A/N: Hey everyone! Thanks for the support for the last chapter. This one is pretty heavy, but important for the direction of rest of the story. Enjoy!

"God I hate this car. Dumbass radio, change the FUCKING STATION!" yelled a hyperactive Sam. He was on the road trying to focus on getting home safely, but it was becoming increasingly hard as his mind wandered. It was strange. One moment he was anxious to get home, head for his room and go straight to sleep, yet now all he could think about was getting out of the confines of his car and attempting to dance his 'white-chocolate' ass off. He tried to calm his nerves by focusing on finding some decent music. He began manually scanning through radio stations continuously coming up short. Growing frustrated, he switched to his IPod and put it on shuffle, but all that got him was an endless amount of old-school Rap and bubble-gum Pop. He grunted. "Dammit. I'm going to kill Stevie and Stacey." He turned off his IPod and heard 'The Carpal Tunnel of Love' begin playing on one of the radio stations he found before. "Finally," he grinned and cranked up the volume, bobbing his head to the music.

Melvin continued driving and grew tired of the contents of his kids' CDs. He decided to turn on the radio instead and found a station that was currently playing an older song. He smiled and hummed along, the sounds waking up his previously sleeping wife.

She slowly opened her eyes and turned on her side to see her husband singing softly. She smiled and sat up. "Is that 'You're all I need to get by?' "

Melvin turned to look at Alice and nodded before he grabbed her left hand and brought it up to his mouth for a sweet kiss. "You know after all these years this song still gets me a bit emotional?"

"I'd hoped so, considering it's our wedding song." Alice smirked as she linked her fingers with her husband's and they sang softly together. "Do you remember our first dance as husband and wife?"

Melvin laughed. "Yes. I remember how excited I was to wrap my arms around you. That made the fact that I was going to dance in front of a large crowd a lot less frightening."

"I still don't understand why you don't like dancing. You're not bad so I know it's not because of that."

"I don't know. Maybe it's something special that I only share with the ladies in my life. Before you I'd only dance with my mother, and now Mercy." He said as he looked into the rearview mirror and smiled at his daughter sleeping in the backseat.

Alice looked at her children. She reached out and caressed her daughter's cheek. "I think you're right, especially when she was younger. I remember how she would try to teach you a new dance move at least every weekend. Alonzo too, until he got old enough to realize it was pointless." She smiled. "You guys would spend hours doing that and then they'd make you perform it for me after you 'practiced.'"

"Yeah, I remember being especially proud of my success with the worm. She never gave up on me."

Alice laughed a little louder which prompt Alonzo awake.

He sat up a little and rubbed his eyes. "Geez we're still not there yet?" He asked tiredly.

"We'll be there soon, but for now you should go on back to sleep." Alice said.

"I'm not that tired. Besides I'm going to have to help dad unload the bags and the rest of our stuff from the trunk anyway."

"We'll wake you up. We've still got a little while before we get there, son." Melvin said.

Alonzo yawned. "Okay." He rested his head against the backseat headrest.

Alice smiled. "That didn't take much convincing."

Sam continued to move his head from side to side and his mouth along to the music playing. He had only driven a few more miles before his anxious mood swing came back in full force. As he approached a red light, the thought of heading back to the motel crept back up and this time he chose to go with the idea. 'It's no big deal. Mom and dad will probably think I'm staying over at Puck's house or something.' He made the decision to turn around as his cell phone began ringing from inside the coat pocket. He reached inside to pull it out. In his current state, he couldn't remember his password and fumbled for quite some time before giving up and putting down the phone. He decided not to wait for the next intersection before turning and he stopped where he was. "Whatever. Nobody's out here anyway." He put the car in reverse to move back a bit before putting it back in drive.

Melvin and Alice were enjoying their quiet time, singing soft melodies to each other and discussing past memories. As a commercial came on the radio station they were currently listening to, Alice leaned forward to find another station. As they came to a stop sign, Melvin looked ahead and saw the green Prius. "That's a nice car. I wonder why someone would just leave it in the middle of the street like that.

Alice looked up and saw it. "Hmm, I don't know. Do you think something is wrong?"

Melvin slowed down in case she was right. He saw the headlights come on and the car move backwards. "No the driver's inside. I think they're okay." He steadily increased his speed as they approached the car.

Sam looked back up and immediately stepped on the gas totally shocked to see the side of a Red Minivan in front of him. "Whoa! What the-" He abruptly stopped just barely avoiding contact with the car. As he slammed down on the break he flew forward and hit his head hard against the steering wheel.

