Lily's pov

I was gone again, in this world of darkness, in this silent void. I can't move or talk. This world, I've decided to call it the Inbetween. The Inbetween is in between light and dark, night and day, reality and dreams, life and death. There's nothing here but me, it feels like I'm floating in a pool of darkness. I can't swim and I can't see. There are breaks in the darkness, when I can hear that man talking. The one who told me his name was Chance. I can hear Chance's voice clearly here and it's the only thing I can hear. His voice breaks through the darkness to me and pulls me towards the surface but I never break free from the pool. When Chance isn't talking to me, it's like I sink back down into the darkness as if I'm drowning in a pool and his voice is the only thing keeping me from drowning completely. Chance reminds me that there is a world and a life outside the Inbetween. Since I can't break free of the Inbetween, I just wait for Chance to pull me back.

"Hey Bunny, I'm back," Chance says and I feel myself being pulled towards him but not all the way. It's like I'm just under the surface of a pool, waiting for someone to pull me up.

"Lily, I brought some people who really wanted to see you," Chance continues,

"Hey Lily, it's James," Another unfamiliar voice says,

"And Julian," Another voice states,

"And Henry and Liam," 

"I'm Nolan,"

"Hi, I'm Ella!" This time a girl speaks.

"So, here we all are again, for the first time in  years," Chance said. As he speaks, I feel a hand on my forehead,

"I can't believe she's real," Ella said,

"Yeah Kitty, she's real," Chance said,

"Why is she sleeping? She's been asleep for hours," Ella said, 

"I told you, she's hurt so she has to rest to get better so we can take her home," Chance said, 

"Yeah, but she needs to wake up soon so we can be twins," Ella said, 

"You're already twins," James said, 

"No, I mean like real twins that do stuff together," Ella said, 

"Soon, Bub, soon," Chance said.

They talked amongst themselves and I went sinking down into the darkness again. This darkness began to feel like a friend the more time I spent in it. It felt nice to be here away from the world, away from my mother's world. Mother's world was full of rules and expectations that I couldn't reach. It was like climbing Mount Everest every day. Everything I did and was was planned by Mother. I wore my hair in a bun everyday, I dressed in simple neutral colors, black, gray, white, and brown, I walked with a completely straight back, I sat with a straight back also. I was to keep my hands folded a certain way at all times. I was to keep a completely neutral face at all times, no smiling, no scowling, no making faces. I was to speak using proper words and not fall into the grammer of "common people" as Mother put it. I was to call her Mother at all times, never Mom, Momma, or Mommy. My life was boring, school, homework, piano lessons, ballet lessons, bedtime. Every day. No tv. No movies. No video games. No fun. "Mother knows best," She always said. Anytime I questioned her she'd answer with "Mother knows best," That meant the discussion was over. I wonder why I haven't heard my mother's voice yet. I'm surprised she isn't there yelling at me to get out of bed and get to school because "Nothing is more important than school," and "Being sick isn't a reason to be lazy," In her mind, there was no reason to miss school, ever. I've been to school even when I was puking my guts out, I had to hide it so I could be at school so Mother wouldn't punish me. So, where is she?

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------James pov (Before the phone call with Chance)

Chance is late. Chance is never late, he believes in punctuality and when he says he'll be home at six, he'll be home at six. It's now 7:30 and he hasn't called. I pulled my phone out and scrolled through my contacts until I got to Chance's name. I clicked his name and waited for him to answer. Chance answered after the fourth ring.

"Chance, why haven't you been answering your phone all afternoon?" I demanded,

"I've been a little busy," Chance said,

"Busy with what? Linda said you ran out of the office with hardly a word to anyone," I said,

"I had to go to the hospital," Chance said,

"Hospital? Why? Are you sick?" I asked,

"No, not for me,"  Chance said,

"Then, why'd you go to the hospital?" I asked,

"To see our sister," Chance said,

"Sister? Ella's here," I said,

"How could you forget we have two sisters," Chance said,

"L-lily?" I asked,

"Yes," Chance said,

"Lily, our Lily, is in the hospital?" I asked,

"Yes," Chance said,

"Why? Is she okay? Where's that mother of ours?" I asked,

"Car accident, mother's gone and they want me to take custody of Lily," Chance said,

"Are you?" I asked,

"Of course," Chance said,

"Is she okay?" I asked,

"She's okay, but she's in a coma," Chance said,

"A coma?" I asked,

"Yeah, apparently she hit her head on the car window and she has some swelling so they put her in a medically induced coma to hopefully bring the swelling down," Chance said,

"Can, can we see her?" I asked,

"Yeah, sorry I didn't call earlier. I was in shock," Chance said,

"It's alright, I'd be in shock if I got that call too," I said,

"Well, get down here, she's waiting," Chance said,

"Okay, see you in a few," I said.

I put my phone down and stood there in shock. Lily, my baby sister, was laying in a coma in the hospital. I hadn't seen her since she was a year old and it killed me inside every year that went by that she wasn't home where she was supposed to be. I never understood why our mother wanted her out of all of us. She didn't show any interest in the girls when they were babies and then the divorce happened and she decided she wanted Lily. She never paid any attention to Lily and yet she still took her. Anyways, I was still standing there when Julian found me.

