It wasn't the lack of ideas but rather the lack of time which resulted in me taking so long to complete this chapter, sorry about that.
Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters as they weren't created by me!
June 15th may have passed and we now know that Joan of Arcadia has been axed for sure, yet in our fanfition and minds JoA lives forth as well as the inspiration and moral issues it may have raised along the way within us and people we know. As different as we all may be, this one show had us all going for the same goal; to save it and what it stood/stands for in our lives and lives of people we know or might have touched through the show, either personally or on one of the many forums or any other thinkable way!
Kevin the Comforter, Chapter 5- The Calm and the Furious
Even later that same Saturday.
Setting- Joan's room about 9:25 p.m.
Helen knocks on Joan's door, asking her daughter to let her in.
Joan says in a croaky voice, "Mom, go away! Leave me alone, I'm not worth the bother!"
Helen knocks on the door once more and says concernedly, "Joan, open the door, I've brought you something to drink, I don't want you dehydrating on me!"
"Oh, okay already!" Joan replies moaningly, opens the door and then has a seat on her bed.
Helen walks in with a cup of herbal tea on a platter, which she sets on Joan's bed side table, then she joins Joan on the bed, her expression serious. Joan looks as if she's ready to be lectured about her irrational behavior at the dinner table.
"Joan, how could you say something like that to Kevin? You must have known that it would hurt him really bad," Helen says to Joan in a lecturing manner.
"Mom, I am so sorry. I wish I could take back those words or turn back the time or something, anything to make it undone. What I said was really mean, yet I didn't mean to hurt Kevin's feelings. I know this is hard to believe but it's the truth, I was rambling without thinking about what I was actually saying at the time," Joan replies looking utterly remorseful, sounding earnest.
"Well, intentional or not, the result is the same. Kevin is hurting because of you, so, young lady, you better apologize to him. The sooner the better," Helen tells Joan, sounding really serious.
Joan is too emotional to speak and therefore just nods in agreement. Helen, seeing Joan's emotional state, leaves it at this and leaves her room.
In the hallway Helen almost bumps into Will and Kevin as they are exiting Kevin's room. Smiling slightly, Kevin tells his mom that they are going for a drive. Helen returns his smile and places a gentle kiss on his forhead.
"You two enjoy yourselves and drive carefully, okay, Kevin?" Helen says a bit concerned. She knows he has a lot on his mind at the moment which might distract him while driving.
"Don't worry, Mom, I'm okay to drive," Kevin replies to calm his mother's nerves.
Helen gives them both a big hug before they exit through the back door.
Setting- Kevin's car around 9:50 p.m.
"So, Dad, is there anywhere in particular you wanna go?"
"No, son, it's your call."
"Okay, I'll drive up to that old mine then, about eight miles south of here."
"Fine with me, son."
Kevin maneuvers the car over a narrow, desolated road with trees bending over it from both sides in an arch. He has driven this road many times before, though never in the dark. Now, instead of it being romantic, he finds it too creepy, with its arching trees and hills on either side, as if it seems to be embracing him, his father and the car in its dark shadows and desolation. His eyes are glued to the road, ready to take action if anything or anyone should cross it or near the car in any fashion. Suddenly, the car's engine sputters and then runs smoothly once more. When they're about a quater of a mile away from the mine, the car's engine sputters once more. Will and Kevin's eyes meet: Will's are calm and Kevin's show a mixture of confusion and uneasiness as he is thinking, 'What if the car breaks down here in the middle of nowhere? '
The car once more runs smoothly, but just when Kevin is starting to ease up, it starts hiccupping and then the engine dies.
"Oh no! Not here! Come on, don't do this to me!" Kevin cries out, slamming his hands on the steering wheel.
"Kev, stay calm. Panicking is not going help us get the car started again," Will says calmly.
"You think we could get her started again, Dad? I mean, something's gotta be wrong with the engine. The tank is close to full."
"Kevin, I'll give it a shot. Do you have a flaslight anywhere?"
"There's one in the the side pocket of your door, I think."
