Ryan pulled his jeep into the Cohens' driveway, looking forward to a relaxing weekend at home. He'd just finished his midterms and he had no assignments that were pressing. All he had to do was play with Sophie, spend time with Kirsten and Sandy, and maybe do a load or three of the laundry that was in the backseat.
No one was around yet—Sandy was at work and Kirsten and Sophie were out running errands—so Ryan grabbed a juice from the fridge and went out to the backyard. He sank into the cushion of a lounge chair and popped the top off the bottle. The backyard was peaceful, such a change from his busy life on campus. The lemon trees made the air smell sweet, and the sound of the birds twittering and chirping lulled him into a daze. He could almost imagine that this had always been his life.
The peace and tranquility was replaced by squeals when Sophie toddled into the backyard and saw him. She rushed toward him and jumped onto his legs. He held his bottle up so she didn't accidentally knock it over as she clamored up to his lap.
She never seemed to sit still for long, so after a quick hug, she slid off him and went exploring. Kirsten came out soon after, with a plate of fresh fruit and cheese and collapsed into another chair.
Ryan smiled at her. "Rough day?"
"You don't know the half of it. I just spent the last couple of hours watching your brother and Sophie, while Julie took Kaitlin to get her learner's permit. I am too old for this! One busy toddler I can usually handle—two of them run me off my feet."
Sophie toddled over and reached for the cheese in Ryan's hand. "Can she have some?" Ryan asked.
"Just break off small pieces and she'll gum it."
Ryan couldn't break it off fast enough for her—he was scared of getting his fingers caught between her front teeth. "Who would have thought that Julie moving in two blocks over would be a bad thing?"
Kirsten gave him an exasperated look.
"Okay, everyone." They laughed.
"She's not so bad, most of the time. And as tired as I am, I have Sandy to hand off Sophie to at the end of the day. She's a single mother with a teenaged daughter, which can only add to her stress. I don't mind helping out."
"I should stop over tomorrow to see them."
"Julie would like that. She might even take the opportunity to run out and go shopping while you're there!"
"I don't mind spending my weekend playing with babies," Ryan said.
"You might regret saying that out loud by the end of the weekend," Kirsten said.
Sophie had gone over to the swing in the backyard and started hitting it. "Up," she said. "Up!"
"I'll push you on the swing, Sophie," Ryan said, getting up to pick her up. He slid her into the seat, though for a child who wanted to swing so badly, Sophie wasn't overly cooperative with getting her legs into the proper holes.
"Don't forget to strap her in," Kirsten said.
Ryan dutifully connected the straps, though he couldn't see how Sophie could fall out. He thought Kirsten was being a little overprotective.
Sophie's chubby fingers grasped the rope tightly as Ryan started to push her. He realized, once he'd started, that pushing her from behind meant he couldn't see her face. He stopped the swing so he could get in front of her. "More," she said when the swing stopped. She kicked her legs, in a preliminary effort at getting the swing moving again.
"Give me a second, Soph." Ryan pulled on the swing to get her going again and she calmed down.
Ryan continued to push her. He couldn't tell if she was having fun, as she stared ahead as she swung, but any time he attempted to stop, she clamoured for more. All of sudden she started trying to climb out as the swing was going. She'd have fallen out if she hadn't been strapped in. He got the swing stopped and Sophie onto firm ground. She toddled away quickly. "Da, da, da."
Sandy had come out to the backyard and scooped Sophie up when she got close. Ryan followed behind her, and Sandy put his free arm around his shoulders. "Good to see you home, son. Too bad Seth is so far away—I like it when everyone's here under one roof."
"Oh," Ryan said, "that reminds me. Don't tell Seth I was home this weekend. I don't need another two hour whinefest that he's too far away and that Sophie won't know him when he gets home."
Sandy winked. "Your secret is safe with me."
Kirsten ushered everyone inside for supper. Ryan got to read Sophie a story at bedtime, and he watched a movie with Kirsten and Sandy before they retired for the night. Then he got a chance to play some videogames before settling into his room. It was strange sleeping under the same roof as the Cohens, but it was also sort of comforting to have them so close.
In the morning, Ryan got to sleep in. His room in the Berkeley house was practically soundproof—the noise of the house didn't disturb him at all, unlike at the dorms where he could hear people coming and going at all hours. He emerged from his room still bleary-eyed, but perked up when he heard a familiar voice coming from the kitchen.
