Family Matters

Chapter 2: In the Embrace of a Friend

A/N: I actually took the time to do spell check on this chapter instead of getting over excited and posting it before a proper and thorough check. I hope that you readers are enjoying the story. I I don't want to sound like a hypocrite but I would like to know what all you readers are thinking of the story and the best way to do this is by leaving me a review.

The two adjoining hotel rooms were the sort of thing you would expect from a nice hotel. Each room had two beds, a television, two upholstered chairs and a small table along with an adjoining bathroom for each room.

Shaggy and Scooby had seen to it that Velma and Daphne were comfortable before they adjourned to the other room, closing the door that separated the two rooms. Shaggy settled onto one of the beds and began channel surfing. There didn't seem to be much on. Shaggy paused on a local news station for a moment and almost instantly had to change the channel. The station was running a story about the accident and they showed an image of the wrecked Mystery Machine. Shaggy shook his head quickly in an attempt to clear the image from his head but it wouldn't leave.

Scooby raised his head from where it lay at the foot of the bed and looked at Shaggy knowingly "Rhaggy," the canine said intuitively.

Shaggy reached down and scratched Scooby behind the ears "Like all the stuff we've been through Scooby and like a car accident was probably like the one thing I never really worried about."

"Everyone's rokay Rhaggy," Scooby reassured.

"Like I know Scoob," Shaggy murmured "But, we got lucky…"

"We're alrays rucky," Scooby commented as he laid his head back down upon the bed.

Shaggy nodded and returned to channel surfing. He finally settled on The Mummy Meets Dracula II and settled down to watch. It was much later in the evening when he heard a knock on the door that separated the two hotel rooms. Scooby lifted his head and looked at the door for a second before relaxing again. Shaggy got off of the bed, muted the movie and went to open the door.

"Velma," he said upon seeing her on the other side of the door "Like, is something wrong?" he asked when he took in the expression on her face.

Velma shook her head "Daphne's asleep," she said softly "Do you mind if I sit up with you for a little while?"

Shaggy nodded and smiled softly at her "Like, not at all, come on in." He placed a hand on the small of her back and guided her to one of the chairs. Once she had taken a seat he took a seat in the other chair. Shaggy grabbed the TV remote "You wanna like watch the rest of The Mummy Meets Dracula II with me?"

Velma smiled slightly."Sure," she replied.

Scooby lifted his head from the bed and gave Velma a toothy dog grin "Ri Velma," he greeted albeit a bit drowsily.

Velma smiled at the canine "Hi Scooby, sorry to wake you."

"Rit's rokay," Scooby told her even as a yawn escaped him.

Velma giggled "Go back to sleep Scooby," she commanded softly.

"Rokay," Scooby yawned again "Groodnight Rhaggy, groodnight Velma."

"Sweet dreams Scooby," Velma blew him a kiss from across the room. Scooby lay his head back down and fell fast asleep within minutes.

Shaggy and Velma watched the rest of the movie in relative silence. When it was over Shaggy turned off the TV and turned to look at Velma. "So, like what's on your mind?" he began, observing that she hadn't really seemed to settle down since she'd entered the room.

Velma shook her head, clenching her eyes shut at the same time to avoid the dizzy feeling that still came "Nothing," she lied. She had gone to sleep early that evening only to be awoken by a violent nightmare about the crash in which things had turned out much worse. In her nightmare she had seen her friends mutilated, decapitated and impaled. She felt ill just thinking about it. Shaggy's hand on her knee brought her back to reality.

"Velma," Shaggy began seriously "You're like the worst liar ever."

"I am not," Velma protested. The next moment she found herself sitting in his lap with his arms wrapped around her "Shaggy, what are you-?"

"Tell me what's bothering you," his voice was low, serious and full of concern as he looked into her eyes. She felt her breathing quicken at the closeness. She stared into his eyes but refused to answer. She pulled her gaze away. Even without her glasses, the two of them were so close that she could see the intensity in his eyes. She couldn't tell him about her nightmare.

