Everyday Peril
Chapter 8: The Mists of All That's Gone

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Wow, you'd think you guys didn't like cliffhangers or something… Thanks: One Legged Hooker Jane Barbie, cheetahluke, Whitelighter Enchantress, Jaryn, Raina, Valoriahn, aliana, Kiki, Dream Writer 4 Life, and Karmen. All your reviews were great…

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Fireworks exploded before her eyelids, disturbing the darkness, whistling and screaming as they rose in the sky and exploding in a shower of sparks, like some kind of freak Fourth of July celebration. That was her one moment of tranquility. The colors transfixed her; the calming azures, the flaring emeralds and golds, finally giving away until there was nothing but a dark sticky crimson, blood red.

Red raining over her, the sparks growing larger. Red filling her eyes until there was nothing else. Red blinding her, choking her, deafening her. Red crawling under her skin, leaving its trail wherever it went, a prickling path of pain and heat winding around her, making her writhe in agony. Its fiery fingers flying over her flesh, mercilessly moving everywhere, not missing an inch, stealing her breath in such a way that she might never get it back.

Iron fists clamping around her lungs, her head, her stomach, threatening to squeeze the life out of her. She could feel it start to drain from her, the pain pulling it out of her head in feathery wisps, like enchanted webbing. Fiery ice descended upon her as the silvery threads of life left her, balled up by the hands of pain and gobbled greedily, barely touched by its teeth. A cold so icy it was painful, a feeling so cold that it burned white-hot, worse than a blazing flame.

She almost gave into it. Almost let it eat her whole, take the last of her soul without thought or mercy, thinking that nothing could be worse. But something crept in through the pain, through the numbness of her brain, through the darkness, scooping her from nothing before she descended, bringing her life.

One sound, so full of hope and love. One word, wavering with pain, but pulsating with something stronger than the heartbeat that kept her going. One question so full of trust that it severed the aching grip that held onto her. "M-Mommy?"

That one word hurtled her back to reality. Her eyes snapped open, flinging her back into a world of sight and sound. Horns blaring, people yelling, the heat emanating from the car that had its hood still buried within the side of her vehicle.

Hailey was sobbing, her eyes frantically searching the front of the car, waiting for some sign of life from her mother. Sydney wanted to tell her that everything was going to be okay, tried desperately to get the words out, but couldn't find them. They were lost among the confusion, dancing somewhere beyond her grasp.

A painful and dizzy turn of the head rewarded her with a glance of her daughter. The little girl was petrified, as was to be expected, slightly scratched and clutching her already badly bruised arm. Sydney thanked whatever God had been watching over her that Hailey had been on the passenger's side of the car, knowing that her own side had taken the impact and that the pain that she was just keeping at bay would have been nothing compared to having to see her daughter experience the brunt of it herself.

As bad as it had seemed at the time, and as insignificant now, if the little girl hadn't spilled the milk, if the entire family had been in the car, with little William in the car seat right behind her. Sydney refused to look in that direction, knowing that the extra car seat that was there would be smashed beyond recognition…

The stench of gasoline invaded her nostrils and a sudden awareness of the heat that was shimmering off the pavement screamed to her: Get out of the car! With shaking hands, she unbuckled her seatbelt, fighting back the tears, not wanting her daughter to be any more scared than she already was.

She didn't even try her door, knowing already that any attempt to open it would be futile, that she couldn't afford any extra movement, barely able to stay focused on the task of getting Hailey and herself out of the car. Sparks flew out of the corner of her eyes, sparks that she knew weren't really there, but that still increased the overwhelming, animal-like fear within her, as she waited for the gas fumes to ignite.

Slowly, she eased herself across the front seat, instinctively grabbing her cell phone and glancing as reassuringly as she could at Hailey, who had started to calm as soon as her mother moved. Sydney closed her eyes to the pain, feeling her way out of the front seat with fingers that refused to work, leaning heavily on the side of the car as she fumbled with the back door.

Somehow, she got Hailey out of her car seat, never quite sure how she found the strength to lift her, thoughts of her daughter's well-being the only thing that kept her going. Without a word, Hailey took her mother's hand, wanting to be carried, but able to sense that Sydney had been strained enough and wouldn't be able to manage it.

Sydney led her daughter to the sidewalk and sat down, not hearing the questions and kind words from pedestrians and other motorists, not noticing their concerned faces, not feeling their outstretched hands. She sat down and hugged Hailey fiercely, acutely aware and careful of her daughter's wounds, while trying as hard as she might to ignore the pain her own caused her.