Reaching into the door's pocket, Will pulls out a Maglight—and to his relief it works too. Will gets out of the car and unlatches the hood, immediately discovering the problem: The radiator is leaking, which is causing the engine to overheat.
"I am sorry, son, but your radiator is leaking and I won't be able to fix it. I'll just call Helen and have her tow us back home," Will tells Kevin as he draws his cell phone from his coat pocket. As he dials their home phone number, he sees that it's already 11:15 p.m. He knows that the phone ringing at this hour will give Helen a scare, just the way it always has after Kevin's accident.
"Oh, that's just great, a busted radiator!" Kevin exclaims. He's feeling a bit uneasy, sitting in the car by himself.
"Hi, Helen, we've got a bit of a problem. The car stalled on us with a leaking radiator, about six miles due south, near a deserted mine. Is there any way you could drive over here and tow us back home?"
"Will, could you give me some directions, so that I have a clue how to get there?" Helen replies a bit uneasily.
"Helen as a cop I hate to say this, but I was so involved in my conversation with Kevin that I didn't take notice of the roads which lead us here," Will says, feeling ashamed.
"Oh well, Will, put Kevin on, I'll ask him the directions. As the driver he should know, right?" Helen says hopefully.
"I certainly hope so. Here he is, Helen," Will says as he hands the phone over to his son, through the open passenger door window.
"Hi Mom. Well, you want the directions over here? You better write it down, it's not that easy to remember, I think."
Helen leaves the kitchen to get pen and paper from the living room and then tells Kevin to give her the directions. Indeed, the directions are too plentiful to remember, and Helen has no idea where this mine is, on top of that it's pitch dark outside. Helen asks Kevin if Luke knows about the mine, but the answer is negative. She forgets to ask if there's anyone else that might know about the mine's location and Kevin is too nervous to even think along those paths.
Setting- The Girardi's kitchen at 11:25 p.m.
Joan, lying on her bed, then sleeping, then crying, hears that something is wrong by the tone of her mother's voice and the fact that the phone rang this late. Wanting to know what's going on, she goes downstairs where she finds her mother with her coat on, looking tense and agitated.
"Mom, what's going on?" Joan inquires worriedly."Will and Kevin are stuck in the middle of nowhere in Kevin's car, which broke down!" Helen replies, obviously not her calm and collected self.
"Mom, do you have any idea where this old mine is?" Luke inquires.
"No, Luke, I have absolutely no idea, I even wonder if I can find it in the dark with the directions Kevin gave me," Helen replies, a bit out of control.
"I've been there with Kevin a few times to enjoy the view and a burger, I know how to get there," Joan says matter-of-factly, not realizing the importance of her words and knowledge of the mine's existence and location.
The first thought that comes to Helen's mind is that Kevin probably won't appreciate Joan tagging along, since her words from earlier that day must still be hurting him.
As if Joan can read her mother's mind, she says: "Mom, I'll get in the back seat, show you the way to the mine, and once we are there, I'll lie down flat. That way Kevin won't have to face me, okay?" Then she looks at her mother questioningly.
"Joan, are sure that you know the road to that mine, even in the dark?" Helen asks, looking at her daughter with a bit of awe in her expression.
"Yeah, I know how to find it. I went up there once with Adam after dark." Realizing what she has just said, she covers her mouth and quickly adds, "Oh, just to show him the view, nothing more than that, I swear." Joan looks at her mother with a serious expression, while inside she feels very tense. What if her mother doesn't believe her?
"Oh, just hop in, Joan! We'll talk on the way over there," Helen says, hurrying Joan into the back seat. Luke locks the front door and then gets into the passenger seat.
Setting- Kevin's stalled car, about 11:35 p.m.
Kevin scolds himself for feeling so uneasy, yes, even scared. Okay, so the car stalled in the middle of nowhere in the dark, but his dad is with him and is sitting right next to him. Knowing his dad, he is carrying his loaded service pistol, so what is there to be afraid of? Kevin can't come up with a logical answer, yet the feeling remains, and it gnaws at him.
