SVH07-Dear Sister

Dear Sister (Sweet Valley High #7)

Kate William

Francine Pascal

DEAR SISTER

Jessica looked down at her sister Elizabeth's figure, frozen on the hospital bed in pale, unmoving silence.

"Liz, can you hear me? Please, Lizzie. It was my fault you got hurt. Lizzie, I can't go through the rest of my life without you! You have got to get well. I need you so much!"

Elizabeth remained motionless. Jessica's eyes filled with tears that quickly rolled down her cheeks.

She took her twin's limp hand in hers and pleaded, "You know how much I love you, how much everybody loves you. Lizzie, oh, Lizzie, please hear me! You just can't die!"

Elizabeth's hand remained slack. There was no answering squeeze, no flickering of eyelids. There was absolutely nothing.

Bantam Books in the Sweet Valley High series Ask your bookseller for the books you have missed

*1 DOUBLE LOVE *2 SECRETS *3 PLAYING WITH FIRE *4 POWER PLAY *5 ALL NIGHT LONG *6 DANGEROUS LOVE *7 DEAR SISTER *8 HEARTBREAKER *9 RACING HEARTS *10 WRONG KIND OF GIRL *11 TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE *12 WHEN LOVE DIES *13 KIDNAPPED! *14 DECEPTIONS *15 PROMISES *16 RAGS TO RICHES *17 LOVE LETTERS *18 HEAD OVER HEELS *19 SHOWDOWN *20 CRASH LANDING! *21 RUNAWAY *22 TOO MUCH IN LOVE *23 SAY GOODBYE *24 MEMOE1IES *25 NOWHERE TO RUN *26 HOSTAGE! *27 LOVESTRUCK *28 ALONE IN THE CROWD *29 BITTER RIVALS *30 JEALOUS LIES *31 TAKING SIDES *32 THE NEW JESSICA *33 STARTING OVER *34 FORBIDDEN LOVE *35 OUT OF CONTROL *36 LAST CHANCE *37 RUMORS *38 LEAVING HOME *39 SECRET ADMIRER *40 ON THE EDGE *41 OUTCAST* 42 CAUGHT IN THE MIDDLE *43 HARD CHOICES *44 PRETENSES *45 FAMILY SECRETS *46 DECISIONS *47 TROUBLEMAKER *48 SLAM BOOK FEVER *49 PLAYING FOR KEEPS *50 OUT OF REACH *51 AGAINST THE ODDS *52 WHITE LIES *53 SECOND CHANCE *54 TWO-BOY WEEKEND *55 PERFECT SHOT *56 LOST AT SEA *57 TEACHER CRUSH *58 BROKENHEARTED *59 IN LOVE AGAIN *60 THAT FATAL NIGHT *61 BOY TROUBLE *62 WHO'S WHO? *63 THE NEW ELIZABETH *64 THE GHOST OF TRICIA MARTIN *65 TROUBLE AT HOME *66 WHO'S TO BLAME? *67 THE PARENT PLOT *68 THE LOVE BET *69 FRIEND AGAINST FRIEND *70 MS. QUARTERBACK *71 STARRING JESSICA! *2 ROCK STAR'S GIRL *73 REGINA'S LEGACY *74 THE PERFECT GIRL *75 AMY'S TRUE LOVE *76 MISS TEEN SWEET VALLEY *77 CHEATING TO WIN *78 THE DATING GAME *79 THE LONG-LOST BROTHER *80 THE GIRL THEY BOTH LOVED

Super Editions: PERFECT SUMMER SPECIAL CHRISTMAS SPRING BREAK MALIBU SUMMER WINTER CARNIVAL SPRING FEVER

Super Stars: LILA'S STORY BRUCE'S STORY ENID'S STORY

Magna Edition: THE WAKEFIELDS OF SWEET VALLEY

Super Thrillers: DOUBLE JEOPARDY ON THE RUN NO PLACE TO HIDE DEADLY SUMMER

SWEET VALLEY HIGH

DEAR SISTER

Written by

Kate William

Created by

FRANCINE PASCAL

BANTAM BOOKS NEW YORK -TORONTO * LONDON * SYDNEY * AUCKLAND

RL 6, IL age 12 and up

DEAR SISTER

A Bantam Book I April 1984

Sweet Valley High is a registered trademark of Francine Pascal

Conceived by Francine Pascal

Produced by Daniel Weiss
Associates, Inc. 33 West 17th Street New York, NY 10011

Cover art by James Mathewuse

All rights reserved. Copyright © 1984 by Francine Pascal. Cover art copyright © 1984 by Daniel Weiss Associates, Inc. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. For information address: Bantam Books.

