Time After Time
Written for Sammy. Because you gave me the inspiration, and you're the greatest friend (and sister) ever, and for just being there.
Disclaimer: I own only the usual things. Everything that is recognisable in this either belongs to itself or to Stan Lee.
"Mrs Richards?"
"Yes?"
"I'm afraid that there's been an accident…"
Sue hated hospitals. Truly hated them. She had been in them so many times through her life; the death of her mother being the most prominent upon her mind, and the one that had turned these buildings into places of torture for her, places where an old and slowly healing wound would be reopened. Despite her dislike for these places, she was in them more often than not, especially during her youth. When Johnny had gone through his childhood and teenage years, he had, after all, forever been a bit of a daredevil, and therefore was constantly within some hospital or another with concussions, breaks, some sort of paraphernalia piercing his body. He did, despite his constant visits to the hospital, dislike them as much as Sue, for much the same reason that she had, and, when he was older, and harbouring the same feelings that she did, he told her that she did not need to come and visit him if he had was being admitted due to some 'stupid, and highly unlikely' accident from his daredevil career; though when this did become the case, Sue was always by his side, teasing and scolding him until he was able to return home.
It was once again due to Johnny that Sue was currently in the passenger seat of Reed's car, staring absently at nothing, thoughts fixed on her brother.
He had been in a car accident; the nurse who had phoned had informed her. The car was a wreck, Johnny lucky to be alive, and he was currently in the hospital, had just awoken, and was asking for his sister.
She had been frighteningly calm when she had received this information. Thanking the nurse and returning the phone to its cradle before returning to the living room where she and Reed had been watching television. She had calmly lifted the remote, changing the channel to one of the news, calmly watched for thirty seconds, though steadily growing more and more white-faced as the reporter had spoken, and the television had shown images of the horrifically screwed up piece of metal that had, until very recently, been Johnny's new car, and then she had set the remote back down on the table, and collected her coat and boots as Reed bustled around; turning off the oven and television, writing a short note for Ben when he returned from his walk with Alicia, and had grabbed his own coat and the car keys, whilst constantly reassuring Sue that Johnny was fine, he would be fine, that there was nothing to worry about. And Sue had kept a static silence until they had entered the car, and then she had only spoken to inform Reed of which hospital to drive to, and then she had fallen once again into the shocked silence that currently held her.
She wondered now how bad it was, for the nurse had informed her that Johnny was lucky to be alive, and those words were what terrified her the most. Her brain supplied various ideas and images, and she saw for a moment the car wreck that had stolen her mother from her, though in the woman's place was Johnny. It was these images that frightened her the most, for in her mind she saw Johnny dead, or near dead, and although he was now, or had very recently, been awake and asking for her, she knew that a lot could change in the thirty minute car ride to the hospital, and her mind constantly supplied the images of her brother, dead, and her without another family member.
A hand rested on one of hers, and she startled from her thoughts, turning her head to Reed, who glanced for a moment over to her – long enough to give a reassuring smile – before returning his eyes to the road
"He'll be alright," he reassured her, his fingers entwining with hers, and pulling them from where they had closed like a fist. She could not find the voice or words to reply, only nodded stoically, and her eyes stayed on the two hands until Reed withdrew his to place it back on the wheel, and Sue was left to continue to stare at the small furrows left in her palm from her nails. And the car journey had continued in silence, Reed not daring to turn on the radio encase the crash was being aired there, and afraid to try the CD's encase Johnny had snuck one of his into the system, and the music in some way upset Sue.
The car was eventually pulled into a space, and the engine cutting stirred Sue from gazing at her hands, and she raised her head to see them in a car park, and the building before her was both familiar and threatening. She took a breath, and managed to unfasten the seatbelt and exit the car, hearing Reed shut the door for her, and lock the car, before he gently wrapped an arm around her waist and led her towards the hospital doors.
