Zoey Clark

Three Years Ago...

Kenny sat across from his younger cousin who was holding three-year-old Ellie on her lap, lightly bouncing her up and down on her knee, "Who's my little cutie? Who loves aunt Julie? That's right, that's right, Ellie, it's you!" Juliet said with a wide smile,

"Stop talking to my kid like she's a dog, Julie," Kenny laughed as he watched his cousin continue to bounce his giggling daughter up and down, "JJ, will you please control your fiance," He asked turning his head over to his best friend who was in the midst of cleaning up three dinner plates, and a child's bowl,

"I see nothing, I hear nothing, Juliet is doing just fine to me," JJ chuckled back as he sprayed down the plates in the kitchen before scrubbing them with a sponge, "Plus, you should let her have this one, you haven't been around too much, you know she's missed you and Ellie like crazy," JJ tacked on while Juliet looked over to her cousin and playfully stuck out her tongue at him,

Kenny let out a soft laugh and silently shook his head, "Well, Zoey and I are sorry for not seeing you guys as much, it's just been crazy hectic since we had Ellie, I don't think Zoey's taken a day for herself since we had her," Kenny explained before letting out a smile. He was happy Zoey decided to take a day to treat herself he wasn't lying, ever since they had Ellie, Zoey really hadn't had a day alone. With Kenny working to support the family, Zoey was a full-time mom, day and night, and she loved it immensely.

Kenny lifted his watch and checked the time, seeing as it was twenty minutes past six, "Zoey should be here soon, shouldn't she?" Juliet asked with a quick raise of her brow,

"Oh yeah, she's probably just caught up in traffic or something," Kenny replied with a small wave of his hand, "I think she was stopping at the store to pick up some groceries before coming over here,"

"That's alright; I don't mind spending more time with my little princess!" Juliet cooed at the child while lifting her up and lightly tossing the giggling girl up in the air, "She wants to stay with aunt Julie and uncle JJ tonight, doesn't she? Say Julie, Ellie, say Jul-ie,"

"If she says Julie before Zoey, Zoey will kick your ass, fair warning," Kenny chuckled causing Juliet to gasp,

"Oh! Daddy said a no-no, didn't he? He's not being very protective of your poor innocent ears, is he sweetheart?" Juliet grinned as Ellie reached out gripping her hair in her hands, "Ah, Ellie, no baby, don't pull my-ah!" The brunette softly yelped as Ellie yanked hard on her black locks,

Kenny let out another laugh and got to his feet, pulling out his phone, "I'll give Zoey a call, see where she is," Juliet pulled her hair free from Ellie's hand and began to make a few funny faces as Kenny pressed his phone to his ear, hearing it ring several times before going to voicemail. He cocked his head and narrowed his brow in confusion before redialing and getting nothing once more, "What the hell?" He mumbled under his breath while giving Zoey a third call, she was never one not to answer,

"What's wrong?" JJ curiously asked as he returned to the dining table as Juliet stood up, holding Ellie up in one arm,

"Zoey's not answering," Kenny mumbled back as he didn't reach his wife yet again. Minutes passed by as Kenny made multiple calls to Zoey, as well as a few of her friends in the area, yet no one knew a thing about her whereabouts. By seven Kenny was beginning to panic and that's when his cell phone finally rang. In an instant, Kenny took the call, "Zoey?! Sir please can I call you back I-" Kenny went silent, and he blinked a few quick times, "Y-Yes sir this is Kenny Clark,"

"Kenny, who is that?" Juliet asked as she felt a drop in her stomach by watching her cousin's reaction,

"W-When did this happen?" Kenny stammered out, his face turning ghostly white,

"Ken?" JJ softly asked with a fearful gulp,

"What's her condition?!" Kenny exclaimed causing JJ without hesitation to sprint to his end table, snatching his keys, "Oh my god! I'll-I'll be right there!"

"Where is she?!" Juliet exclaimed while rushing out the door with Kenny and JJ,

"Central hospital, she's been in a car accident!" Kenny cried out as he could nearly feel his heart thumping in his throat. Juliet quickly opened the back door and buckled Ellie into her car seat as JJ jumped in the driver seat, "James, hurry, they said...they said she's...it doesn't look good," Kenny's broken voice said to the duos horror, "Please hurry!" JJ pursed her lips and slammed his foot on the gas, peeling out of her driveway, racing down to the hospital.

