Free Waiting for Morning by Karen Kingsbury

her veins, more powerful than any drug, infusing her heart and soul. She clenched her fists. It was outrageous! How could the courts allow a convicted drunk driver back on the roads to kill Tom and Alicia? She gritted her teeth. She would change the laws—the entire system—if that’s what it took.
    She ripped a sheet of paper from her pad and began making notations. Her mind raced with plans.… She would contact Mothers Against Drunk Drivers.… She would attend any court hearing involving Brian Wesley.… If she had to, she’d single-handedly change the drunk driving laws in the state of California. The thought of Brian Wesley fueled her rage, but as her notes began taking form, she found herself strangely comforted.
    She had a reason to go on.
    Brian Wesley—and his punishment.
    The next two days flew by. Consumed with her decision to exact revenge on Brian Wesley, Hannah scarcely took in all that happened. In a blur of events, Jenny was released from the hospital, and she and Hannah attended the double funeral service. Family and friends surrounded Hannah, consoling her.But every time Hannah looked for Jenny, the girl was alone. She sat in the first pew, her head hung low, her casted arm in a sling.
    Hannah felt a quick pang of guilt. She was ignoring Jenny, her only surviving daughter. But on the heels of the feeling came her new resolve. Jenny was young and resilient. Her injuries would heal and she would be fine. They would have time together later. Alicia and Tom, they were the real victims.
    And, of course, Hannah. This disaster had happened to her, most of all. She would never recover … never find another man like Tom … never know another daughter so sweet and talented and precious as Alicia …
    She had lost the most, and she had no energy for consoling Jenny. She was too desperately in need of consolation herself.
    Besides, it hurt too much to talk about the loss, to face the present and the emptiness it held every day. No, it was much safer to spend her time living in one of two places: the angry, uncertain future or the bittersweet past. Her thoughts of the future were directed to one end only: seeing Brian Wesley locked up, knowing he would pay for what he did.
    The rest of the time she spent in the past, where Tom and Alicia still lived.

Seven
The roads to Zion mourn, for no one comes to her …
All her gateways are desolate .
L AMENTATIONS 1:4 A
    It had been two weeks since the accident, and Jenny lay sprawled out on her flannel quilt, her fingers fanned against the cool wall beside her bed … the wall that separated her room from Alicia’s. Jenny studied her arms and legs and saw that the bruises were fading. But there were other scars—ones she knew would never disappear.
    She studied the wall and drifted back to what seemed like another lifetime, the day they were packing for the camping trip. In her mind she heard three soft thuds coming from the other room: the signal she and Alicia had used for years. One thud meant Urgent! Come quick! Get in here right away! Two thuds meant good night . And three thuds were a simple three-word message: I love you .
    Alicia’s bed was up against the other side of the wall, and each night whichever of them got in bed first would thud twice. Good night . When the other sister responded with two thuds of her own, the first would thud three times. I love you . And the other would respond similarly.
    The day before the trip, Jenny and Alicia had been in their separate rooms, packing their bags; Amy Grant’s “Hearts in Motion” had been blaring from Alicia’s tape player. A single thud sounded in Jenny’s room. She had dropped her thermal underwear and skittered out the door, around the corner into Alicia’s room, where she flopped onto her sister’s bed.
    “What?” Jenny nosed around inside Alicia’s duffel bag, checking the things her sister had packed.
    “You bringing your tape player?” Alicia held a fistful of cassette tapes. Amy