Authors Note: I didn't like the direction of the other chapter, so I worked on it and ended up doing something COMPELTELY different! I hope ya'll like! Now that the action's started, expect chapters sooner! (Depending on how much homework I get each week…)

READ & REVIEW PLEASE! Critique and comments keep me writing! :D

Fragments

Chapter 4: The Big Bang

"It is highly unlikely that he will make it through the night." The doctor – a young man named Couth – gave the small family a sympathetic look. "You're welcome to stay."

Conner rested his head in his hands with a heavy sigh. Jane set Gabby on the floor with her toys and wrapped him in her arms. The doctor tucked his clipboard beneath his elbow and patted the distraught sons shoulder. "I'll tell the nurses to allow you to stay."

"Thank you," Jane nodded to him.

Conner waited until the doctor entered the nurses' station to speak. "I'll call my sisters and spend the night. You go on home and get some rest."

"Are you sure? I can find a babysitter. Amanda might be able to look after Gabby."

"No," he shook his head. "You had work last night, you must be tired." He stood and scooped Gabby into his arms. "And I don't want her to be around when…when it happens. Babies are sensitive."

Jane nodded and picked up the diaper bag, packing away the blocks their daughter had been playing with. "Alright, if you're sure."

"I am. I'll walk you out to the car." He hoisted Gabby onto his shoulders, letting her little feet dangle on either side of his neck. "It's almost five o'clock, and that means dinner and cartoons!"

"Yay!" Gabby threw her arms into the air with a squeal. "Dora! Dora! Dora!"

"Wonderful. You've sentenced me to a night of bad Spanish singing and rhyming."

"You have been meaning to learn another language." Conner pressed the call button for the elevator.

"French or German maybe," Jane slid into the empty car, wincing at the barrage of elevator music, "Something European."

The shared a soft kiss as they rode from the fourth floor to the lobby. A man in a white lab coat and a scruffy beard was waiting for the car, tugging a heavy file box on wheels behind him. A bright red label on the side declared that the contents were dangerous and organic – blood and biological waste. The trio stepped around him and headed for the parking lot.

The security guard bade them good evening as they began their trek across the parking lot, which was packed. Visiting hours were almost over, and everyone was trying to get a few last words in with their sick family members, just in case. Conner's small four-door was parked at the very edge of the lot by the high-way, yellow 'Baby-On-Board' signs hanging from the rear windows.

"Alright baby girl, time to go home!" Conner pulled her off his shoulders and settled her in her car seat.

"Dora!" She cheered, chewing on the head of a panda doll she insisted on riding with whenever they went anywhere. Chuckling, the father shut the door and turned to his wife, who was securing the diaper bag in the passenger's seat.

Jane straightened up and wrapped him tightly in her arms. "I love you," she told him, "And if you need me, just call."

"Of course," he kissed her cheek. "But it will be okay. We've known he was getting worse, so it's not a surprise. I'll call my sisters, and we'll be with our father as he goes." He gave her a rueful smile. "He'll be glad to be with mom again. It'll be a quiet night."

Jane smiled and had just turned to open the driver's door when the hospital exploded.