So I watched 'Stephanie's Wild Ride' and I got an idea; that idea being what if DJ didn't stop Stephanie from getting into that car the night of the accident.
Danny, Joey, Jesse and Becky were all bunched around the one control for the game system, arguing over who would get the next turn. Sitting behind them was Michelle, her head resting on her cheek as she watched her family fight. All she had wanted was a little help to get the key for the magic kingdom in her game, and the next thing she knew was it hadn't been her turn in about four hours.
Nicky and Alex had wandered off somewhere about half an hour again, leaving her alone, praying for her turn to come back around. She was so close to going up to the console and taking the cartridge out of it, causing game over.
But before she could go through with her plan, the sound of the phone ringing echoed throughout the sitting room. Michelle glanced over at her father, followed by his best friend and her Aunt and Uncle before rising with a sigh. If she didn't answer it, nobody would.
Picking up the telephone, she placed it next to her ear, "Hello?"
"Hello, this is Denise Morgan. I work down at San Francisco General Hospital. I'm calling looking for a Mr. Daniel Tanner? I have here that he is the contact for Stephanie Tanner?" The voice on the other end told her. She could hear chattering voices in the background but she wasn't too interested. The question was, why was Denise calling about Stephanie?
"Could you hold on a moment; I'll get Dad now." Michelle walked over in front of the four adults, who were still concentrating on the console, and held the phone out in front of her. "Dad, it's for you."
"Michelle, get out the way," Jesse complained, leaning to the left and right to try and see around the eight-year-old. "This is a very important part."
"Dad." Michelle stressed this time. If the hospital were calling something was wrong. "It's about Stephanie."
Hearing his middle daughter's name, Danny stood and took the hand-held from her. "Hello?"
"…"
"Yes, this is he."
"…"
"You're joking, right?"
"…"
"Yes, yes, of course. We'll be down as soon as possible."
"…"
"Thank you for calling. Goodbye."
After hanging up the phone, Danny turned to look at his family. Jesse, Becky and Joey hadn't taken much notice of his absence, it was one less person to fight with over the controller, but Michelle was looking up at him, wonder, confusion and panic etched onto her small face.
Danny shot her a sympathetic look, barely covering his worry up, just for the sake of his youngest. Walking over to the game system, he pulled the cartridge, causing the game to close. "Danny." The three groaned.
Danny, however, took no notice. "Deej!" He called up the stairs before bending down to Michelle's height. "I'll tell you when Deej comes down here." He answered her unasked question and she nodded, although it did nothing to calm her. "DJ!"
"I'm coming, I'm coming." Finally, the eldest Tanner child made it to the bottom of the stairs before pausing at the look on her father's face. Her mind briefly flashed back to the night of her mother's accident, and although foggy, she remembered that look. It was nothing good. "What happened?" She asked instantly.
"Danny, why did you turn off the game, we were getting to a crucial stage." Joey groaned.
"I turned that game off," Danny began, his voice sharp and snappy. "Because that phone call was from the hospital."
"Hospital, why would…?" Becky trailed off, suddenly Danny had everyone's full attention. Glancing over at DJ and noticed her face had gone pale as she wrapped her arms around Michelle's shoulders, hugging her youngest sister close to her. At some point, Michelle had felt the need to be near DJ, needing the comfort.
"Where's Steph?" Jesse asked, beginning to piece things together, followed by shaking his head. "No, no, no."
"That was the hospital," Danny repeated, fiddling with the phone in his hands. "Calling about Stephanie. There was an accident. They want us to go down to General."
"B-but what's wrong with her? Is she okay?" DJ asked shakily. This was not happening.
Danny shook his head as he placed down the phone before moving to grab his coat. "They won't say anything over the phone, although I wish they would. We need to go right away."
Becky stood up, Joey and Jesse following. "Who's going with who?"
"I'll take Michelle and DJ with me," He moved his hand towards the two girls where DJ was helping Michelle with her coat. "I don't think Jesse is in a state to drive, Becky, so if you could? Do you want to take the twins down there?" Danny knew he wasn't going to get a response from Jesse so he looked to Becky.
But before she could reply, Joey jumped in. "I'll stay here and watch them. That way you five can go in one car, it'd be easier plus you wouldn't have to drag them down there."
Jesse nodded, barely acknowledging anyone. He was not going to lose another family member. "Come on, let's go."