"Mom can't take the rugrat in the car with me when I'm just learning and the Bullit's out of town till next week."
"Well, you're just in luck then. Sandy's out and I can't take you because of Sophie," Kirsten said, "but look who's home for the weekend."
Kaitlin turned around and saw him standing in the doorway. "Ryan!"
"Hey, Kaitlin. What's up?"
She pulled a card out of her back pocket. "I got my learner's permit yesterday, but no one's around to take me driving." She looked at him imploringly. "Will you take me out today? Please?"
He had nothing else pressing planned for the day, so he figured he might as well. "Sure. Just let me get some coffee and a shower first. Okay?"
Kaitlin launched herself at his neck and gave him a quick hug. "You're the best, Ryan." She pulled back, waving her hand in front of her face. "And yeah, you definitely need that shower."
"Thanks a lot, Kait. Is that really the way to get me to help you?"
She shrugged. "I just call it like it is."
Once Ryan was ready, they walked outside towards Ryan's Jeep. Kaitlin held out her hand. "Can I get the keys?"
Ryan laughed. "Uh uh. You're not driving my car on the street your first time out. I'll take you to the school parking lot and we can start there."
Kaitlin pouted. "You're no fun. Come on, Ryan. Don't be such an old woman."
"I'm doing you a favor here. We can not go at all..."
"Fine." Kaitlin opened the door to the passenger side. "We'll do it your way."
Kaitlyn pouted in the seat beside him, but her mood brightened as they got closer to the parking lot. Ryan had barely put the car in park before she had her seatbelt off and her door open. She paused once he turned the car off. "Keys now?"
"Not so fast. Before you start a car, you should walk around it to make sure there isn't anything behind it or in front of it that you could run over."
"You just pulled in! You didn't run anything over."
"That's not the point. I'm teaching you the basics—everything you need to know. If you always do it, it's becomes habit."
Kaitlyn rolled her eyes and exaggeratedly looked behind the tires. "Nothing here. Now can I get the keys?"
He smiled and passed them to her. "Yes. Now you can have the keys."
She squealed and jumped into the driver's seat. He ambled slowly to the passenger side, making her wait for him to get in. As soon as he was in, she attempted to put the keys in the ignition, but he put his hand on her arm. "Not yet. You've got to adjust your mirrors first."
"Man, you have so many rules. You're more of a mother than my mother." She adjusted the mirrors and looked at him in anticipation. "Now?"
He grinned at her. "Yeah. Now."
She shifted into reverse. The Jeep jerked as she hit the gas too hard and then slammed on the brakes even harder. She looked at Ryan sheepishly. "Sorry?"
"Don't apologize. Just maybe ease on the pedals a little slower."
She tried again and it went a little smoother. He directed her to drive around the parking lot, turning left here and right there. She was quiet at first, concentrating on what she was doing, but as she started to get comfortable, she started talking again.
"So, who taught you all those rules? Frank?"
"No. My dad was in jail when I learned to drive."
"Oh, yeah. I forgot." She looked at him. "Your mom then?"
He shook his head. "Trey taught me to drive, but his final lesson is how I met Sandy. I learned 'all those rules' when I was in Newport. Sandy wouldn't let me drive his cars until I proved to him that I knew what I was doing. He took me out like this a lot, and went over everything. I was so nervous driving those expensive cars at first that I didn't dare not do what he'd taught me. Now it's habit."
"Sandy's a good guy."
"Yeah, he is. Now, how about you practice some backing up?"
Ryan was very patient and Kaitlin got quite good at everything Ryan taught her to do. After an hour, Ryan decided they'd had enough. He had Kaitlin park the car and told her to let him drive again.
"What? Didn't I do a good job?"
"You did a great job, Kaitlin. But I don't know if I'm insured for you on my car. You're not driving anywhere."
Kaitlin sighed and took off her seatbelt. "Old woman."
"You can call me names all you want, but I'm still not letting you drive."
As Ryan put the car into drive, Kaitlin asked if he would drop her off at the shopping center in Emeryville. He rolled his eyes, but turned left out of the parking lot instead of right and made his way to the freeway. As they drove, they ended up behind a pickup truck. "Look at all that junk," Kaitlin said. "I think they've got everything but the kitchen sink in there," Kaitlin said.
