FicWad

"I want you to be Jackson's guardian if anything should ever happen to me."

Collette's head snapped up at this random comment. She and her sister were at their parents sitting in the family room just enjoying one another's company that March afternoon.

"What? Morgan, what are you talking about?" Collette asked confused.

"If something were to happen to me, I want you to be Jackson's guardian, not Kiefer," Morgan said seriously.

"Why in the world are we having this conversation right now?" Collette asked confused.

"I've already signed the papers," Morgan said not answering Collette's questions.

"Mo. What's going on? Why do you think something is going to happen to you?" Collette said getting worried.

Morgan just looked into her sister's eyes with sadness and fear.

"Morgan," Collette said again wanting an answer.

"Promise me, CoCo, please promise me you will take care of him," she said with her hand squeezing Collette's arms tightly.

Morgan's eyes burned into Collette and she had chills go down her body. Her sister was in trouble and there was nothing she could do about it.

"Alright, Mo. I'll guard him with my life," Collette said with fear in her voice.

Morgan took a sigh of relief and sat back in the couch staring out the window in silence. Collette didn't know what to say or do. She did know that Morgan was in trouble, but how can she help her if she doesn't tell her what was wrong?

"I knew something was wrong, but I didn't know what to do. She was my younger sister, Patrick, I should have been able to protect her," Collette cried as she told Patrick everything.

"How were you supposed to know what was going to happen," he soothed her.

"I should have known," she cried.


"Hello?" Collette answered the phone.

Silence.

"Hello?" Collette asked again sounding more than just annoyed.

"CoCo?" she heard whimpered on the other end.

"Morgan?" Collette stood up from her couch in fear.

"CoCo," she heard her sister cry.

"Oh my God. Morgan, where are you? Are you ok?" Collette asked rushing towards her purse to go get her sister.

"CoCo," she heard her cry again.

Why was she only saying her name? Why wasn't she answering Collette's question?

"Morgan, please. You need to tell me where you are," Collette insisted.

Silence.

"Morgan! Are you there?" Collette asked sounding frantic.

"I'm sorry," she heard a whisper and the line going dead.

"That was the last time that I heard my sister's voice. She sounded so scared and so sad," Collette said thinking back.

"God, Collette. That must have been horrible for you," Patrick said holding her tighter.

Collette just sat in his arms letting the tears run freely. It hurt her so much to be going into the past like this, but Patrick needed to know why Collette was so upset. He needed to know that she wasn't crazy and that her main priority in life was to protect Jackson.

"Morgan, hello!?" Collette answered the phone praying that it was Morgan calling her back. She had been trying to get a hold of her sister since the night before after the phone call.

"Collette," she heard her father's voice over the line. Collette's heart dropped. She knew deep down it was Morgan.

"Dad," she said back unable to form larger words.

"There's been an accident," he said trying very hard to stay strong for his eldest daughter.

"Dad," Collette said again crying.

"Morgan's gone, honey," he said as his voice broke slightly.

"No, Dad," Collette said falling to her knees, but keeping her phone clutched to her ear.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," he repeated into her ear.

"Not her, Dad. Not Mo!" she cried into the phone.

"I called Ben. He's on his way to pick you up and bring you to the hospital," her father said quietly.

Collette just nodded into the phone through sobs. She couldn't bring herself to talk anymore and she hung up the phone.

Collette remained on the floor crying until Ben came walking in solemnly.

"Jesus, Collette," he said running up to her upon seeing her curled into a ball.

"She's gone, Ben. She's gone," Collette cried.

Ben brought her into the bathroom and put a cold cloth on her face as she continued to let the tears fall.

"I can't do this," she said grabbing his hand from her face.

"Do what?" he asked quietly.

"Go on. I can't go on with out her. She's my best-friend," she said crying sounding hysterical.

"Collette, you have to. We have to get to the hospital," he said trying to pick her up.

Ben had been friends with both Morgan and Collette since he was born. He was a month younger than Morgan. He had always been there for the girls, and he more than just a brother to both of them.

"What's the point? What's at the hospital?" she asked not helping him pick her up.

"Jackson," Ben said simply.

Collette immediately stopped crying.

"Jackson?" she asked shocked. "What happened to him? Is he ok?" she asked.

"It was a car accident, CoCo. He was in the car with her," Ben said sounding shocked that Collette didn't know this information yet.

Collette quickly got up and ran out of the house with Ben close on her heels.

Collette's eyes blurred together as she ran through the hospital with tears freely falling from her eyes. She spotted her dad as soon as she turned the corner.

"Dad!" she yelled running up to him.

His face was wet with tears.

"Dad, Jackson, is he ok?" she asked in a state of panic.

"Yeah, the doctors said just some minor cuts and bruises. He'll be able to go shortly," he said quietly.

Collette let out a large breath she didn't know she was holding. She looked in the room past her father and saw her lying in there. Collette gasped in and put a hand up to her mouth.

"You can go in if you want to," he said in a near whisper.

