Chapter Text
Lake hadn’t been paying attention when Mom called Tulip downstairs.
They had just been getting something to eat from the fridge. Then the plan was to go back upstairs and do whatever while Dad was taking their sister to her coding camp. A full week without any of Tulip’s nagging or smartassery. Or her arguing with Mom about arguing with Dad. Or her arguing with them over how they needed to stop ‘acting out’.
Honestly, Lake was looking forward to this week as much as Tulip was.
When Tulip came out of her room, Lake was expecting to hear that Dad was about to arrive, especially since he was supposed to be there an hour ago, and questions about if she was packed and a suitably snarky confirmation.
What they did not expect was, “Tulip, I’m so sorry, but your dad can’t take you to camp.”
“What!?”
Apparently Dad had forgotten the camp was that week and had made work plans, and Mom would be too busy to drive her. Not really surprising, Lake thought; Dad had always been terrible with dates and Mom was usually busy. So Tulip would have to take the bus-wait, were the buses still running? Maybe Mikayla’s parents would be willing to drive her-
“What, so you’re both too busy to be my parents?! ”
Oh God damn it.
And then Tulip was throwing blame everywhere and Mom was trying to make excuses and clearly any idea of just actually solving the fucking problem was thrown out the window. For someone who loved going on and on about how smart she was, Tulip could be unbelievably dense. Lake was just glad that Dad wasn’t there, or the whole situation would have spiraled out of control.
“What schedule?! It’s two of you and two kids! It’s not that hard!”
Tulip looked at Lake.
What? Did she expect Lake to say something? She was the one who started this whole mess.
Any time their parents were fighting and Tulip decided to try and intervene, she always expected Lake to join her. Sometimes they did, if the fighting was getting more annoying than usual or one of them really was extremely wrong about something. Or sometimes they joined after Tulip stormed away, because if they were gonna fight then fine, but Lake wasn’t letting them make their sister run away crying without at least calling them out on their bullshit.
But this hadn’t been an argument; it was a problem that could’ve been fixed if Tulip hadn’t been the one to start shouting.
Lake didn’t say anything as they walked back upstairs.
They got to their room just as Tulip came up the stairs. For a second, she looked at them again. She was crying and, for an instant, looked like she wanted to say something.
Lake closed their door as Tulip turned away and slammed her own shut.
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It was dark when Mom stuck her head into Lake’s room.
She did this every night for both of them, and Lake already had the ‘goodnight’ on their tongue when they glanced over to the doorframe. It died in their throat when they saw Mom’s face.
She was afraid.
“Lake, where is Tulip.”
It wasn’t a question. They always knew where the other was, because they always told each other where they were going. Especially when one of them was going out to get into trouble (and with that face Mom was making, Tulip had to have gotten into some serious trouble), they’d tell each other so they could cover for them. It was a part of being siblings, of being twins, to tell each other those kinds of things.
But this time, Tulip obviously hadn’t told them anything.
“I don’t know,” Lake answered, sitting up from their bed, “I’m assuming not in her room?”
“Call her. She might answer if it’s you.”
The amount of fear in her voice got Lake moving faster than they had for most other things. Lunging for their phone, they hit the speed dial for their sister.
*BEEP*
Ok, that wasn’t good.
“It didn’t go through,” they told Mom, who’s fear turned into the kind of focus they’d only seen her have in a crisis.
“I’m calling the police.”
Lake shot to standing, “WHOA! Whoa! What the hell is going on?!” They ran after their mom, who was dialing as she walked into Tulip’s room. They were about to speak again when they noticed three things:
One, the room was freezing cold.
Two, Tulip’s jacket was gone.
And three, the window was wide open.
…
Oh God fucking damn it, Tulip.
“-Yes, I already called her friend and her father-There’s snow in the room so I know it was open for hours-No I don’t know exactly when she left-” As Mom continued talking with the police, Lake barely noticed themself heading downstairs. It was only when their Mom grabbed their arm that they registered the coat they had been putting on.
