Yours Suddenly

Prologue

Alexandra

Pasta and duck is what I made for dinner. Odd combination but we don’t have any other meat in the house.

I couldn't go to the movies tonight with my mom, dad and sister, Evie because I slipped in the bathroom and sprained my ankle pretty badly. So I'm in the kitchen putting the steaming pasta through a strainer, balancing on one leg when my phone rings on the counter. When I pick it up, I see a number I don't know. Weird.

“Hello,” I say.

A beat. “Hello. My name is Officer Marks. Is this Alexandra Brooke?”

My heart thunders in my chest. “Yes, this is her.”

The officer hesitates and says, “There’s been an accident.”

I feel my knees buckle. The vision of our humble kitchen ebbs at the corners of my eyes.

He continues, “Are you able to come to the hospital?”

“Are they okay?” I say, my voice shaking. “Tell me they're okay.”

“They’re all alive.”

Relief spreads through me. “That's great to hear. I'll be there in three minutes.”

I limp out of the house, not even bothering to lock up, getting into my car that's parked in the driveway of our bungalow. I peel out, speeding through our small town to the hospital. Dorney, Wisconsin is always quiet by 8 p.m. so I barely come across any cars or pedestrians who I might have crashed into in my haste.

He said they're still alive, so it's probably not that bad.

I drive into the hospital parking lot and fly out of the car, limp-running towards the entrance where police officers are mingling around.

“I’m Alexandra,” I say breathlessly when I reach them.

Officer Marks, a well-known figure in town, nods. “Come with me.”

I follow him through the entrance. He says something to a nurse and she nods, leading both of us to a door at the far end of a hallway. She tells us to wait outside, disappearing through it.

I start to pace. “What even happened?”

“Head-on collision,” Office Marks says quietly. “Other driver came out fine. Your family members sustained serious injuries, but when I called you, all three of them were stable.”

I continue pacing up and down so I don’t scream as the minutes pass by. What's taking the nurse so long to come back?

When the door opens, it feels like we’ve waited for a decade and the expression on the nurse's face makes me freeze on the spot.

“Alexandra, I'm so sorry.”

“Sorry about what?” I cry. My whole body ignites. “What do you mean? What are you sorry about?”

“I'm sorry, but none of them made it. Their injuries were too severe.”

I push past her and she doesn't try to stop me as I enter the room and see them.

My sister, Evie, is closest to me. She's pale as a ghost, the same dark hair as mine in a sleek ponytail. One side of her face is swollen, but she looks mostly unharmed. I ask her to wake up gently. She's sixteen, four years younger than me, but she still looks twelve.

“Evie, please wake up. Please.”

She doesn't move. Her grey eyes remain shut.

“Evie,” I say more urgently. “Please.”

Nothing.

“Mom!” I say desperately. “Evie won't —”

My voice dries up in my throat. Mom’s even paler than my sister, lying on her back, her left arm at an awkward angle. Next to her is Dad, eyes closed, a wound on his forehead

“Guys,” I gasp, “please wake up. What am I supposed to do?”

I sink to the floor, sobbing. “What am I going to do?” I say over and over as someone puts a hand on my shoulder, grief consuming me.