Will looks over at his eldest son and notices that he is a bit scared. He puts a comforting arm around him, pulls him closer in an awkward but well meant hug and says, "Don't worry, Kevin, we'll be alright here in this car until Helen arrives."
"I just hope she can find this place without getting lost. The first three times I drove up here, I ended up taking wrong turns and had to head back in order to find this dirt road we're now sitting on. Along with the other two dirt roads in this area, this road doesn't have a name nor a number. That, on top of the darkness, could get mom lost," Kevin says seriously, looking at his dad worriedly.
In answer, Will, who still has an arm around Kevin, strokes his left shoulder affectionately and pulls Kevin towards him so that Kevin's head rests on his father's left shoulder. His dad's nearness has a positive effect on Kevin's high strung nerves, the uneasiness slips away from him bit by bit.
Will then tells Kevin that they should try and turn the car, so that it's facing in the opposite direction. For when Helen comes, all they have to do is hook the two cars up and they can start the trip home. Kevin agrees, and, following his dad's instructions, he turns the wheel to the left and right as his father pushes the car. About 15 minutes later they have it pointing in the direction they want: homeward.
Setting the Girardi's family car, round about 11:40 p.m.
"In which direction do I head, Joan?" Helen asks her daughter.
"For the time being, just head south," Joan replies with a sigh, as she thinks about the mess she's in with Kevin and her telling her mom that she's been to what she calls 'the point' with Adam after dark.
"So, Joan, you really just enjoyed the view with Adam, nothing else?" Helen asks sternly, looking in the rearview mirror at Joan.
"Yes, Mom, all we did was check out the view, it's really beautiful with the city's lights beneath you and the stars up above," Joan tells her mother convincingly.
"I guess I'll just have to take your word for it, Joan, as I have other things on my mind than two light blankets embracing me. That's what the view sounds like to me," Helen says, giving in because she can't prove if Joan is telling the truth or not.
"Mom, what a nice way to word it, 'embraced by blankets of light'. It sounds like something out of a poem. Are you sure you just came up with that?" Joan asks enthusiastically.
"Joan, I have other things on my mind right now than whether something I said sounds poetic or not. I have to try and find Kevin's car in the dark somewhere, and only you know how to get there. Sorry for saying so, but that scares me, Joan!" Helen replies sarcastically.
With a bit of self-irony, Joan replies "I know. I'm not known for my great sense of direction, but I did drive up to 'the point' myself once after having been there with Kevin, maybe that should reassure you."
"Okay, there's a crossroad ahead, which road do I take?" Helen asks hurridly.
"Just go straight and at the next intersection you take the road to the right," Joan replies. Suddenly she realizes that she is the only one that can lead them to Kevin and their dad. That makes her feel important, but it also gives her the creeps. She feels the weight of the responsibility on her shoulders.
After making a right turn at the next intersection, Helen once again asks Joan for instructions. Joan guides her onto a road which seems to lead them into the countryside. After they have been on this road for what seems like ages—which actually was a mere 15 minutes—they hit upon a dirt road. Helen remembers both Kevin and Will telling her that they were stranded on a dirt road, therefore she assumes this is it. Still, when they come to a point where the road splits into three different branches, she can feel her heart beating in her throat in excitement and something close to panic.
"Joan, which of these three roads lead to the mine?" Helen asks and Joan detects an uneasiness she connects with Kevin, the accident and the hospital, which she didn't expect to hear sitting in the car, with nothing working against them except for the dark.
"Mom, the left one leads to the mine," Joan says confidently.
After having driven on the given road for a few miles, Helen starts to doubt if Joan remembers correctly. It seems to bring them further away from the heart of the mountain, and to her it seems illogical that a mine would be situated outside the mountain's core.
Luke doesn't say a word as they drive along the winding, dark road with trees that seem to claw at their car as it moves along slowly due to the road's horrible condition. He is scared that their car too will break down as he feels that the road is pulling at it, wanting to tear it apart. He feels sorry for his dad and brother who have been stuck on this spooky road for such a long time. He turns his head to look at Joan, to see if she really knows if they are on the right road or not, but she just sits there looking straight ahead, seemingly confident.
