One Pack of Smokes from Broke.

Charlie lie in her bed, her heart beating violently in her chest. She stared up at the ceiling of her bedroom, her brown eyes wide. A thin layer of sweat covered her forehead. Her breathing was in fast, loud pants. She turned her head to look at the clock on her bedside table, it read just after 4AM.

She'd dreamt of him.

She traced the scars on her left thigh longingly. She hadn't harmed herself in over a month, since John found out. That fucking water proof makeup was a lie. she thought angrily. He'd made her promise not she wouldn't do it anymore. She agreed because she knew it was time to stop.

She wasn't getting anywhere with hurting herself. Sure, the physical pain was a distraction from the internal and mental agony, but enough was enough. She saw how much it hurt John and she couldn't bare to see him look at her like that again.

So she vowed to stop cutting for John, but it was nights like these that it was hardest to keep her promise.

As her breathing slowed, her thoughts moved from him to a night she'd never forget.

It was Charlie's mid sophomore year in high school, and she'd just gotten home from a girl's night out with her older sister, Emma.

They laughed as they walked through the front door of their home, expecting to see their parents curled up on the couch together, enjoying their alone time.

They, however, were gone.

"Maybe they went out?" Emma suggested with a shrug.

"Wouldn't they have called us? Or left a note at least?" Charlie countered.

Emma took out her phone, calling both of their parent's cell phones.

"Hmm, no answer."

"It looks like they left in a hurry, Em." Charlie said as she nibbled nervously on her bottom lip.

It was true. The doors had been left unlocked. The TV was still on. Most of the lights were on. Their mother's purse was left sitting on her desk.

"Don't you worry your pretty little head about it, Char. They're fine, baby girl. Why don't you go to bed, yeah? You got school tomorrow." Emma cooed reassuringly at her younger sister. She always treated Charlie like she was younger than she actually was, but she couldn't help it. She'd always think of her as her baby sister.

After Emma knew that Charlie was tucked into bed, she stood in the living room. She knew she was being silly, but she felt she had to at least check. She did the only thing she knew to do.

She remembered back to a time that her family was going to visit her and Charlie's grandmother. When they arrived at their grandmother's home, no one was there. Her mother tried calling, but no one answered. Her mother called the nearest hospital, just to be sure, and sure enough, their grandmother was there.

Emma proceeded to punch in the numbers to the hospital closest to their house. Once someone answered, she asked if there was anyone admitted under the name of Adam or Anne Green. After a short pause, the woman confirmed that there was an Adam Green that'd just been admitted.

Emma hung up the phone without saying anything. She ran up the stairs and into Charlie’s room, who shot up immediately at the sudden noise. She’d always be a light sleeper.

“Come on, Char! We gotta get in the car, now! Dad’s in the hospital!”

Charlie ran with her sister back down the stairs and out the door, only stopping to grab shoes they’d put on in the car.

As Emma drove out of the drive way, Charlie asked “What happened?” frantically.

“I-I don’t know. I just called the hospital to check, like Mom did for Grams. Once they said Dad was there, I just hung up and got you.” She explained shakily as she drove to the hospital as fast as possible.

The next events were all a blur. They drove to the hospital. They made their way throughout it, being stopped by multiple people behind desks. After 20 minutes or so, they were lead to their mother sitting outside an operating room. She sat sobbing with her face in her hands.

Charlie and Emma ran to their mother’s sides, hugging her and asking her what happened.

“Girls!” she exclaimed when she looked up at them. “Oh, my God! I forgot to call! I’m so sorry, it’s just-“ she broke off, crying into Emma’s chest.

It turned out that their father had been going to the grocery store quickly, but got hit by a drunk driver. It’d been very nasty. The driver wasn’t driving just any old car; he was driving a shipping truck. He’d t-boned their father at an intersection, his car had flipped twice. When the paramedics got there, their father was just barely on the brink of death. They brought him to the hospital, regardless.

After 15 minutes of staying outside the operating room, a doctor emerged, his face sorrowful.

He cleared his throat. “I’m very sorry, but there isn’t anything we can do. We allow you to spend the last moments together, if you’d like.” The doctor announced of their mother’s cries.

He nodded at the girls as he and other medical members left the room. Their mother stumbled her way to her dying husband's side, Charlie and Emma close behind her.

They cried and held each other as they watch Adam Green die.

Weeks went by, and their mother stayed locked away in her room. She only started drinking after Emma left.

Emma came into Charlie's room about 2 months after their father's death.

"I can't take it anymore, Charlie! All she does is cry all day and I just can't stand it here anymore! I'm leaving tonight. I swear I'd take you with me if I could, I really would. But, I can't."

"Where are you going?" Charlie asked, fighting the tears.

"New York," she paused, going to sit next to Charlie on her bed. "Listen, I don't think things are going to get any better here. I want you to try and get out, too. Go stay with Jack. Or John, you know he'd take you in in a heart beat. Yeah, I;m glad you have him. I know he'll take care of you while I'm gone, he's a good guy and he loves you just as much as I do... I don't want you here with her, Charlie." Emma looked at her with pity.

Charlie wasn't upset anymore, she was mad. "I am not leaving my mother. She needs us more than ever, and I would never leave her. She's our mother, how could you?"

Emma just shook her head, standing from Charlie's bed. She bent over to kiss Charlie on her wavy brunette head before going to stand in the doorway.

"I'm leaving now. My shits all packed. I love you, Charlotte."

Charlie didn't look at her, she glared down at her hands as the tears of frustration and devastation escaped her eyes. She didn't look up as her sister left her all alone, to deal with the coming drastic changes of her mother.

Charlie sighed, thinking of the last time she'd seen and spoken to her sister.

She rolled over in bed, suddenly exhausted. She silently prayed nightmares would stay away for the rest of the night.