The building was cool and quiet, and that alone was enough to start the goose flesh upon Sue's arms, and she unconsciously leant closer into Reed's grip as he walked them over to the reception desk, smiling to gather the attention of the receptionist, and then spoke quietly, again as if afraid that if Sue heard Johnny's name that she may fall into hysterics, or that someone waiting on one of those small plastic seats may jump up, announcing themselves to be a reporter as they shoved a tape recorder under Sue's nose and demanded to know the situation with her brother, and the love life of herself and her husband. The receptionist herself smiled gently at Reed's questioning, and called up a nurse, who again smiled at the couple, assuring them that Johnny was still conscious, though he was currently under close observation, and would they kindly follow her?
He was in a private room, she informed them as she led them thorough the quiet though bustling corridors, it was quieter for him that way, and being away from a ward kept him from the public eye, and from under the prying noses of the media.
And so she had led them down another, quieter corridor, with less doctors milling around, and less patients and visitors wandering about, and had then stopped outside a door, smiling again and telling them that there was a nurses station just down the way if they had a need for help, and there was a panic button by the bed, and then she had checked the clipboard she bore in her hand, and strode away with a meaningful purpose that almost scared Reed.
Sue, who had still been within the numb state of shock that had gripped her in the Baxter Building and the car, suddenly came to life, smiling as the door was opened to present a nurse – an extremely pretty nurse – fussing around with a drip and laughing as Johnny said something.
"Sue!" he called, though somewhat hoarsely, upon noticing her arrival, and she regained the movement in limbs that had been frozen since crossing the threshold of the room, and all but threw herself at him, checking herself at the last moment and instead carefully wrapping her arms around his shoulders, and letting loose a soft sob.
"Do you know how worried I've been about you?" Sue scolded, though tears were running down her cheeks and sobs punctuated her sentence. "Do you know how I felt when I heard that you'd been in a car accident? Do you know what they told me? Lucky to be alive! Lucky! Johnny! I ought-a-" she let her threat hang as she fell into a wave of tears, and Johnny hugged her carefully back, wincing slightly though and smiling at Reed as he ushered the lovely nurse out, promising her that Johnny would be fine with himself and his sister, and that he'd call if there were any problems, and promising he'd alert her as soon as they were leaving so that she could return to keep Johnny company, and then he returned to the bedside to disentangle sister from brother, and sat his wife in the chair beside the bed, passing her a glass of water and holding her hand, one eye on her as he waited for her to calm and the other on Johnny, scrutinising the battered form before him as he spoke
"How are you?" he asked, making Johnny laugh quietly
"You know me," he replied cheerily "Never better. How's my car?" the question caused Sue to erupt into another round of sobs, and again she scolded her brother. How could he think of his car at a time like this? How could he worry about such a trivial thing, when there were at least a thousand models of that car out in the world, and yet there was only one of him, and he only had two legs. And she didn't give a damn if he'd customized the cup holders with flashing lights; it was still just a car. He was more important.
He waited until the tirade was over, and then had smiled again at her, and said cheekily
"Gee sis, I never knew you cared so much."
She had laughed then, and though the tears were still running down her face she was calm enough to reach out and hug him, and thank God that he was safe, and relatively whole, and she would never let him behind the wheel of a car again, and no way in hell should he even think about letting the very idea of going in for anymore of his dare devil acts for a very long time cross his mind, and he was lucky that she was just his sister, or else she would ground him until he was at least sixty, if not seventy…
He had laughed than, for she always said that, or something similar, after each and every accident he had. She had done so after his very first car crash at seventeen, and before that she had given similar speeches each time he had fallen out of a tree or from a window, or been run over whilst on his skateboard or bike
She had then sat back down, and fell into a quiet, worried silence, her eyes tracing over his bedridden form, taking in each and every injury that she could currently see.
