"Man I love this song! The Plain White T's are awesome!" Derek said thumping the song beat out on the steering wheel along with the radio.
"I know, right?" Casey, beside him, smiled warmly. "But it is a little loud. Can't we turn it down a little?"
"My car, my rules." Derek stated happily.
"Ok, fine. But could you please slow down? It is winter and may I point out the snowstorm outside the car?"
Derek pretended not to hear her and sped on, even putting on a little more speed just to make her more nervous.
It happened before he knew it. The car hit a patch of black ice and spun out of control. Casey screamed as the car went into the ditch and then, thanks to their previous speed, flipped over, landing on it's roof and spun and slid down the hill before coming to rest rather forcefully against a tree, which impacted with Casey's door, smashing the window in on her. Then all there was, was silence.
For once in his life he was glad Casey had insisted he put his seat belt on, because now he knew why they had seat belts in cars. Feeling the blood rush to his head, upside down he looked round at Casey.
Her eyes were closed and her arms hung limply, the backs of her hands against the ceiling of the car.
"Casey?" he shook her to wake her up. She did not stir and this scared him. "Come on, Case, quit playing around." he tried to joke. Still she didn't move.
Trying to summon his thoughts he undid his seatbelt and fell against the roof painfully. He managed to get the door open and scrambled out.
It was bitterly cold outside but back the right way up he felt he could think clearer. Digging his gloves out of his pocket he put them on and still shivered. For the first time in his life he wished Casey was conscious. She would know what to do. She was practical. Sure, she'd panic a lot first and he'd have to calm her down, but after that he knew she'd be sensible and fix the situation.
He checked the time on his phone. It was past two in the morning and they were still about five hours away from home.
Alright, time to think like Casey. Casey! He knelt down to look through the car at where Casey still remained immobile. The car could wait until morning, Casey came first. If she were in my place she'd make sure we were both safe and well before worrying about the damaged car.
He rung for an ambulance to come and help them and the responding orderly told him that he'd done right not to try and move her and that they'd be there as soon as possible.
Derek climbed back into the car and sat there, watching Casey anxiously. He took one of her limp hands in his own and was shocked at how cold she was. He stripped the gloves off his hands and carefully put them on her. He rubbed her nearest hand and didn't think he was brave enough to look at her face.
She was alive, this much he knew. There was a pulse in her wrist under the glove. A faint one but a pulse is a pulse. The terrible thought occurred to him that she might not wake up, and this thought almost stopped his own heart.
Now he forced himself to examine her face. Her beautiful, but very pale, face. Why had he never seen it before? He'd seen her face, of course he had, but he'd never registered the beauty of it. An image of her in an open coffin came to his mind without warning and he felt tears stinging his eyes.
You only really learn to value something when there's a chance it might be lost forever.
Through his teary eyes he registered the twirling red lights of the ambulance and was never so glad of anything in his life. He got out of the car and waved the paramedics down the bank.
They got her out of the car and onto a stretcher and then they sped back to Kingston Hospital, with Derek never letting go of her hand.
Then followed several agonising hours while Casey was checked over by the doctors and then went into surgery. The nurse who kept him company, soothed his nerves and tended to the cut on his head from when he had undone his seatbelt and hadn't noticed the pain in the panic of Casey's comatose state, told him that there was something wrong with Casey's back, but that, by one of God's little miracles, a back specialist happened to be at the hospital and they were hopeful of her making a very thorough recovery.
About six in the morning Derek received a phone call from his very worried dad. "Oh, hey Dad. No we're both fine. We stayed to an after party after the concert and by the time that ended we were both too tired to drive home so we stayed at a motel. Yeah, sorry for not telling you, but it was very late and we didn't think you'd thank us for waking you up at three in the morning. No, Casey's still asleep, and we both know what she's like when we wake her up too early." Here Derek couldn't help the crack in his voice which the nurse noticed but he hoped his dad hadn't. "Hey, listen. We may stay a few days, is that ok? Kingston's a pretty cool city, we might do some sight-seeing. You know what Casey's like about culture. We have money, that's no problem. And I promise we won't kill each other in the process. Clothes? Yeah we have a few days worth, we were thinking of staying up here for a while anyway. Alright. Night. Oh, morning. I'll call you later."
The nurse looked at him curiously when he rung off. "You didn't tell him?" she asked gently.
"He'd get mad and blame me, which is what Casey'll do when she wakes up. If we stay here for a few days, get Casey back on her feet, fix the car, then go back home, dad'll be none the wiser and he won't kill me. We bring home souvenirs and postcards and make up stories about what we saw and what had an impression. We can get a guide book and study it."
"Why go through all the trouble though? Why not just tell them the truth?"
"You don't know my dad. I have a habit of making things go wrong and Casey and I don't really get on very well, and it's not the first time I've got her hurt. Our insurance will cover the costs, since it was an accident and hopefully dad will never find out that I nearly killed her."
The back specialist came down the hall and enquired if he was the family of Casey McDonald.
"How is she?" Derek asked eagerly, standing up.
The old doctor smiled kindly. "She'll be fine. Her spine took a big knock but we got to her in time to prevent paralysis. She is in a lot of pain and will have a little trouble walking for a few days but after that she should be fine. She will get some pains in her lower back but I'm prescribing medicines for it. She will need to keep some of the pills with her at all times in case of a sudden twang of pain. I should warn you that her back is fairly badly hurt and there is still the possibility that paralysis could set in at a later time, without much warning."
"Right. What warning signs are there?"
"Her spasms of pain will increase in regularity. She will most likely be unable to stand for very long and she may need assistance with stairs and rising from her seat. She may also get the Jelly-Leg symptoms, when it will seem like she has no bones left in her legs and is very unsteady on her feet. If Jelly-Legs sets in you must take her to hospital immediately."
"But she could be fine and not get paralysed, right?"
Once again the doctor smiled at his concern. "She could. Right now it all depends on her. Sometimes patients on the verge of paralysis don't think they can get better and the depression triggers the body to give up and irreversible paralysis sets in."
"So if we keep her spirits up then she won't get paralysed?"
"It would help. I understand you don't live in Kingston."
"London. Can you give her ongoing prescriptions?"
"No problem. I'll write them up now. You can go in and see her, but she's still very drowsy. She needs rest."
"I'll give her rest, but I'm not leaving her side. Thank you doctor." Derek shook hands with the older man and smiled with relief, impressing the doctor with his maturity.
Derek hurried into the ward and Casey turned her head to look at him. She smiled weakly. Derek sat down in a chair by the bed and took her hand.
"How you feeling?"
"Did someone remove my spine?"
Derek chuckled. "No, Case. You hurt it in the accident. Do you remember the accident?"
"Not really. Did you get hurt?"
"Just a little bump. No biggie. You we have to be careful with, though. I won't worry you with the details now, but if we follow the doctor's orders you'll be fine."
"What did you tell the home people?" her voice was starting to fade a little.
"That we were at a party and decided to stay and sightsee. I don't think we should tell them yet."
"Best not to worry them. We'll keep it a secret. Sworn stepsibling secret. You'll look after me won't you?"
"Are you kidding? Of course I will. For as long as it takes to get you better. I promise."
She smiled, much comforted, and he leant over and kissed her gently on the forehead as she slipped off to sleep.