Title: Part 1 of the Craig Drama Series

Summary: For all of those out there who enjoy Craig drama and/or the CrAsh thing, yay! You found it! Some out of character things, but other than that…Yeah. And, if you don't like CrAsh, well, that's too damn bad because I'm not changing it to 'CrAnny' because that's just totally gay. (No offense to gays or lesbians).

Plot Summary: First day of school. Craig falls down the stairs. Hmm. Now he's in got something in common with Jimmy---they're both in wheelchairs. Craig and Ashley talk…and Ashley rethinks a breakup with Craig.

Angela Jeremiah ran outside, to the garage, where her father and stepmother were. "Daddy, I---" Angela began. Her father, Joey, interrupted her.

"Angela, can't you see Caitlin and I are talking? You can't interrupt," Joey said firmly.

"I know, but it's important!" Angela cried.

"Angie! Whatever it is, it can wait!" Joey said loudly. He was beginning to get annoyed with his usually polite daughter.

"Daddy! It's Craig!" Angie cried helplessly. "He needs help!" Joey sighed before saying in a calm voice, "What does Craig need help with?"

Angie took a breath. "Craig can't get up," she said quietly.

"Angie, you shouldn't joke like that," Joey said. He'd actually started to think Craig could be hurt, but rethought it when Angie had a small smile on her face.

"I'm not joking! He really needs help!" Angie whined.

"Joey, why don't we go see what she's talking about?" Caitlin suggested. Joey sighed and stood up off the old couch in his garage and walked to the front door. He slowly opened it.

"Angie! Is that you? Did you get help?" Craig shouted from the floor.

Joey opened the door wide. He dropped to his knees next to Craig. "Craig, what happened?" Joey said quickly, trying to sit Craig up on the steps. Craig winced in pain as his legs moved. "I got up and I was about to go do something and my foot slipped and I fell down the stairs. Now I think my legs are broken," Craig said, wincing again, but trying to be brave in front of Joey. "Damn. I need to go the hospital. It hurts…" Craig rested his upper body on the steps, and turned away from Joey slowly.

Walking out of the kitchen, Caitlin went over to where Joey and Craig were on the stairs, Angie sitting next to her father. "I called an ambulance," she said quietly, sitting next to Angie.

"Thanks," said Joey. "Okay, now…what? We just wait?"

"I guess," Caitlin said.

"I hate waiting!" Angie said.

"Amen to that, Angie," Craig muttered.

"Does it hurt too bad, Craig?" asked Joey.

"No, Joey. It just feels like beat my legs in with a large stick. But no, it doesn't hurt," Craig said darkly. Joey gave Craig a dirty look.

"I'm just trying to help, Craig. Okay? I'm doing the best I can," said Joey, sighing with irritation.

"I know. I'm sorry, Joey. I just… it's a damn fracture. You can't expect it to not hurt," Craig said, sighing and turning onto his back. "I'm tired. I think something's up with the meds or something because ever since I got the prescription filled, I'm tired every time I take them."

"We'll check it out at the pharmacy," said Joey. "But I think I hear an ambulance outside, so we'd better get you to the hospital." Craig sighed. A paramedic knocked on the door, and Joey let them in to take Craig to the hospital. When Craig was situated and inside the ambulance, Joey climbed inside with him.

Craig lay in silence as the ambulance drove to the hospital. Pain pulsed through his nerves. Silently, two tears rolled down his face. He looked at Joey, who was unfortunately watching as this happened. Craig shut his eyes. 'Evil Joey,' he thought. 'Always has to watch me. He thinks I'm insane.' He let out a heavy sigh.

As the ambulance pulled in next to the entrance for emergencies, Craig opened his eyes. He looked at Joey immediately. His face was buried in his hands. Craig knew he was tired and stressed, having to take care of him, Angie, himself, and his car lot, and he suddenly felt guilty for putting Joey through this. So, just as the door to the hospital was about to open and take Craig inside, he said to Joey, "I'm sorry for doing this."

And then he was taken to a room where he would stay until he got casts on both his legs. Joey entered several minutes later. Craig pretended to be asleep. He knew Joey wasn't stupid, but he probably wouldn't notice Craig's lack of natural sleeping traits. His muscles were tense, and his eyes he had to force to stay shut. His breathing was quieter than usual, but his head was tilted off to the side like it usually was when he slept on his back.

When a doctor came in about a half-hour later, Craig was taken into a room where he got a cast on each of his legs. Two hours later, he was in his hospital bed again. As he lay with Joey in silence, Craig actually started to doze off. It was his meds again. Soon enough, he fell asleep. His body tensed every so often, and he had extremely rapid eye movements. Thirty minutes later, Joey had almost dozed off himself, but he heard his stepson beginning to hyperventilate in his sleep and knew something wasn't right.

Looking over at Craig, his face was covered in cold sweat, and his head was being tossed from side to side quickly. Joey stood up and took a hold of Craig's shoulders. "Craig! Craig!" Joey shouted. "Craig! Wake up!"

"Dad, don't… I promise I won't be late again…I swear…" Craig muttered. Joey held Craig's head straight. "Craig! Wake up!" Joey shouted. Craig continued to say things to himself until Joey put a cold washcloth over his face. Craig opened his eyes and gasped for breath.

Craig didn't remember anything from the past few hours. "Why am I in the hospital? What the---oh my God, he broke my legs!" Craig shouted.