The trio reached the central hospital in mere minutes, and Kenny sprinted inside ahead of JJ and Juliet, who pulled upfront letting Kenny get inside while they parked. The brown-haired man ran to the front desk with a clear look of desperation, "Kenneth Clark, I am looking for my with Zoey Clark, maiden name Irons. That's C-L-A-R-K, she was brought in just over an hour ago, she was in a car accident! Please, where is she?!" The woman behind the counter quickly pushed herself over to another part of her desk and began to look down through a long list of names. Kenny shook violently and after only a few moments of silence and slammed his fist down on the desk, "Where the fuck is my wife!?" He screamed out, his eyes flaring up,

"Mr.Clark, please calm down," The woman replied while holding up her hands, "I can't help you if you're acting this way,"

"Can't help me!?" Kenny growled back only for an older doctor to round the corner,

"Mr.Clark?" Kenny's complexion changed, and he let out a quick nod, "Follow me, sir, your wife is just down this way." Kenny immediately shoved away from the desk, following the man before JJ and Juliet came running up behind her, "Ma'am, I'm going to need you to,"

"They're family, this is my daughter," Kenny nearly whimpered while taking Ellie into his arms, "Please, just take me to my wife,"

The doctor pursed his lips before letting out a small nod and heading down the hallway further, "Mr.Clark, your wife was the victim of a head-on collision. An SUV crossed over its lane when the driver passed out from intoxication and slammed into your wife's car at nearly seventy miles per hour." Kenny felt the air escape his lungs while Juliet cupped her hands over her mouth, "She suffered massive internal injuries and...sir, we did as much as we could, but her injuries are just too severe,"

"No..." Kenny whispered out,

"There is nothing we can do," The doctor softly replied while bowing his head for a moment, "We've made her comfortable, but...sir, you should go in and say your goodbyes, she doesn't have long." Kenny's eyes poured with tears, and he let out rapidly broken breaths, "I'm so sorry," The doctor finished before stepping past the three while Kenny shuffled inside the hospital room.

The man couldn't make it a few steps before he nearly collapsed under his own weight. Juliet quickly ran to her cousin's side, easily taking Ellie from his arms while placing her hand gently on his back, JJ physically held Kenny up, his lips pursed in a mixture of anger and sorrow, "Kenny...Kenny, are you okay?" Juliet asked with a broken voice, watching as her cousin rolled in his lower lip, biting down on it hard as he forced himself back to his feet and away from JJ, crossing the rest of the distance before finally reaching Zoey's side.

The red-haired girl laid unmoving on the hospital bed; a small bandage covered a wound on her forehead while oxygen tubes rested just inside her nose. A very slow beep rhythmically went off from the monitor next to her, and Kenny very carefully took her right hand in his. With trembling lips he leaned over and planted a soft kiss on Zoey's forehead before falling to his knees, letting out a loud cry of anguish while pressing his head against her hand. "Zoey...Zoey, I-fuck! Zoey, please! Don't...you can't! Zoey!" Kenny babbled through his tears while Juliet slowly let herself fall into a seat just behind her cousin, tears flowing down her cheeks as well. JJ's eyes shut and he lowered his head, leaning back against the wall with crossed arms, powerless to do anything for his friend.

Minutes passed as Kenny nuzzled his face against Zoey's hand, kissing it multiple times, unable to do anything but repeat her name or utter short pleas. Then, he heard a small crackle leave Zoey's mouth, Kenny's head flew up, looking at her with wide eyes as he watched her eyes weakly open, "Kenny ..." Zoey's frail voice uttered,

"Zoey," Kenny said with a breaking smile while pulling himself up, "Zoey...oh god," Kenny whimpered as he leaned forward, embracing her as best as he could, "I love you...I love you, Zoey,' The man cried into her shoulder, "You're my world, you're everything, you always have been,"

"Kenny," Zoey whispered causing him to pull back, looking her in the eye, "Kenny...it's past Ellie's bedtime," She said with a weak smile,

"Zoey...please, don't go," Kenny begged as he squeezed her hand, "I love you...I love you, so much," Kenny repeated as tears continued to fall from his eyes. Zoey's lips weakly pushed up into a smile before her eyes fluttered shut and Kenny's world crashed around him. JJ jumped forward, rushing to Kenny's side as he fell to the ground completely, screaming out while a never-ending whine echoed through the room as Zoey flatlined.

Present Day...

Kenny let out a long sniff before letting out a long exhale, "God, Zoey...I'm sorry," He said under his breath while slowly rubbing his wet eyes, "I'm trying so hard to do what's right for Ellie, but every day I feel like I'm failing. You always knew what to do; you always had the answer...if it was me, if I was the one who died, I'm sure you'd have talked with Ellie already. You would have made sure that she'd never think I just chose to leave her. I'm so sorry, Zoey."

Kenny pursed his lips hard and cleared his throat, furrowing his brow for a moment before wiping his eyes dry once more. The brown-haired man frowned and stood up, deciding to stop sitting in pity, if he was sure about one thing, it was Zoey wouldn't stand for this. Zoey would have walked up to him and smacked him on the head at this point, telling him to, "Get up! You go into that room, and talk to Ellie instead of wishing you already had!" Kenny's lips flickered into a smile as he could nearly hear the echoing of his wife's voice, "You don't hide from anything Kenny, you face it, that's who you are!"

