CHAPTER 6: Why?
Karen and Andy were sitting in the living room of her house and just relaxing when the phone rang. Karen jumped up and grabbed it before it went to voicemail. "Hello?" Andy watched her, concerned, as horror crossed her face. When she hung up, he ran to her side.
"What's wrong?"
"Lucas…and Brooke…they were in a car accident. Andy…I can't go through this again. I almost lost him before, I don't think I can go through it again," she sobbed. Andy pulled her close, letting her cry onto his shoulder.
"Are they at the hospital?" he questioned softly. Karen nodded, and Andy guided her outside, to her car. He'd known the instant she told him that it was his car Lucas and Brooke had been in, but Andy didn't care at the moment. All that mattered was that Lucas and Brooke were okay.
When they got there, two police officers greeted them at the door to Lucas and Brooke's room. Andy stepped forward to speak for Karen, knowing that she was in no state to do it herself. "Can you tell us what happened in the accident?"
The police officers glanced at each other, and then turned to Andy. "Are you his parents?"
Karen nodded. "I'm Lucas' mother," she explained. Andy squeezed her hand comfortingly as she tried to get a glimpse of her son.
"Your son and the young woman were hit head on by a drunk driver. Your son was driving safely, if you were wondering about that. The truck veered over into their lane and he had no time to avoid a collision."
"Are they okay?" Andy questioned, getting anxious. The police officer sighed.
"The doctor is inside, he can tell you the rest. I'm sorry, sir, ma'am."
As Karen and Andy were allowed to enter the room, she began to sob. Fear was gripping her heart as she looked at Brooke lying on a bed, unconscious. Lucas's bed was next to hers, but empty. "Where is my son?"
The doctor turned to her, and gave her a sad smile. "He is in the OR; he had some internal bleeding that they needed to repair. He was thrown from the car…his seatbelt was cut by a shard of glass on impact. His side of the car was hit the hardest…Miss Davis has some cuts and bruises, and fractured her arm. She should be okay once she wakes up. At the moment she's on some powerful pain medication that is keeping her unconscious, though she should be waking shortly. Your son should be out of operation soon."
Karen turned to Andy, despair and pain etched on her face. He hugged her tightly, too concerned to speak. "Tell me that it's all a joke…tell me it's a dream…please Andy…tell me it's not real," Karen pleaded. Andy didn't respond, only hugged her tighter.
They both heard a noise, and looked over to see Brooke starting to wake up. Karen ran over to her bedside, and took her good hand gently. "Brooke, Brooke can you hear me?"
"Karen?" Brooke murmured, giving a small groan of pain when she shifted around a little. "Where am I?"
Karen brushed some hair out of Brooke's face as the young woman opened her eyes a little. "You're in the hospital. Do you remember what happened?"
Brooke was silent for a moment, her eyes squinting shut for a moment before she nodded. "Lucas…is…is he…" she couldn't finish the question as an incredible sense of dread filled her. Karen's eyes filled with tears.
"I don't know, sweetie…I don't know."
"Lucas is coming," Andy announced. Karen jumped to her feet as the nurses rolled the gurney in. Lucas was as still as can be, and pale as a sheet. "How is he?"
One of the nurses turned to Andy and Karen. "The operation went very well; the internal bleeding is all patched up…"
Karen waited anxiously for the woman to continue when she hesitated, and began to panic. "But?"
"But he has no brainwave activity. I'm sorry, ma'am, but he slipped into a coma during the operation."
Karen felt her knees go weak, and Andy had to support her so she didn't fall. He guided her to a chair, and knelt beside her. "I can't do this again…why Lucas? Why again? Damn it, why!" Her voice was strained by sobs, and she slumped into Andy's arms. He rubbed her back comfortingly.
His heart went out to his girlfriend, and it took all he had not to break down in tears, but he knew that he had to be strong for Karen. "It'll be okay…Lucas is strong. He'll fight it, he'll come back to us."
"K-Karen?" Brooke called, her voice tight with pain and soft with exhaustion. Karen looked over at her, and forced a smile. "I'm sorry…it was my fault…he was looking at me…and didn't…didn't have enough time to react…"
Karen shook her head sadly. "Oh, no, honey, it wasn't your fault. The officers said there wouldn't have been enough time to avoid it. It wasn't your fault. How…how are you feeling?"
"Better than Lucas is…oh God, I don't know what I'd do without him…I can't imagine how hard this is for you," she murmured, tears streaming down her face. Karen took her hand tightly.
"Don't worry about me, okay? I want you to focus on getting better…I hate seeing you in the hospital like this. And when you're out and better, we will make something special for Lucas just like you did last time, okay?"
Brooke managed a half-smile through her tears, though her mind was playing the last few seconds of the accident, when she watched Lucas' seatbelt fly off and him being thrown out the window, in a never-ending loop.