Melvin saw the car jerk forward and get dangerously close. "Watch out!" He yelled as he swerved to avoid it. The violent movement immediately woke up Mercedes and Alonzo. Alice screamed when Melvin lost control of the wheel and went over the guardrail causing the minivan to be flipped on its side. Everyone began screaming. The vehicle rolled down a hill. Melvin felt his stomach drop as he realized there wasn't anything he could do to stop this. He prayed as he tried adjusting the steering wheel and stomping on the brake, but it was no use as they came to a sudden stop when they crash into a large tree.

Sam slowly lifted his head which was in an extreme amount of pain. He groaned as he rubbed his forehead and squinted to adjust his now poor vision. "Ah…Fuck that hurt." He slowly looked to his right and then to his left and was a bit confused that there was no other car around. He continued rubbing his head and winced when he felt a sore spot. He saw his reflection in the driver's side window and saw that his forehead was bleeding. He sighed deeply and mentally scolded himself for being so focused on the party and not on the road. He shut off the car radio and moved to begin driving again, much slower this time and very confused about what had happened.

Eventually Sam arrives home. He pulls into the driveway and parks the car. On unsteady legs he gets out and closes the car door as quietly as possible. He heads for the back door and notices no lights are on. 'Good, no one's home.' He breathes out a sigh of relief, takes out his keys and opens the door. He turns on the kitchen light and walks over to the refrigerator taking out a bottle of water before heading upstairs. He opens the door to his bedroom while placing the water bottle against his head, and begins dragging his feet over to his bed. He plops down and buries his face underneath his pillows, then puts the water down on his bedside table and tries taking off his shoes, but he doesn't get too far as he's suddenly overtaken by nausea. Without a second thought, he flees to the bathroom just barely reaching the toilet. 'Ugh, what the hell is wrong with me?'

After a few rounds of retching, he begins feeling a bit better and forces himself up off the bathroom floor and over to the sink to rinse his mouth and wash his face. He looks at his reflection for a while and frowns as he begins thinking about his behavior. He shakes his head in frustration. 'Stupid.' When he's done in the bathroom he heads back to his room and sits on the bed, kicking off his shoes and then getting rid of his jacket. He takes of his shirt and jeans now only in his boxers. He takes a few more sips of water before lying down and almost instantly falling asleep.

Loud sirens were heard as several ambulances arrived at Fairfield County Hospital. The first one quietly stopped. The deceased body was unloaded and taken through the hospital entrance. The second ambulance pulled to a stop, the doors flew open and the paramedics scrambled out as more doctors and nurses rushed over to assist. They pulled out the victim's stretcher quickly though being careful not to detach the oxygen mask, currently the only device keeping him alive.

Mercedes was in the third truck. She lay back listening to the blended sounds of sirens, a heart monitor and frantic talking as they pulled into the hospital parking lot. She slowly opened her eyes again for the first time since entering the truck. She was startled to find it nearly impossible to move her neck, but she held it together long enough to realize that she had on a neck brace. She looked down to see an IV in her right arm. When she moved in an attempt to sit up, she felt an intensely sore pain in her left shoulder that traveled to the rest of her arm, especially the area around her elbow which caused a lot of discomfort. She winced and closed her eyes again as she moved slowly to lie back down.

An EMT worker rushed to her side. "Whoa, take it easy okay Mercedes? We're here and we're going to get you inside now, okay sweetheart? You're going to be fine." Said the young crew member.

Mercedes looked at the woman as she checked the IV. "How do you know my name?"

The woman looked a little worried. She shared a glance with the other crew member in back as he continued checking the other passenger's vitals. "You told me when we first got to you, honey. Do you remember?"

Mercedes frowned a bit at those words. She'd hoped it was all a bad dream, and was devastated to learn that it was in fact real. She nodded her head.

"Be careful. Don't move around too much." Said the worker as the back doors of the truck opened quickly.

Mercedes watched as several doctors and nurses removed the second gurney from the truck. Her eyes widened when she saw her mother, lying there unconscious with her face, head and neck wrapped heavily in bandages. It took nearly all her energy to hold back the tears. "Mom…oh God, please be okay. Please, you have to be okay." She prayed, her eyes following her mom towards the building. Mercedes was then removed from the truck as well, quickly yet gently and they rushed her inside the hospital.

Once inside she felt blinded as she looked up and around at all the bright lights and walls. She spoke quietly. "Where are you taking me? Where…where is my family?"

A nurse looked down and grabbed her right hand. "We're taking you to the ICU. Your family is there as well."

