Kara's mother was in one of her phases when she seemed a bit more like her old self. She would lie quietly in her bed, and stare up at the ceiling, not laughing or clapping, just lying there, sometimes crying a bit. It made Kara sad to see her mother like that, but Kara had figured out that talking to her mother made her feel better during these rare times. So, Kara would tell her mother everything, as if the woman really understood her. Of course, she didn't, but she was the only person Kara had to talk to.

"Alice and Becca are horrible," Kara began, sitting down beside her mother's bed on a wooden rocking chair. "They followed me again today, and made fun of me. They make me sick. I wish that they would just dissapear sometimes, you know? Well, I guess you don't, but...still, I wish you did. Then someone could say that they knew how I felt. But they follow me every day, and tease me. They say horrible things about you, and about me, and--mom?"

Kara drew back in shock and amazement. Something unbelievable, unimaginable had happened.

Her mother had shaken her head.

It was a small, nearly indetectable motion, yet it was a motion nonetheless. It was such a human, caring motion that Kara nearly sobbed. It brought back all the false hopes that she'd had when she was small of her mother coming back someday, and this sad shake of the head sparked her imagination for an instant. Perhaps her mother, her real mother, would climb out of bed and pull her close and tell her everything would be okay, and --

That laugh. That awful, awful laugh came back, and Kara doubted that she could take it much longer than she had already.



Kara left her mother to laugh, and went to make some food for her and her mother. As she walked down to the kitchen, she passed the wall with the big picture of her mother and father hanging in a golden frame.

Kara's father had been with her until her mother's sickness. Kara had been 11 when her father, drunk like he always was, slammed the door for the last time in her ill mother's face. Kara had watched through a crack in her door, and, even though she had had no idea what was going on, she had cried and run out to make her mother feel better. Her mother had become depressed, and had sat around doing nothing for most of the time. Kara had made food like a dutiful daughter always did, but her mother never ate. She became sicker and sicker, until the operation.

The day of that operation had always been in Kara's nightmares. Her mother had collapsed on the floor screaming, and Kara had run to the phone to dial 911. The paramedics had come and taken her mother away, saying that they had to do surgery. Kara had cried and run after the ambulence, but her 13-year-old legs could not carry her fast enough. When her mother finally came home, however, the doctor had taken Kara aside first and explained that her mother had had damage to her brain that could not be fixed. Kara hadn't cared, and she had run past the doctor to hear, for the first time, that horrible, sickening laugh.

Even though Kara was still a child of 15, she had become a woman that day. Her mother was now the baby, requiring constant attention and care from Kara, and Kara had no choice but to give that attention. So, Kara made soup again, which was the easiest thing to feed her mother.

Suddenly, Kara heard something break. Groaning and setting the timer to let the soup cook, Kara went in to see what her mother had smashed this time.

When Kara walked in, she screamed. A vase lay broken on the floor, with roses scattered all over the carpet, and her mother lay beside them. Her eyes were rolled into the back of her head, and she was twitching almost constantly, her mouth wide in a silent scream.

"MOM!" Kara shouted. Her mother had had small seizures before, a product of the brain damage, but nothing this bad. It was a seizure, Kara could tell, and she ran screaming to the phone to dial 911.

But, then, it was over. Just as Kara lifted the receiver, her mother blinked, and laughed, pointing at the broken vase with her left arm and clapping the air with her right. Shuddering, Kara walked quickly in to help her mother back into bed, and then returned to the phone and called the hospital.

"My mother just had a really bad seizure," Kara gasped, sounding as though she'd just run a mile. "Can you send someone out?"

"Okay," the lady at the desk said. "Is she alright right now?"

Kara cringed at a laugh. "Yes," she said, sounding a little snapper than she had originally intended. "She'll be okay, I think."

"Okay, we'll dispatch someone immediately." Click.

The timer started beeping as Kara hung up the receiver. She stomped in, and twisted it off, stirring the vegetables in the broth and scooping some out for both her and her mother. She put tin foil over her mother's, to wait until the doctors left, then went into the living room and turned on the TV, sitting where she had a clear view of her mother's room, in case she had another greusome episode.

"BREAKING NEWS," a voice said, and Kara's head snapped to the screen in surprise. "A ravaging fire started in a quiet suburb this afternoon, not a minute ago. The house most affected was the Robinson residance, where the child, Alice, was home alone."

"It like, all of a sudden, started!" a familiar face cried, popping up in the screen before the ruins of her home. "I don't know, like, where it came from or anything! Mom and dad are at, like, work, so I didn't know what to do!"

Kara raised an eyebrow.