His right leg was broken; that much had been obvious to her as soon as she had entered, though she knew that it probably mattered to Johnny in no other way than as a small inconvenience, preventing him from doing much else than watching television for the length of time it would take to heal. And heal it would, for he had broken it consistently over the years and would no doubt break it again. She had also noted, upon entering the room, the bandage around his head and the bandage around his lower arm and wrist. A head injury was also a typical Johnny, though she suspected that this one might be slightly worse than the usual, other than the time he had fallen from an upstairs window and landed himself a severe concussion when he was eighteen. His arm was unusual, for it was usually his left that he would break or cut, and this time it was apparently his right. That could cause some problems, for he would be unable to write, hold a fork or even play his beloved video games until it healed. She could also see, now that she was up close and notably taking account of his injuries, the stitches that had been placed just to the right of his eye, and that a bandage wound around one shoulder and, from the looks of things, around his chest, for she saw little more than a centimeter or two of the crisp linen across his broad chest before the blanket obscured it, and found that she did not want to see how far it traveled.
Again, and once her brain had filed away each of these injuries, she had let loose a sob, which had broken Johnny and Reed from the quiet conversation they had been having, and Johnny had reached out and taken her hand in his, and assured her that he was alright, if not a little sore. But he promised that he would be perfectly fine, and that there would be no lasting damage.
They had sat with him for maybe ten minutes longer before Johnny had fallen asleep, something which shocked Sue for a moment, for Johnny was very insecure about people being around him whilst he slept, and never stayed in the same room as anyone when he was about to fall asleep. It had been something he had picked up after their mother had died, and Sue suspected that it had something to do with Johnny being afraid that he would wake up to find the person or people that had been with him when he had fallen asleep had died whilst he had done so, for his mother had done so all those years back. She did, however, remind herself of the car accident that had befallen her brother, and the trauma and injuries that he had suffered, and had brushed his hair back from his face and landed a soft kiss on his cheek, promising to return the next day and to bring Ben with her and Reed - so that he could torture his friend and her husband for a few hours - before she had left with Reed. Pausing only for a moment so that Reed could inform the nurse who had been with Johnny when they had arrived that he was sleeping, and that they were leaving.
The car ride back was slightly happier than the one there. The mood lighter at least, though the car was still quiet and Sue still shook up, and when they had returned home, and assured Ben and Alicia that Johnny was alright, and that they could all go and see him in the morning, she had allowed herself to be sat down, and forced herself to eat the meal that Ben and Alicia had made, and had passed up watching the television in fear of once again seeing the wreck that had driven her brother to the hospital, and instead had gone to bed.
Reed joined her shortly afterwards, arms wrapping around her and trying to ease the shudders that still wracked her body, for lying in the quiet within the room had reopened her mind to the images of her mothers funeral, and of the hospital after that accident, and also supplied her mind with the pictures of Johnny from his various accidents, and also of the images that she had created in the car ride to the hospital.
Only when her shaking had abated did she turn to face Reed, and stared carefully into his eyes, and demanded to be told, if he knew, what had occurred.
He saw no need to lie to her, knowing that she would worry more without the truth, for her mind would continue to supply her with the images he knew had been plaguing her throughout the day, and so he had hugged her tightly for a moment, and then pulled away, and brushed the hair from her face and gazed into eyes glassy with tears, and talked.
He had been out to the mall, Johnny had said to Reed, to try and find Sue a birthday present, and she was not to, in any way, feel guilty that he had gotten into the accident. For she had not been at fault, and neither had he, for despite what she and Ben and Reed and everyone else in the whole damn universe thought, he could be a careful driver when he wanted to be, and especially on the busy roads of New York.
He had been driving back from the mall, when a van had swerved out unexpectedly from the lane opposite into the oncoming traffic, and directly before Johnny's car, and the collision had been head-on and unavoidable.
Johnny's little sport's car had, of course, favoured worse in this little accident, and he had fallen immediately unconscious, waking up apparently ten minutes after the crash, his head, chest, legs, arms, everything, pounding in time to the rhythm of his heart, and he had gazed blurrily over the smashed and crushed bonnet of his car to see the front of the empty van less than two feet from his face.
