Natural Disaster ((Closed))

[Mackenzie Holden]

"What? Why is she here?" "I don't know, Pamela, maybe she had something she couldn't deal with at school." "Why don't you go in and ask her, Hank?" "Because, last time she nearly ripped my head of." "Oh for the love of Pete!" "Why don't both of you just shut up and let the girl who came home in the middle of the night to visit her sick step-brother, sleep?!" Mack threw an extra pillow at the door that led to the hallway from her room. She heard them scurry off and then collapsed back onto her pillows, her eyes surveying the room. It was like yesterday when she had first arrived at the house and Trevor was showing her what should have been Madilyn's diary. Mack groaned as she rolled over onto her side and stared blankly at the wall. It was a weekend and Mack had arranged to leave Hogwarts so she could see how Trevor was doing. Of course, letting her parents know that she was coming home would have been a good idea. Oh, it was pointless trying to go back to sleep. Mack sighed and slid out of bed, grabbed her white cotton robe and headed out to the dining room for breakfast. She knew it wasn't past nine, her parents would be out of the house by then.

Once she entered the dining room the conversation between the two adults stopped at once, "Good morning to you, too." Mack greeted with a sour expression on her face. She took her usual spot at the table and reached for the orange juice. They stared at her incredulously as she ate her breakfast in silence. When she was finished, she looked at them both, her elbows sitting gently on the table and nodded, "I came back for Trevor. To see how he is," she stared at Hank who was about to say something, 'Yes, I know, if there were any changes you would write to me and Dix, but honestly; sometimes I don't believe you're telling the complete truth. And I have reason to believe that, don't I dear mum?" Pam's mouth opened and Mack smiled a smug smile. "Now, I'm going to get showered and dressed, and I expect Jerry to be waiting." Mack pushed her chair away from the table and went into her bathroom.

Mack wrapped the towel around her soaked body and then made her way into her bathroom. At least this time she knew Trevor wouldn't end up barging in on her. Sighing, Mack got dressed into a pair of jeans and a black t-shirt with a camouflage jacket. She pulled on a pair of navy blue converses and then ran a brush through her hair while drying it off with a hair dryer. She hated how she had to actually do things the muggle way because of the underage wizarding law. Of course, she could just have her mum do it - but Mack didn't want to have to call her mother into her room. It only took a couple of minutes for her blonde hair to be dried and curled. She then applied some lipgloss and eye make up before grabbing her grungy green shoulderbag purse and making her way to the entrance hall where she knew Jerry would be standing and waiting. He was. They left the house and got into the car, where they drove to the hospital. Mack looked out the window as they drove by all of the houses.

Soon they had arrived at the hospital and Mack nearly leapt out of the car, she felt like she had been suffocating in there. She ran her fingers through her hair and then entered the hospital. It was rather busy, but that was good. No one would recognize her then. She hadn't had to sign any autographs just yet, because -thankfully- she wasn't that known. It could start any day though. Mack walked to the nurses station and gave her name, she was then escorted to Trevor's room. The nurse left her alone with Trevor, and Mack stood frozen in spot as the door closed behind her. After a moment of standing there she thought she heard him speak, but realized it was her mind and what he would be saying; C'mon, Mackenzie, I don't bite. Mack inched closer and pulled the seat next to his bed. Finding his hand as her eyes remained on his face, Mack saw the tears well up in them. Through the water she looked at his scratched up face and his nose that was mending. Slowly, Mack lowered her head to his hand and let the tears fall.

Sure, Trevor was a jerk. Yeah, he got on her nerves. But he was family. He was someone who understood Mack more than anyone besides Jack. Yes, him and Jack didn't get along in the least bit. But the two boys were the most important thing to her in her life. More than anything, and seeing one of them hurt... or close to dead.... tore Mack apart. She didn't show her true emotions, afraid of what others would think. Jack didn't know how much she was hurting... She didn't think he would be able to make her feel any better, even with how much she wished he could. "Am I another casuality? In the battle you're fighting? You're your own worst enemy. You're at war with yourself and you can't see..." Mack whispered as her tears continued to roll off her cheeks. She lifted her head as she felt his hand twitch slightly. Her eyes penetrated him and Mack continued, this time starting to sing.