Kenny slowly let out a final calming breath and nodded, accepting the phantom advice he made as he walked out the door. He easily made his way down the hallway and pushed back into Ellie's room, spotting the girl still fast at work, taking photo after photo out of Zoey's album and putting them into a frame. He very gently shut the door behind him, and Ellie spun around on the bed, though her large smile quickly faded away into a look of worry, "Daddy, are you okay?" She nervously asked,

"Yeah, baby, I'm fine," Kenny nodded back as he walked over and took a seat at the foot of her bed,

"You look like you were crying...did I make you sad?" Ellie pouted,

"No, Ellie, absolutely not," Kenny instantly replied with no hesitation, "These are happy tears," He sniffed, "I'm so proud of what you're doing, and I know your mom is proud too," Ellie let out a small smile and looked back to the photo's, picking one up and looking at it curiously,

"I'm sad I didn't see her when she was alive," Ellie whispered out, "She looks like aunt Brook but...she's different,"

"Yeah, your mommy was one of a kind," Kenny nodded as he slid back on the bed slightly before patting his leg, "Alright, hop up here, it's time for us to talk," Ellie carefully set down the picture of Zoey and crawled over, pulling herself up onto her father's lap with a grunt, "Aunt Brook told me you wanted to know what happened to your mommy," Ellie let out a short nod, "I...I wasn't sure when I was supposed to tell you everything," Kenny easily replied before letting out a small smile, "Your mommy was the smarter one when it came to the pair of us," He softly joked causing Ellie to giggle, "But, I know if you had asked her that question, she would have told you. So that's what I'm going to do,"

Kenny wet his lips and pulled his daughter a bit closer to him as he thought about how to phrase things so Ellie could understand, "Your mother was out that day, she was seeing some friends and shopping while you and I were at Aunt Julie's," Kenny began, "She...She was coming over to meet us that night at six, but on her way over...a...a man in a car fell asleep." Ellie tilted her head, and as she watched her father's eyes begin to well up, she instinctively slid herself up his leg, so she was resting against his chest. Kenny steadied himself with a breath and continued, "The man's car drove into your mothers, and she...ahem, she...she crashed. When the doctors got to her, she was just too hurt, baby. I know she must have tried to fight for us, I promise you, that your mommy would never have left us if she had a choice."

A small stream of tears rolled down Ellie's cheeks as she listened, "Did you get to see mommy that day?"

Kenny let out a small breaking breath before nodding, "I did...I saw her that morning, and that night I was there with you and Aunt Julie and Uncle JJ when she passed away. She saw you, and she...she was worried about you getting enough sleep," He smiled while feeling a few tears escape his eyes, "She loved you so much, Ellie,"

"Did mommy talk to you?" Ellie asked with a trembling lip,

"She tried...but she couldn't," Kenny replied before swallowing hard, "But I talked to her, I made sure she knew that she was loved. And Ellie, I promise you, she knew she wasn't alone at the end." With a short sniff, Kenny lifted a hand and wiped his eyes, "So, sweetie...do you understand?" He finally asked, "Do you have any questions?"

Ellie looked down at her legs, the little girl's mind was running with different thoughts, but to Kenny's shock the first thing she asked was, "The man...was he okay?"

Kenny rapidly blinked and hung his head, "I-I...I don't know, honey, I never asked," Kenny replied in near shame,

"Oh...I hope he was," Ellie whispered before cupping her hands together, "Daddy?" Kenny let out a small hum in response causing Ellie to look up at him with wet eyes, "Are you okay?"

"M-Me?" Kenny asked back with wide eyes,

"You look so sad..." Ellie croaked back before suddenly springing up, wrapping her arms around her father's neck, "I'm sorry, daddy!" The little girl cried out, "I don't want you to feel bad! Please, feel better!" Ellie begged as she began to let out soft whines,

Kenny let out a small, proud smile and wrapped his arms around his daughter, gently patting her back, "I will, baby. It'll take time, but I promise, I'll get better,"

The pair went silent for a few minutes, Kenny comforting his frightened, worried daughter with an embrace that she eventually pulled away from. Kenny remained in her room, helping put up the final pictures while Ellie changed into her pajamas. He then put her to bed, promising that he'd help her finish setting up her room tomorrow morning. Then with a goodnight kiss and another quick hug, Kenny tucked his daughter in and shut off the light, gently shutting the door behind him.

The man let out a shallow breath and slowly walked down the stairs, shuffling his way into the living room where he found Brook sitting on the couch, "Hey..." Brook tentatively said while standing up, "How'd it go?"

"I need a drink," Kenny merely replied with a distant, dazed expression,

Brook lowered her head and nodded a few quick times, "Top shelf on the right," Brook said while thumbing back to the kitchen, "I'll get the glasses," Kenny let out a nod of his own and stepped past the redhead, who quickly followed him into the next room.