The driver of the van had apparently been relatively unharmed, for he had staggered from his vehicle moments after the crash, taken one look at the unconscious Johnny Storm within the crushed remains of his car, and had fled the scene. The driver of the car behind Johnny had also not been able to stop as soon as the crash had occurred, and had therefore also smashed into the back of Johnny's car, crushing it further, yet had stayed, and had phoned both the police and ambulance service, and also being relatively unharmed, had gone to the side of Johnny's car and had spoken continuously to try and wake him up.
The ambulance had arrived shortly after he had woken, along with a fire crew to cut him from the wreckage, and he had immediately been put onto oxygen and a neck brace had been fitted, and he had lapsed once again into unconsciousness.
He had woken sometime later, startling the nurse, the same one who had been present when Sue and Reed had arrived, and had been informed that he was lucky to be alive, his injuries had been listed at his request, and when asked if there was anyone that he would like to have informed of his current situation, he had thought of and asked immediately for his sister.
The rest Reed and Sue knew, for he had done nothing between the time of him awakening and their arrival than to ask for something for the pain, and had flirted with the nurse at his side, and he had also asked Reed how his sister was, how she had been since hearing the news, and when told he had felt guilty, and had practically begged Reed to assure his sister that this was in no way her fault, and that he would be fine and home before she knew it.
She had smiled then, kissing her husband gently
"What were his injuries?" she asked, her eyes pleading, and Reed hesitated, before he told her
His legs had been pinned, or so Johnny had said, both had been cut fairly badly by the crushed metal, and one, his right had been broken in two places. He had bruises practically everywhere, or at least that's how it felt. His back he knew was definitely bruised, as were his stomach and chest. He had two broken ribs from where the steering wheel had made contact with his chest, and had been told that he was incredibly lucky that it had not been more, or that one had not pierced his lung.
His shoulder had been dislocated, and his arm sliced and the wrist broken. He had been changing the CD at the time of the crash, and the disc had snapped and imbedded into his hand at impact, but the doctors believed he would still retain full use of his hand and all his digits. His eye had been stitched, a shard of glass had struck him there when the windscreen had smashed, and even five millimetres to the left could have left him blind in his right eye, and he had a concussion. Not his worst to date, for they felt it safe to allow him to sleep, yet the pounding of his skull informed him that it was still fairly bad, and he knew he had been giving stitches that travelled up his forehead from his eyebrow and into his hairline, and he hoped that it, nor any of his other cuts, would scar, though he doubted himself to be that lucky.
Reed looked at Sue then, reaching out and gently wiping the tears from her face, and he quietly asked her if she was alright, and she nodded, promising she was fine, that she was thankful that Johnny was alright, and had not been killed, and that she would have to find out his favourite CD, unless that had been the one that had smashed in his hand, and take that and his small radio to the hospital with them the next day so that he would not get bored.
Johnny, it seemed, was not bored by the time they got to the hospital the next day. He was sat up in bed, still baring all of his bandages, and smiled at the others as they entered, shooing the three nurses from the room and greeting his four visitors happily, hugging his sister back when she hugged him, promising that he was well, asking if Reed was looking after his sister, teasing Ben as though they were at home.
"Do you miss me?" he asked, just before they left, he was already putting the CD into the radio, ready to turn it on as soon as the four had left the room
"Not likely kid," Ben had replied teasingly, and then laughed with Johnny, and told the kid to 'get well soon or else', and Sue had laughed, and told her brother that she'd get Ben to sit on him if she heard that he'd so much as lifted a finger from that bed before the doctors said he was able to, and that he was too injured to get up and fly around again so soon after the accident, and besides, his cast might well explode from the unnatural heat. Johnny had joined in with the laughter, and again when Sue had eyed the three nurses waiting outside the door with displeasure, and had asked Reed loudly if there was any way that they could arrange for a male nurse to care for Johnny instead.
She had turned to him then, giving him one final hug, promising him that she would try to come back later, and she'd definitely be in tomorrow, and that he was to get better again. And they had left then, the mood lifting slightly again, and it continued to do so until the day that they arrived at the hospital and there was Johnny, sat in a wheelchair just outside the doors, surrounded by an entourage of nurses and three female doctors.