"Chloe… Chloe?" Isaac whispered, running his finger down her nose. Chloe squirmed a bit, then rolled over, her back to Isaac.
"Chloe Marie Ouellette Hanson, if you don't get your butt up now I'm gonna tickle you!" Isaac threatened. Chloe shot up, her eyes wide with fear.
"Jesus Ike! You scared the living Hell outta me!" she exclaimed.
"Good, cause all you need is heaven." Isaac grinned, kissing her forehead. "Good morning."
Chloe crossed her arms, then glanced at the clock. "Why 7:30?"
"Because I said so, and we're meeting everyone else in less than an hour." Isaac pointed out. Chloe grumbled a bit then rolled over.
"Fine. I get shower first." Chloe made herself get out of bed and quickly walked into the master bathroom while Isaac just laughed.
"Suit yourself." He grinned. Isaac left to wake the kids up, finding Claire and Nick already awake.
"Hey you guys… Ready for a big day?" Isaac asked.
"I want up!" Claire demanded, holding her arms out for Isaac to pick her up. Isaac obeyed, setting her down on the floor. Nick immediately wanted down, too, so Isaac had two active kids running around the room while he tried to get them dressed.
About ten minutes later, Chloe came into the room, laughing her head off.
"Isaac, go get Lila and Dakota up. I'll handle these two." Chloe instructed. Isaac shrugged, just as Claire screamed out, "MOMMY!"
About a half an hour later, all six of them were driving down the highway. There was a traffic jam, with the back up about half a mile.
"Must have been an accident." Isaac remarked. Chloe nodded in agreement.
About ten minutes later, they could see the wreck. There was a dark blue Mustang convertible that looked as if it had caught on fire and a bright red Buick that barely had a scratch on it.
"That kinda looks like Kendall's old car." Chloe pointed out. Isaac nodded in agreement.
"Turn on the news, I betcha that there's something about it on." Isaac said. Chloe flipped the station to a local news station, just as their traffic report was ending.
"I guess not." Chloe shrugged. Just as she was about to flip again, they started talking.
"Our top story this morning is that teen idol Zac Hanson and his wife Kendall Hanson were in a reported accident about 8:15 this morning, along highway 67. No word on how they both faired in the crash, but rumor has it that both of them have suffered traumatic injuries…" Chloe quickly unbuckled her seatbelt and flung open the car door. A victim was still in the car, the firefighters trying to get her out.
As Chloe neared the site, she recognized one of the victims on the stretcher.
"Holy shit! ZAC!" she screamed, running towards it. An officer immediately held her back, but she broke free quickly. She ran up to the small crowd of ambulance attendants around Zac, and she saw that he was conscious. His lips were moving, and she could barely hear what he was saying, but she could hear him.
"Kendall… Where's Kendall…" he was repeating, his voice getting softer by the word.
"Zac…" Chloe cried, reaching her hand out to touch his own. He didn't seem to react, instead he closed his eyes.
Once again, someone grabbed her shoulders, except this time she recognized him.
"Damn it Isaac…" she cried. He led her back to the edge of the road, by the car.
"Listen Clo, I'm gonna go talk to the police dude, ok? I'll be right back. Lila, make sure your mother's ok!" he yelled, then jogged up to on of the men in uniform. He was directed to another man, who shook his hand and talked to him for a few minutes. Isaac nodded every few seconds, asking questions.
He walked back up to the car, then knelt down beside Chloe.
"Honey, listen to me. Zac's gonna be ok." When he said that, Chloe saw relief wash over his face.
"But what… Who else was in there?" Chloe asked, almost afraid of the answer.
Isaac sighed. "They're not too sure… Female. I think it's Kendall, but I could be wrong."
Chloe sighed, nodding. "Ok…"
Once the ambulance was on the road, sirens blaring, Isaac followed it as quickly as he could, reaching the hospital just seconds after the ambulance did. He saw the female, which he was now sure was Kendall, being carried out first, a team of doctors and nurses meeting the stretcher the instant it went inside. Zac was out last, just a few nurses and maybe a doctor helping him.
Isaac called his mother and Taylor from the payphone inside, telling them what happened. He then called for their regular babysitter to pick the children up, despite Lila's best efforts at a tantrum to stay.
The wait seemed like days to Chloe and Isaac, but in reality, was just around 45 minutes. Taylor and Mrs. Hanson, along with Mac and Zoë, arrived within 2 minutes of each other. Mrs. Hanson was crying and walking with the support of her 12-year-old while Mac parked the car.
"Mom…" Isaac sighed, enveloping his mother into a hug. He finally allowed himself to cry as he held his mother tightly.
Moments later, a doctor appeared, his jacket having tiny blood stains on them in random places.
"Mrs. Hanson?" He asked, looking towards Diana. She nodded.
"Your son and daughter, Zachary and Kendall, were indeed in a car accident a little over an hour ago. Zachary is in stable condition and in room 144 if you would like to go see him. But, please, only two visitors at a time." Mrs. Hanson sighed with relief, along with Isaac. They started to run down the hallway, finding room 144 and entering. Chloe sat down in one of the chairs, looking the doctor straight in the eyes.
"How's Kendall?" she asked.
The doctor sighed. "Kendall died on impact."