A/N: Before I start this chapter, this might be the most grim thing that I have ever written. So, if you feel offended by the content that is about to unravel in this chapter, then do not read it!
The Fate
Lightning unboarded the helicopter and allowed the medical teams to wheel out Hope and Nora. She was thinking to herself, "This was no ordinary car crash" as she followed the medical teams to the elevator down to the emergency room, where they were awaiting their arrival.
"Whats the situation?" said the head doctor of the emergency room crew
"These are two victims of the car crash that occurred about fifteen minutes ago." the head medic said, "The boy seems to be alright, from as far as we know, but for the woman, we really don't know the extent of her injuries."
"Ma'am. Can you give us some information on this incident?" said one of the emergency room doctors to Lightning.
"Yes. It seems that thee was a head-on collision with both cars traveling in an excess of 90 kilometers per hour, it seems that both occupants in the vehicle were wearing their seatbelts but still, in this kind of a collision, you don't know what to expect." Lightning said
"Thanks" said the doctor as they wheeled the patients away into the emergency room.
"I might want to call in to see how the situation at the scene is." Lightning thought as she reached for her phone to call her chief.
"Farron?" The chief asked as he answered the phone.
"Yes, hows the situation at the scene?" Lightning asked
"Its not that good. We just found out that the other driver was driving under the influence of alcohol. We are currently administering a sobriety test to him." the chief replied
"This just makes me even more sick! Hows the cleanup process?" Lightning asked
"almost done. We should be expected to re-open the road in the next hour, I will arrange transportation to get you back to your car. Over and out" the chief said and then hung the phone up.
"I should notify them about what happened." Lightning thought.
Meanwhile, in the emergency room, things were not looking as good as they planned. As the doctors began to examine Nora via X-ray, they noticed a conglomerate of injuries.
Nora, unknowing to where she is, finally regained consciousness and was unable to move her limbs,
"I think she is waking up!" one of the doctors said
"Madam, whats your name?" another doctor asked
"N-N-Norraa... Estheim...." She said Weakly "W. Where... Where's my.... Son, Hope?"
"He is in another wing of the emergency room." one of the doctors said, "he should be okay."
"good." she said as she tried to relax as the doctors continued with the examination.
Back in the main waiting room, Lightning tried to rub her sleepy eyes, "It has been one frenzied day from the start." she thought to herself, "all I wanted to do was get groceries and enjoy my day off, but no. Some crazed asshole of a drunk driver has to cause a crash and possibly ruin the lives of two innocent people." as she reached her phone and dialed her sister's number
"Sister?" Serah asked
"Yes Serah, Its me." Lightning replied, "Try to make dinner for yourself. I am going to be coming home late. Trying to take care of two crash victims right now, and whats worse is that it is a mother and a son."
"Okay, I might be going to sleep soon, g'night." Serah replied as she hung up the phone.
Some time later, a nurse came out to approach Lightning "Hope would like to see you" she said
"Alright, lead me to him." Lightning replied
After walking what seemed to be hundreds of yards and down so many corridors, Lightning finally sees a glimpse of the young boy that she saved from the wreckage.
"um... Hi there" Hope said
"Well, I need to ask you a few questions regarding what happened to help with the investigation." Lightning said
"Go on." Hope replied, "I wonder how my mom is still..."
"shes..." Lightning said as she heard an announcement over the PA system
"We need extra support down to the ICU area"
"I hope she's okay...." Hope started to begin to worry
"Hope... Listen to me..." a nurse said as she walked in, "Your mom is not doing too good, there may be a chance that she might not make it."
"w,what????" Hope said, dumbfoundedly as he started to cry
"Don't worry, I'll be here if you need something, the name is Vanille." She said as Lightning walked down the hall to the ICU.
"Whats going on?" Lightning asked one of the doctors in the room
"She just lost consciousness. I think there may be some more damage then we thought." the doctor replied, "However, I got a message from her."
"Go ahead." Lightning said
"She said, In the case that I do not make it alive, please make sure that you get my son home." The doctor said, "Here's an audio recording of the message" as he handed Lightning a small device that she thought was an MP3 player.
