The next hour was pretty much a blur for Candace. The paramedics offered to let her ride along in the ambulance – in the front seat, of course, not in the back where they were treating her mother. Candace practically jumped in, abandoning her bike without a second thought. She had to stay with her mother. Candace's earliest memory was of a time not too long before Phineas was born, sitting on what was left of her mother's lap at the time, rocking together, listening to a lullaby.

You and me against the world

Sometimes it seems like you and me against the world

When all the others turn their backs and walk away

You can count on me to stay

"I'll stay with you," Candace whispered into a balled-up fist, feeling very much like that tiny four-year-old girl again, who needed to be held and assured her mommy wasn't going to leave. Tears streamed down her face and splashed into her lap.

"She's throwing a lot of numbers I don't like...pressure's way down. We're gonna have to wrap and run her." Candace didn't understand the paramedic's jargon as he talked to his partner, but she could tell from the urgency in his tone that it wasn't anything good. She wanted to bombard the paramedic who was driving with a million questions, but kept her mouth firmly shut, just in case answering a question would delay him even one second in getting them to the hospital.

Ferb was the only one Candace knew who'd lost their mother, and he had barely been more than a baby at the time. Candace didn't like to think that way, but she was scared and she couldn't help it. A medical assistant directed her to the lobby to wait. She paced the waiting area nervously, hoping to stave off full-blown hysteria. The last time she'd been in this ER waiting room for anything significant, it was Ferb, and she'd had to literally sit on Phineas to keep him from launching any personal investigations into their brother's condition. Oh, wait. Phineas and Ferb. They were at home. Still.

Candace pulled out her cell phone, hitting the second number on speed dial.

"Hello, Candace." Lawrence Fletcher always sounded so cheerful, and the incongruity of it right now was really messing with Candace's head. As if she needed anything else messing with her head. "What's up, darling?"

The words all came out in a rush, with Candace calling him "Daddy" at one point, which she hadn't done since she was ten. They went back and forth for a few minutes until Candace was able to convey to him the gist of what was going on. That was when Lawrence's cheerful tone faded into a sober, "I'll be there as soon as I can."

Candace's fingers latched in her hair, pulling at it – not enough to make it come out, just enough to give her hands something to do. She paced, muttering to herself. "Come on, Mom. Come on. Shouldn't have even been there. Shouldn't have had that stupid meeting with that stupid asshole...." Yes, her biological father was a Grade A asshole and Candace didn't care who overheard her to know it. She didn't even know what had happened to him in the accident. Maybe she should have felt bad about not caring, but she didn't, really, and couldn't spare the energy to work up any guilt. A quiet, dark part of her hoped he was dead, but the rest of her vocally argued that was too good for him. No, he needed to be made to answer for what he'd done.

Lawrence arrived within about a half hour, Phineas and Ferb in tow. Phineas was unusually quiet, his eyes wide and scared. He immediately ran to his sister for a hug, which was of course granted. Ferb seemed withdrawn. He slunk into a chair in the corner of the room, his arms wrapped around himself. Lawrence was at wit's end, but obviously trying to keep it together. Candace was right there with him.

Candace allowed herself to melt into her stepfather's embrace for a long moment, closing her eyes and taking comfort from the touch. This was what a father was supposed to be, not some name on a piece of paper. She tried to offer Ferb a hug, but he didn't appear to be particularly interested in having anyone hug him right then. He flinched at the light touch of a hand on his shoulder. Candace frowned, but then realized that as much as he was normally able to compensate for most of his autistic behaviors, at times like this, it was probably all he could do to keep from melting down entirely and start rocking in the corner. Candace wouldn't blame him if he did. In fact, she'd probably join him.

Something was missing – no, someone, Candace realized as she did a quick family headcount. She looked at her father. "Hey, where's Phineas?"

- - - - - - - -

The song quoted is "You and Me Against the World," by Helen Reddy