Tyler. A typical high school student that you would normally picture when you think of one. He lived a normal life: had nice parents, got some good friends he could hang out with, a 3.8ish GPA, athletic enough to be on the sports team, etc. Everything seemed to be going well for him…  At least for the past 16 years of his life. What could possibly go wrong for this normal teenage student?

***

“TYLER!” a high pitched voice shrieked from outside Tyler’s door. The whole room shook as the sound of his younger 10-year-old sister, Kelly, pounding and kicking of the door. 

“What? It’s 9 AM in the morning! On a Saturday! What do you want? I want to sleep in for another 30 minutes before getting up and finish my homework!” the young boy half yelled back, laying on the bed. His whole body was all over the bed, eyes still blinking to adjust to the sunlight that came through the curtains. 

“I wanna go out and play!”

“And so? Just go out!” Tyler groaned as he face-planted himself on the soft, white pillow. He heard a scoff, then whine, from outside his bedroom door.

“I can’t just go out!”

“Why? Just tell Mom or Dad to go out with you!”

“Are you stupid?” Kelly angrily said, gritting her teeth. “Don’t you remember what Mom told you yesterday?”

“What…?”

“Dad is out at work. Mom said she had to go help out at the church service today.”

“Oh.”

“Tyler! I wanna go out! I’m only 10, and I can’t go out on my own! If I could, I wouldn’t even bother arguing with you right now!”

“Okay, okay… Stop yelling Kelly… My ears are about to burst from all your girly screaming…” Tyler groaned in annoyance.

The pounding and shrieking stopped abruptly. The tired boy sighed in relief, only to be cut off with the sound of a scream of happiness from outside the door.

“Really Tyler? Oh my gosh thank you! I love you! I’m going to go out at ten, so you better be ready by then!” The sound of running footsteps gradually faded away as the joyful girl ran to her room down the hall.

After a few seconds, Tyler managed to sit up in his bed, rubbing his puffy eyes as he turned to look at his digital alarm clock on the small nightstand beside his bed. “9:13 AM,” it blinked. Stretching his arms, he got off from his bed and walked out of his room to the bathroom next door, going over his daily routine.

***

“Tyler! Tyler! Tylerrrr! Are you coming?” A loud, annoying voice resounded all across the house and into the older brother’s voice. 

“Okay, okay! Give me a second! I’m coming down!” Tyler yelled, wearing his black socks. He looked once more at the mirror in his closet. His black hair was combed well, his jeans and T-shirt were clean and neat. Good. Closing the closet door, he quickly ran out of the room, slammed his bedroom door, and jogged down the stairs. The 16-year-old boy was met with a brightly, smiling Kelly.

“Let’s go now! I’m so excited!” she yelled, rushing out the door after slipping into her sneakers and onto the sidewalk. His lips curled into a smile, rushing out to catch up with her after locking the house door. 

The walk to the nearby park was pretty silent but comfortable. Kelly was bouncing up and down energetically as she took each step on the sidewalk. The sky above them was just as happy as the young girl: the sky was clear, with the sun shining down brightly over the Earth. Tyler trailed along behind her younger sister, grinning as he fondly looked at his younger sister. Even though she was annoying at certain times, it was still fun to have her around. After all, the small bubble of energy always cheered him up whenever he was stressed over school, or depressed when he was having a bad day. 

After around 5 minutes of walking and jogging across the sidewalk from their house, on the other side was a large pond, surrounded by a paved, cemented road for people to walk, run, or bike on. The place was filled with green wildlife: green trees, green grass, and different types of flowers that were spotted here and there on the lush grass. 

“Yay! We’re almost there!” Kelly cheered as she started to run down the sidewalk and onto the pedestrian crossing, not looking to see if there were cars that were coming from either side.

“KELLY!” Tyler screamed in horror as he saw a car speeding down the road, near the joyful little kid.

