The car ride to the hospital was brutally silent. After the prior argument with the elders, everybody was on edge and the circumstances only made it worse. Liam was already at the hospital while the boys had to walk all the way home only to be met with a livid Micheal.

"Do you know how stupid that was of you guys? You could've gotten hurt or worse, ended up dead. You're lucky no one was hurt or you guys would be in big trouble."

"Well..."

When he heard the news, saying he wasn't happy was an understatement. He didn't have time to lecture them as he was worried about the health of his sister.

After the time she spent there, he couldn't see her as anything less of a sister. She was kind to him and his brothers even though they didn't deserve it and she always looked out for them. Whether that was making sure his tie was on correctly or making sure his baby brother wasn't bullied at school.

He called Liam to inform him of the situation and that he was to drive straight to the hospital. Liam was the most motherly figure that the boys had after their mother died but Rayland helped somewhat fill that role. She always knew the right words to say and made people think before they spoke. As soon as he heard the news he felt... guilty. He knew it wasn't his fault but maybe if he was nice to her from the start, she would've trusted him enough to tell him.

As soon as Rayland walked into the Brown house, Jayden hated her. Why? He couldn't even tell you. He tried to convince himself that it was because she was tearing the family apart, now realizing she was bringing it closer. Without her, he wouldn't have realized how bad of a brother he really was, he put his older and younger siblings through hell without even realizing and she had to pay the price.

Jaxon was indifferent about her joining the family but after he was convinced she was the bad guy, he hated her to the point he wanted to get rid of her. Once he realized she was the victim, he didn't make much of an effort to her, more to fix his family. Now that she was closer to him he couldn't lose her, first his mother and he was not gonna lose his sister too.

Jaylen was excited to have Rayland there, someone that didn't think of him as a puppet. He was excited to have somebody that looked up to him but he let his manipulative brother control how he thinks. He tried to be mean to her but he didn't want to. He really enjoyed having her in the house, getting to know her, and she finally gave him the courage to stand up to Jayden.

Hayden loved Rayland as soon as she stepped foot in the house. He finally had a big sister that he could look up to. Don't get him wrong, he loved his big brothers but they could be rude, judgmental, and devious, his big sister was none of those. She was a role model for him, he admired her.

Paul knew that he wasn't the best father to his boys, he wanted to change for Rayland, he wanted to be a better father for her and his sons. After his wife died, he shut himself from his family which only made his sons become more isolated in their unhealthy coping methods. He was not going to make that same mistake with his daughter.

When Rayland walked in, Blake's whole world changed. He hated how his older brothers loved her and her little brother looked up to her. He hated that someone took his place and he was just a figment of the past, just a memory that was slowly diminishing. And he hated that his bestfriend that left with no explanation and pretended not to know him.

He was hurt, five years of friendship down the drain. He considered asking her multiple times whether she remembered him or not but he chickened out everytime. Their friendship obviously didn't mean anything to her or she would have tried to salvage the little friendship they had left. He considered the fact that they might be in the same position but neither have the courage to talk. And that courage could've saved their friendship.

Her frail and rigid body lay still in the hospital bed, the only sounds that kept the brothers motivated was the irritating beeping noise coming from the heart monitor. Although annoying, it was the only indication that Rayland was still alive.

As soon as they walked into the room, Blake broke down in tears. After being told to sit in the waiting room for a few hours, he sat criss-cross applesauce against the hospital wall, swaying back and forth. All of the brothers were shocked but mostly confused, the last time he was in this state was when his dad found him in the bathroom after his Mom's death.

They tried to comfort him but he wouldn't respond to anybody, just continued swaying. The brothers were still confused on why he was in shock. He had never shown a care for Rayland so why now? He always expressed how much he hated her, it was obvious he didn't but they didn't expect the shooting to impact him this badly. They were always suspecting he knew more than he was letting on, all the small things were starting to come together for the Brown's and they came to a conclusion.

This wasn't their first time meeting.

After all the 'hatred' that Blake held for Rayland, it was the only thing that made sense. They knew Blake was one to hold grudges so if he was mad at something she did before they lived together, he would use the opportunity to get back at her. He also knew about her valuable items and her depression, only people that were close to her would know such personal things. They came to another conclusion.

They were friends.

In the few months they knew her, Rayland was very closed off to people that weren't close to her. They had to be friends for him to know those things. But if their conclusions were true, it still left a few questions unanswered.

