As always thanks to my reviewers. Now onto the next installment. Enjoy.

Chapter 10:

It had been five minutes since Ryan had issued his ultimatum. Five minutes in which the pair sat in complete silence. Five minutes in which Kelly contemplated her decision. On the one hand, the ultimatum was further proof that the sooner she could get Ryan to leave her alone, the better off she would be. On the other hand, the thought of going into the restaurant made her sick to her stomach. It wasn't the restaurant itself that was the problem, but everything she associated with it. In some ways she was afraid of the restaurant or more specifically the memories and emotions that would come with it. She avoided Chinese food and this restaurant just like she avoided that intersection. There were too many bad memories associated with this place, and more importantly, she was afraid that she would lose her sanity if she didn't. Then there was her friends. It wasn't that they didn't understand why she avoided this place like the plague or would ever even suggest that she come here. They knew just how hard everything had been and continued to be. Still, they didn't hide the fact that they were worried about her, concerned over her inability to cope with what had happened. Move forward was what Brenda had called. Could attempting to go in there be a way to calm their fears and remove some of the pressure they unintentionally tried to put on her? Was it worth it?

"Kelly," Ryan's voice interrupted her contemplation. "I need an answer."

"And I need time," Kelly said rudely.

"Thirty seconds," and impatient Ryan informed her. "Then I'm going in and you can follow or find your own way home. A simple yes or no before then would be nice."

Way home. Those two words were like a knife to her heart. As painful as the idea of going into the restaurant was, the idea of going home from here was even worse. Just the thought of it was an even bigger reminder than being here. If she could go somewhere first on the way, that would maybe make it better, but where would she go? She needed more time to think about that. Why wouldn't he just give her more time?

"Fine. I'll go in with you," Kelly said even though everything inside her was yelling at her not to. He had forced her to make a decision between two horrible choices. Why didn't she just run earlier when she had the chance?

"Good," Ryan beamed, completely oblivious to the fact that he was torturing her.

They both got out of the car. Kelly attempted to timidly walk into the restaurant, but Ryan grabbed her risk, dragging her with him.

"We have a reservation," Ryan said as they entered the restaurant and approached the matre'd. "It's under Ryan and Kelly."

Normally Kelly would have made a crack about the audacity of him putting the reservation under both their names, but she was too distracted to do so. Instead Kelly just stared at the counter that was to her left, where customers paid and picked up their take out orders.

"Right this way," the matre'd said as she motioned for them to follow her. Ryan complied while Kelly just stood there, continuing to stare.

"You coming?" Ryan asked once he noticed that Kelly was no longer with him. When she didn't respond, he once again grabbed her risk, dragging her behind him and bringing her back to reality.

"Ouch! Ryan, you're hurting me," Kelly protested as she tried to get him to loosen his grip.

"Well, this seems to be the only way to get you to stay with me," he coolly explained as they approached their table.

Once at the table Ryan took the first seat. Kelly was forced to go to the other side of the table and take the seat that faced the entry way. The matre'd put two menus down and went over the daily specials, but Kelly didn't hear any of it. While Ryan picked up the menu and began flipping through it, she turned her attention back to the counter.

He had stood there the night it happened blissfully unaware of what fate had in store for him. Some of his last minutes of consciousness had been spent in front of that counter, patiently waiting for food so that he could get home to her and their son. The last time he had spoken to her and Sammie he had been in this very restaurant.

"Brandon," she whispered.

"What?" Ryan asked. She had spoken too softly for him to be able to make out what she had said.

"Nothing," Kelly replied. Ryan Matthews was almost last person she wanted to get into this with.

"Are you going to look at the menu or do you know what you want?" Ryan asked once he noticed that she had not opened her menu.

"I'm just gonna stick with the water," Kelly informed him.

"You have to eat something," Ryan scolded her. He had expected her to be a difficult date, but it turned out she was being beyond unreasonable.

"I'm not hungry," Kelly snapped. The truth was she was too preoccupied with a futile attempt to fight back the memories that were threatening to overcome her. Besides as she had told him earlier, she didn't eat Chinese food. At least not anymore.

~*~*~

At 6:00 in the evening, Kelly escorted her visitors out of her office. She sighed as her watch confirmed that the clock on her office wall was indeed correct. She had intended to leave over an hour ago, but her meeting had gone far longer than it was scheduled for. Now she wouldn't be surprised if she was about to become the last person to leave the high school. Grabbing her cell phone, she hit the familiar speed dial number.

