked over to him.
�My bruises. I have cancer and bruises pop up now and then. I still don�t know why, I don�t think anyone ever really told me. Zac can you go in the kitchen and get me something to drink? Please?�
�Sure, hun. What do you want?�
�Water�s fine. Do you want something to drink, officer?� Ginger asked. The officer shook his head, and pulled something out of his pocket. Zac walked back into the kitchen.
�Your sister was holding this in her fist when we found her. It took two officers to pry it out of her hand. Do you know what it is?� He handed it over to her and she looked down at her necklace.
�This is my necklace I lent to her yesterday. It�s really important to me so I asked her not to let go of it.� Ginger remembered something suddenly. �She was wearing this the last time she got assaulted, back in Tampa.�
�She�s been through this before?� he asked. Ginger nodded. �When?�
�About eight months ago she went downtown for a job interview and some guy mugged her and stabbed her a couple of times. She ended up being all right and we all tried to forget about it. I think it�s the same person because he seemed to be after the necklace.�
�If you don�t mind, we�d like to secure this as evidence,� the officer said, taking it back from her. She was reluctant to let it go. �When we don�t need it anymore then you can get it back.� She sighed and nodded.
�Yeah, you can take it, if it's going to help Kris out.� He stood.
�Well thank you for your time, if we have any leads or anything we�ll be sure to find you again,� the officer said. Ginger nodded and let him leave. It was surprisingly hard to give up the necklace, but it might have had something in it that would help Kris out. There wasn�t anything helpful the last time, and she had a feeling there wouldn�t be anything helpful now. She bit her lip and looked at Zac before she got up.
�I�m going to bed.