"Mommy," Hailey murmured, the uncontrollable sobs finally gone from her body, but a whisper of tears still in her voice. "I was so scared."

Sydney kissed the little girl's sweet face all over, trying to keep her from seeing the side of her own face that was dripping with blood. I love you, Hailey. I love you. The words were in her mind, but refused to find their way to her lips. Blocked by the walls of pain and confusion, unable to make themselves heard.

The wail of sirens approached them, screaming mournfully from the distance. Sydney dug into her purse, pulling out her phone and hitting the speed dial automatically. Hailey flung her good arm around her mother's neck, flinching and pulling back as the dark drops of Sydney's blood splattered onto her arm.

It rung once.

"Mommy, you're bleeding." Hailey was standing, and touched her fingers to her mother's forehead, bringing them away covered in shiny, crimson blood. Maybe the little girl hadn't noticed that she was bleeding as well. Perhaps the amount of blood oozing from her own skin seemed insignificant to that which was dripping down Sydney's face. But Sydney noticed; she saw every scarlet dot that marred her daughter's creamy, fragile skin.

Twice.

"You're gonna need a big Band-Aid," Hailey whispered, convinced that everything was going to be all right now that her mother seemed to be okay, but still hugging her bruised arm to her side. It had to be killing her, but she didn't seem to notice, shock and fear blocking out the pain.

You will too, darling. Bigger than you can imagine.

Three times.

She was beginning to get nervous. Her stomach clenched into a tight ball that refused to be unwound, weaving ever tighter until she almost couldn't take it anymore.

Finally, it clicked and he answered, his voice strong and reassuring. "Hello?"

A gulp of breath, as if it would be the last she ever took. She fought as hard as she could, harder than she ever had before to get that one word out. What she uttered barely enough to be heard, contradicting the screaming she felt inside, the amount of effort it had taken to squeeze the name out of her swollen throat and onto her lips. "V-Vaughn…"

She never heard his reply. The knot that had been forming in her stomach suddenly unwound, unleashing a sharp, fiery pain, worse even, than that she had felt just moments before. She doubled over, gasping and clutching at her stomach.

"Mommy?!"

The phone dropped to the ground. And suddenly it hit her, the fact that she had not one child to watch out for at that moment, but two.

If the sharp ache within her had possessed a voice, it would have been cackling without mercy, its deep laughter nauseating and nearing a howl, ever increasing in pitch until it was on the verge of shattering all the nearby glass. She could hear it. The hideous laughter that began deep inside as the pain took over, lulling her into unconsciousness with its fiery hand, singing her a deadly lullaby. It had won.

Mist swirled around her, creeping ever closer. Slowly, everything about her was immersed in this fog, blurring and finally disappearing. The edges would leave first, a face would blur, fine details were lost, colors washed together before being overtaken by a dull, sickening gray. And the mist was upon her, brushing her with its cold, cloudy fingertips, dulling her senses, stealing her breath. Everything was gone again, rushing out of her at dizzying speed, and no matter how much she struggled, it would not return.

Hailey watched her mother slump over; the mother that had banished all monsters from under her bed, the mother that was at her side in a moment as soon as she head her tears, the mother who shushed her nightmares away, sleeping beside her to keep them at bay. She had thought this woman was invincible, and seeing her suddenly frail form on the ground beside her frightened away any pain she felt, any fear from the car accident itself.

She shook her mother's shoulder, gently at first and then more fiercely, a jumble of words finding their way past the tears that were choking her, but refused to be cried. "I'm sorry, Mommy. I'll never be bad again… Please, Mommy. I promise. Just wake up…" But not even her daughter's frantic words could wake Sydney from this sleep. Pain's eerie lullaby had lulled her into an unconsciousness too deep for words to penetrate.

Strong hands pulled her gently back. Hailey struggled against them, not sure what was going on, but they held her fast. She watched as two men picked her mother up off the ground, lifting her onto a little bed with wheels that she had only seen in movies. Her ears caught some phrases that scared her, and some words that she didn't understand.

"That looks like one hell of an accident."

"Where's all the blood coming from?"

"…units of O-Neg."

"… be internal hemorrhaging?"

"Let's move her to…"

The hands were lifted off her shoulders and she tried to run after her mother, but a young woman appeared, kneeling down in front of her to prevent her escape, a gentle hand was on her arm. A quick glance at the lady showed her pretty face and kind eyes, and before she turned her eyes back to her mother, she noticed that the woman was wearing the same clothes that the two men had on.