If you purchased this book without a cover you should be aware that this book is stolen property. It was reported as "unsold and destroyed" to the publisher and neither the author nor the publisher has received any payment for this "stripped book."

ISBN 0-553-27672-7

Published simultaneously in the United States and Canada

Bantam Books are published by Bantam Books, a division of Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, Inc. Its trademark, consisting of the words "Bantam Books" and the portrayal of a rooster, is Registered in U. S. Patent and Trademark Office and in other countries. Marca Registrada. Bantam Books, 666 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York 10103.

PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

OPM 33 32 31 30 29 28 27 26 25

To Alexandra Guarnaschelli

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One

Elizabeth Wakefield lay still on the high, narrow hospital bed-- still as if she were dead, her twin sister Jessica thought. As she stood looking down at the motionless body, tears rolled down Jessica's cheeks. Day after day she had sat beside her sister's bed in Joshua Fowler Memorial Hospital waiting for her to regain consciousness.

"Lizzie, oh, Lizzie, please hear me," Jessica sobbed. "You can't die!"

Although Elizabeth and Jessica were identical twins, it was far from obvious now. Before the terrible motorcycle accident that had put Elizabeth in a coma, it was extremely difficult to tell the beautiful sixteen-year-old girls apart. When people in the sunny town of Sweet Valley, California, saw a five-foot-six gloriously attractive

young girl with sun-streaked blond hair and sparkling blue-green eyes, they knew it was
one
of the Wakefield twins, but they couldn't always be sure which one.

Now the difference was striking, and heartbreaking to see. Elizabeth, once vibrant and lively, was frozen in pale, unmoving silence. She hardly resembled the vivacious girl she had been just a few days earlier. Jessica's fresh, youthful beauty was still very much in evidence, but it was marred by a worried expression, eyes red from crying, and a frown of pain and sorrow that seemed to have become permanent.

Jessica's fixed expression of misery had been there since her sister was brought into the emergency room after the motorcycle accident. Jessica had ridden in the ambulance with Elizabeth. Their parents, Ned and Alice Wakefield, had raced to the hospital, as had the twins' older brother Steven. They had all seen that stricken look on Jessica's face and assured her Elizabeth would be all right. But as the days went by and Elizabeth remained silent, Jessica's fears grew and the look of misery deepened.

Now, she sat down slowly on the chair next to her sister's bed. Looking at the medical equipment, she shivered. She knew the IV going into Elizabeth's arm fed her sister life-sustaining nutrients. But the other tubes and machines frightened her.

Jessica took Elizabeth's limp hand in hers and pleaded, "Lizzie, you know how much I love you, how much everybody loves you. They love you more than me! You just can't die, Lizzie. I can't go through the rest of my life without you."

Elizabeth's hand remained slack. There was no answering squeeze, no flickering of eyelids. There was absolutely nothing.

A hand fell on Jessica's shoulder. Startled, she jerked her head up. Her blue-green eyes met a pair of soft brown ones in a kind face.

"Miss Wakefield?"

"Yes."

"I could see the resemblance. You're both beautiful."

Jessica regarded the man in his white lab coat, afraid of the news he might bring.

"I can only guess how painful it is for you to see your sister like this."

"I'm so worried!"

The man stooped so that his face was on a level with hers.

"Jessica, we're doing everything we can for Elizabeth. We're trying our best to make her well. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

She nodded mutely. Did he mean Elizabeth was going to be OK, or...

"My name is John Edwards. I'm the neurosurgeon on your sister's case."

"Dr. Edwards?"

"That's right, Jessica. Your sister is in a coma. You know what that is, don't you?"

"It means Liz is going to die!" Jessica's voice cracked, and the tears started again. She sobbed as if her heart were breaking.

She felt strong hands on her shoulders, shaking her gently but insistently. "Stop it, Jessica. Crying isn't going to help your sister. Elizabeth needs your strength, not your tears."

Jessica raised a tearstained face. "You don't understand!"

"I know how upset you are."

"You don't understand, Dr. Edwards," she said again. "It's my fault, all my fault."

"Jessica, were you driving the car that hit the motorcycle?"

"No, of course not!"