"Hey Kel," she smiled at the sound of the familiar voice.

"Hey. I'm just getting ready to leave work now," she told her husband before beginning to vent. "Parents. Nothing is ever their kid's fault. Their kid can't possibly be misbehaving. It's the teacher's fault. There has to be a misunderstanding. The other kids are the problem. Promise me that if we ever have problems with Sammie, we won't act like that."

"Promise," Brandon chuckled. Kelly always got like this after a meeting with difficult parents; he found it amusing and cute.

"Anyways, at this point, I don't really have time to make dinner," she informed him. "Where you at?"

"I'm giving my story for tomorrow's paper one more proof read before submitting it. Do you want me to pick up something on my way home?" he asked.

"Do you mid?" she checked.

"Not at all," he replied. "It's not like there aren't a ton of places to stop on my way home. What are you in the mood for?"

"Hmmmm," Kelly contemplated her options. "How does Chinese sound?"

"Good," Brandon replied.

"Then I'll call Hunan Hills and place an order. It'll be under Walsh," she told him. "Any requests?"

"Surprise me," he said.

"Okay. I'll see you at home," Kelly said. She never would have imagined that it was not to be. "I love you,"

"I love you too," Brandon replied. "Bye."

***

A little while later Brandon walked into Hunan Hills and headed straight for the counter.

"I'm here to pick up an order for Walsh," he said.

"It'll be a few more minutes," the woman behind the counter informed him. "Feel free to take a seat."

Brandon did as she suggested. Taking out his cell phone, he went to call his wife.

"Brandon," Kelly picked up the phone once it started ringing.

" How's my beautiful wife?" he asked.

"Better now that I'm home," she responded. "I swear Brandon, I just come home and see Sammie playing and being all cute and it's like nothing else matters. At the end of the day, all that's important is the three of us."

"I know exactly how you feel," Brandon replied.

"Oh Brandon you should see this," Kelly said. "He's pulling at the bottom of my pants and pointing towards the phone. It's like he knows you're on the phone and wants to talk to you."

"Then let me talk to him," he requested.

"Sammie," Brandon heard Kelly say. "You wanna talk to Daddy?"

"Daddy!" Sammie exclaimed once he had been given the phone.

"Hi buddy," Brandon said. "How was your day?"

"I miss you," Sammie said.

"I miss you too," Brandon smiled. "But I'll be home shortly."

"Will you play with me?" Sammie asked.

"Of course," Brandon told him.

"Promise?" Sammie wanted extra assurance.

"I promise," Brandon said. "Can you do me a favor and give the phone back to Mommy?"

"It's me again," Kelly said once Sammie had given her the phone.

"Okay," Brandon said. "I called to let you know that I'm currently waiting for the food and should be home in about twenty minutes or so."

"Mr. Walsh," the woman at the counter called. "Your food's ready."

"Kel," he said into the phone. "I've got to go. The food's done. I'll see you in a bit."

"Bye," she replied.

"Thanks," Brandon said to the woman behind the counter as he headed in her direction in order to pay for and pick up the food. Once that was done he left the restaurant, heading for his car in order to go home.

A few minutes later, Brandon found himself in the right lane and stopped at a red light. Once he noticed that the light had turned green, he hit the gas expecting to continue on his way home. At the same time a pick up truck driving at about eighty miles an hour ran the red light and sped into the intersection. It hit the car in the middle lane first, pushing that car with it as the truck continued to plow forward. Brandon heard the initial impact. Filled with horror, he did his best to react, but there just wasn't enough time. The force of both the car and the truck hitting Brandon's car, sent both the car spinning out of control and the first of many waves of piercing pain through his body. The car continued to spiral until it finally hit the pole that the traffic lights hung from. Impact was made at the driver's door, which had already taken a significant beating from the first impact. Brandon's head went through what was left of the driver's side window, hitting the pole. It was the final blow before he lost consciousness.

***

About half an hour later, Kelly was pacing back and forth in her living room. Brandon should have been home over ten minutes ago, and while he wasn't significantly late enough for it to normally be a source of concern, she couldn't shake the horrible feeling in the pit of her stomach. Something was wrong; she knew it with every fiber in her being.

Trying to get her mind off of her worries, Kelly took a seat and flipped on the TV. She was about to check the guide to see what was on when a breaking new bulletin about the accident came on.