"Velma…" his voice was so soft now, so laden with concern that it broke her heart "Like talk to me…?"

Tears stung her eyes as she wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her face in his shoulder.

Shaggy ran a comforting hand up and down her back. "Talk to me Vel," he whispered.

She sniffled and whispered a tear choked answer back into his shirt "Things could have been so much worse," she replied "Fred or Daphne or Scooby or you could have…" she trailed off and clung to him as she continued to cry.

Shaggy nodded. This was a difficult position that he found himself in. He didn't think he had it in him to be the strong one. Velma was the strong one, the logical one. He was the one who was always scared. He took a deep breath and let his eyes drift closed. What she was saying was almost exactly the same thing he'd been trying to keep off his mind with horror movies and trash TV since he'd arrived at the hotel.

At that moment the image of Velma's bleeding hands and her face as he had retrieved her from the Mystery Machine entered his mind and he could not shake it. Even though his brain could easily tell him that Velma was safe and sound in his arms his heart felt as if she were anything but safe. The first tear rolled down his cheek and landed in her hair and the flood gates had been opened.

Velma, still crying pulled away to look up at him "Shaggy…?" she asked through a shaky breath.

Shaggy looked down at her. Through a held back sob he replied "I was so worried that I could have lost you…" he didn't even realize what he had just admitted to right away as he held her close to him.

XXX

Once the anesthesia had worn off Fred could not get any rest. The nurses and doctors kept telling him that he should try to get some rest he couldn't stop thinking. Now that the fog had completely lifted from his mind his thoughts would not settle down. He wanted to call Daphne but the phone in his room would not dial outside the local area code and that meant her cell phone was beyond reach. He was curious about how they were all doing. Doctor Garret had been to see him and had told him that all his friends appeared to be fine and that they had gone to a nearby hotel for the night.

Despite the doctor's reassurances Fred couldn't help worrying about his friends. Shaggy and Scooby were like his brothers; Velma was like his little sister and Daphne… Daphne was something else all together. When he'd seen her limping towards the side of the road after the accident he hadn't even cared about his own pain even though Scooby had initially tried to hold him back. Daphne meant more to him than anything… He knew he had feelings for her but this new realization changed everything… He hoped he would get the chance to see her again soon.

And then there was that mysterious girl. Was she really a ghost? She had been real enough to cause the accident. She looked and sounded real but maybe when he saw her in his room it was just a hallucination? He and the gang had all seen her on the road in front of them so it stood to reason that at least in that instance, she had been real but in his room when she had come in and touched his cast, it all felt and sounded so real… The girl had looked so sad and she had appeared so pale. He hoped that she had been a hallucination because any other reason he could think of for a real flesh and blood little girl to be in a hospital and to be looking so sad was bad.

XXX

Daphne stirred in her sleep and awoke. She sat up and flipped on the light to see that Velma was no longer occupying the other bed. Curious she got out of bed, picked up her crutches and moved, slowly around the room. She noticed that the door to the adjoining room was left slightly ajar. She grinned mischievously and made her way over to the adjoining room. Quietly she peered through into the other room. What she saw startled her but yet at the same time it made her smile.

There on one of the two beds, bathed in the soft glow of the television lay Shaggy and Velma, fast asleep. Shaggy had his arms wrapped protectively around Velma. Velma in turn had her arms wrapped around Shaggy and her head nestled against his chest. The two of them were reclining on a stack of pillows as if they had fallen asleep while watching a movie. Across their feet lay Scooby, looking content.

Daphne smiled softly before retreating into the other room. She sat on the edge of the bed, placing her crutches within easy reach and quickly lost herself deep in thought. She missed Fred terribly. She looked at the clock on the nightstand. It was three in the morning. It wouldn't be long now before she would have a chance to see Fred in the hospital.

She lay back down and pulled the covers over herself. They had found a hotel that was in walking distance of the hospital. None of them had wanted to rent a car. Shaggy had suggested that they take a cab because of Daphne's ankle but she refused, telling him that it would be good for her to practice with the crutches. She'd managed to walk the three blocks from the hospital to the hotel without incident but she could tell every time she looked at the faces of her friends that they were worried about her.