"And I can't stand to watch your comet coming fast. Everywhere you go it seems that lightening strikes and then you crash. I don't know how you do it. It always ends the same. Everywhere you go it seems lightening strikes but there's no rain." Another twitch in his hand. Mack looked down at it and then back up after a few beats, continuing to sing, "Feel like you're moving in slow motion. And you don't know where you're going. You tried it all and it's too boring. Tighten up your grip cause it's a long way down. I can't stand to watch your comet coming fast. Everywhere you go it seems that lightening striks and then you crash. I don't know how you do it. It always ends the same. Everywhere you go it seems lightening strikes but there's no rain."

Mack expected another movement, or rather hoped for one. When none came, she sat there and watched Trevor. His breathing was steady. "This is stupid, like my singing could bring him out of the coma." Mack scolded herself and then dropped his hand. But before she could pull her hand back Trevor's hand reached out and grabbed hers. With a gasp, Mack looked at Trevor. His blue eyes were open and he smirked, "The song might have been stupid, but the idea was most definitely not."

[Mackenzie Holden]

"Am I another casulty? In the battle you're fighting? You're your own worst enemy. At war with yourself but you can't see. And I can't stand to watch your comet coming fast. Everywhere you go it seems lightening strikes and then you crash. I don't know how you do it. It always ends the same. Everywhere you go it seems lightening strikes but there's no rain. No rain." Mack's fingers played over the guitar strings as she figured out the lyrics. They were lyrics that had played over in her head through a dream for the past two months. The dream had been so frequent that Mack could write it down as a story. The first time it had happened it had felt like it was real, and it had scared Mack. She even wrote home, asking for any news. Of course, nothing had changed. Trevor was still in a coma and the chances of him waking up any time soon were very slim to none. She knew the dream was probably just a catalyst to get her to start writing again, and this was what came from it. "Feel like you're moving in slow motion. And you don't know where you're going. You tried it all and it's too boring. Tighten up your grip cos it's a long way down. And I can't stand to watch your comet coming fast. Everywhere you go it seems lightening strikes and then you crash. I don't know how you do it. It always ends the same. Everywhere you go it seems lightening strikes but there's no rain."

She couldn't get anything more from it. That was all from her dream and she couldn't bring herself to finish the song. She just didn't have any inspiration inside of her to continue it. Mack lifted her eyes from the guitar she held and looked around her room. The big sleigh bed was in the center of the wall on the right by the door that led to the bathroom. Her amoire was placed in the corner by the door that led to the hall, and her vanity table next to that. She had a computer desk in the corner by the window that gave her a view of the land they owned and she had a lamp, some books and a computer on top of that. The room was bare, it was nothing like her dorm at Hogwarts. Of course, it wasn't. Mack felt more at home at Hogwarts than she did at the Laurie manor. Mack set her guitar against the wall and pushed herself up from the ground. She felt like she had lead in her stomach, it was a common feeling by now. Why couldn't she finish the song? The dream never finished it for her. The dream always ended with Trevor waking up and he most definitely was not awake. Mack couldn't even sing to him, she hadn't visited him at all. That was why she had come back to the manor for the weekend. Perhaps she could get enough courage to visit him.

Mack sighed and opened the door that led to the hallway where she made her way to the living room where she knew her mother and Hank would be. She lingered in the doorway after she had seen them both in there reading. Hank was reading the newspaper and Pam was reading a book she had read many times before. "Mackenzie, are you going to come in or continue to pace in front of the doorway?" Mack stopped pacing and stepped into the room where Hank looked up from his paper with an expectant look on his face. "What can we do for you?" Mack sat down almost immediately on the satte, by now they were both looking at her. Mack swallowed the lump in her throat and looked Hank straight in the eye, "I want to see Trevor." Hank's eyes narrowed and he put his newspaper on the table beside his armchair. "Do you?" "Yes, I do." Hank looked at Pam and nodded, "OK." "But I want to go alone."

[Mackenzie Holden]

The hospital in which Trevor was being kept was small and smelled of medicine or overly used cleaning products. Nurses rushed about, some dressed in a maroon and others in a teal. They all wore the same vacant expression; as if they didn’t believe any of their patients would ever get well. The expression made Mack sick to her stomach. She placed her right hand on it gently, to settle her nerves. What was she doing here? Trevor probably wouldn’t even want to see her if he were awake. She knew she was there because of the dream. The dream that kept teasing her with the recovery of Trevor. Was Mack really naïve enough to think a dream could really come true? Yes. Mack sighed and pushed the up button on the elevator. After an excruciating three minutes of waiting, the doors slid open and revealed an empty room. She stepped inside and slowly pushed the button with the number 7 on it. It was the top floor. The elevator lurched into motion and started rising at a rather fast speed. She gripped the railing that was around the wall, waiting for the elevator to stop. Next time, I’m taking the stairs. The doors slid open and Mack had to control herself so she wouldn’t run out in tears.

