Chapter Two: An Accident Producing Some LIFE Changing Effects

Cindy lay on her bed reading a magazine, when she heard it. It started soft, but grew louder. She moved to her window, only to find out that the sound was a siren! Two guys in white ran to the lab. A few minutes later, they came out, and Jimmy was on the bed! "Oh my gosh!" Cindy ran downstairs and out the door. "Mr. Neutron!" She called to Hugh, seeing that Judy was in hysterics.

"Mishap in the lab. We don't know the details yet. Come on hon, let's get into the car."

"My baby! My poor baby!" Judy cried.

"Would you like a ride Cindy?"

"Yes Mr. Neutron. Thanks." She climbed into the car and they drove off. Cindy was a nervous wreck. Thoughts raced through her mind. What did he do? I hope he's ok. I don't need anymore sorrow right now. If I lose him...NO! I won't think like that. Never. Just, keep yourself in a happy place Cindy. Breathe. Mr. Neutron parked the car and they all rushed in.

"You may see him now. He's unconscious still, but you can see him." Mrs. Neutron told Cindy as her and Hugh walked in to the waiting room. She nodded her head and slowly walked to Jimmy's room. She had waited in the waiting room for two hours. She had called her mom and Libby, Her mom said to ask Jimmy's dad to bring her home, cause her and her husband were going out, and Libby was supposed to be there about ten minutes ago. She reached out her hand, which was shaking like crazy, and opened the door. Jimmy was lying on his bed, eyes closed. He was scraped up pretty bad. She pulled a chair over by his bed.

"Jimmy? Oh my gosh, please be ok." She whispered as she took a hold of his good hand. The doctor walked in.

"His parents wanted me to come and tell you what I just told them. You're Cindy, right." Cindy nodded her head. "Ok, I have rather, bad news. Um, your friend here, is going to be paralyzed from the waist down for the rest of his life." Cindy froze. "He's going to be unconscious for a while, so this tube is giving him his nutrition until he wakes up. I know this is a lot to take in at the moment but... miss? Are you ok." She shook her head. "Aw, I'm sorry. You must have known him for a long time, huh?"

"Yeah. Since we were seven years old. In the eight years I've known him, I never would have imagined that THIS was his fate." She sniffed.

"Well, I don't know what happened to him..."

"He had a mishap in his lab."

"He has his own lab?"

"Yep. He's a big genius buttbrain, as I use to call him. I had all these funny nick names for him. Like Mega head, King Cranium, Speutron, Nerdtron, which I use to call him until earlier today, and I will always call him by his last name, Neutron. It's what I've come most accustomed to." She chuckled.

The doctor's pager rang. "I have a 132 on floor 5." Cindy looked confused. "It's doctor talk. It was nice to meet you... Cindy, right?"

"Yeah. Nice to meet you too. Bye." The doctor waved good bye and waltzed out the door. "Oh, Jimmy." She sighed

"Cindy, ready to go?" Cindy turned. Hugh was standing in the doorway. She nodded her head.

"Bye Jimmy. I love you." She whispered and kissed his forehead. She followed Hugh to his car and drove home.

"Cindy, I'm very glad you came to be at Jimmy's side, even though he didn't know you were there."

"Yeah, well... see ya later Mr. Neutron!"

"Please, call me Hugh." He said smoothly and headed back to the hospital. Cindy went up to her room, did her daily night routine, and went to bed.

The next day Cindy got excused from school, due to her being a tad emotional about her grandma's death. So, she took a trip to the hospital. When she got to Jimmy's room, his parents were there, and Jimmy was still unconscious. "Hey Jimmy. I brought a book for us to read. I hope you like Harry Potter. I just started the first book last night, but I'll start over, just for you." Hugh and Judy smiled. Cindy took Jimmy's hand and took the book in the other. A few hours later she put a bookmark in place and sat the book down. "Hmm... interesting. No wonder Libby likes these books." She stated.

Suddenly, she gasped. "What's wrong Cindy?" Judy asked.

"Nothing! Jimmy just squeezed my hand!" She exclaimed with joy. Jimmy's eyes fluttered open. He blinked several times before his eyes began to focus.

"Cindy?" He stuttered after a few minutes.

"Yes! Yes! I'm here."

"That was a good story, so far." He squeezed her hand again.

"You, heard me?"

"Faintly, but yes." Judy and Hugh beamed and ran to their son.

"Jimbo, we have some news. Do you think you can handle it now." Hugh asked.

"Of course! I can handle anything."

"Um, due to the accident, you will... Judy, will you take over from here?"

"Yes. Honey, for the rest of your life, you're going to be paralyzed from the waist down." Jimmy's face fell. "What did happen in that lab of yours?"

"Well, I accidentally blew something up." He said shyly.

"I was just passing by, and I thought I ought to check on... Jimmy! Your awake! Um, have you heard about your... condition?" The doctor stepped in and asked.

"Yes doctor. I'm surprised, cause I didn't know the accident I had in my lab was that bad." Jimmy sat up straight in his bed.

"I see. Do you think we could get you off this device and give you real food?" She asked.

"Um... I think so. I didn't even know this thing was feeding me." About thirty minutes later, Jimmy was eating chicken soup. His parents left for a while, leaving Jimmy and Cindy alone. "Cindy?"

"Hmm?" She answered while taking a sip of hot cocoa.

"You'll still like me even though I'll be in a wheel chair, won't you?" Jimmy asked uncertainly.