“Lake, where are you going?”
“I’m gonna find Tulip,” they knew that was the answer before they even opened their mouth, “I know all her spots around town. I’ll call you when I find her.”
“Wha-Lake no, you’re not going out there, it’s pitch black and it’s a blizzard,” she kept her grip as Lake tried to pull their arm away.
“That’s exactly why I need to find her!” Lake didn’t know why she felt like panicking. Tulip was probably in some store somewhere, or with some person they hadn’t thought to call, and was sulking over her dumb camp somewhere safe and warm and they were freaking out for nothing.
But then why were all their instincts screaming at them to find her ASAP?
Judging by the look on Mom’s face, she was thinking the same things. “Look, it won’t help anything if we all run around like headless chickens. We’ll stay here in case she comes back, and you can tell me where she might be and we’ll coordinate that with the search team, ok?”
Of course, now she was being logical.
By three in the morning, Lake was far too worried to be tired.
After looking in every place Tulip would normally go and asking anyone she would normally talk to, the search had deduced that she wasn’t anywhere in town. Then someone on the police called search and rescue and they did a thing (the techy stuff went over Lake’s head, plus they didn’t care as long as it found their sister) to track her phone.
The good news was that whatever they did gave them a general area to search.
The bad news was that said area was in the middle of the fucking woods.
Why and how Tulip had ended up in the middle of nowhere was beyond Lake. But the fact of the matter was that she was out there somewhere, lost as hell, and it was freezing out. So yeah Lake was not too proud to admit they were worried.
Neither was Dad, who had come over a few hours ago because he couldn’t stand waiting for news by himself. For once Mom didn’t argue with him at all. So there they were, Lake and their parents sitting together on the couch for the first time since the divorce, and it was to wait for what would hopefully be not-terrible news.
It was at three am, a time that Lake would forever remember from then on, that they got the call.
Lake had been drinking yet another cup of coffee (which they had never drank before, but they refused to fall asleep until they knew something) when Mom’s phone rang. She answered as fast as humanly possible and Lake felt hope that this nightmare was finally over.
That hope was crushed as their mom’s face slowly morphed into a type of fear Lake had never seen her have.
The drive to the hospital was both quiet and loud.
Loud because Mom kept speaking to Dad. Not fighting, Lake knew what that sounded like and this wasn’t it. This was Dad asking question after question and Mom repeating ‘I don’t know’ as her answer. She only knew what the search and rescue person had told her, which was that Tulip was found and sent to the hospital to treat her condition.
It was quiet because Lake had tuned everything out the first time Mom had told them what Tulip’s condition was.
Found unconscious. Unresponsive. Severe hypothermia and frostbite. Had been unconscious for long enough that she had almost been covered by snow. They only found her because someone noticed her bright red hair amidst all the whiteness. She hadn't been breathing. They'd had to resuscitate her.
Lake felt like they were gonna throw up.
They didn’t notice when they got to the hospital. Someone grabbed their hand and led them inside. Tulip was in emergency care, said the man at the desk. He had them led to a room and sit in some chairs and they waited. Eventually Lake saw their dad in front of their face. He was telling them to breathe. They tried. They honestly tried but they couldn’t breathe, they couldn’t breathe.
A nurse was speaking to them, trying to help them get some air. Another nurse was talking with their parents, something about visiting hours and overnight and they would keep them updated and they could come back in the morning.
They were leaving?
Lake heaved with their next intake of air.
A trashcan was pushed under their face and then Mom and Dad were there. Hands were in their short hair and on their back as they kept retching. When it finally stopped they could hear Mom shushing them and they kept trying to say that no, they couldn’t leave. What about Tulip? They needed to be here when she woke up she needed them they couldn’t not be here.
Before Mom could start talking again, exhaustion finally caught up with Lake and they fell asleep right then and there.