Daphne wondered if she should concede and take a cab on the way back to the hospital. It would mean that she would get to see Fred faster. She stared at the ceiling of the now dark room. Her thoughts had been of Fred a lot lately. She'd always known she'd had a crush on the blond goofball. But lately her feelings seemed to be getting stronger.

She tossed and turned, trying to get comfortable. When she'd seen Velma and Shaggy she couldn't help but feel a little jealous, jealous because she wanted Fred to hold her like that. She wanted to fall asleep in Fred's arms like that, feeling safe and secure. She sighed. Perhaps it was time for her to have a long talk with Fred. She would attempt to pose the topic during the gang's visit to the hospital in the morning. She was sure she could convince Shaggy, Velma and Scooby to give her and Fred some privacy for a few minutes.

After she had decided that she was going to talk to Fred, sleep seemed to come to her much more easily. She drifted off thinking of Fred and dreaming of wonderful warm thoughts of his arms around her. Her head was filled with thoughts of his smiling face, his kind eyes and yes, unfortunately, his broken arm, the way she had seen it when he'd made his way over to her after the accident so concerned for her safety above his own.

XXX

Morning light crept through the slightly parted curtains of the hotel room and crept across the bed where Velma lay. She stirred ever so slightly before waking. It took her a few seconds to realize where she was and what was going on but when she did she jumped. She sat bolt upright and looked down at where Shaggy lay. She didn't remember much of what happened last night after she and Shaggy had been so open with each other. They had decided to move to the bed to be more comfortable. Velma hadn't been willing to go back to the other room and be alone with her thoughts. She and Shaggy had been watching TV, still wrapped in each other's arms.

Shaggy stretched and opened his eyes. His eyes widened instantly when he saw Velma "Velma?" he questioned "Like what are you… oh…"

"You're not kidding," she murmured. She turned away and swung her legs over the edge of the bed.

Shaggy watched her as she sat there silently "Velma, like what's wrong?"

"I've never slept in the same bed with a boy before," she told him.

Shaggy moved so that he was sitting next to her "Like, all we did was sleep, Velma. There's like no harm in that."

Velma nodded "Yeah," she murmured before sliding closer to Shaggy "We should probably get Daphne, grab some breakfast and head to the hospital."

"Breakfast?" came a question from the foot of the bed. Scooby, fully awake now jumped down from the bed "Ret's ro."

"Like, I think you said the secret word Velma," Shaggy laughed as he got up and followed Scooby.

Velma giggled and got up, grabbing Shaggy's hand and following him into the other room to wake Daphne.

Scooby paused at the door leading to the other room and placed a finger to his lips. Shaggy smirked and turned to Velma, silently indicating the still sleeping Daphne in her bed. Velma nodded with a mischievous grin of her own.

"On the count of three," she whispered "One… Two…"

"Three!" they all shouted at once as the dog, the boy and the girl ran into the room and jumped onto the bed where Daphne was sleeping.

"Wake up Daphne!" Velma giggled.

"Yeah, like, we're starving!" Shaggy added, shaking Daphne's shoulder.

"Sleeping!" Daphne mumbled as she pulled the covers over her head "Go away!"

"Raphne!" Scooby called as he managed to poke his face under the blankets. He began relentlessly licking her face.

"Alright, alright!" Daphne cried out as she tossed back the covers. "I'm up, I'm up!" She managed to scream through fits of giggles. Daphne pushed Scooby off of her as they all laughed.

The laughter soon came to an end however when Fred's presence was missed. He would either be the last one to jump on the bed or the next one that the group would pile on top of. A strange silence fell over the friends as they stared at one another.

It was Shaggy who broke the silence "Like, let's go get something to eat," he suggested.

"Yeah," Daphne agreed as she got up. The sooner they got some food in their stomachs the sooner they could go see Fred.