The hallways were empty as Mack made her way toward Trevor’s room. Her stomach felt like she was going to pass out. She took a deep breath and then pushed open the closed door to Trevor’s room. Trevor was fortunate enough, or rich enough, to have his own room. He didn’t have to deal with any annoying neighbors. The television was on even though he probably wasn’t even aware of it. Mack stood in the doorway a moment, before closing the door and taking a seat in the chair beside his bed. He looked just like he had in her dream. His blonde hair had grown out and he had started to grow a mustache. Mack grinned as her fingers fiddled with his blue cotton blanket. He would look semi-peaceful if he hadn’t been flitting his eyes about underneath his lids. The sight was sad and Mack had to keep herself from yelling at him to wake up. What could she do? What would wake him up?

“I had this dream.” Mack suddenly said. She felt the need to tell him about her dream. “It was mostly about you. I came to visit you and in this visit I start to sing and you… you wake up.” Mack watched his emotionless face. Would he wake up? She shook her head, how stupid was that? He was so quiet, it scared her. Even when he was all beat up, he had something to say. It was weird not hearing him saying something snide to her. She almost missed it. Almost. Mack sighed and lay her head on her hands which were folded on top of the blue cotton blanket. She sat in silence, trying to banish her thoughts. Mack hated feeling the way she did. Helpless. Why hadn’t she just gone to her parents about his condition when she had gotten the call from Jamie? Why had she been so stupid? Mack was going over all the why’s that had been in her head since that night during the summer. She should have done many things, and she hadn’t done any. Why? Because she was too proud. Too proud to go to her mother, who she believed she wouldn’t be too much help anyway, and too proud to go to a doctor, because why would she go to the doctor if she knew how to handle it? Mack held back the tears, trying not to let her weakness and frustration show.

“Miss Bradshaw?” Mack looked up confused. Her eyes darted to the door and there stood a man in a white coat, he had a stethoscope around his neck and a clipboard in his hand. “Holden.” Mack replied curtly. The man looked confused a moment now and then nodded as if he realized she wasn’t blood related. “I have some news about your step-brother’s current state.” Mack rose from her seat slowly and crossed her arms, waiting to hear the news. The doctor seemed uncomfortable, as if it were his first time doing this. Maybe it was. Mack pursed her lips together as she waited. Finally the doctor broke the silence, “It doesn’t look promising, but I’m sure you already knew that. The only reason he is living is because he is on life support. I’ve asked your step-father numerous times what he wishes to do with it, and he has never given me a full answer.” The doctor’s eyes went to Trevor, and Mack wanted to yell at him and tell him to not look at her step-brother. “I’m afraid this isn’t doing anything but running up your bill.” “So, you’re saying…” “I’m asking you to talk to your step father about taking Trevor off life support.” It was as if her world was crashing around her. Take Trevor off life support? But that would mean he would… “Die?” Mack had trouble forming the word with her mouth, “No, I’m sorry Doc but I can’t talk my step-father into doing that. I can’t let Trevor… die.” The doctor now looked like he had been doing this his whole life. His eyes faded into pools of false sympathy and his face aged a whole twenty years in two seconds.

“I understand, but Miss Holden, your step-brother is virtually dead already. He has nothing going on in his mind.” Mack didn’t buy it. It was only seconds ago that she had seen his eyelids move. There had to be something going on in that cynical mind of his for that to happen. Didn’t there? Mack stared at the doctor who was trying to talk her into murdering her brother. That’s what this was. Murder. Murder that was legal. Mack shook her head and took her seat again, “I won’t silently murder my step-brother.” Before the doctor could protest to the use of the word ‘murder,’ Mack held up her hand, her blue eyes icy. “It is murder, Doctor. Legal murder and I won’t allow myself to be a part of it. If you think it’s necessary, contact my step-father. He will deal with it from there. If there is anything else, please present it now, but if not, leave me be. I came here to visit Trevor, not some ill excuse of a doctor.” The doctor stuttered as he thought of something to say, but such words from a small girl as Mackenzie Holden were pungent and almost far too bold. He stepped out of the room and closed the door. Mack sighed angrily, who did they think they were?

