A/N Thank you to H6p8gv, ILuvZacEfron and ICPinkFuzzyBunnies for reviewing the first chapter...I hope that you enjoy this second one!

Disclaimer: As always I own none of the characters that you recognize....

2.

Aftermath

The ambulance ride seemed longer than Link would've liked. All he wanted was to be near Tracy. They bandaged his cuts as Stan kept asking him questions, most of which he didn't hear. His thoughts were on Tracy and what was happening to her.

"Mr. Larkin are you feeling any pain?" he asked pulling Link back into reality.

He shook his head. "No."

Stan nodded. The ambulance finally ceased moving and Link was taken into the emergency room. As he was taken to an exam room he saw Tracy being taken into one across the hall.

"Tracy!" Link yelled as loud as he could.

Stan looked to where Tracy was. The other paramedic, Steve, frowned sympathetically. "Don't worry she'll be well looked after. I see Dr. Edwards is in there with her. He's an excellent doctor," Stan told him.

Link's eyes darted towards him. "I need to know if she's alright."

"Let the doctor examine you and then you'll get to see her," Steve said as they moved him onto a bed.

Link moved his head in a mini nod. He was stilled restrained from a lot of movement by the neck brace. He heard the open as someone came in the room.

"Hello Dr. Roberts," Stan and Steve said.

"What do we got fellas?"

"Mr. Larkin was in a car accident. He has cuts and bruises and possible other injuries. His vitals are good, breathing normal. We put the neck brace on as a precautionary measure," Stan said.

"Thank you I'll take over from here," Dr. Roberts said.

"Bye," Stan and Steve said as they left the room with the stretcher.

Dr. Roberts looked at a chart and walked over to Link. "Hello Mr. Larkin my name is Dr. Roberts."

"Hi."

"Let's get some x-rays shall we?"

Dr. Roberts and a nurse wheeled his bed from the room to another where they had an x-ray machine. Link tried to see Tracy as they went past the room she was in but to no avail. He had several x-rays taken before he was allowed to be taken back to the exam room. What seemed like hours later Dr. Roberts entered the room. He moved to Link's side and after feeling around his neck began taking off the neck brace.

"I think this can be taken off. You'll be more comfortable."

"Thank you doctor," Link said happy that he could move better.

The nurse that came in after Dr. Roberts anchored the bed so that Link was sitting up slightly.

"Your x-rays look good. No broken bones that we see. I feel like you might have a slight concussion and bruising. You'll probably be sore too but that will go away in time."

"Do you know anything about my wife?"

"What's her name?"

"Tracy. The paramedics said a Dr. Edwards was looking at her."

"I'll see if I can find any information for you," Dr. Roberts told him.

"Thank you."

Dr. Roberts left and soon came back. "She's got a broken leg and lots of bumps and bruises."

"Can I see her?"

"She's still unconscious."

Link frowned. "Can I see her?"

He nodded. "I'm going to discharge you. She's in room 203."

"Thank you."

A half hour later Link was finally discharged. The nurse showed him to room 203. Link hesitated slightly before walking in. Tracy was lying in bed. The bed sheets covered most of her body so he couldn't see many of her injuries. He found a chair and sat besides her, next to the bed. Tracy looked like she was sleeping except for the lack of color on her cheeks. Her hand was visible so he took it in his own.

He stroked her cheek. "Tracy, please wake up."

"Have you seen Tracy or Link?" Edna asked frantically. She had been looking for them for the past half an hour at least.

"Sorry Mrs. Turnblad but we haven't." the cameraman answered looking at her apologetically.

"Where can they be?" Edna said.

She walked to the phone and dialed Wilbur.

"Wilbur have you heard from Tracy or Link? They aren't here yet!"

"I haven't. Maybe Eric or Katie have? Or they may just be stuck in traffic or something," he told her.

"Wilbur I'm really worried it's just not like them to not call or anything."

"I'm sure they're fine Edna." Wilbur was trying to be calm but he was as worried as his wife.

Edna soon hung up with Wilbur before calling Katie.

"Hello Katie, have you seen or heard from Tracy and Link?"

"No, I thought they were at the studio," she answered.

"They're not here. I've looked everywhere."

"I'll call Eric and get back to you," Katie said.

"Alright."

Edna hung up and nervously tapped her fingers until the phone rang again.

"Mrs. Edna Turnblad?"

Edna turned around to see two police officers. One had black hair and brown eyes while the other had blonde hair and blue eyes.

"Yes," she said.

"I'm Officer Stone and this is Officer Green," the black haired one said.

"Are you the mother of Tracy Larkin?" Officer Green asked.

She fidgeted nervously. "I am."

Officer Stone frowned. "I hate to tell you this but your daughter and son in law were in a car accident earlier."

