Palmer Hurks felt the sun warming her face through her window, and smiled at the feeling it gave her. It wasn't until moments later that she realized she shouldn't be feeling the sun, that the sun meant she had overslept, and, sure enough, as she grabbed her alarm she realized that yes in fact she had overslept and was late for class. Palmer rolled out of bed, combed her hair real quick, threw on a pair of semi dirty jeans and a random t-shirt before grabbing her backpack and rushing out her dorm, heading down the hall to her class. As she briskly headed down the hall, she heard someone come to her side, and looked to see her friend Arthur coming up beside her.

"You too huh?" he asked, pushing his glasses up his nose.

"My alarm didn't go off."

"Nobody's did. There was a power outage," Arthur said, "One of the girls on the floor above plugged a powerful hair straightener into the wall and blew out the electricity. Everyone's gonna be late."

"I can't afford to be late," Palmer said, swishing her long, bright blonde hair back behind her ear, "I've been late far too many times already this year and we're only three weeks into it. If anyone had told me that I would be responsible for my own adulthood I don't think I would've been in such a hurry to get to it."

Arthur laughed, and Palmer smiled.

She had met Arthur at orientation a few weeks prior, and the two had quickly become friends. Seeing as they'd come from the same town - but somehow hadn't attended the same schools during that entire time - it just made sense to be friends, if nothing else so they wouldn't feel as awkward as they would otherwise in such a new place. As they approached the class, their professor, a tall, young woman (it was hard to believe she was the professor, considering she didn't look much older than Palmer) was standing outside the door, which made Palmer nervous.

"Palmer," she said as they got to the door, "You're here."

"I know, I'm sorry, the power-"

"You have a phone call," the professor said, "You have to go to my office."

Palmer and Arthur gave one another a confused look, but Palmer just shrugged and did as she was told. She headed into the room, and then went to the front of the room, which had a small connected office that closed off from the rest of the lecture hall. As the three of them got to the office, the professor, Jenny Marigold, looked at Arthur, almost as if he should just take his seat, but Palmer said she wanted him to wait, so Jenny let it go. Palmer picked up the phone and lifted the receiver to her ear.

Everything after that was fuzzy.

                                                                         ***

Dodie Hurks couldn't move, and felt her legs pinned by something. It felt cold, rough, like metal. She wanted to scream, but she couldn't muster the strength. She felt exhausted, like she'd just spent the whole day running around. She rolled her head to the side and noticed her father lying there, further down the road, not moving. After a bit, she heard the sirens, and felt hands reaching for her. She drifted off after that, and wouldn't regain consciousness until hours later at the hospital.

The last thing she could remember was being in the car, heading to school. She and her dad had stopped for donuts, like they did every morning (something they never told her mom) and were singing along to a musical number from an animated feature. She couldn't even remember the car flipping, and she was pretty sure she didn't scream during the incident. The last thing she remembered seeing before she passed out and woke back up pinned on the road was her father looking at her and smiling. It was almost like he was telling her everything would be okay, even though it was so clear that they wouldn't.

When Dodie woke up, she found her mom sitting by her bedside, her eyes red as hell itself. Dodie groaned and tried to move, but her mother quickly quashed that and told her to just rest.

"I'm supposed to be at school," Dodie said softly, barely able to speak.

"I think they'll excuse you missing today," Regina, her mother, replied, gently pushing Dodie's bangs from her face, adding, "...just take it easy. You just need to take it easy right now and save your strength."

Dodie nodded, and shut her eyes again, trying to sleep. Regina looked at her watch and exhaled deeply. She'd called Palmer an hour ago. She knew it was a few hours between there and the college, but she really wished she was already here. She needed to see her other daughter.

                                                                            ***

"Are you okay?" Arthur asked, driving Palmer, who was staring deadeyed out the windshield.

"...I...don't know," she said quietly, "I don't know how I am. It seems so surreal, like this sort of thing only ever happens in movies or something. You grow up thinking your dad is invincible, but I came to peace with the fact that he wasn't a long time ago, once I was aware of how death worked. It just never occurred to me that I might not have as much time with him as I thought I would."