"That's on his way home from the restaurant; he must be caught in traffic and that's why he isn't home yet," she said out loud as she tried to reason with herself. But then why hadn't he called to let her know what was going on? Deep down she already knew the answer. She tried to deny it, to come up with other explanations for where Brandon was and why he hadn't called, but she couldn't. There was only one thing that made sense. Brandon had been involved in that accident.

Picking up the phone, Kelly quickly dialed her next door neighbor.

"Denise," Kelly said once the woman had picked up the phone. "Brandon's not home yet, and I need to go out. I know it's short notice, but would you mind watching Sammie?"

"Is everything okay?" Denise asked.

"Not really," Kelly's voice was filled with panic. "I need to do something. It's urgent. Can you do it?"

"Sure," Denise said. "Whatever you need. I'll be over in a few minutes."

"Thank you so much," Kelly told her. "I really owe you."

***

Kelly was stuck in traffic. The closer she got to where the accident had occurred, the slower traffic was moving until she had finally reached the point where traffic wasn't moving at all. Fed up she decided to just leave her car and go the rest of the way on foot. Compared to her fears, the ticket she was sure to get was completely inconsequential.

After ten minutes of walking, Kelly arrived at the scene. There were first responders and vehicles with flashing sirens everywhere. The intersection had been completely blocked off, but detour signs had yet to be put up, creating a total sense of mayhem. Knowing that she was finally here, Kelly began to run hoping that her fears weren't reality. All hope was immediately dashed as she noticed the barely recognizable tangled metal that was Brandon's car.

"No," she screamed as she broke into a sprint and fought to hold back tears.

"Miss, you can't go past the yellow tape," a cop approached her.

"That's my husband's car," she tried to convince the cop to let her past. "I need to get to it."

"I'm sorry Miss," the cop said. "But I've been instructed not to let anyone past."

"Can you at least tell me how bad it is?"Kelly's voice was shaky.

"I don't know much. He is alive, but he's unconscious," the cop told her. "They're still trying to get him out of the car, and they won't be able to even guess the extent of his injuries until they do."

"He's stuck in there?" Kelly lost the battle over her tears. This was far worse than she had expected.

"I'm afraid so," he said.

"You have to let me through," she begged. "I'll tell your boss, I snuck through and that you didn't see me. Please."

"Trust me, you don't want to see him like this," the cop told her.

"Okay, fine. I'll stay here, but I'm not leaving," Kelly managed to keep her cool long enough to pretended to give in. The cop bought it and turned his attention elsewhere. As soon as he did, Kelly ducked under the yellow tape and ran towards where Brandon was. With the chaos, she was able to get close enough to catch a glimpse of her husband.

"Oh God!" Kelly gasped as hysterics completely took over.

~*~*~

"Are you okay?" Ryan noticed that Kelly was crying.

"I need to get out of here. I can barely breathe in here," Kelly replied. Practically on cue she began to hyperventilate.

"Very funny," Ryan said. "You've been completely uncooperative all evening. I don't buy this act of yours for a minute."

"Take me home," Kelly ordered.

"Not a chance," Ryan said. "We are going to finish this date."

"Then I'll call a cab," Kelly didn't have the strength to argue. She just got up and headed for the door. As much as she wanted Ryan Matthews off her back, nothing was worth this.

She stood outside the restaurant for ten minutes before the cab arrived. Surprisingly, Ryan had never bothered to come after her, but she was sure he was sitting in the restaurant fuming or maybe he was expecting her to decide that she had made a mistake and come rushing back apologetically. It wasn't going to happen, and it didn't matter. All that mattered was getting out of there.

***

Kelly had become slightly more composed during the course of the cab ride, but when they entered her neighborhood she was still a mess. As the cab pulled up in front of her house, Kelly ruffled through her wallet, hoping she had the cash to pay the fare. Fortunately she did.

"Thank you," Kelly said as she gave the driver the money.

"You're welcome," the man said. "Have a good evening ma'am."

"You too," Kelly replied while she got out of the cab. As she approached her house, she noticed a man sitting on her porch. Who on earth would be visiting her this late on a Friday night? Nervously, she continued to approach the house. When she was close enough to make out the figure, she recognized Vince Davis. This night had just gone from bad to worse.

So there you have it. What happened to Brandon revealed. I'm sorry I couldn't do it justice. No matter how hard I tried, I just couldn't seem to capture the drama of a horrible car accident.