"NO! Are they alright?"

"They are at the hospital, and we are in the process of catching the guy. A shopkeeper saw the accident and called an ambulance and by proxy us," Officer Green answered.

"We think the guy may have been drunk though we won't know until we talk to him," Officer Stone added.

Edna looked to him. "What makes you think that?"

"The shopkeeper said that as he drove away he was all over the road," he answered.

The phone began ringing.

"That'll be my son-in-laws mother."

The officers motioned for her to pick it up and she did.

"Edna! There are two officers here saying that Link and Tracy were in an accident and that they are in the hospital!"

"They are here too. We should go to the hospital," Edna said quickly.

"Yes, see you there. I hope that they are alright," Katie said.

"Me too," Edna replied before placing the phone back on the receiver.

"We can take you there ma'am," Officer Stone said.

"Thank you, and my husband?"

"We can pick him up on the way," he told her.

Edna nodded. She found the cameraman and told him about what happened then followed the officers out to his car. They drove to the joke shop and picked up Wilbur before heading to the hospital.

Link held Tracy's hand. It had been a few hours since the accident and she was still unconscious. Tears rolled down his cheeks. He wiped a few away with his shirt sleeve.

"Please Trace wake up."

He laid his head down by her arm and squeezed her hand. A moment later he felt a squeeze back. His eyes widened as he looked up into a pair of chocolate colored eyes staring at him.

"Tracy!"

"Linky," she whispered.

He gave her a gentle kiss on the lips. She motioned for him to lie besides her. He stood and did as she wanted. He placed a kiss on her neck and she giggled softly.

"I'm so glad you are awake," he murmured. His arm lightly rested on her stomach

"Are we in a hospital?" she asked.

"Yes, we were in a car accident. Do you remember anything?"

"I remember being in the car then darkness. There was a moment when I saw a bright light but then there was nothing until just now."

Tracy snuggled closer to Link and put her hand on his. He kissed her forehead. Dr. Edwards walked into the room and saw them. He raised an eyebrow at Link lying next to her but said nothing.

"Hi, my name is Dr. Edwards. I'm glad to see that you are finally awake." He looked from Tracy to Link. "And is this your husband?"

"Yes sir, my husband Link," she answered her voice still soft.

"Do you want me to leave while the doctor talks to you Trace?"

She shook her head. "No, I really want you to stay."

He kissed her cheek. "Alright, I'll stay then."

Dr. Edwards looked at her chart before continuing. "You have a broken leg, a bruised rib and multiple cuts and bruises."

"That I'm well aware of," she replied wincing as Link put pressure on the mentioned rib. He immediately withdrew his hand and placed it by his side.

"And I'm not sure how to tell you this so I'm just going to say it. It appears that you won't be able to have children," Dr. Edwards told her.

"What!? Why!?" Tracy exclaimed.

"When the truck hit your side you were thrown more violently in your seat and you got hit in the lower part of your stomach pretty hard."

Tracy was upset at the news. Link put his hand on her arm and rubbed it trying to calm her. She did calm slightly.

"Are there any questions?" Dr. Edwards asked.

"Is there any way that you may be wrong?" she asked.

"I'm sorry the tests we ran are pretty accurate," he told them.

"Oh before I leave you'll need to have the cast on for a few weeks," he added before leaving.

"Don't worry about it doll. I know that we want a family. We can still have one."

"How?"

"By adopting."

She cupped his cheek but pulled back as he grimaced at the bruise she touched.

"Here we are talking about me, are you alright?" she asked.

He nodded. "I have cuts and bruises and a headache but I'll survive. You got the worst of it I'm afraid."

They both jumped as the door flew open.

"Oh my! Hon are you alright!? I was so worried about you two!" Edna exclaimed as she walked in.

"Link! Tracy! I'm so glad to see you!" Katie added entering after Edna. Both women went straight to the bed and hugged them taking care to mind their injuries.

Wilbur entered next followed by Eric. Both men let out a huge sigh of relief at seeing Tracy and Link. Both were sitting up in the hospital bed.

"Never scare us like that again," Wilbur said as he kissed Tracy's forehead and patted Links shoulder.

Link looked to Tracy then Wilbur. "We'll try not to sir."

"I'm so glad to see you guys. They caught the driver. We heard through the radio on the way here," Eric told them.

"They think that he was drunk using information they received," Edna added.

"I wonder what will happen to him?" Wilbur pondered.

"He deserves some sort of punishment," Link said. "After all he has put us through today," he added.

"The cops will question him," Katie said.

"I hope that it's not too harsh a punishment," Tracy mentioned.

Link stared at her. "But why would you want to go easy on a guy who could've killed us?"