"What?" said Joey blankly.

"My dad, he---he was just…he…nothing, he's dead," Craig muttered.

"Craig, you fell down the stairs," Joey said in a matter-of-fact tone.

"Oh, yeah. I remember that now," Craig said coolly. "God…Joey, I think something's seriously wrong with me. I sleep all the time, I'm always tired, and there's just…the meds don't work like they should."

"I know, Craig. I'll get it all taken care of. Now go back to sleep and try not to think about… him," Joey said calmly.

"I always think about him when I'm in hospitals. He's the only person I'm able to think about in hospitals. He walked these same halls and rooms, touched the same things… it freaks me out just being here."

"Then don't fall asleep. Stay awake. We'll be leaving in a few more hours."

"I hate hospitals," Craig said flatly. "They're boring and depressing. Sort of like funerals."

THE NEXT DAY

Craig sat up on the couch where he'd been forced to sleep for the next six weeks. He had no access to his own bedroom because the only way to go up was the stairs, and stairs weren't exactly easy to use in a wheelchair. Maybe in crutches, but not wheelchairs. Why couldn't he have only broken one leg? Why two? Why did he have to fall down the stairs at all?

Taking the clothes off of the back of the couch where Joey had left them, Craig went into the downstairs bathroom to get dressed. He looked from his pants to his legs and said, "This could be a problem." He put his shirt on first… easy. No problems there. After a few minutes of attempts, he got his pants on, too. He missed not being able to wear shoes, but it didn't matter at this point. Craig came out of the bathroom and got his leather jacket off of a chair at the table, where he'd left it the day before he fell. "Ah. I'm feeling complete now," he muttered to himself. Joey came down the stairs, along with Angie and Caitlin. "Hello," Craig said, stretching his arms.

"Hello," everyone greeted in return.

"How'd you sleep last night, Craig?" asked Caitlin.

"Pretty bad," Craig said calmly. "This couch is old. I think it needs to make friends with the one in the garage."

Caitlin laughed. "Yeah. It's not the newest couch out there," she said.

Craig yawned. "I need to go back to bed," Craig muttered.

Joey responded, "You don't need to; you want to. You went to 'bed' early enough last night and woke up twenty minutes before school starts. I think you got enough sleep last night."

"It's those stupid pills, Joey. Maybe I'm not as 'unstable' as they say I am," Craig said simply. "Hurry up, Joey! I'm gonna be late for school!"

At Degrassi, Mr. Simpson's Homeroom

Even though Joey did his best to hurry up with coffee and breakfast, Craig was still ten minutes late for class. Everyone in the class watched as the door opened and Craig rolled in on his new wheelchair. "Wow, Craig. What'd you do this time?" Mr. Simpson said. The class stared at Craig. "Maybe you and Jimmy should start a club or something," Spinner said.

"Spinner," Paige said, turning to look at him, "shut up. It's not funny." Spinner's face turned red. Craig wheeled himself over to an empty spot next to Hazel and Paige.

"What did you do?" asked Hazel.

"Fell down the stairs. Broke both my legs. It was painful. By the time they let me out of the hospital yesterday, school was already over," Craig said quietly.

"Wow," said Paige. "Must've been fun for you."

"Oh, yeah, it was. Six hours in the hospital. Absolutely delightful," said Craig in the same sarcastic tone.

"You three, I know how very exciting it must be to talk about that sale at the mall last week, but stop talking," Mr. Simpson said, indicating Paige, Craig, and Hazel, who all laughed to themselves at his comment. "Sorry, Mr. Simpson," Craig said quietly.
Mr. Simpson explained the assignment to the class. Then, almost an hour later, class was over. Craig talked to Jimmy after class. "Hey, man," said Jimmy. "What's up with the wheels? Break your legs? How long?"

Craig smiled. "Um… yeah, I broke my legs when I fell down the stairs. I'm only in the wheelchair for six weeks. Then I get walking casts. Ooh, wow," he said.

"You know," said Jimmy as they went down the hall. "Everyone keeps telling me, 'I know how you feel'. But they don't. They were never in a wheelchair. They were on crutches or sick in bed. This is different. But now, you know how I feel because you're in a wheelchair. So now you can say it."

"I know how you feel," Craig said.

"Good. See? And I know how you feel… actually, I can't really feel my legs. So…. Maybe I don't know how you feel. Whatever." They laughed and got their books from their lockers before going to English. In English, he noticed for the first time that day… Ashley wasn't at school. "That's weird," he said to himself.
"What's weird?" asked Jimmy.

"Ashley's not here today. She almost never misses school."

"She's at the dentist," Jimmy said. "I heard her talking about it yesterday. And you."

"What?" Craig said.

"She was talking about the dentist yesterday. She also talked about you yesterday."

"What did she say?"

"She said that she didn't know where you were. And that she was going to probably talk to you when she got to see you."

"I don't want to talk to her," Craig said.

"Well, she wants to talk to you. Anyway, pay attention. We're gonna get busted."

Jimmy and Craig listened to the rest of whatever Ms. Kwan was saying.\

THE END…NOT

A/N: Okay, that's the end of part one. Part two, Ash and Craig talk about their relationship. Part three, Craig and Marco get in a fight. Part four, Craig goes to the streets. And I'm still writing part five. Read and Review. Rate on a scale of 1-10.