The crowd began to talk among themselves as the train passed. A few of the women began to feel sick and made their husbands take them away. One woman, and a man, even fainted. They had to be carried away by others. Most of the attention was not focused on the train, however, was focused on the young woman who had fallen to her knees when the train hit the men. Few people were watching the dark-haired boy who slowly approached the train tracks, as if in a daze.

Ryan watched as the last car of the train went by, brakes still trying to stop the metal giant. The rest of the people in the station moved away from the track. Some were going home, some went to comfort others, and many went to try and console Satine. Ryan was by himself by the tracks when the train was gone. He took a deep breath, then peered over the side.

What he saw made him gag, and he came very close to throwing up. He saw one body, evidently the one the train fully hit, mangled and bleeding. The color of the hair told him that it must have been the Duke. He held his breath as he looked for Christian.

Satine buried her head in her hands and just cried. She didn't hear a word of what the strangers said to her as they tried to make her feel better. But above all of the racket, she heard one voice, clear and loud.

"Dad!"

Her heart sank. Ryan! She managed to bring herself to her feet, wanting to protect her son from seeing his father's body. She rushed towards the tracks, but it was too late to keep Ryan from jumping down into them.

"Mom!" she heard him shout. "Dad!"

She looked into the track and saw Ryan as he ran further down the tracks, to the area where the men had originally fallen. The Duke's body had been drug at least twelve feet. She saw a pair of feet, and then she knew that it was Christian. She ran towards Ryan, calling his name the whole time.

She approached Ryan and began to pull him away from his father's body when she looked down at Christian. His eyes were open and staring at her, but not the blank stare of the dead. He was alive! She released her son and hit her knees next to Christian.

His face was covered with blood, but whether it was his or the Duke's, Satine couldn't tell. He was staring at nothing, and was breathing very fast. She pulled his head to hers and tried not to cry again, but couldn't help it. She pulled away and saw that he was now looking at her.

He smiled sadly, but then his eyes diverted to the mangled body of the Duke. He grimaced and clenched his eyes shut, only to see the whole incident replayed in his mind. He saw the train, passing mere inches from where he huddled against the wall. He felt the spray of blood hit his face as the Duke was ripped apart again. He felt the vibration of the train's wheels. His brush with death had shaken him, as it should. He looked up at all of the people standing over them, looked at Ryan, then looked at Satine. He tried to hold the tears of fear back, tried to be strong for them, but failed.

Satine broke down about the same time as Christian. When she saw him beginning to cry, she simply wrapped her arms around him and held him close. Ryan scooted closer to them, and she put an arm around him as well. When she was finally able to pull herself together, she noticed how tired Christian looked. She smiled sadly. Almost getting killed will take a lot out of you.

She grasped his arm and tried to get him to stand up. "Christian. Come on, let's go home. So you can rest."

He looked at her with a confused look. "What?" he shouted.

"Let's go home." she repeated.

He grimaced again. "Can't hear you! I can hear bells ringing!" [ :)]

She frowned and looked at Ryan, who had a slight look of understanding. "Ryan. Why can't he understand me?"

Ryan stared at his father for another moment, then turned back to his mother. "I read about this in a book. Loud noises really close to your ear can break it, making you temporarily deaf. That must have happened to him."

Satine smiled sadly at her bright son, then turned to the disabled Christian. She grasped his arm and leaned really close to him, speaking slowly. "Let's...go...home."

Christian watched her lips, then nodded in agreement.