Hey, everyone! Okay, so here's the next chapter. There was a random Life With Derek marathon on Disney. Either I missed the announcements for it or it was a spur of the moment thing. Ha-ha. I don't know. Anyway, it got me thinking of fanfics and I really am trying to stop myself from starting a whole new one, so I figured I'd revise this, revise chapter 4, type up chapter 5 (in my notebook), and try to finish this so I can make my angst-y sequel.

Note: Since this is the revised version, there will be changed, moved, added, or deleted lines or scenes. Hope that you all like it! .

Disclaimer: Nope. Don't own it.

Life With Derek: Enemies

Chapter 3

Calling Home

Hospital

Casey ran into the hospital along with the paramedics, her hand clutched to the side of the stretcher. She was terrified. Derek's breathing was getting worse and she couldn't believe it, but he was getting colder. If it weren't for her stepbrother's attempts for air, she would have thought he was dead.

"You'll need to wait here," a nurse said to Casey.

Wanting to object, but knowing she couldn't, Casey nodded, watching as Derek disappeared behind the swinging doors. She sunk into one of the hard chairs, feeling utterly defeated. I shouldn't have made him leave.

Her head snapped up. She had totally forgotten about calling home. Reluctantly standing from the chair, she walked out the doors and into the cold. With trembling hands, she dialed her house.

"Hello?"

"Lizzie, can you put George on?" Casey knew she hadn't been able to hide the crack in her voice.

"What's wrong?" Lizzie asked, worried.

"Just put George on."

"Okay…"

Hearing Lizzie call for her stepfather, Casey tried to regain her breath.

"Casey?"

"Yeah, it's me."

"Did you find him?"

"Yeah," Casey said, holding back tears.

"Where are you?"

"The hospital," she said softly.

"What happened?"

"I don't know," Casey said, shaking her head even though he couldn't see her. "He was in the woods when I found him. He looked like he got attacked or something."

"I'll get everyone and come," George said, his voice sounded like he was in shock.

"Okay." Hanging up, Casey headed back inside. Taking the necessary papers from the head nurse, she began to fill them out, mumbling to herself as she went. "Name…Derek Venturi. Birthday…August 9, 1989. Age...17. Father…George Venturi. Mother-"

"Excuse me, miss."

Snapping her head up, Casey saw a young woman sitting beside her. "Hi," Casey mumbled.

Taking the Kleenex that the woman held out to her, Casey noticed for the first time that wet dots covered Derek's forms.

"Do you need to call anyone?"

"No," Casey said, shaking her head. "I already called my stepfather."

"The boy's your stepbrother?"

"Yeah," Casey said softly. Reading over my shoulder, she thought. Rude much?

"Casey!"

Looking up quickly, Casey saw her family rushing over.

"Is he okay?" George asked.

"No word yet," Casey said, shaking her head. Looking up she noticed that the woman had disappeared. Weird.

Her family was a mess. Looking to her blood relatives she saw that Nora looked close to tears and Lizzie seemed like she hadn't even processed what was happening. Casey wondered how much George had said to them. Moving her eyes to her stepsiblings, she saw that Edwin was consistently mumbling that it was all just a bad dream and Marti…she just looked confused. Turning to see the last member of her dysfunctional family she saw that George looked as if he was reliving a nightmare. Casey could swear she heard him mumbling 'No, not again,' under his breath.

"I'll fill these out," George said, taking the forms without waiting for a reply.

Casey didn't say a word. Why would she? She barely knew enough about Derek to fill out the basics.

George finished almost thirty minutes later. Not saying a word, he stood, taking the papers to the front desk. Returning, he sat beside Nora, lifting Marti into his arms. His arms around her tightened slightly as she snuggled into his chest.

"I want Smerek," the youngest said.

George kissed the top of Marti's head. "I know, baby. I know."

---

Seconds turned to minutes and minutes to what seemed like hours as the family waited for news on their eldest teenager. It seemed as if no one knew what to say, so nothing but silence was heard.

"Who's here for Derek Venturi?" a doctor asked, walking into the waiting room.

"We are," Nora said, standing.

"Is he okay?" Edwin asked.