The entire car ride was silent, the only sound coming from the car. Becky was driving the car, seeing as neither Danny nor Jesse were in a fit state to do so. In the passenger seat was Danny, the back being Michelle on the right in her car seat, followed by Jesse and DJ by the other window.
They were about ten minutes from the hospital when Michelle spoke up in a small voice. "Stephanie is going to be okay, right?"
Nobody knew how to reply to that. They didn't know the nature of the accident. Stephanie could have a few cuts and bruises or she could be in surgery at that very moment.
"We don't know, Michelle, we don't know." DJ whispered before turning towards the window, covering the tear that ran down her left cheek.
DJ was the first one to enter the hospital, Jesse hot on her tail. She dashed up to the nurse's desk, placing both hands on the counter please. "Could I get any news of Stephanie Tanner? I'm her sister and this is her Uncle."
The nurse glanced between the uncle-niece duo before nodding. "I'm Denise, I spoke with your father on the phone. If you could take a seat and someone will be right with you."
Jesse opened his mouth to say something but DJ was already pulling him away. "Someone will be over here soon. Just wait a minute."
True to Denise's word, not five minutes later a doctor came into the room and called, "Stephanie Tanner?"
The five stood and the doctor motioned for them to follow him into an office. Danny sat in one chair, Michelle on his lap, DJ in the next and Jesse in the final, leaving Becky to stand.
"Alright, I am Doctor Jonathan and I was the one who examined Stephanie when she was brought in. Are you aware of what happened tonight?" When all shook their heads, he continued. "The car Stephanie was riding in slipped on something on the road, causing it to spin out of control and smash into several trees that lined the road. The car seemed to be going over the limit, which was a factor of the crash. The car is completely totalled."
"Now moving onto Stephanie's injuries. Her side of the car was the one that was the worst off. Because of this, she has broken her left wrist and also fractured a rib on the right side." Jonathan motioned to two x-rays on the wall. "Along her left leg was a large gash, causing blood loss and she sustained a minor concussion. Apart from that, she has cuts and bruises, some worse than others. She will probably need doses of pain medication to help and we wish to keep her overnight to monitor her head injury, but if she gets the all clear, she will be home tomorrow. Any questions?"
"Could I go and see her by myself quickly?" DJ asked, her voice beginning to waver again. All she could feel was guilt.
Jonathan thought it over for a moment before nodding. "Room 309. Just be warned, loud noises might hurt her head."
DJ nodded and got from her seat walking out the door. Behind her she could hear the voices of her family asking more questions, "How are the other's involved?"
She made her way down the hallway, her head bowed until she got to her sister's room. She glanced through the small window and saw Stephanie lying in her bed, eyes closed, looking asleep. Just as DJ was contemplating whether to knock or not, Stephanie's eyes opened and looked straight at her. She smiled for a moment before it faded away and she waved at DJ to come in.
DJ did so, hesitantly, and hovered by the door, taking in the sight of her sister. Her arm was in a sling and cast, there was bandages wrapped tightly around her ribs and leg, her visible skin littered with cuts and forming bruises.
No one spoke for a moment. "I'm sorry, Deej." Stephanie's quiet voice broke through causing the older girl to look at her.
"What?"
"I'm sorry for not listening to you." She explained. "You warned me about driving stupidly like that, yet it still happened. If I had of known that those boys were going to come back and be with us, I wouldn't have gone."
"Yeah, I wouldn't have let you either." DJ took a deep breath before continuing. "I'm sorry, too. I should have tried harder to stop you from leaving tonight. Gia should have said something about those boys being there. I feel guilty about this, I could have stopped you but I didn't."
"Deej, there was no way you could have known we were going to crash." Stephanie tried to reassure her. "I was stupid enough to get in that car."
DJ didn't have a response so just stood there. Stephanie raised her arms slightly, as if asking for a hug to which DJ complied. Sitting on the edge of the bed, she let Stephanie rest her head underneath her chin, finding a position that wouldn't hurt her any more, although the medication was kicking in now.
Stephanie was beginning to fall asleep, the night's events catching up to her. Before she fell asleep, however, she managed to mutter an, "I love you, Deej."
And that was how the family found them minutes later, Stephanie asleep as her elder sister hugged her tightly.
Not my best ending, I'll give it that. But hopefully the rest is okay. It's 23:36 right now and I'm becoming tired. I'll probably fix this up at some point but for now, please enjoy and maybe leave a review? Thank you.