If they were friends, why was he mean to her?

If they were friends, why doesn't she remember him?

If they were friends, why did no one else remember her?

"So who's gonna answer dad?" Jaxon asked out of the blue. That's when we noticed Jaylen's 'I'm Coming Out' ringtone. We all gave Jaylen a look but he shrugged. He changed his ringtone after Liam came out and always claimed that he 'forgot to change it'.

After all the commotion, we completely forgot to call Dad and he will be absolutely pissed. They all looked around the room until their eyes landed on me. I immediately shook my head but they handed me the phone, it was filled with missed calls from Dad. I begrudgingly tapped the green answer icon on the screen and was met with a sigh of relief in the other line. All of my brothers motioned for me to put the phone on speaker.

"Liam, are you there? I've been calling you guy's phones for ages and no one's answering. I just got home from work and no one's here. It's okay if you guys went out or something, I would just appreciate it if you guys told me first-" He rambled, it was common for him to do this when he was nervous. I had to cut him off before he got his hopes up, thinking we were family bonding.

"We're in the hospital," I rushed out with tears in my eyes. My brothers were about to say something but I put my finger to my lips. It was silent and I was beginning to think that he hung up but I heard him sigh.

"Hayden? What happened?" He asked the dreaded question, I couldn't even answer his question because I didn't even know the full story. I took a deep breath before responding.

"It's Rayland, I- it's just, please come quick, Dad. Please." I pleaded, I was so close to tears but I wanted to be strong for him.

"Tell one of your brothers to send the location, I'm on my way." He hung up the phone, that's when it finally hit. My sister was in the hospital bed next to me fighting for her life. I started crying and Liam rushed to my side, comforting me in a warm hug.

I cried, I even heard a few sniffles from beside me. That's when I realized everyone around the room had a few tears running down their faces. I had just realized how much of an impact she had on not just me but the entire family.

A soft knock interrupted and Micheal got up to see who it was. He opened the door and a woman in a doctor's uniform sauntered in.

"Hello, I am Dr. Hill. I am Rayland's doctor for the duration that she is here. Which one of you is her legal guardian?" She smiled, even though a smile was not wanted after hearing your loved one was shot, it was definitely needed. Her smile was too contagious not to be reciprocated, the water in my eyes fell down my face and I quickly wiped it off.

"Her legal guardian isn't present right now but he's on his way. We're her brothers." Micheal responded, she nodded but the smile vanished off her face.

"So the problem is we are not allowed to perform Laparoscopic Bullet Removal Surgery without guardian consent." She explained, Jayden was outraged.

"Are you serious? She's dying right now, so I think you can break the rules." He lashed out but the doctor didn't even flinch.

"Hypothetically speaking, since the bullet didn't hit any fatal spots, she could leave the bullet in for the rest of her life. May not be a very long life but as long as she takes it easy she should be fine. Her legal guardian can choose that route if he chooses since the surgery could cause more damage than the bullet. And I know she can handle it, she's strong." She said, I could barely process anything she was saying and by the look on Jaylen's face, he didn't either.

"How would you know, you haven't known her for more than two minutes?" Jayden retorted, the doctor sadly sighed.

"Actually, this isn't my first time having her as a patient."

Everyone glanced at her in confusion, encouraging her to elaborate.

"I'll keep it brief for the patient's privacy. About six years ago, she got into an accident and she was the only one that came out alive. I helped her get back on her feet and gain some of her memory- you know, I said too much, I gotta go." She tried to rush out of the room.

"Wait, what?" She was interrupted.

"I'll come back when her guardian is here." She shut the door which left all of her brothers thinking.

"How are you feeling sweetheart?"

"Do you remember what happened?"

"Do you remember your father?"

She put her head in her hands, thinking about the first day she met that girl.

After she was discharged, Dr. Hills couldn't help but worry about the girl. She was found at the scene of an accident, barely alive. She helped nurse her back to health but she couldn't help but notice the scars running along her body that clearly weren't caused by the accident. She suspected Rayland as a victim of child abuse. The fear that ran through the girl's face when her father was mentioned confirmed it.

She never forgot about Rayland and always worried about how she was doing. Her train of thought was interrupted by a booming voice coming from the front desk.

"Where the hell is my daughter?"

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2022 Words

Any thoughts?

Does anyone remember the doctor from the prologue?

Thank you for all of your votes and comments, they are always appreciated.