"Hi there," the woman said softly, but Hailey did not turn her head to face her. "I'm Carol. What's your name?"

"I'm not 'posed to talk to strangers," Hailey whispered, eyes still glued on her mother's retreating form. The little girl suddenly moved her bruised arm behind her back, for some reason wanting to hide it from the world, not wanting anyone to know that she was hurt.

"I'm going to help you," Carol replied reassuringly. She had seen the dark, ugly bruises on the little girl's arm before she had hid it, and knew that it was probably causing her great pain. But although the child had been crying before, she was strong, and didn't shed any tears now. "Does your arm hurt?"

Hailey nodded distractedly, trying to move her arm further behind her and back away, her footsteps stumbling, her progress halted by the hand that still held her arm. She was reluctant to trust this woman, knowing somehow that she could, but not wanting to, wishing she and all the other people were gone, that it was just her and her mother back in the car. Together. Happy. Safe.

"Can I look at it?"

Hailey didn't answer this question. Instead, turning her deep green eyes on Carol and asking, "Where are they taking my mommy?"

"To the hospital. We're going to take you there, too."

Hospital. That's where they took people who were really, really hurt. Or really sick like that man she had seen on TV. He hadn't looked sick when he went there, he was just moaning a lot. But then had turned green and grew scales and screamed. Hailey had hidden her eyes; her daddy had walked in and turned off the TV. He had hugged her tightly and told her it wasn't real.

"What're they gonna do to her?"

Her mother had gone to the hospital to have the twins. She had been little, but she remembered bits and pieces. Her father had held her hand, leading her down the clean, white halls that smelled like their house did when her mommy was cleaning. There had been a guy in the hallway sitting in a wheelchair, talking to himself and drooling on his bib. He had tried to grab her, but her daddy had kept her safe. But her father was not going to take her there this time.

"Try to make her better."

Her mommy had smiled at her when they had walked in the room. She looked tired. Hailey had wanted to hug her so tight, but her mother said that it hurt her. It never hurt her mommy when she hugged her at home, only there.

"What if they can't?"

Mommy had been okay when they took her home. And then she had William and Jonny to play with. But what about the man in the wheelchair? She had never seen anyone like him outside of the hospital building. She had never seen a grown man who needed a bib. No one had ever tried to grab her.

"They're going to try their best."

Daddy had promised to try his best to build her a swing on the tree in the backyard. He said he had never really built anything before. But he did it, and it was the best swing in the world, even better than the ones at the playground. And Daddy pushed her so high on it; it was like she was going to fly to the stars.

"Is Daddy gonna be there?"

That would make it all better. Her daddy always took care of her. He had saved her from the scary man that tried to take her. He had told her that the man really wasn't scary at all. He had just wanted to hug her.

"We'll call him, honey, and he'll probably meet us there."

Hailey nodded, a single tear making its way to the tip of her nose and dripping onto the ground. She quickly wiped away its glistening path. She sniffled, but didn't want to cry anymore. She could still see her mother, and Carol said that they were going to take good care of her. They were going to try their best.

One of the two men made his way over to them. "No ID on the woman," he said to Carol. "Purse is inside the car, but the Chief of Police has roped the area off. Gas is draining out of one of the vehicles." He looked toward Hailey and Carol nodded, following his lead, not needing any further words from him to know what was needed.

"Honey, what's your mommy's name?" Hailey didn't answer, and Carol wasn't sure if she had understood. This girl was so tiny; she didn't look more than three or four years old, and some children knew no other name for their parents than what they themselves called them. So, she tried a different tactic. "What does your daddy call her?"

Hailey was silent for so long that the two paramedics didn't think she was going to answer. "Gorgeous," she finally murmured, and Carol couldn't help but smile. "Or Syd most of the times. Her real name is Sydney Vaughn."

The man nodded his thanks and left. Carol decided to try this approach to find out the child's name, as well. "What does your daddy call you?"

But the girl seemed to catch on to this game and tired of it. "My name's Hailey," she answered quietly. "Is my mommy going to be okay?"

"We're going to try the best we can," Carol promised, wishing she could guarantee that this little girl's mother was indeed going to be just fine, but not wanting to give her false hope.