"You don't know that, he was just in an accident, he could be okay," Arthur said, trying to stay optimistic, something Palmer appreciated.

"I wanna believe that," she whispered, "...but it's hard to."

By the time they arrived at the hospital, three hours later, Palmer and Arthur found her mother sitting in the hallway outside of Dodie's room. Regina looked alright, all things considered, but you could tell from looking at her face that she'd spent the last few hours sobbing hard. Palmer hugged her mom and then introduced Arthur, saying that he drove her here so she wouldn't be alone. Regina thanked him for his kindness.

"Where's Dodie?" Palmer asked.

"She's in this room behind me. She's okay enough. Her leg is fractured, but she'll be alright in the long run, physically anyway, god willing," Regina said.

"Where's dad?" Palmer asked.

Regina looked at her hands and didn't answer.

"Where's dad?" Palmer asked again, already knowing the answer thanks to her mothers silence, but she still needed to hear it said out loud for it to be real. After a moment Regina looked up at her daughter, and she, for some reason, almost laughed.

"He's gone, sweetheart," she said, her voice cracking.

The words broke Palmer's heart into pieces, and she stumbled, only being caught by Arthur who was stood behind her and then helped her into a nearby seat. It was a rough day for the Hurks family.

         ***

            3 WEEKS LATER

Palmer stood in front of her mirror in her old bedroom, looking at her face, unsure whether it was appropriate or not to wear makeup to a funeral. She put her hands on the desk and looked at the photos she had taped around the vanity mirror; family vacation photos, photos of her and her father during daddy/daughter dances, and things of that nature. Palmer smiled, even if it hurt. She had been trying to process her grief for weeks now, but to no real avail. It simply hurt far too much to admit he was gone. A knock on the door came, and Dodie entered.

"Mom wants to know if you're ready," Dodie said.

"I'm ready, yeah," Palmer said, "yeah..."

She sat on the side of the bed and pulled out a small jewelry box from under the bed, then looked at Dodie and smiled.

"Come here," Palmer said, and Dodie, still somewhat limping, stumbled on over to the bed and sat beside her older sister. Palmer opened the box and pulled out the false bottom, taking out a really old piece of jewelry, a pearl bracelet.

"What is that?" Dodie asked.

"It was grandma's," said Palmer, "You never got to meet her, but she gave me this when I was your age, and I haven't worn it in years. I think you should have it."

Dodie held out her wrist and let Palmer put the bracelet on, then she inspected it.

"It's pretty!" Dodie said brightly, the first time she'd shown any kind of enthusiasm about anything in the past few weeks.

"It is," Palmer said, nodding, "Yeah, and I thought you would like it cause it was kinda close to dad, being that it was grandmas."

Dodie kicked her feet, swinging them off the bedside as Palmer stood up and went back to her desk, clipping her bangs back from her face. Dodie looked up and watched her sister primp at the mirror, and then asked

"Why didn't I die instead of dad?"

"I don't know," Palmer said, "Why would you even ask?"

"Because people need him more than they need me," Dodie said, and this statement just about made Palmer cry on the spot. She hide her face and wiped her eyes carefully, then turned and went back to the bed, rubbing her sisters back.

"That isn't true at all. Mom and I need you, we love you," she said, "Why would you say something like that?"

Dodie shrugged, then leaned against her sister, feeling Palmer's arms tightly around her.

"I miss him," Dodie said quietly.

"Yeah, me too," Palmer said, kissing the top of her sisters head.

The funeral was small, respectable, and somber, as funerals have a tendency to be. Dodie and Palmer sat in the back (being in the front made Dodie nervous, so Palmer agreed they could sit in the back), and whenever anyone came to speak to them, to give their condolences, Palmer always dealt with them so Dodie never had to talk to anyone. Anything she could do to make the day easier for her little sister, Palmer did. Afterwards, during the wake back at the house, Palmer helped her mother downstairs with the food and various refreshments.

"I have a newfound respect for people who cater," Palmer said as she stood beside her mother in the living room, making Regina chuckle.

"It's a dirty, tough business, yeah," she said, "Have you seen your sister?"

"Not since we got home," Palmer said, "She's probably hiding. Today's been hard for her."