Collette just nodded and walked into the dark room slowly. No one followed her. It was quieter than silence in the room. Collette stood by the bed that held her deceased sister. She scanned her body and noticed the cuts and bruises that were upon her. She still had tubes hooked up to her, but all the machines were at a deafening peace.

"Mo," Collette whispered and just stared down at her lifeless body.

"Why?" she said grabbing her sister's clammy cold hand and broke down into a fresh set of tears.

"Why?" she cried out loud again.

Collette wanted answers. She wanted to know what had happened to her sister. She wanted an explanation as to why God would take someone so not worth taking; someone who had more to do in life; someone with another life to raise. Why?

"She was running."

Collette's head shot up and looked towards the door. She saw Ben standing there now with tears in his eyes.

"What?" Collette asked looking back down at her sister.

"She had her car packed, and she was running away," he said again.

"From what?" Collette asked quietly.

"Him," Ben said simply. He knew all along Kiefer was good for nothing, but Morgan was so in love.

"How do you know this?" Collette asked allowing tears to fall. She didn't need to ask. She knew the truth. Everyone knew Kiefer was a bad guy.

"It was obvious," he said coughing slightly in order to hinder his voice from breaking.

"A car accident. Morgan," Collette said as if to scold her sister for driving carelessly.

"It wasn't an accident," Ben said not moving from his spot by the door.

Collette looked at him confused again.

"Ben, what are you talking about now?" she asked sounding more than just exhausted.

"The police were here before I came to get you. They were asking questions about us knowing if anyone wanted to hurt her. The scene of the accident is too precise. It was planned out. Someone hit her on purpose."

The words stung Collette's ears and suddenly everything was falling into place. Morgan knew. She knew all along that Kiefer was going to get her if she ran, but she had to try. That was Morgan's style. She always had to at least try. She knew it was risky, and that he would more than likely get to her before she could leave with their son. That's what the phone call was all about the night before. She knew. Morgan knew all along.

Collette looked down at her sister sympathetically again and started to cry.

"I'm sorry, Mo," she whispered and kissed her sister's forehead.

She looked up to Ben who stood there silently.

"Where's Jackson?" she asked letting go of her sister's hand.

Patrick held Collette in his arms the remainder of the night as she cried into his chest. As the truth piled out in front of them Patrick came to a whole new sense of realization. Everything was making sense now. Her reactions to certain situations, the continuous fear, and the underlying guilt that he didn't know she had; everything was coming together.

One question still remained. How was he going to convince her to stay?

-----

Patrick plopped down on his bed face first. He had finally gotten home from Collette's late the next afternoon. He was exhausted. He barely slept an ounce of sleep the previous night and he spent the entire day convincing Collette to stay where she was. It wasn't an easy task by all means.

"Hey," Pete said from Patrick's doorway.

He sounded like a little boy who had gotten into big trouble by his parents.

"Hi," Patrick said into his pillow.

"Are you ok?" Pete asked not moving from his spot at Patrick's door.

"Yeah," he said not making an effort to move.

Patrick was more than tired, but he knew he had to talk to Pete about everything, so he didn't loose anymore sleep over the incident.

"Does she hate me?" he asked walking over to Patrick's bed and sitting down.

Patrick took a deep breath. It was time for round two. He slowly rolled over onto his side and looked over at Pete, who was staring down at the floor.

"She doesn't hate you. She has a good explanation for everything. Trust me," Patrick said quietly.

"Will I ever get to see Jackson again?" he asked now looking over at Patrick.

"Of course you will. Her reaction was pure fear and nothing else," Patrick explained.

Pete looked over confused and Patrick proceeded to inform Pete on everything hoping to shed some light.

-----

"I can't believe it's been six weeks," Collette said from the backseat of Patrick's vehicle.

"Me either," Pete said from the driver's seat.

"How about you, Jacks? You ready to get that heavy thing off your arm?" Patrick asked turning to look at Jackson who had a huge smile on his face.

"Oh yeah," he said excitedly as he kicked his legs slightly.

Collette smiled over at him warmly. She didn't know how he did it, but Patrick had managed to talk Collette into staying where she was, despite the constant fear that she lived in. He brought up such things along the lines of what would Morgan want, how moving constantly isn't good for Jackson, and the fact that he was going to be there for them. It was the look in his eyes at this particular sentence where Collette found herself caving. Damn that man and his eyes.

Surprisingly things have been relatively quiet. Collette had apologized to Pete more than once about getting so upset, and Pete apologized more than once for starting this whole drama. He knew he wasn't the start of it, but he couldn't help but feel partially responsible.

The boys have been busy recording and doing small promotional outings in LA. Collette knew the time was coming soon where they would be on tour. She questioned constantly if she had the guts to stay there with Patrick being so far away. She knew it was ridiculous to think that he could stop Kiefer if he were to show up, but she couldn't help but feel safe around Patrick.

"You were a real trooper there kid," Pete said patting Jackson on the back as they walked back to the vehicle.

"Well, how does it feel to have your arm back?" Patrick asked.

"Weird," Jackson said making a face.

"I bet," Collette said picking the boy up and carrying him to the vehicle.

"Ice cream?" Pete asked.

"Yeah!" Jackson yelled in response.