Chapter Ten

Nora raced over to the other side of Casey's bed, letting Derek stay on the side with the chair. George walked out into the hallway. "Doctor? Nurse? Somebody! She's waking up!"

Casey's Point of View

Everything was so bright! She thought she saw faces, but she wasn't sure. She definitely heard voices, they were buzzing endlessly around her head. Her head hurt, really bad.

"Casey? Casey, can you hear us?" someone said. It was a man's voice. She didn't recognize it.

Casey blinked her eyes shut, and kept them closed for a while before opening them again. She could see a little better, but her head still hurt really bad. "Where am I?" She asked quietly. There were at least five figures in the room, but she still couldn't see them very well. One of them, a woman, grabbed her hand.

"Casey, honey. You're in the hospital. You were in a car accident." The woman seemed nice, but unrecognizable.

"Casey…? Accident…?" Casey asked, looking around. She looked very confused. "Who are you?" She asked, looking at her mother. "What's going on?"

Nora's Point of View

"Casey? Darling, it's me. Your mom…" Nora looked scared. What is going on? Why doesn't she remember anything? Nora looked at one of the doctors. "Why doesn't she remember me?" She looked frantic.

"This is common, Mrs. Venturi. She has a case of amnesia, it seems like. Usually, this is only temporary." The doctor responded.

Before the doctors had more time to question Casey, she fell asleep. At least this was a normal sleep and not a comatose one. The doctors brought in more chairs for Nora and George to sit on. Positive that Casey was okay, Nora left the room and dialed their home phone. Edwin answered.

"Edwin? It's Nora. Casey just woke up….yes, she seems fine…well, she's having trouble remembering things, but she's talking and that's a good sign….no, we will bring you to see her tomorrow….okay, good night."

Nora walked back into the room and the family sat watching the sleeping Casey for an hour, silently. George finally broke the quiet, "Do any of you want something to eat?" He asked quietly, not wanting to wake Casey up. Derek shook his head. He was still full from dinner. Nora, however, nodded, "I'm not hungry, but I could really use a coffee. I'll go with you to the cafeteria." They left the room, telling Derek that they wouldn't be long.

Derek's Point of View



So, Casey couldn't even remember her own mother. That wasn't good. But, at least she could talk normally, and that was what the doctors were worried about. He leaned his elbow on his leg and leaned his head on his hand. He sighed deeply and this woke Casey up.

She stirred and sat up slowly. "Ow. My head." She said, reaching to put her hand on her forehead. One of her arms was in a sling, protecting her from moving around the arm nearest to her broken clavicle. Derek sat up straighter too.

"Want me to see if they can give you an pain meds?" He asked, quietly.

"No. I just want to know what's going on. Who are you?" She asked, turning to look at him.

He smirked and held out his hand, "Derek. And you're Casey. Nice to meet you." She giggled and shook his hand.

"You've got a case of temporary amnesia. Well, that's what the doctor said. I just think you're faking." He grinned at her again, letting her know that he was kidding.

"So..my names Casey. And you're Derek. Your name sounds kind of familiar. Are we..um…you know?" She asked, a little uncomfortable.

Derek blushed, "No..no we aren't dating. I'm just…" he paused, unsure of what to say. "I'm just a really good friend." He could have smacked himself. Friend, Venturi? What the hell are you getting at? It's not like Dad won't tell her that we're step-siblings.

"Oh, okay." Casey smiled and Derek reddened again. What the hell, Derek? Girls don't make you blush. You make girls blush. Derek was not having a very good argument with himself, mostly because he was losing.

Casey suddenly remembered the voices she had heard but couldn't talk to. "Wait…you were the one that came and talked to me all the time. Weren't you?"

Derek nodded, "Yeah, you remember that?"

"A little."

Casey stared at Derek, obviously trying to remember him, and couldn't. "How long have I been in a coma?" She asked.

Derek stared back at her, without any hair, her eyes started to look really beautiful. Venturi…stop. Stop thinking like that. Go back to school and make ga ga eyes at some other girl. NOT Casey. "Well, almost two weeks. Everyone was really worried about you." He grabbed her hand. It felt cold in his. DEREK!! His conscious was yelling at him, but he tried to ignore it. "You really had us scared there for a while." She smiled at him and he smiled back. "Your mom wants to bring your little brother and sisters to see you tomorrow. Do you think you'd be up to it? I can tell her if you're not, but they haven't seen you these past two weeks at all. Your mom didn't want to scare them."



Casey looked a little scared and squeezed Derek's hand. Chill's ran up and down his spine but he pretended not to notice. "Yeah, I do want to see them. What are their names? What are they like?"

"Well, you have two sisters, Lizzie and Marti, and a brother, Edwin. Lizzie's pretty cool. She's into sports. Edwin, he's smart, like you, and Marti, well, she's just adorable. Lizzie and Edwin are both 14 and Marti is 8."

"Uh, Derek?" She asked.

"Hmm?"

"How old am I?" She looked like she felt like a moron, but Derek just smiled.

"You're 18, Case." She nodded and smiled her thanks. He could really get used to that smile. He never used to see it much.

"Derek? Um, I have one more question."

"Shoot."

"Why aren't we dating?"

Derek turned deep red and was saved from answering when Nora and George appeared at the door. Derek dropped Casey's hand like a hot potato.