Dallas, Texas

Taking their Sunday morning breakfast outside on the patio beside the Southfork swimming pool, the mood amongst the various Ewing family members was less than pleasant.

Returning from his business trip on Saturday night, JR hadn't immediately contacted his father as he had little good news to tell, but as was always the way Jock hadn't let that stop him from finding out what he wanted to know, first with a late-night phone call and then with a breakfast invitation he couldn't turn down. Now that he was where his daddy wanted him to be, things were no better than he'd assumed they would be, they'd had little to no productive conversation, just a lot of repeated discussions about things he couldn't even pretend to have control over.

Beside her husband, Sue Ellen sat attempting to persuade John Ross that oatmeal was a breakfast food he'd always enjoyed, having no luck as he refused and refused again each time the spoon came anywhere near his mouth. It had been a while since they'd eaten breakfast at Southfork and perhaps he liked the oatmeal Francisca made better, but there was always the possibility too that he was just cranky, much like she was at the forced change in their weekend plans to accommodate something that could have waited until Monday.

Opposite Sue Ellen sat Lucy, quiet and uneasy. Things had been strange around Southfork since the sudden departures of both Bobby and Pam and she couldn't be sure what she was supposed to feel, no one really spoke to her about it, not even Sue Ellen, who she had thought to be more open than she'd turned out to be. "May I be excused?" finished her breakfast, she didn't see much point in staying at the table, there was nothing there for her now.

At the opposite end of the table to Jock, Miss Ellie answered her granddaughter's question with a simple, "yes". Surveying her family, it seemed clear to her that Lucy had the right idea; Jock had insisted they share breakfast but hadn't stopped talking long enough to eat a thing and certainly hadn't noticed that not his son, daughter-in-law or either grandchild was enjoying the experience of a family breakfast. "Excuse me", following Lucy's lead, she stood and left the table, grabbing her pruning shears and heading over to the rosebushes beside the driveway.

Watching his wife walking away, Jock paused for a moment and then resumed his discussion with JR, "…I might need to go and talk some sense into them…" stopping again when he noticed a red car moving swiftly in the distance, seeming to head in their direction. Standing to get a better look, everything seemed to happen in slow motion.

It was loud, so very loud, the tyres screeched along the concrete driveway and the metal of the car's body crumpled on impact, but louder than either of those was the screaming, shouting and crying coming from all angles.

"Miss Ellie!", "mama!", "somebody call an ambulance", the three statements overlapped each other as chaos unfolded on the driveway.

Unsure of what to do in such an emergency, each of the family members stood frozen for a moment before separating and jumping into whatever action their instincts pulled them towards.

Sue Ellen stood silently like a statue, shocked and horrified by what she'd just witnessed before the distraught cries of her young son were too much to ignore, quickly shielding him then from the picture of chaos before them, however unable to look away herself.

Unlike his wife, JR was quicker to act, running to kneel on the driveway next to his mother, his first aid skills rusty from years living like a wealthy civilian man rather than a military man, though better than anyone else in his family seemed to show they possessed at present.

For Jock, shouting orders appeared to be his method of coping at first before he crumpled to the ground. Kneeling next to his wife, he held her hand and stroked her face, separating from her only when JR appeared to be doing first aid, though his efforts seemed to be in vain as Ellie remained motionless while her unmarked skin grew paler and her wounds became more apparent as the blood flow reached the open exits.

Least able to move was young Lucy, completely traumatised by what she was bearing witness to, having turned around just as she reached the door to the house. It couldn't be happening, not after she'd already lost both of her parents and recently an aunt; she couldn't be losing her grandma, the most stable, loving adult she'd ever known. It wasn't fair, it just wasn't fair, she needed her grandma and for some crazy stranger to take her away from her in the blink of an eye was completely unjust. She had no idea whether her grandma was dead or just injured, no one had said anything, but her intuition told her that the worst-case scenario was the reality of the situation.

Upon the arrival of the set of ambulances, minutes or hours later, no one was really keeping time so couldn't be sure, there was a collective sigh of relief at handing the situation over to trained professionals, though not too big a sigh considering the situation was still dire.

"The car came out of nowhere… a hundred miles an hour… shallow breathing… weak pulse… blood loss… Digger Barnes…" muttering what he could to the paramedics in his shocked state, JR was relieved when Sue Ellen appeared next to him, having handed John Ross off to Teresa to take upstairs; he felt as if he were about to collapse himself and the only person he wanted around if he did was his wife.

Moving quickly, talking amongst themselves as the doors closed behind them, it soon became apparent to the two paramedics that the situation was not one anyone wanted to have to face, and it was confirmed to Jock too when their talking slowed, they called time and one of the men turned to address him directly, "I'm sorry sir, she's gone".

To be continued…