All That I've Got

"What happened?!" Dr. Scott asked worriedly when he walked back into the room, seeing the fact that I was probably losing my mind in this one breakdown.

"Jake kinda upset her with telling her something that I think her parents were trying to keep quiet about," Frank said, arms still wrapped tightly around me.

"Ms. Winters, breathe, deep breathsdear," he said softly as he approached the bed, squatting down so that he was at my level.

I obediently followed his directions, though the breaths weren't as deep as he was hoping. All my oxygen was being used up too quickly with the crying.

He mouthed something to Frank, I could tell because I felt his head move on my shoulder, though I had no idea that the doctor was planning to stick a needle full of something into my arm. That'd explain the reason for what happened next, something that shocked everyone.

I'd felt the needle prick my skin, realizing why Frank was holding me a bit tighter than usual. I had absolutely no control of what happened, but I knew I wasn't even thinking when I did it.

"No! Please stop, ow..." I sobbed as Frank held me, trying to calm me down. But even though they'd seemed to hear me, the medicine was already taking effect, and everything soon went black, my body going limp in Frank's arms.

Frank's P.O.V.

"Did she just..." I trailed off, looking down in disbelief at my friend, her heart slowly returning to a normal beat, breathing calming down.

"I believe she did," Dr. Scott said running a hand through his hair. "That must've put a lot of pressure on her lungs though, what did you say to her?" he asked, turning to look at Jake.

"I made the mistake of telling her that our mother was pregnant, and she probably hates me right now. She's going through a lot right now. I shouldn't have brought it up in the first place," Jake sighed.

"She was bound to find out sometime," I said, head still rested on Carys' shoulder.

"Frank, she only talked because we were hurting her! Mom didn't want to say anything because she knew Carys would take it the wrong way. Everyone's a mess because of this. We don't even know what happened to Carys before our parents put her in that place, and we might never find out!" Jake said, almost close to tears. "I feel like it's my fault. I'm her brother and I wasn't here to protect her, it is my fault."

"I think you should just take a breather, both of you. A nurse'll be looking after her, she'll be fine. I don't want to see either of you in this hospital for an hour unless you're badly injured, now shoo! The medicine'll have warn off by then," the doctor said as he dismissed us, holding the door open for Jake.

I gently lied Carys back down, quietly walking out of the room after Jake. Part of me ached to go back despite the doctor's orders, but I knew that I needed to set Jake straight first. So much stress could wreck a person, and he knew that he didn't deserve to take the bulk of it.

"Jake, wait up bud," I said as we stepped out of the hospital, walking faster to catch up with him. "Dude, this isn't your fault, it's not anyone's fault-"

"Frank, stop," he said as he continued to walk.

"No, hear me out Jake, please. You're not the only one stressed out over this, I practically grew up with Carys. You think it's not hard for me to see my best friend going through this? You're right, we don't know what happened to Carys either before or during the time she was in the asylum, but we can't find anything out if we blame this on each other. It's not going to help," I said as I stood in front of him, arms crossed over my chest as I looked up at him. "Carys couldn't be luckier to have a brother like you. Would you be here if you didn't care about her? She's not mad at you, maybe at your parents, but please, just chill."

"I don't know what to think Frank, honestly. When I found out Mom was pregnant with Carys I thought I was being replaced, but I got over it. Carys broke down and nearly hyperventalated when she got the news. All I know is that when I went off to college, she was fine. It's hard to see her go through this and know that I can't help her, that I can't make the pain go away," he said sitting down on a bench, head in his hands. "That asylum only made things worse, how are we supposed to find out what happened there?"

"I don't know Jake, but there's got to be a way. Carys isn't the only one that's made it out of that asylum, it's been around for almost twenty years now, have you heard of the Internet?" I asked smiling. "There's got to be something or someone that knows what's going on there. If we can stop other people from going through what your sister is battling right now, wouldn't that make you happy?"

"We can do all the research we want, but there'd be no way to prove it unless someone from the inside actually experienced it," Jake said, a smile slowly starting to form on his lips, I didn't like where this was going.

"Now that's just flat out crazy Jake, were you paying attention when the doctor said they were heavily drugging your sister? They were trying to keep her quiet and almost killed her. Have you heard of medical malpractice? Are you even listening to me, Jake?!" I asked, waving my hand in his face, trying to stop whatever plot he was formulating in his head.

"I think I have an idea," he said smirking. "But I'm going to need some help first."

"Jake, you can't be serious. You're not actually going to admit yourself into that asylum, are you?" I asked, hoping to the heavens that he was kidding, but his face was dead serious. He was doing this whether I objected or not.

Ten Minutes Later: The Winters' House

"You want to do what?! Jacob, are you losing it? They nearly killed your sister and you want to admit yourself into that awful place? We don't even have proof that they did anything but give her some prescription every week!" Mrs. Winters screamed after Jake had proposed his brilliant idea to his parents.

"Beth, he's 19, he doesn't need our permission," Mr. Winters said calmly, as if he was actually thinking about this.

"Yes, but I do need help. They took Carys in because she was emotionally unstable. They know she's in the hospital and if I did admit myself they'd know something was up the second they saw my last name," Jake explained in the same tone that his father had used.

"But Jake, you have college to worry about. You're supposed to be leaving for England in two weeks to make up that test that everyone missed. They could kick you out if you don't make it back in time," Mrs. Winters said sighing. It seemed she and I were the only realistic ones in this discussion.

"Forget college-" Jake started, shutting up quickly when his father gave him the look that said to chill out. "Okay, I didn't mean that, but Mom, I can take my classes online, as well as the test. Hell, if I do make it into that place I can continue in my classes like I never left."

"That's not my point Jake, my point is that they could kill you, do you understand that? You're stronger than Carys, but by what Doctor Scott was saying, they have the medication to get the job done without anyone knowing the truth. Whatever the hell they injected my daughter with is still inside of her. Carys could die, do you know how painful it is to think about what I'd do if that happened? I love both of you so much, seeing one of you in pain and not being able to help is already tearing me up inside. I can't think about what I'd do if that happened to you too Jake," Mrs. Winters said, shaking her head.

"Mom, I love Carys more than life itself, if I have to risk my life to save hers, then I'm going to do it. Either you help me or not. I have to find out what they did to my little sister and if it saves other kids from going through what she is right now, then I'm jumping at the chance. I promise you that I'm going to make it out of there," Jake said as his mother met his eyes.

"You better," she said sniffling as she wrapped her arms around him. It seemed like Jake had convinced her somewhat. "Now we've got to work the kinks out of your crazy plan. Hopefully it'll work out the way you're convinced it will."

Only this family would be able to pull together like this. But even though I still strongly objected to this plan, it was like Jake had said, it was so crazy, it just might work.