Catching Luke looking back at her, she gives him a faint, somewhat nervous smile. Luke immediately interprets this as her not really knowing if they're on the right track or not, while Joan actually is nervous about staying out of sight as soon as Kevin's car emerges infront of them somewhere along this very road.
Helen too doesn't like this road, it gives her a creepy feeling. She hopes and prays that they find her eldest son and husband really fast. She wants to get off this road as soon as possible. She can only try to imagine how Will and Kevin feel, stuck on this road in a stalled car, waiting for her to arrive and tow them back home. Just thinking about them sitting there in the dark gives her goosebumps and sends cold shivers down her spine. The darkness of the road and an inexplicable feeling of evil surrounding them is getting to her.
Helen doesn't understand her feelings; she is usually too grounded to let anything get to her and give her imagination a booster in a direction not connected to art. Helen just hopes that the darkness, creepiness and the long wait hasn't taken too much toll on Kevin's already unstable emotional conditon. Hopefully Will takes this opportunity to talk to their son and make him feel that they are in this together. It crosses Helen's mind that this might even have happened for that very reason: Will and Kevin getting closer, sharing this experience and really having some time to themselves where there is no one to disturb them.
Joan's eyes are glued to the road ahead, she is certain that she directed her mother onto the right road, if only for the reason she has seen and felt a few familiar bends and bumps in the road as they drove uphill and then downhill. She is thinking about how different this drive is, compared to the time she drove up here, sitting behind the wheel with Adam next to her. That time the darkness and the desolation of this road alongside Adam's presence had given it something romantic. Now she feels queer, as if someone is watching them, ready to grab them and the car all at once and cast them away. Oh, why doesn't God show up at a time like this instead of in the crowded school hallway or anywhere else where she feels safe? A feeling of relief washes over Joan, as she hears Cute Guy God's voice warning her about a fallen tree on the road ahead of them, Joan whispers to him "Thank you for showing up, now that I needed you."
"Joan, tell your mother to watch out. She will have to steer around a fallen tree in about a minute or so."
Joan opens her eyes, shocked. The seat next to her is still empty. She shakes her head, wondering if what she just heard was real or only in her mind.
Throwing all caution to the wind at her indulging in possible schizophrenic moods, she thinks,
"Better safe than sorry.' To her mom she says, "Mom, I think you should look out for fallen trees, there's often trees and branches blocking the road out here."
As Joan's words are ebbing away, a fallen tree can be seen, blocking half of the road. Helen steers around it and then glances at her daughter in the rearview mirror and asks her how come she mentioned the tree at this exact moment, if she remembered it from the previous time she was up there?
Joan just shakes her head and says, "No, God just enlightened me about it."
At this reply, Helen just rolls her eyes but doesn't say anything.
Setting- Kevin's stalled car Sunday, 12:25 a.m.
By now Kevin and Will are both getting impatient, as it has been more than an hour since the car stalled and Will called Helen and gave her their position. Will is keeping calm, even though he does feel Kevin's building tension. In order to try to calm his son's nerves, Will reaches for his hand and strokes it gently. At this gesture, Kevin looks over at his dad and their eyes meet.
"Kevin, Helen and Luke will be here soon, so don't fret, okay, son?"
Wearily, Kevin says, "Dad, Mom doesn't have a clue as to where we are. If we're lucky, she'll find us at sunset."
"Kevin, please look on the bright side, at least now we get to spend some time alone and there's no one around to interrupt our conversations," Will says, managing to sound light-hearted, even though he is just as concerned as Kevin about Helen finding them any time soon.
Will puts an arm around Kevin and gently draws him nearer. Kevin doesn't resist and puts his head on his father's chest who strokes his hair fondly. Amazingly enough, this calms Kevin's nerves as he fals asleep a few minutes later. Will listens to his eldest son's regular breathing, and soon he too falls asleep.