"Hey, what are you doing? Do you know where Chance is, it's an hour and a half after he said he'd be home," Julian said, 

"I just talked to him and he's at the hospital," I said, 

"Why? Is he sick?" Julian asked, 

"No," I said,

"Is he hurt?" Julian asked, 

"No, he's visiting our sister," I said, 

"But Ella's here and she's fine," Julian said, 

"Not Ella, Lily," I said, 

"Lily? Lily's in the hospital? Where's her mother? Why is she there? Is she okay?" Julian asked, 

"Calm down, she's fine. Lily and our mother were in a car accident. Mom's gone and they asked Chance to take custody of Lily," I said, 

"Is he? He better be, otherwise I will," Julian said, 

"Of course he is and we're going down there to see her so go get everyone in the living room," I said.

A few minutes later, Julian, Henry, Liam, Nolan, Ella and I were in the living room.

"Okay, so, we're all going to the hospital," I started,

"Why?" Henry asked, 

"We're going because Chance is there and so is our sister," I said, 

"You mean Lily?" Liam asked, 

"Yes, Lily and Mom were in a car accident and Mom didn't make it. Lily's there now and Chance is with her," I said, 

"Mom's gone?" Nolan asked, 

"Yes, and Chance is taking custody of Lily," I said, 

"So, she's coming home?" Ella asked, 

"Yes," I said, 

"Can she sleep in my room tonight?" Ella asked, 

"Ella, she's not coming home tonight," I said,

"Why not?" Ella asked, 

"She has to stay in the hospital for a little while, Kitty," I said, 

"Why?" Ella asked, 

"Because she was hurt in the accident and the doctors have to make her better before she come's home," I said, 

"What exactly is wrong with her?" Henry asked, 

"I don't know exactly because Chance didn't tell me but I do know that she's in a coma," I said,

"What's a coma?" Ella asked, 

"It just means that she's asleep and she hasn't woken up yet," I said,

"Oh, when is she going to wake up?" Ella asked, 

"We don't know yet, that's what makes it a coma. They don't know when a person will wake up," I said, 

"Why?" Ella asked, 

"She's hurt and her body is making her sleep so it can heal itself," I said, 

"Oh, so when it's done healing itself, she'll wake up?" Ella asked, 

"Yeah, so let's get down there and see our sister," I said.

We got in the cars and started the drive to the hospital. Looking at my brothers, their thoughts were clear on their faces, they were in shock. We never expected to get this kind of news and now here we were, on our way to see the little sister we haven't seen in ten years. Looking at Ella, it was clear she was excited to meet her twin. We've told Ella about Lily and she'd ask from time to time when she would meet her and we never had an answer for her. Now, she was going to meet her. Finally, we pulled into the hospital's parking lot, we got out, went into the lobby and there was Chance. No one said a word as we followed Chance deeper into the hospital. We walked for a while and then we came to a door. There was a nameplate on the wall next to the door. Monson, Lillianna, it said. Chance opened the door and we followed him in. And there she was. Lily was laying quietly in the bed, she was wrapped in bandages and her left arm was in a cast. She was asleep, like I knew she would be, and she had a breathing mask on. She had her same brown hair and freckles across her face, she was pale and she had dark circles under her eyes like she hadn't slept for ten years. My heart broke seeing her this way and I silently willed her to open her eyes, to look at us. It was like she was there but she wasn't. 

I moved closer to her and I gently took her hand in mine, it felt wrong for her hand to feel so limp. I begged her to squeeze my hand back, I begged her to realize we were all here with her and she should wake up. I wanted her to wake up more than I had ever wanted anything in my life. I looked at her face and it seemed so calm and serene. I wanted to see her big blue eyes again, those eyes, so full of light and life. 

"We can talk to her, let her know we're here," Chance said, 

"Can she hear us?" Ella asked, 

"I like to think she can," Chance said, 

"I really want to know if she can hear us," Ella said, 

"She can, she's probably listening to us right now and she's just waiting for the right moment to wake up," I said, 

"James, can you stay here with her, I'm going to take the others to get a drink," Chance said, 

"Okay," I said.

After they left, I sat in the chair next to her bed and just looked at her. She was beautiful, you could tell that she would be a beauty when she got older but she was so pretty already. I didn't know if I believed that stuff about comatose patients being able to hear people talking to them but I decided to try anyway. Maybe she could hear me and maybe she can't, but it doesn't really matter either way. 

"Hey Sunshine, it's Jimmy. I used to call you Sunshine all the time and I haven't seen you since you were a baby and I've missed you so much. I don't know if you can hear me or not, but it doesn't matter either way. Please, Lily, wake up. I miss you and I want, no, I need you to come back. Please, wake up," I pleaded.

I held her hand and watched her face to see if she heard me. I squeezed her hand gently as I waited. As I was holding her hand, I felt a finger twitch. I looked at her hand and watched as it slowly squeezed my hand, then her hand went still and limp again. It was quick and light, but I was sure she'd actually moved her hand. I almost jumped up and jumped for joy but I didn't. But, it seemed like she'd heard me and was about to come back to us.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Lily's pov

There was a voice, and it was pulling me to the surface. I listened to the voice, it wasn't Chance this time, it was someone else. Jimmy asked me to wake up, to come back. For just a second, I could feel my hand again. For some reason, I wanted him to know I'd heard him and I needed to move. I could feel his hand holding mine and I begged my hand to move, suddenly, my hand moved. I gently squeezed his hand and then I slipped back into the darkness.

================================================================================Author's pov

Thanks for reading! See you in the next chapter!!

Lots of love, Starfire