"Then why is it your fault?" he asked kindly.

"Because I was supposed to give her a ride! I was selfish and left without her so she had to go with Todd on his motorcycle. If I'd waited, she wouldn't.... Oh, I should have waited. It
is
my fault!"

Suddenly Dr. Edwards's hands were cupping her face, forcing her to look up. "Jessica, accidents happen. They aren't anyone's fault. And right now, blame isn't important. Guiding Elizabeth back to all of us is. That's what we have to do. You and your brother and your parents

have to bring Elizabeth back. I'll help, Jessica, but it's really up to you."

"Me?"

"Yes. You're the person closest to her.
You
have the best chance of reaching her."

"How? How do I reach her?"

"Talk to her. Just talk to her." He ran his fingers through his dark brown hair, walked to the window, and stared blankly. Suddenly he turned, and Jessica saw anger and frustration in his face.

"Jessica, doctors can keep people alive with machines, but we can't will them to come back to us. Sometimes, it doesn't happen, no matter how much you or I want it. The only thing we can do is try."

"I'll try. I'll do anything for Liz."

"I know you will. Take care of your sister, and I'll be in later to check on her."

As soon as the doctor was gone, Jessica looked down at Elizabeth's quiet figure.

"Liz, can you hear me? Please, Lizzie. It was my fault you got hurt. Well, maybe not
all
my fault, but I know you would never have let me down like that. I don't know how you do it. When you tell someone you're going to be somewhere, you're there. People can count on you. Only a jerk would count on me. Lizzie, I promise to be more responsible in the future. But I can't do it without you.

You have to get well, Liz! I need you so much!"

The figure on the bed remained motionless.

"Jess, why don't we go down to the cafeteria for a cup of tea?"

Jessica jumped. Right now, the world consisted only of her sister and herself. She'd been so involved she hadn't even heard her mother come into the room.

"Oh, Mom, I'm so scared!" she sobbed, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Jess, honey, don't cry like this. Elizabeth isn't going to die. We won't let her! You'll see, darling. She'll come out of this, and everything will be the same as it was before the accident."

Jessica wanted to believe her mother's words. She wished with all her heart that she could turn back the clock to the night Elizabeth had been hurt.

Normally, Elizabeth would have gone to Enid Rollins's sweet-sixteen party with her boyfriend Todd Wilkins, but Todd had had to be at a party for his grandfather early in the evening. Since he'd promised to get away as soon as possible and join Elizabeth at the country club, she hadn't minded too much arriving at the party with Jessica and her date for the night, Brian. She hadn't even been upset when Todd called midway through the party to tell her he

would be later than he'd expected. But she'd been furious when he hadn't shown up until the party was over.

Still, Elizabeth loved Todd so much that even a broken date couldn't keep her mad at him for long, especially when she found out where he'd been. Todd had been making a deal to sell his motorcycle. Elizabeth couldn't believe it when he told her. Owning that bike had been a dream of Todd's ever since he was a little kid. But he was selling it now because it was making problems between Elizabeth and him, and because he loved her.

Elizabeth had looked over at the bike. Suddenly she wasn't afraid of it anymore, or of what her parents would do if they ever found out she'd taken a ride on it. She thought about it for a moment. Since Jessica had left with-out her, she had no way of getting to the Caravan, the club where the rest of the kids had gone after Enid's party. She was stranded. Unless ...

Then she made the decision, perhaps the worst one of her life. She got on the bike.

At first, nothing could have felt better than to ride behind the boy she loved as the motorcycle leaned into the curves of the road, the wind whipping through her hair. And she hadn't even seen the out-of-control van coming toward them until it was too late.

***

"Liz, answer me, please!" Jessica urged from her sister's bedside. "How about if I say it was all my fault? Would that bring you back? I'll make a deal with you, Lizzie. I'll take all the blame, and you'll live. What do you say?"

Desperation warred with hopelessness in Jessica's mind. "It's not fair," she cried. "Crunch McAllister wasn't even hurt when he hit Todd's bike with his van, and Todd wasn't, either. But you're in a coma, and you never did a single thing to deserve it. Oh, Liz, I want everything to be like it was before. I want to tease you about your writing. You never got mad at me for that, did you? You always understand me, Liz. Nobody else does, not even me sometimes. I guess that's the big difference between us. You can get into other people's heads and then do things that make them feel better." Jessica sat quietly for a few minutes, feeling helpless.