Nicole was riding her bike trying hard to get home before five o'clock came around, of course that didn't happen. She parked her bike in the garage and made a mad dash for the door swinging it open and jumping through. "Mom! Dad! I'm home, I'm sorry it's so late but clubs ran a little long today." Nicole yelled walking into the kitchen throught the living room. There wasn't any response and it appeared that no one was home. Nicole ran upstairs just to check and found nothing, everything was in the same exact place as it had been that morning. So she decided she would try and call her mom, but that failed. Then she tried calling her dad and that didn't work out to well either. As soon as she started wondering where her parents might be she heard the downstairs phone ringing. She skipped down the stairs, landed on the couch and picked up the phone. "Hello?"
"Hello?" Nicole was hoping it would be her mother but it wasn't, it was a female voice though.
"Hi, can I help you?"
"Well yes, I was calling to ask if there was anyone by the name of Merk to talk to?" The woman sounded offly nervous
"Yeah, hi my name's Nicole Merk, how can I help you?" She asked
"Oh dear," the lady murmured. "my name's Judy, Judy Daniels I'm a nurse at Mulcally Hospital and I need to talk to you"
Nicole didn't even think this news would have anything to do with her parents she just kept listening "Yes what is it?"
Ms. Daniels was having some trouble starting "Well you see, it's about your parents. They were involved in a car accident. It was a five car pile up on interstate I-80, and you see..."

Before Ms. Daniels could finish Nicole had dropped the phone, grabbed her bike and was on her way to the hospital.

When she got through the automatic doors and ran across the lobby filled with paintings and art by the little kids and and ceramic tile floors with pale green walls she ran up to the information desk and asked what room her parents were in. The lady behind the desk was dressed in nurses gowns, wearing glasses and had her brunette hair pinned up in a bun. She looked up at Nicole then at her computer to search the name. "Im sorry both Mr. and Mrs. Merk are in surgery right now, it's just down that hallway." she answered pointing down the hall. Nicole ran down the hallway and accidently bumped into a doctor.
"You know miss you shouldn't be running in a place like this." said the doctor
"I'm sorry I'm looking for the emerancy room." She said not realizing how frantic she sounded
"What's your name?"
"Merk, Nicole Merk."
The doctor looked down then back up and gave her his hand to shake. "Hi, I'm Dr. Vanguard, I'm your parents doctor."
"Well that's great so you can tell me where they are." Nicole said with a smile
"I'm afraid not."
"Why not?"
Dr. Vanguard put his hand on her shoulder "I'm sorry miss, we tried, but it was just too much, even if we had saved them it would have meant years of pain and treatment."

Nicoles eyes widened and she fell to her knees, she started laughing and she sounded like a lunatic laughing and at the same time the tears were brimming over her eyes. Dr. Vanguard helped her to a bench and it explained how the five car pile up had smashed them in the car and would have been to much to try and save them. Once Nicole stopped laughing she was overcome with rage, where this rage came from she had no idea. She just started yelling, calling everyone liars and demanding to see her parents. She ran from Dr. Vanguard into the emergency room and immediatley saw her parents, but no those weren't her parents they were to disfigured those weren't her parents. Those were parasites, other people who had faught against something awful but those weren't her parents. Thats when she noticed the silver chain around her mother's neck, she ran over to the sink and threw up just thinking about it. She fell to the floor and started crying. A nurse with blonde hair and a slender figure came over and tried to comfort her but she just kept crying.

After awhile the tears stopped and Nicole found herself in the cafeteria of the hospital sitting across from the blonde nurse and an older lady wearing a nice suit and seemed very business like. She was still in kind of a haze but was listening when the blonde haired nurse started talking.
"Nicole? Hi I'm Judy. I want to say I'm really sorry about your parents, but we want you to know we are going to try and help the best we can, this is Mrs. Clarice she the hospital director."
"Hello Nicole." she smiled
"We know you have no other family so we were going to ask if you would like to stay at the hospital for now until we find you a pemanent place to stay. You can stay here, receive free meals, clothes, shelter, and if you would like you can speak with a pyschiatrist we have here."

Nicole was silent, she just nodded her head. What was she supposed to say? She just saw those people, who she refused to call her parents because she knew her parents and those weren't them. She sat there in the booth staring at the table tugging at her jacket every few moments.
Nicole found herself in a new room later that night and eating dinner in the hospital cafeteria, nurse Judy had taken her home earlier to get some things, toothbrush, hairbrush, clothes, and pictures of her now deceased parents. Nicole spent the night in one of the hospitals "hotel" rooms. These rooms were rooms set aside for people to sleep in when they had a family member in the hospital and couldn't go home. It was a very nice room though, it was clean but it wasnt steril, and it was well equipped with a tv, bathroom, and comfy bed.
After a week of taking her bike to school and coming home to the hospital Nicole started to get used to it. Nurse Judy turned into the aunt Nicole never had and on the weekend she would help Judy with her rounds and make some extra money. It's been one year, three months, one week, and five days since Nicole's parents died and Nicole is still at the hospital.
She isn't as sad though, she still sleeps in the "hotel" room, but has redecorated a litlle and put up a picture of her parents on the wall beside the small dining table. She still helps Judy with her rounds on the weekend and every so often she walks down to the childrens care hallway and is the reigning XBOX champion. This hospital is now her home and in two more years she'll go to college and maybe become a doctor who knows? But one thing is for sure, Nicole will always remember her parents. Her parents will always be watching over her, and Nicole's new adopted hospital family will never stop caring for her like their own.