Hailey seemed to accept this, used to her mother and father promising their best and delivering without fail. The child lived in a secure, fragile world of fantasies and make-believe. In the magical kingdom in which she reigned, she had never known anything to go wrong. This was her first real brush with reality, and although the walls of her castle had been shaken, they still stood tall. The princes and princesses, elves and fairies, dragons and brave knights stayed their ground; Hailey refused to give them up that easily.

She slowly and carefully took her arm out from behind her, holding it out to Carol without a word as to the pain the deep bruises were causing her. "We were going to my play."

"You and your mom?" Carol asked as she examined Hailey's arm, trying to keep conversation going. "What were you…?"

"Not just us," the little girl interrupted. "Daddy and William and Jonny were gonna meet us there. And the new baby was coming, too. But Mommy telled me it couldn't see 'cause it was sleeping in her tummy."

"Okay," Carol murmured. And if Hailey had been old enough to notice small changes in behavior such as these, she would have felt the woman stiffen and known that her smile was pasted on. "Just hold on a sec, Hailey." She turned to the ambulance they had loaded Sydney in, calling out just as they were closing the doors, "Luke!"

The ambulance doors swiftly reopened and the man that had approached them earlier jumped out and ran towards them. His eyes were questioning; he knew he didn't need to tell her that they had to hurry, didn't need to ask what she had called him over for.

Carol stood up, lowering her voice so that Hailey couldn't hear her. "She was… is…" She fumbled out, nodding towards the ambulance where Sydney lay.

"Yeah," Luke answered, placing a hand on her shoulder. There seemed to be some sort of spoken agreement between the two, some type of connection, whether it be family, friendship, or love. His eyes told her he understood. His had caressed her shoulder for a split second, almost too quick to be noticeable, before he turned and ran back towards the ambulance. Almost before he had shut the doors, they were on their way, sirens blaring.

"I'm not going with Mommy?" Hailey asked, her voice wavering and her lower lip trembling. She was trying desperately not to cry, but the frustration, pain, and confusion were almost too much for her to bear.

"You'll get to see her later, honey," Carol reassured her. "We're going to go in that ambulance." She pointed to the one still parked nearby and took the little girl's hand.

With her mother gone, Hailey felt suddenly cold and alone. She shivered as she glanced quickly around her, searching for something familiar, something, anything that she knew. The faces surrounding her were strange and frightening. The car was no longer what she had remembered, in its mangled condition and surrounded by caution tape and swarming police officers.

"It was their anniversary," Hailey stated quietly, struggling to keep hold of herself, not wanting to show weakness, not wanting to cry. "Mommy never got to give Daddy his present."

She glanced up at Carol, but the woman was silent. The accidents were one thing; the maimed or mangled bodies, the pools and fountains of blood. But the stories behind them, the people that lived them… Seeing the pain these accidents and injuries caused, not just physically, but emotionally, was the worst part. The accidents without stories were the easiest to bear: bring the victim to the hospital and be done with it, no time to talk or wonder. Those that had them, that relayed them to her… She often wondered why she chose this line of work, vowing to find something better before she closed her eyes at night. But she always returned to it the next day, drawn to it, unable to stay away.

Hailey was at the edge of the precipice. One more step would pull her over, would bring her to tears. The little girl had inherited her mother's strength, but there were times that not even Sydney could hold in her sobs. "Is the new baby going to be okay?" she managed to murmur.

Carol couldn't outright lie to the little girl. She had already glossed over the truth about her mother, not really knowing how severe her injuries were, but this she was sure of. Hailey would have to hear the truth sooner or later, but the paramedic couldn't find it in herself to break it to her now. That would have to be someone else's job. "I don't know, honey," Carol answered, leading her slowly to the ambulance. It was the truth; she didn't. And that would have to be good enough for now.

But Hailey suddenly stopped, the tears too much for her, finally winning their battle and spilling over. "I… I want my Mommy and Daddy," she whispered, eyes wide. "I want to go home."

There were no words for this, nothing to make it right. Carol picked up the little girl and held her tightly, carefully, well aware of her bruised and most likely broken arm. Hailey buried her head in the woman's shoulder and sobbed uncontrollably, for her mother and father, the new baby, the car accident, the spilt milk, everything that scared her and she didn't understand, and the pain she finally allowed herself to feel, that she had barely noticed before.

She cried until she ran out of tears, chest still heaving even after her eyes were dry. She wanted this to all be a dream, a nightmare; something she could wake up from. She wanted somebody to turn off the TV and hug her tightly, telling her it wasn't real.