Mack sank in her chair, putting her head in her hands. She sat in silence and decided that it was time to leave. Mack slowly stood and strode to the door. The moment her hand touched the handle, a voice whispered her name. “Don’t open it, Kenze.” Mack closed her eyes. Maybe it was just all a dream. No one was speaking to her. No one. Trevor was still in the coma and that stupid doctor had just left after asking her to murder her step-brother. She opened the door a little, but this time the voice spoke with a stronger and more firm tone, “I’m telling you Mackenzie Sara, don’t leave.” Angrily, Mack whipped around and slammed the door; half expecting to see Jamie hiding in the corner or something. What she saw was what she least expected. Trevor was looking directly at her, and fiddling with the oxygen mask that now hung around his neck awkwardly. Trevor groaned and leaned back into his pillows as Mack stood there in awe, “Ugh, I feel like I haven’t showered in months.” Such a Trevor thing to say when he woke up from a coma.

[Mackenzie Holden]

Mack kept waiting to wake up, but she never did. She stood there, her eyes glued on Trevor who was lying in his bed flipping through the television. This was all too surreal. Mack felt her stomach do a somersault and she gripped onto the counter with the sink on it so she wouldn’t fall. Her knees felt very weak and her head was spinning. Just to think that the Doctor had tried to convince her only moments before that Trevor was virtually dead. Mack felt sick to her stomach as her knees threatened even more to collapse. She slowly made her way to the chair she had previously been sitting in besides Trevor’s bed. She sank into the chair and watched Trevor grow agitated with the telly. “There’s nothing on!” He growled as he threw the clicker on the bed beside him. He looked at his step-sister with piercing blue eyes. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.” Trevor watched her and waited for a reply. Mack couldn’t believe this. He had been asleep for months and he was awake as if he hadn’t gotten beaten to a bloody pulp. It was just another mystery in Trevor Laurie. “Well?” He pressed when Mack didn’t produce an answer within two minutes.

“Bloody hell, Trev! I thought you weren’t ever going to wake up and right when I’m about to leave you actually do wake up. It’s surreal and frankly I think I’m hallucinating.” Mack ran her fingers through her hair tiredly and let her eyes fall to the tiled flooring. Without looking up, she could hear Trevor sigh and roll his eyes. “How long was I out, exactly?” he finally asked. Mack scoffed. How long? Long enough for the doctor to try and convince her to murder him. Trevor looked back at the television, his eyes glued to the screen but Mack knew he wasn’t watching. She could tell he was trying not to cry. “A while.” “Bollocks, Kenze. It’s been months, hasn’t it?” Mack looked at him, the tears now evident in his eyes. She nodded, knowing he could see her. Trevor sniffed and wiped at the tears angrily. “Well, bad boy’s awake now. Mums hide your daughters away, big bad’s back in town.” Trevor kept his eyes on the television screen still, and Mack couldn’t help but shake her head. “’Big bad’ is what got you into trouble in the first place, Trevor.” The reminder wasn’t necessary, but Trevor winced.

He was about to say something, but the door opened and two doctors entered. Mack’s eyes flickered back to Trevor who was leaning back in his bed with the oxygen mask back on and his eyes shut. “Jack-the-lad.” Mack whispered a phrase she had heard Trevor use plenty of times before while he was describing a friend of his. The doctors closed the door and turned to Mack. She waited for words to be said, and finally the doctor that had tried to convince her to kill Trevor earlier spoke. “Miss Holden, I’ve brought a colleague of mine to help me get you to understand that this is the best for all of your family members.” She raised an eyebrow and looked over at Trevor, he was still lying there, motionless. The doctor looked up at the television which was now playing cartoons compared to what it had been playing before, “Did you change the channel?” he asked with a questioning look. Mack shrugged with a smile on her face and she felt Trevor wiggle his finger slightly. Without waiting for an exact answer, he must have realized he wasn’t getting one, the doctor flipped through his clipboard and cleared his throat. While he did this, Trevor opened his eye and mouthed something to Mack. She immediately caught on to what he was saying and she nodded. Trevor closed his eye just as the doctor looked up and was about to start speaking.

“Oh, please, sir! Don’t make me kill my darling brother. Can’t you see that he’s holding onto something? He wants to live! He does!” Mack flung her arms around Trevor and let out wailing cries. Trevor growled in her ear quietly, “Don’t get too comfortable.” Mack wailed again and pulled away, wiping at her eyes. “He’s only sixteen; don’t make him die so young. Please, sir.” She stood from her chair and kneeled on the floor. There was silence, and the doctors seemed dumbfounded. Mack lowered her head in silent prayer and then she smirked with Trevor’s voice rang out, “Yeah, doc, I want to live. Let me live.” The doctors jumped and Mack smiled, lifting her head. “Virtually dead, huh?”