Waking Up By: Lauren Freeman

A/N: This is a short, one time story that came to me as I was watching Everwood tonight. Incidentally this was the first episode I had ever seen, and I remember wanting to write this missing scene after the first time I saw it. When it came on tonight I recorded it, and being I have seen a lot more episodes now, and actually know who is who and what's happening, I felt a lot more comfortable writing this. ( Don't worry I have not given up on Avalanche, I am just having a little writers block on that fic. I am getting some ideas however so expect more soon! Thanks for reading and please be sure to review. No flames please and a small warning, this fic has not been beta read, but it's so small I would not be to worried.

Disclaimer: I do not own Everwood, nor do I own any of the characters. I am not making any money off this story.

Waking Up By: Lauren Freeman

"H-help." Ephram whispered. He heard a boat in the distance, but he was so cold, he couldn't yell, he could barely move is fingers, let enough gain enough strength to yell. Ephram looked up to the sky and prayed that he would be found. He didn't like the way his life was going right now, but he wasn't ready to give up on it yet. He was a teenager after all, he was supposed to be moody, science said that more then likely he would grow out of this. So he wanted to live, to see that day, however it did not look like that boat was coming toward him, and he could feel his eyes start to droop.

"N-no, over hear." Ephram said a little louder then before however it was not enough for anyone to hear him. He was surprised when the boat turned around and began to come right for him.

"Ephram!" Ephram knew that voice, it was the one voice he strangely enough wanted to hear the most right now. He had to stay awake, at least long enough for his dad to find him. A bright light suddenly slammed into him like a fist, causing him to wince, forcing his eyes shut. No he couldn't keep his eyes shut, not if he wanted to stay awake. Ephram heard a splash, it seemed like forever before Erv appeared next to him. He tried to help, but he felt like he was probably being more of a hindrance, and stopped. He could no longer feel his hands, so they no longer hurt. The motion of being pulled seemed to only help the darkness as it washed over him. He tried to stay awake, he really did, he was asleep before they got to the boat.

Andy watched with fear as Erv began to pull his son in. He couldn't tell what condition Ephram was in and that had him even more frightened. His fears were confirmed as Erv finally got Ephram to the boat. Andy carefully brought Ephram on to the boat and was frightened by the fact that Ephram was not helping at all. Laying him in the boat, Andy began to assess his son's condition. There was a large cut on his head, with a large amount of blood around it. It looked to have stopped bleeding however awhile ago, which would mean, Ephram had probably been in the water for awhile. Andy took his son's hands and was shocked when he found that they were ice cold. Ephram was almost beyond shivering, and this combined with Ephram being unconscious had the doctor almost frantic. Andy was barley aware that the boat had begun to move again at a very fast speed. He quickly took off his own jacket and threw it over Ephram, then found some emergency blankets in the boats first aid kit and placed them over his son as well.

As soon as they were on dry land, Andy picked up his son and ran towards the house, wanting to get his son to warmth as fast as possible. Erv turned the heater on higher then started a fire. Andy placed Ephram on the couch in front of the fire and began to strip Ephram, while drying him off with a towel, then replacing the wet clothes with warm dry clothing. Andy placed a towel on Ephrams head, to try and dry his hair, wishing for the first time that he had a hair dryer. Erv, took the wet clothes and put them in the dryer. While Andy covered his son up with blanket and cleaned off the blood on Ephrams head to study the wound. He was relived to find that no stitches would be involved, being the nearest hospital was over two hours away. Andy was even more relived to hear a moan coming from his son's mouth.

"Ephram? You awake?" Ephram nodded but did nothing more. "Can you open your eyes for me?" Slowly, Ephram opened his eyes and looked into the eyes of his father.

"Good to see you dad," Andy smiled.

"Good to see you too. Now I am going to hold out my hand and make a number, I want you to tell me what number I am making, alright?" Ephram nodded, and winced do to the headache, that simple movement told him about.

"Three." Ephram looked at his father's face, which nodded.

"Good. Now follow my finger just with your eyes." Ephram did as told.

"Headache," Ephram mumbled.

"I know, you have a head wound. Anything else hurt?"

"My hands and feet feel like they're waking up."

"Yeah, were working on getting you warmed up, how about I get you to the bedroom, where you can rest easier."

"Okay," Andy smiled. Both father and son learned a valuable lesson that day. One that would help, teach and haunt them for the rest of their lives. Neither would have it any other way.