"okay." Lightning said as she returned to Hope's room and on the way there, she received a call from the chief
"Farron, we got some good news you'd like to hear." he said
"Okay, but first, we got a bit of a situation." Lightning replied, "The woman that I saved is not looking good at all. She's slipping in and out of consciousness, the doctors say that she may not make it"
"That's a little unfortunate. Now, we nailed the other driver! After the sobriety test, we found out that his alcohol content was .17, Way over the limit! So, he is getting a hard taste of justice via purging, PSICOM has him in custody right now and should be purged at the next purge." the chief said
"Good, just what the son-of-a-bitch needs." Lightning remarked
"Don't lose your cool, Farron. You got a job to do still. Your escort out of there will arrive in thirty! Over and out!" the chief replied as he hung up. Afterward, Vanille approached Lightning.
"Farron. Can I have a word with you. Outside" Nurse Vanille said
"Please, call me Lightning. Yes, go ahead. I thought you were watching over Hope?" She asked
"Don't worry, I got someone else to do that. Its about his mother, Nora. Come on." Vanille replied as the two walked out to the parking lot.
"Okay, so go on about what's going on..." Lightning said
"Lightning.... Nora, she's dead. We tried to revive her, but it didn't work. I am sorry Lightning." Vanille announced the grim news "The only thing we have left to do is break the news to the boy."
"How is he going to be able to handle it?" Lightning asked "This could emotionally scar him! Poor thing."
"Don't worry about a thing. We will do this together." Vanille said as the two began to walk over to Hope's room.
"Hope..." Lightning said, "We have some very grim news to tell you about..."
"You may want to make sure that you are sitting up good so you can hear this..." Vanille said, "Your mother is dead."
"N-No! This Cant Be! NOOOOOOOO!" Hope screamed out as he cried, his face turned bright red with sadness and fear due to the loss of his mother. He could not believe the words that he was hearing, "YOU CANT BE SERIOUS!" He screamed
"No, were not." Lightning and Vanille said together
"Would you like to see her body?" Vanille asked, but instead got a constant stream of screaming and crying from Hope.
"I think I should go outside for a bit." Lightning said, "I am starting to get a headache!"
"Okay, I'll let you know when he's calmed down." Vanille replied as Lightning quietly left the room and walked back outside.
A few minutes later, Hope finally started to calm down and Lightning was feeling a bit better, as she did not have a headache. Vanille escorted Lightning back to Hope's room and Lightning said, "Hope, Your mother had some final words to say before she passed on."
"W-What?" Hope asked while he was still crying
"She said that in the case that she died, I was to take you back home." Lightning said
"D-did she?" Hope asked, while trying to pull himself together
"Here, I'll payback the recording that she managed to have" Lightning said as she pulled out of her pocket a small device a bit reminiscent of an MP3 Player.
Hope pushed the button on it that had a triangle symbol over it
"Hope, I-if your are listening to this, chances are that my time is almost up. You have been a good son to me. I asked Lightning if it was possible that she could take you back home, or at least have the courtesy to notify your father.... The number is," but before the number could play there was a lot of garbling noises that were herd as well as a high pitched whine.
"No, NO! This can't be!" Hope cried out
"Stupid old piece of junk! I think I need a new recorder!" Lightning said, Hope, your under my jurisdiction until I can get you home! Vanille, is he okay to leave?"
"He should be. When the doctors examined him, they couldn't find any injuries on him." Vanille replied
"Come on Hope, you coming with me." Lightning said
Hope started to calm down enough and stopped crying "Okay, Lightning."
"Just call me Light." Lightning said
"Alright. Lets go!" Hope replied as Lighting could hear a helicopter in the distance
"Just on cue." she said as she finished some final paperwork with Vanille to ensure that Hope was okay to leave. The two boarded the elevator and hopped aboard the helicopter that would return them to where they first met.
A/N: This chapter was one of the hardest things that I have written to date! Its just the packing of emotions and everything in order for the reader to understand everything! Well, stay tuned for the next chapter!