“H-” The young child’s eyes started to widen, terrified, as she stood frozen on the spot, as she saw the car racing that was straight towards her.

“No! Stop! Please stop!” Tears started to whelm up in his eyes as he saw the scene in front of him unfold. The black car, unable to step on the breaks in time, crashed into the fragile, vulnerable body of her sister. “Please…” he trailed off as he started breaking down, running towards the lifeless body of her sister on the floor. 

Going over towards the scene of the accident, he held his sister tightly, wailing out for help. The guy who hit the innocent girl rushed out of the car, calling the police and ambulance. The world around Tyler seemed to crumble, ever so quickly, as he slowly felt his mind go into an empty, vast space.

***

Beep… Beep… Tyler blinked his eyes slowly open, wincing as the bright light from the LED lights from the ceiling beamed down on him.

“Oh, thank God you are awake!” a warm, loving voice cried out as he felt himself being embraced by someone. He felt wet droplets on his clothing.

“Mom?” Tyler asked cautiously.

“Yes, my son…” she said, wiping the tears away from her face. She brushed back her long, black hair as she calmed herself to keep speaking. “ I was so worried when I heard that you had fainted after seeing your siste-”

Hearing the word “sister” came out from her mouth, Tyler swiftly sat up from the hard hospital bed, his attention fully alert on his mother. Holding onto his mother’s broad shoulders and staring into her black, tearful eyes, he felt water started forming at the edge of his eyes.

“How’s my sister, mother?” he croaked, feeling ill. “Is she fine? Is she doing okay? Is she… dead?” That words just made him feel even more nauseous.

Tyler’s mother shook her head, her frown deepening. “She’s in the surgery room right now. I don’t know how well she’s faring, but the doctors said that her situation right now is crucial, and she had lost a lot of blood.”

Just hearing that she is in a critical situation only made him feel even worse. “This is all my fault! Why did I even agree to go out with her in the first place? Why didn’t I even hold her when she started running away to the park? Oh, why?” Tyler wailed, feeling guilty for doing all of this. The burden of guilt pushed lower, and lower, and lower… 

“Hey, Tyler, look at me.” His mother forced Tyler to look into her eyes. Reluctantly, he turned his gaze onto her, somberly. “None of this is your fault. There are many things in life that we cannot control. Only God knows what will happen to Kelly now.”

Wiping away his tears, Tyler looked up at the ceiling, then at his mother. “I hope she’s okay…”

“I’m sure she will. She is one tough girl.”

A knock came from the door, interrupting the mother and son tearful gathering. “Come in!” mother called. A smiling doctor came into the room, folding his hands together.

“Well, Mrs. Lee, I have good news to tell you. We managed to save your daughter from too much blood loss, and the surgery on her arm went successful. You may go see her now.”

A gasp came from both people who were sitting on the bed. A moment of silence came, then a sudden outburst of happiness was expressed.

“Thank you! Oh, thank you!” Tyler’s mother exclaimed, shaking the doctor’s hand as she rushed out of the room, dragging Tyler with her.

“It’s room number 12, miss!” the happy doctor shouted across the hall as the happy family rushed through the hall, finding their way to the room.

Bursting into the room, they quickly found a weakly, smiling Kelly on the bed. 

“Hey guys…” she softly greeted.

“Oh thank God you are awake! This is a miracle!” mother cried out, tears erupting from her vision.

Meanwhile, a guilty-looking Tyler stood near the entrance of the room. “Kelly…” he said, not knowing what to say. Kelly turned her attention from her mom towards her brother. “I’m really, really, really sorry.”

“It’s okay, it’s not your fault. Just be thankful that I’m alive, and that we are all well and happy,” Kelly replied, smiling brightly.

“If you say so…”

“This is a fact, Tyler. I will be alright. There’s no need to worry. Set your worries aside, and just focus on the present, all right?”

“Sure, Kelly. Let’s have some fun after you can get out of here!”