"I'm sure there's a reason why it happened, though I am still upset," she answered.

Their parents stayed awhile before leaving. Tracy and Link were given sandwiches and juice for lunch. That afternoon Penny, Seaweed, Maybelle and Inez came to visit.

"Oh my Trace I can't believe what happened!" Penny said hugging them both.

"You were lucky," Seaweed added.

"They are showing an old show today. The other council members will visit later and everyone who isn't able to come today send their love," Inez said.

"Did they catch the guy?" Maybelle inquired.

Tracy nodded. "Yes, but if we had left earlier this might not have happened."

"Tracy don't blame yourself," Penny told her.

"Yeah it could've happened to anyone of us," Seaweed added.

Maybelle nodded. "Tracy you just focus on getting better. There's no use for blaming yourself."

About half an hour later they left and the council members came. They stayed for a while before leaving to do their schoolwork. Next to visit were Noreen, Doreen, Brad, Tammy and IQ.

"How are you guys doing?" Noreen asked.

"We've been better," Link answered.

"This is the type of thing that you'd never think would happen to you," Doreen told them.

"We heard that your leg is broken Tracy," Tammy said.

"It is unfortunately."

"It'll heal though," IQ said.

Tracy nodded.

"At least being hosts you get to stand behind a podium so the cast won't be visible," Brad added.

"Brad!" Noreen yelled.

"I probably won't go back until it's off," Tracy told him.

"Link how come Tracy has worse injuries than you?" Tammy asked.

"Because the truck hit on her side of the car," Link answered.

"I'm just glad you two are alright," Brad said seriously. The others concurred.

That evening Tracy and Link were able to go home. Katie and Eric brought fresh clothes for the both of them when they picked them up. Link's car was at the body shop. Before leaving Tracy was taught how to use crutches. It took her a few tries but she finally got the hang of it well enough to get around. Katie had made burgers and fries knowing that the kids would be exhausted after the accident and hospital.

Over the next week Tracy adjusted to having the cast on her leg. It made moving around the house to do the simplest tasks difficult. Both Link and Tracy were also feeling sore from the accident now that the shock had worn off. Their family and friends frequently visited them to help in any way that they could. Link's car had also been fixed and returned. On the third day after the accident Brenda and Fender came to visit.

"We were so surprised to hear what happened," Fender said.

"A drunk driver at that hour," Brenda added.

"The police said that he was in trouble for drinking before but nothing like this," Tracy told them.

Link nodded. "He's in custody at the moment awaiting trial."

Fender looked from Link to Tracy. "How are you guys handling all of this?"

"I often think what if we left five minutes earlier could this have been avoided," Tracy answered.

"Trace no one could have foreseen this happening. Please don't blame yourself."

Brenda looked at her thoughtfully. "There are things you can't plan for."

Tracy nodded in understanding. "Where is Sean today?"

"He's with one of our neighbors," Fender answered.

"She has grandchildren his age so she adores him," Brenda added smiling.

They talked for a while longer before Brenda and Fender had to leave to pick up their son.

Another week quickly passed and Link began to notice that Tracy seemed down. He figured she was still upset about the news the doctor had given her. He tried to cheer her up but to no avail. One day Link took Tracy out to lunch. She still had a little trouble with the crutches but managed well. He was hesitant to get behind the wheel again but knew that he had to try at least. After lunch they passed by a pet store. Through the window they could see a pen full of puppies barking happily. They walked in to see fish tanks line the walls. When they walked over to the puppy pen two cocker spaniel pups immediately walked up to them wagging their tails. One was golden with a black spot on its tail while the other was black with a golden spot on its tail.

"Hey there fella," Tracy said scratching the black ones head. She was smiling.

Link smiled. "Aren't you a pretty thing," he said to the golden cocker spaniel.

"Can I help you two?" a woman asked.

Link turned to her. "Yes, these two puppies here are very friendly."

She nodded. "Indeed, they are brother and sister. The boy is the black one with the golden spot. They are five months old."

"They are adorable," Tracy cooed.

"We'd like to take them," Link said.

Tracy turned to him. "Really?'

He nodded. "How can I resist them when they make you smile like this?"

"Oh Linky," she said hugging him.

The woman nodded. "Very good sir."

Link and Tracy bought food bowls, leashes, food, a tennis ball and chew toy at the store as well. The puppies practically jumped into Tracy's arms. Link prevented them from doing so before they could knock Tracy over.

"So Tracy what shall we name them?" Link asked as they drove home.

"How about Beebe and Brian?"

"Those sound like good names. Do you think they like it?"

She turned them "Do you guys like those names?"

They licked her hand in response.

"I think they do," she answered giggling. Link grinned at the sound. It was the first time since the accident that she had laughed at all.

TBC....