"Of course. Even a wheel chair won't keep me from you." There was a knock at the door. "Come in!"

"Hello! Cindy, it's time to come home now." Cindy's mom hollered as she strolled in. "Oh, hello Jimmy. I thought you were still unconscious?"

"Well, I got conscious today." Jimmy smiled.

"That's good. Well, come on Cindy."

"Ok mom! I'll meet you in the lobby!" As soon as her mom left the room, she looked down at Jimmy and squeezed his hand. "Looks like I have to go. I'll be back tomorrow a little after one, because I have to go to my grandma's funeral."

"I wish I could be there for you. Bye Cindy."

"Bye Jimmy." She kissed his forehead, and walked out the door. "So mom, what's up? I've been gone for..." She looked at her watch, which read 8:30PM, and she arrived at the hospital at 8:00AM. "...TWELVE HOURS!"

"Yep. That's why I came and got you."

"Well, I haven't been thinking about grandma. I've been too worried that Jimmy might die too so I wanted to be with him all the time just in case, so, he's been helping me get my mind off things, you know what, I read to him earlier today, and when he woke up, he knew I read to him, and he squeezed my hand so I would know he was conscious, and THEN..." Her mom put her hand of her daughter's mouth.

"Honey, you're rambling. And I all ready have a bad headache. Your dad has been a pain today, he's moping around and stuff. I just needed him for two seconds. Two seconds! And he wouldn't get off the couch. Ugh, I don't know what I'm going to do. I feel for him, I really do, but these actions are just unhealthy." Sasha sighed.

They arrived home about ten minutes later. Cindy's dad greeted them, and headed out back. "I see what you mean. Well, I'm off to bed. I'm beat. Night!" Cindy headed up to her room and went to sleep.

The next day was a sad day for the whole Vortex family. Cindy got up from her good nights sleep, and rummaged through her closet. She finally came out with a full black outfit. She sure as heck wasn't going to wear white. It was a black mini skirt and black lacy tank top. She walked to her dresser drawers and pulled out a black lacy tights and a black strapless bra. She went to the bathroom to change. When she came out, she had added a black hat that had a tiny veil in front so it covered her eyes. She didn't have any make up on, because she knew that she would just cry and it would run all down her face.

Her mom walked by her. "Cynthia, why are you wearing all black? You aren't... Cynthia, you're Christian. Go change out of those clothes." Cindy couldn't help but glare at her mother.

"Mom, for your information, I'm grieving over Gram-gram's death by wearing all black." Cindy sassed. Her mom sighed in relief and walked down stairs. Cindy followed her mom downstairs, but went outside. She looked at her watch. The time was 8:05PM. "Well, I WOULD be in Algebra now..." She sighed and stared into the sky.

"Time to go sweety. You know where the funeral is. It'll take at least forty minutes to get there. Come on." Her dad sniffed and walked around the side of the house to the car. Cindy stood for a moment, only to hear the sound of her mom honking the car horn. Her head hung low as she turned around to walk to the car.

Since there wasn't going to be a showing at the funeral, all the family got to see her before they close the casket on her. Most of Cindy's relatives were already there, and they were putting photos inside the casket. As they started to clear, Cindy made her way over. She put her hand on her grandma's forehead, and prayed silently. Goodbye Grandma, for now. I'll miss you. See you again someday. She slowly removed her trembling hand as tears formed in her eyes. She reached that same trembling hand into her pocket and pulled out a picture. The picture was of Grandma Vortex and her, at the local county fair. It was when she was seven years old, and she had this huge cotton candy stick in her hand. Most of the cotton Candy that she had eaten was all over her face. Her grandma was sitting next to her, with a smile that was priceless. Cindy smiled as she laid the picture next to her grandma's face. Cindy smiled as she backed away from the casket and next to her parents.

The man that took Cindy's grandma when she died came into the room, and began to close the casket. Cindy's bottom lip quivered as she watched him close it, and she knew that she wouldn't see her grandma's actual face for a long time. She began to cry, along with Katie. Together, as almost like they had a connection, they grasped to each other, comforting the other. They both began to sob uncontrollably. Aunt Jeanie wrapped her long arms around the two of them, crying with them. Soon, people started arriving, and they all sat in the front row, together. Cindy on the end, then Katie, then Aunt Jeanie.

"Ahem." A familiar voice was heard beside her. She looked up. Anyone want to guess?

"Libby! Sheen! Carl! You guys came! But... how'd you know?" Cindy asked.

"Jimmy called us late last night. Oh Cindy, I'm so sorry!" Libby gasped and hugged her best friend.

"Yeah, we all are." Carl stated. But, he decided it would be best not to hug Cindy. She might hit him. Libby let go of Cindy as her, Sheen, and Carl sat down behind Libby. Then, the guy that speaks walked down the aisle. It was time for the ceremony.

Two hours later, they had all arrived at the grave sight. Cindy, Katie, and her other cousin Miranda, sat in the blue chairs that were placed right in front of the casket. The priest person said a few words, and dismissed everyone. Cindy's cheeks were stained from her tears. All three of them walked to the casket, and placed on hand on it.

"May you rest in piece. We love you Gram-gram." They said simultaneously. Their parents called them over.

"Did you say goodbye to Grandma?" Marty, Cindy's dad, asked. Cindy nodded her head, wiped her tears, and got in the car. They headed to the reception at Retroville Christian Church.

Authors Note: Thanks to everyone who replied! Now, read and review this chapter!