When Kevin and Will hear a soft tapping on the passenger side door, they both jerk awake and nervously look where the sound might be coming from. They see a face, but neither recognizes it immediately, their minds are still too groggy with sleep. Then they hear the voice belonging to the face and yell out "Luke!" simultaneously. They had found them after all here in the dark, in the middle of nowhere, what a miracle! Wondering what time it is, Will glances at his cell phone, which tells him that it is now 1:05 a.m. By the moving ray of light, he can make out that Helen is turning the family car around, so he gets out of the car, embraces Luke and then heads over to Helen, embracing her as well. Will and Luke then hook up the two cars. Meanwhile Helen walks briskly over to the driver's side where Kevin has already opened the door. Mother and son embrace while they both exchange I-love-you's and let their tears of relief fall freely.
With awe Kevin asks, "Mom, how did you ever find us?"
Helen answers, "Well, it wasn't easy, I can tell you that much, but we're here now and that's what matters." Motherly, she adds, "Now it's time to head home. It's way past your, my and everybody else's bed time." She then smiles at Kevin and gently strokes his cheek, Kevin in return smiles fondly at his mother. When Will returns to Kevin's car, Helen leaves and takes a seat behind the wheel of the family car. The long way home can begin.
When Helen pulls into their street at 3:35, she tells Joan to wait in the car until Kevin heads towards the back of the house and then she can enter through the front door and make for her room as fast as she can. Joan wearily nodds her head in reply, She just awoke after sleeping all the way home.
Once she enters the house, Joan runs up the stairs and into her room. She has barely shut the door when she hears the wooden boards of the back door ramp creaking underneath Kevin's weight. Out of breath, she throws herself onto the bed and lies there, listening as the others enter the house. She hears chairs being pulled away from the kitchen table as she hears the murmer of her family's voices. She can picture them sipping at mugs of hot cocoa as they talk about the evening/night's nerve-racking events.
Drained from the long day, the rest of the Girardis hit the sack 15 minutes later, except for Helen, who first checks on Joan, tucking her in and giving her a gentle, yet affectionate peck on the cheek. She then checks on Kevin and inquires about the pain she sees in his eyes. He replies that those hours in the worn out seat of his car hasn't done his back much good and that it is now hurting. He further informs his mother that he has just taken a pain killer which will make him pain-free and groggy enough to sleep for 4-6 hours at least. Helen then strokes her eldest son's hair and gives him a love-filled, gentle kiss on the forehead before she gets into bed, leaning heavily against the head board.
She tells Will, that Joan showed her the way to the point where Kevin's car had broken down. She explains how Joan knew the way, having been there on several occasions with him, and once alone with Adam. Will looks at Helen quizzically and then asks her how come he hadn't seen Joan in the car or her entering the house upon arrival. Helen explains that Joan was lying down on the back seat, so as to not upset Kevin any more than she had already done. She had entered the house while Will unhooked the two cars and Kevin was making his way around the back of the house. Joan had then headed straight for her room.
Soon after Helen left his room, Kevin falls asleep from exhaustion as well as the side-effect of the pain killer.
Luke lies awake for a while, thinking about the day that has passed—somehow it seem like a dream. Kevin finally has a girlfriend and, for the first time since the accident, they are able to hear his hearty laughter which they all so loved and missed. She stays over for dinner and then Joan says something so mean to Kevin that she spoils his great mood. Kevin and their dad go for a drive to hang out together, which they haven't done in ages. And then Kevin's old, beat-up car stalls in the middle of nowhere, and ironically the only person that can lead them to Kevin and their dad is Joan. Neither their dad nor Kevin know that Joan is the one that led him and his mom to that desolate place, and for now she wants to keep it that way to not confront Kevin with Joan.
Setting- Kevin's and Joan's room early that Sunday morning.
Kevin is having a nightmare, where he is sitting in the sand next to his stalled car in the middle of a steaming hot desert. He doesn't know how he got there. Joan is screaming at him from inside the car at the top of her lungs that she can't open the door because the locks are jammed by the anti-car jacker mechanism. He can't for the life of him figure out why she is there with him. They haven't been on speaking terms since Joan made that stupid comment involving a book a week ago, which hurt his feelings badly.