"I believe it," Regina said, just as another guest came up to speak to her, giving Palmer ample chance to slip away and go search for Dodie. She headed up the stairs, first to her bedroom but didn't find her there. Then she checked her parents bedroom, but nobody was there. However, as she was about to leave, she heard a shuffle from the closet, and she opened it, finding Dodie tucked away, her knees pulled up to her chest, her arms wrapped around them. Palmer climbed into the closet and shut the door behind her.

"Do you want a snack?" Palmer asked, but Dodie just shook her head; Palmer smiled, "Remember when mom and dad used to go out on dates when I was in high school, and we'd play hide and seek? You always hid in here. You're pretty easy to find."

"I like it in here," Dodie said, "...it smells like dad."

"It does, yeah," Palmer said, pulling on one of her fathers suit jackets, bringing the sleeve to her nose and taking a long whiff, "dad smelled funny."

Dodie giggled, which made Palmer laugh. The girls had always had a habit of cheering one another up, and it was nice that that tradition had continued, even with Palmer at college now.

"When do you have to go back to school?" Dodie asked.

"Probably this coming week," Palmer said, "I have extensions because of a family emergency, but I can't miss that much coursework. I'll get too far behind and won't be able to catch up."

"I wish you didn't have to go," Dodie said, "It's weird not having you home."

"I know. I'm sorry," Palmer said.

"...can we talk more?" Dodie asked.

"Of course! You can always call me anytime!" Palmer said, "I mean, when we're not in school or whatever, obviously. But of course we can."

Palmer and Dodie stayed in the closet for an hour or so, until the house had started to finally see a good chunk of its guests leave, and then went to the entertainment room to watch cartoons. Anything to keep her little sister from losing her innocence was something Palmer felt was important to do. But the thing was...during all of this, nobody had asked how Palmer was. She and her mother had been so invested in making sure Dodie was okay, understandably given how young she was, but nobody had ever stopped to ask Palmer if she was okay.

But it was fine. Palmer was always the strong one. She was always okay.

Until she wasn't.

                                                                            ***

Palmer was sitting in the library, doing homework, when she heard a chair pull out from across from her. She looked up to see Arthur sitting down and setting his bookbag on the table. They smiled politely at one another, and he handed her a candy bar, which she graciously accepted.

"Did you buy this for me?" she asked.

"No, actually the machine just gave me double, so," Arthur said, "Come on, I'm not that thoughtful."

Palmer laughed as she tore the end of the wrapper off with her teeth and bit into the candy.

"...so do you need help catching up on anything?" Arthur asked, "Cause I've got all sorts of work aides and whatnot that-"

He didn't even get to finish before Palmer was sobbing. He came around the table and put his hand on her shoulder, and she leaned into him, hugging him tightly, crying against him. He didn't say a single thing, he just let her cry. It was the first time since her fathers death that she'd finally let go, and it felt good. A bit embarrassing that it was happening here, in a college library where everyone could see, but she didn't care. She needed to cry, and she was grateful to have Arthur there for that. After she stopped, she wiped her face on her sweater sleeve and exhaled as Arthur went back around to his chair and sat back down.

"Thanks," she said quietly, and Arthur smiled warmly.

"No problem," he said, the two of them getting to work, not speaking another word about it.

                                                                              ***

The first day Dodie went back to school, her mother had to pack her lunch, something her father used to do. As she put her food inside the plastic container, she was puzzled to see, in her husbands easily recognizable handwriting, the word "Doodlebug" on the side of the container. How had she never noticed this before? Dodie came into the kitchen and sat at the table, eating her cereal.

"How long has this been here?" Regina asked.

"I don't know, since first grade," Dodie said, "Dad put it there."

Regina smiled and ran her thumb over the word, nodding to herself. It was something he'd used to call Dodie when she was really little, but hadn't called her that in over a year. She got her composure back and went back to finishing packing the lunchbox, then put it on the table.

"Put that in your bookbag," she said as she headed to her bedroom to get dressed.

Dodie looked at the word written on the box and she smiled for the first time in weeks. She would always be his Doodlebug, and she was happy that nobody could take that away from her at least.