Ryan pointed to some plumbing on the left. "Nope, I think they've even got that."
They were laughing together, imagining where this person could possibly taking such an assortment of things, when something came flying off the truck and struck the windshield. Ryan slammed on the brakes and everything went so quickly it felt like it was in slow motion. There was a loud pop as the back tire exploded. He didn't have time to think—instinct took over. He tried to hold on, but the flat tire caused the Jeep to spin out. He could hear Kaitlin screaming as they spun into the next lane and slammed to a stop against the barrier. He looked over at her, to ask if she was okay, but before he had time to open his mouth, something slammed into them from the side. The force of the hit caused the Jeep to flip and they started to roll. As they rolled, his head slammed into the side window and he blacked out.
"Can you hear me? We're trying to get you out. Just stay calm." These were the words he heard when he came to. He was upside down and a fireman was talking to him through the window.
"You've got to get her out. She needs more help than me."
"Your passenger is already out and she's being looked after. Don't worry about her. Let's concentrate on getting you out, okay?"
Ryan felt a sense of urgency—they needed to get out of the car now. "The gas is leaking. We've got to get out before it catches fire. Help her get out!" He was reaching for his seatbelt but the fireman grabbed his arm to stop him.
"Calm down, kid. We've got everything secured—nothing is going to catch fire. Your friend is already out and being treated. We're trying to get you out, but you need to calm down. Look at me."
Ryan looked into the fireman's eyes. He looked like he was telling the truth. Ryan's panic lessened a little, and he could see past the fireman—more feet, more people. They weren't alone and there were lots of people around, helping them. He nodded and let the firemen work on getting him out. Sparks flew as they cut up his Jeep and the pain in his ankle intensified the longer it took. When they pulled him out, he tried to look for her, but the neck brace and back board encumbered his movement. "Where is she?"
"Relax, kid. Your friend is in another ambulance. She's already on her way to the hospital. You'll see her there."
At the hospital, he had a CT scan for his head, and x-rays for his leg and painkillers for his pain. He kept asking to see her, and he kept being told either she was having a test done, or he needed one. He was sure they were lying to him, delaying until the Cohens arrived before they broke the news to him.
He was waiting for his leg to be set when a nurse poked her head into his curtain. "If you're awake, I've got someone here who can't go much longer without seeing you."
The nurse wheeled Kaitlin into the room, and she jumped out of the wheelchair and latched herself around his neck. "Oh my God, thank God you're okay," she said. "They wouldn't tell me anything."
He hugged her back, ignoring the pain in his leg as the bed shifted. "I thought I'd killed you, too," he said. "Just like..."
She pushed herself back and looked at him, putting her hands on the sides of his face so he was looking back at her. "I'm fine. Just a bump on my head, though I'm sure I'll be sore tomorrow. And that..." She shook her head. "That wasn't your fault, any more than this was."
"But you could have died."
"And so could you. But we didn't."
"It was like reliving it again. I know you're not her, but..."
Kaitlin's eyes welled up for a second, but then she blinked and shook her head. "You know what? I think we're both a little bit too looped up on painkillers. I'm fine. You're fine. And this has nothing to do with anything else. Okay?"
He knew she was right. This accident brought all the old feelings forward, even though the aftermath was much different. It was just going to take some time to reconcile the differences.
A nurse came in to take him to get his ankle set. She suggested Kaitlin return to her curtain area, but Kaitlin insisted that she would wait right where she was.
When Ryan got back, the room was crowded. Sandy and Julie were both there, along with Kaitlin. "Kirsten's home with the babies," Sandy said. "Are you really all right?"
"Yeah." Ryan waved off his concerns. "Concussion. Broken ankle. Car accident aches and pains. Nothing I can't deal with." He looked at Julie. "I'm sorry. Everything happened so quickly. I couldn't stop it."
Julie shook her head, dismissing his apology. She stepped forward to give him a hug. "You're okay?"
"Yeah." He glanced over at Kaitlin, who took his hand and squeezed it. "Just a little looped up on painkillers."
Sandy put his arms around Ryan and Kaitlin. "What do you two say we take this party back to our house? Kirsten's worried too."
As they were walking out, Sandy said, "It looks like your Jeep will be written off. We'll have to go get you new one."
"Not a Jeep," Ryan said. "I think I need something different this time."