Then he smells burning rubber and realizes that the rear end of the car is on fire. Oh no, Joan! She can't get out! Desperately, Kevin tries to open the door on the driver's side, but it won't budge. He looks around for something he can use to bust one of the rear windows with, but doesn't find anything. As the flames draw nearer to him, Kevin backs away from his car on his arms, his legs trailing behind the rest of his body. He is in shock as he witnesses the flames' greediness and destruction as they engulf his car with his precious little sister in it. He has never felt as helpless, useless or guilty as he does now because he is able to escape the flames and Joan is gone.
Kevin wakes up, bathing in sweat, with tears running down his cheeks from puffed, blood-shot eyes. He turns on the bedside table lamp and then, with the help of the trapeze, sits up in bed. Glancing at the alarm clock, he learns that it's 8:41 a.m. He shifts his body from his back onto the left side and goes back to sleep where he ends up in the same dream, though at a later stage. He now finds himself at Joan's funeral, sitting, looking down a huge, deep hole as the white casket containing the remains of his sister is lowered into it. Tears flow from his eyes and he doesn't try to hide them. Helen puts a comforting hand on his shoulder.
Looking around him, Kevin sees the sorrowful faces of Friedman, Grace, Adam, Glynis, Luke, all his aunts and uncles, his grandparents and his parents and some people he doesn't know—which he assumes are teachers from school and the owner of the bookstore where Joan worked. Suddenly, he realizes how many people actually loved his weird subdefective sister; he can't but help wonder how many people would have shown up if this had been his funeral. Once more he wakes up, his cheeks and eyes wet from crying and glances over his right shoulder. The alarm clock tells him that it's 9:07 a.m.
As Kevin wheels himself away from the table for the umpteenth time, Joan is tossing and turning in her sleep. As Joan once again jumps over her fallen chair and runs after Kevin, who locks himself in the garage. The scene changes to that of a dark road, Joan is guiding her mother to 'the point' where they'll find her dad and Kevin. Each time they end up taking the wrong road and Joan is getting desperate. She knows the way, but somehow her directions keep them going in circles. Soon sweat is causing her nighty to cling to her body and her hair to plaster against her head and face. With a jerk she sits up straight in bed, turns on the bedside table lamp and in a daze she heads for the bathroom to wash the sweat off.
Before she heads back to her room, Joan walks over to her older brother's room. She knows he's awake because a ray of light escapes from a crack underneath the door where the threshold used to be. He never sleeps with the light on. With her heart throbbing in her throat, Joan soundlessly pulls down the handle on his door. To her surprise, it's not locked. As slowly as she can, she opens the door far enough to enter.
She finds Kevin lying in bed with his back to her. From where she is standing, she can see that he's crying; his body is shaking. When she takes a few steps in his direction, she can hear him crying as well. For a moment, she stands there motionless, wondering how to approach her older brother. She knows he won't appreciate her company. She decides to halt a few feet away from his bed and let him know that she is there by softly calling out his name.
When she does so, Kevin turns around with red, puffy eyes and cheeks. He yells at her to leave his room pronto!
Shaken by his angry outburst, Joan stumbles backwards, falling over her own feet. Joan looks up at Kevin lying on the bed. When their gazes meet, she finds a hate-filled look on his face instead of the smile she expected her clumsiness to provoke.
Though Joan would like to leave Kevin's room that minute, she sits down on the floor as to demonstrate that she won't be scared off this time around. "Kevin, I won't leave this room until I have said what I wanna say to you, about the incident yesterday. So the sooner you hear me out, the sooner I'll leave you alone," Joan says determinedly.
Kevin's expression shows even more anger than it did a few moments earlier. Without saying a word, he transfers into his shower chair, passes her, enters his bathroom and locks the door. Joan is left behind in a daze, which she hopes is a nightmare and not reality. How is she ever going to be able to apologize to Kevin if he won't listen to her?
