I Guess I Figured That It Hurt for a Reason

“Penny! I’m home!” I shouted into my house. My little sister just graduated high school and to escape the stress our parents were putting on her, she moved in with me. There was no way I’d be making her pay rent with what I was doing. She could live here with no problem and didn’t have to worry about a lot. I did make sure she got a job, though, for her own sake.
“Penny?” I called again, starting to feel a little uneasy. When she didn’t respond she was usually just in her room listening to music too loudly, but something felt wrong today. I knocked on her door and when she didn’t answer, my stomach just fell. She was probably at her desk with her purple headphones on the top of her head blaring out her favourite music.
When I opened the door I found the last thing I wanted to see. My sister was laying face down in the dark green carpet. Blood pooled from her wrists and she held a bottle limply in her left hand. My brain works in overdrive, seeing her like this.
“Penny! Penny, shit, please! Wake up! Please wake up! Fuck, please!” I begged, falling down by her. Yelling and begging isn’t going to help her. I pull my phone out and dial 911 quickly.
“911, what’s your emergency?” the lady asked on the other end.
“My sister attempted suicide,” I said, almost frantic. I gave her my address and within minutes sirens were blaring outside. Somehow I pull myself away from her long enough to open the door. After she’s wheeled outside, I close the door behind myself and sit in the front seat of the ambulance. We get to the hospital quickly and she’s rushed inside and they take care of her.
The doctor gets her stomach pumped and the stitch up her wrists. Penny’s never had stitches before. She was completely against getting her wisdom teeth out just yet because she wanted to see how long she could go without ever needing stitches. She was gonna be pissed when she woke up to find out that she had stitches. A bitter laugh left me as I waited for the doctors to tell me I could see her.
It took them five hours to fix her up completely before they’d let me see her. They were running all sorts of tests in the meantime to see what was going on with her. Once they were sure she was stable, they let me see her. She was in the ICU for at least tonight, to make sure that she would be stable enough without constant care. When I walked into the room, my heart dropped. My sister was hooked up to beeping machines -- she hated them -- and there was an IV in her arm. Seeing her like this fucking broke me. It just reminded me of our brother and that just made everything worst. I lost him and there was no way I could lose her, too.
Behind her bed there was a small couch built under the window. There was no way I would comfortably fit on it, but I was gonna have to. Somehow, sleep took me away almost immediately. When I woke up, I was beyond angry to find out that I was still in the hospital and my sister was still laying in that bad. That’s when something occurred to me: my best friend wasn’t here.
I pulled out my phone quickly and texted Jack. It was around 2am, so I had no idea if he was going to be awake and see the text, but at least he’d get it.
On my way, was all his reply text said. When he got here we talked a bit and he cried. I don’t think I’ve seen Jack cry like that before. I mean, I’ve seen him heartbroken before, but never like this. And, to be honest, it added to the heartbreak I was feeling, too. We eventually fell asleep, reluctantly waiting for morning.