"The cause of the fire is unknown," the reporter continued. "There are no telltale signs of arson, and a brief inspection of the Robonson home presented no clues as to the nature of the fire. We'll report any developments as soon as we get information."

Kara turned off the TV. "What a coincidence," she muttered, just as she heard a knock on the door. She walked briskly over to the wooden door, and flung it open, to reveal a doctor and a nurse.

The doctor was a tall, imposing character, with greying brown hair and wrinkles beginning to show on his face. The nurse was short, young, and rather well-endowed, with heavily-lashed blue eyes and long blonde hair.

"Is this Kara?" the man asked, holding out his hand.

"Yeah," Kara replied quietly, shaking it firmly. "She's in here," she added, pointing inside. The doctor nodded, and beckoned to the pretty blonde nurse to follow. Kara followed the pair as they entered her mother's room, and smiled sadly, nodding.

"Kara Matherson," the doctor said. "I knew I recognized the name."

Blinking with confusion, Kara listened as the doctor walked over to her vacant mother.

"I was just starting my doctoring when your mother was admitted for surgery. I almost had to perform the operation, but I'm glad I didn't have to. It was a challenge even for our most experienced doctor. I...I'm very sorry that this had to happen to you."

"Me too," Kara said emotionlessly. She sat down on the edge of the bed. "So, what's wrong with her now?"

"We have to check her out first," the nurse said matter-of-factly.

Kara turned with a fierce stare to the young woman, who looked rather harrassed. "I know that," Kara replied. "I was trying to make the situation a little less dismal than it is right now, and I'd think that you would want to help me."

The nurse stuck her tongue out, which made Kara snort with skeptical laughter.

"Bethane, calm down," the doctor said sternly. "I'm Dr. Young, Kara. Ted Young. Nice to meet you."

Kara nodded, feigning interest. He was just another doctor to her, that would tell her another thing that was wrong with her mother, then fade away and make her deal with it.

"I'm Bethane Young," the blonde girl said, sitting down beside Kara. "I just graduated! I'm a nurse now," she added, pointing to her uniform. "Dad's giving me a job until I can find somewhere else to work."

"Now, now," Dr. Young laughed, "you don't need to tell everyone your life story."

Kara didn't say anything, just looked expectantly at the doctor. "Is my mom okay?" she asked harshly to the smiling faces.

"Oh, yes," Dr. Young said quickly, turning back to Kara's mother. "Well, let me see...."

The doctor knelt down beside Kara's quiet mother, and touched her shoulder. The woman turned to look vacantly at him, then laughed and clapped half-heartedly. She was tired, Kara could tell. The seizure had probably exhuasted her.

"Hand me a stethescope," Dr. Young said to Bethane, who scurried to comply. He proceeded to thoroughly examine Kara's mother, a frown growing etched on his face.

Finally, Dr. Young took a deep breath, and stood. "Kara," he said, "tell me more about this seizure."

Kara hung her head. "Well," she said, "I heard something break. So I came running in here, and she was on the floor, twitching all over, with her eyes rolled into the back of her head, and she looked like she was screaming, but she wasn't." Biting her lip, Kara was quiet, refusing to let the two people know just how much it had scared her to see her mother like that. It was so much like the day two years ago....

Ted frowned more, scratching his head with two fingers. "Well, it's not what I thought it was," he said. "The screaming thing confuses me. Normally that wouldn't happen, if she had any disease I know of. Well...hmm. Kara, I might have to bring your mother with me, how does that sound?"

"If it will help her," Kara said, privately sighing with relief. A few free days would clear her mind and give her a break.

"All right," Dr. Young said, "but I can't leave you here by yourself."

Kara was about to tell him otherwise, but Bethane beamed. "Can I help?" she asked eagerly. "Sometimes, nurses that are really, really good get to stay with the kids of patients so that they aren't all alone. Someone said that once, I think. Right, daddy?"

The doctor blinked. "Well...um," he began, desperately trying to think of an alternative. "There's the local daycare --"

"I'm NOT a baby," Kara said fiercely, startling both doctor and daughter. "I can stay here by myself."

"There's always the law to consider," Dr. Young said flatly, and Kara hung her head.

Bethane cleared her throat, and Ted gave in.

"Okay," he said, flashing Kara an apologetic smile. "You're stuck with her for a while, at least."

Kara made a face. Bethane smiled.

A few minutes later, Kara's now-sleeping mother was in the ambulence, and Dr. Young was driving away. Bethane waved, and skipped into the kitchen, shouting "LET'S MAKE FOOD!"

Kara frowned quietly to herself. As horrible as things seemed, she had the strange feeling that something very, very good had just happened.