While she's staring at the closed bathroom door, she detects a presence out of the corner of her right eye. It's Goth God.
"Joan, you landed yourself in a mess this time around. You have got to find a way to apologize to Kevin, or your relationship is unmendable."
"How? You saw how he just went past me and locked himself in the bathroom!"
"Just search your inner self for the answer, I can't tell you more than that." Goth God leaves with yet another annoying wave over his shoulder.
Joan gets up from the floor and throws herself onto Kevin's bed. Unintentionally, she gives the room a look over. Normally the room is spotless. Kevin keeps it neat as to not immobilize himself more than necessary. Now, though, it looks like he doesn't care one way or another. Clothes are scattered over the floor along with shoes and books. Joan starts to pick up Kevin's mess. That's the least she can do for him.
She reaches for a book that's half hidden underneath Kevin's bookshelf. When she picks it up, a few notepad sheets fall out of it. On the first sheet she reads in Kevin's big, yet neat handwriting: 'Of Mice and Men' notes Chapter One. As Joan holds the book and notes in question, she is losing it bit by bit. Why, oh why hasn't she kept her smart mouth shut? Now she is full of feelings of guilt, self-hatred and sympathy for Kevin. And she doesn't even know if he will ever forgive her. If only she could forgive herself—she realizes she had drawn a wrong conclusion. Maybe he had let Luke do a lot of school work for him in order to stay eligible for baseball, but this one book he had read himself, and he had at least made an effort on a report too, the multiple notes in her hand was evidence of that.
Setting- Girardi residence between 11:00 and 11:30 a.m.
Will leaves for work and Helen has an appointment with Lily, a former nun at the local lunch room. Luke leaves with Grace to go swimming in a nearby pool, leaving Joan and Kevin alone in the house.
Joan comes out of the bathroom, toweling her hair which she just washed. Curiously, she hovers near Kevin's door, waiting to catch a chance to talk to him, like God suggested. When she doesn't hear any sounds, she goes into her room to change into proper clothes.
In his room, Kevin holds the copy of 'Of Mice and Men' that Joan has found this morning and leafs through the notes that slipped out. He doesn't even remember having read this novel. Must have been years ago, maybe in eighth or ninth grade. When he hears Joan near his door, he freezes in mid-motion. He holds his breath and releases it only after Joan has moved away again.
Taking the opportunity of Joan's brief absence, he quickly opens the door of his room and wheels over to the stairs to transfer into his lift. But when he does, his hand slips from the handle and he loses his balance and keels over, helplessly tumbling down the stairs.
As Kevin lies there at the bottom of the stairs, unconscious, Joan comes running out of her room at the sudden, unfamiliar noise. She lets out a scream and runs to where Kevin lies. She lightly touches his face and says his name, but Kevin doesn't budge. In a state close to hysteria, she calls 911, asking for an ambulance and begs the operator to have them hurry. She doesn't want her brother to die! While Joan waits for the ambulance to arrive, the operator keeps her on the line and gives her instructions as to get some of Kevin's vital signs, which she then passes on to the EMTs on their way over to the Girardi's residence. The ambulance arrives just 10 minutes after Joan has placed the call.
While the EMTs takes care of Kevin, Joan watches them, biting her nails in a nervous frenzy. She is so afraid that he'll never wake up again and he'll die hating her. They put him on a gurney and transport him out of the house into the ambulance. As there's no place for her in the ambulance, Joan decides to take the bus over to the hospital, which is a 15 minute ride away from their home. Just after she gets on the bus, Goth God draws her attention. He lets on that she should have used a different approach at apologizing to Kevin, but that she will have her chance during a short time span in the hospital and she should use it wisely.
"Will Kevin be all right?" Joan asks worriedly, tears running down her cheeks.
"It depends what you call all right, Joan." Goth God gets off the bus and leaves Joan to her worries.
The rest of the ride, she thinks about what He said to her on the bus about the apology she has to make to Kevin and His none too soothing answer to her question wether Kevin would be all right or not.