The doctor stared at the anxious family and then the slumbering child before turning her eyes to her clipboard. She shifted slightly from foot to foot, knowing she'd have to start with the worst thing. "Aside from the cuts and bruises that will heal with time, there was one injury that complicated his recovery." She took a breath. "Whoever your son's attackers were, they didn't choose him at random."

"How do you know?" Nora asked.

The doctor threw a glance at Lizzie and Edwin. "There were…they had weapons."

Casey felt her heart drop into her stomach. "Weapons?" she squeaked. "I didn't see…I…is he okay?"

George swallowed. "What happened?"

The doctor's eyes returned to her clipboard. "Your son lost a lot of blood from a stab wound in his side that we're assuming was made from a kitchen knife from the size. Him being in the cold for so long…it didn't help. He has a severe case of hypothermia, but we have been able to rise his temperature a few degrees," the doctor said. She loved being able to help people, but telling the family was the hardest part of the job. The crushed faces, the tears. But at least today she wasn't informing a family that their loved one hadn't made it.

"Is that all?" George asked.

"No," the doctor said, shaking her head sadly. "There are a few things that are making this a little more complicated. By the looks of the head injury, we're guessing that he was initially knocked unconscious by a pole of some sort. At the beginning it wouldn't have been too much to worry about, however, after being knocked unconscious there were more blows to his skull, causing a small fracture. The important question now is: do you know anyone that would believe they had reason to harm your son?"

"No," Nora said. "I mean, we all know he's had disagreements, but I didn't think anyone would have gone this far."

"The paramedics had said something about his ribs," Casey said suddenly.

"Some of his ribs were bruised and one had been fractured. The pressure of laying on his stomach and the hypothermia were causing him to have problems breathing."

"When can we go home?" Marti asked, wiping sleep from her eyes. She had just woken up. "I want Smerek to read me a story."

The doctor stared sadly at the small girl. Glancing at George and Nora, she saw the small nod indicating that she was able to talk to Marti. She knelt down to the child. "What's your name?"

"Marti."

"Well, hi, Marti. I'm Rosie Winters."

Marti smiled softly and gave a tiny wave. "Hi." She put on her best pleading face. "Can Smerek come home now?"

Hearing the affectionate nickname, Rosie swallowed the lump in her throat. This was going to be hard. "Marti, your brother isn't feeling too good right now. He's going to stay here for a little while so that he can try to be all better for Christmas."

"Smerek doesn't like being sick," Marti said. "Want him to get better now."

Rosie felt tears prick her eyes. This little girl loved her brother so much and her heart was breaking telling Marti that her big brother couldn't go home. "It's going to take some time. You want to make sure he's all better, right? You wouldn't want him to have to come back."

Marti shook her head. "Smerek wouldn't wanna come back."

Rosie nodded, standing. Watching as Marti turned and started to dance around the waiting room singing Christmas carols, she turned to the rest of Derek's family.

"Thank you," George said. "I had no idea what to say."

Rosie waved it off. She didn't want of need any thanks. It had been necessary. Marti was so young. "It's hard, but it's necessary. You need to sugarcoat it for children her age, no matter how mature they can be."

"Marti did ask a good question. When can he come home?" Casey asked.

"When he wakes up we will examine him and determine his release date. We don't want to send him home too early and chance him having a relapse; although, a relapse can still be possible, mind you," Rosie explained.

"When will he wake up?" Lizzie asked.

"It could be a couple of hours; could be a couple days. That's up to him," Rosie said.

"Can we see him?" Edwin asked.

Nodding Rosie replied, "Room 129."

"Thank you," Nora said, taking hold of George's hand. "You okay?"

"I'll be fine," George said.

"Let's go!" Marti said, wanting to see her brother. She had just returned to the group after finishing her song. She ran down the hall, hopping up and down.

"We're coming," Casey said as Lizzie took her hand.

Kicking a bottle cap on the floor, Edwin followed his family. "Some Christmas," he grumbled.

TBC

Anime Girl23: Yay! Chapter 3 is done and revised!

Derek: I wasn't even in it!

Anime Girl23: You're unconscious!

Derek: So?

Anime Girl23: Oh, just be quiet and try and be tolerable. Anyway, please review! It encourages me to write!

Until next time!