"But…I'm okay. Please…" She cried.

"Calm down, honey. You'll be fine, I promise." She said as they came into a room and immediately removed Mercedes from the stretcher and onto an operating table.

A doctor entered the room and came over to where the large staff of nurses crowded around his new patient, speaking words of encouragement and urging her to stay calm as the doctor was on his way. He came over to her side. He addressed the nurses first. "What do we have?"

"A young female car crash victim. She was conscious upon our arrival and told us that she felt no pain aside from a sore shoulder and arm, but given the severity of the crash we got her on the gurney just to be safe. She seemed a bit tired after we loaded her into the truck so we got her the IV."

He wrote down the notes and set down his clipboard before speaking again, this time to Mercedes. "Hello young lady. I'm Dr. Grigoryev. Can you tell me your name?"

Mercedes looked up at him. The first thing she noticed was his bright blue eyes behind his glasses. He looked to be in his early 30s, though still very youthful and attractive with short, red hair and a muscular built, noticeable even underneath his scrubs and white coat. "…Mercedes."

He smiled. "Mercedes. That's a beautiful name. I'm going to ask you a few questions Mercedes, to make sure you weren't injured too seriously."

"But I think I'm okay. My arm hurts, but that's it."

"The thing is, with auto accidents sometimes certain symptoms can appear later on. The nurse said that you seemed tired after they put you in the truck?"

Mercedes didn't speak. She knew he was right. She nodded.

"It's nothing to worry about. Your vitals seem stable, but we should get you an X-ray when we're all done here." He said as a nurse headed outside the room to go make the arrangements. "Okay, let's get started." He said as he slowly removed her neck brace with the help of another nurse. He felt around her neck and collarbone for any fractures or broken bones. When he got no objections from Mercedes, he spoke up to ask her about it. "Do you feel any discomfort?"

"No. Actually it kind of tickles."

He smiled and felt around her temple and scalp. When she told him she felt fine, he took his ophthalmoscope out of his coat pocket and checked her vision. When he was done, he and the nurses removed her jacket. She shivered, her arms now exposed due to the fact that her sundress is sleeveless. He went over to the sink to wash his hands and get some alcohol wipes and bandages. When he came back over the nurses were helping her to sit up and bring her to the edge of the table. He thanked them and headed back over.

He slowly removed the IV from Mercedes' arm and put a Band-Aid over the area. "Okay, now I want to test your reflexes." He moved her legs, bending them at the knees and then focused on her arms, moving and bending her right one. When he walked over to her left side, he knew immediately that her shoulder was dislocated, not just from the bruised appearance but from the way she immediately brought her right hand underneath to cradle her arm as if she was unable to support its weight naturally. From the looks of it she had a fractured arm as well. He wiped it gently with the alcohol wipes, cleaning the excessive amounts of blood.

He was about to check her arm further, but he was interrupted as another doctor came to the doorway and called him over. Dr. Grigoryev frowned and went over to the man. "I'll be back. Nurse Yeadon, she needs to be prepped before the X-ray." He said before leaving the room.

The middle-aged nurse nodded before turning and heading for a drawer next to the sink. She removed a hospital gown and came back over to Mercedes. "Okay, change into this so we can take you over to radiation soon. You can change in the bathroom over there." She pointed to the corner of the room. "Can you stand?"

Mercedes nodded. The women helped her off the table and walked her over to the door. Once there she thanked them and walked inside. They began leaving the room, one nurse going across the hall to get a wheelchair while another reviewed her chart.

Mercedes closed the door and sighed, thankful for the momentary quiet time alone as images of the accident and her injured family members filled her head. She turned around and looked into the mirror, shocked at her own appearance. Her ponytail was messy. She had deep cuts and scrapes on her chin, cheeks and forehead. Her left arm looked horrible. It was very bruised and swollen. Small amounts of blood could be seen beginning to appear underneath the bandages. She slowly removed her dress with her right arm. She was able to see some smaller cuts, especially on her hands and feet. She had a bruised scrape on the left side of her stomach. Next, she removed her bra. Already tired and sore again, after she took off her shoes, she put on the hospital gown, now wearing it with her underpants and leggings. The hospital gown fit her like a tent, which she was glad about since the hospital was so cold.

She opened the bathroom door and headed back over to the table where she saw the wheelchair. She figured they were taking her straight to radiology, so she headed over towards the wheelchair to have a seat.

However on her way, she heard the frantic yelling of doctors and nurses and some began rushing towards a room a few doors down from her at the end of the hospital wing. She walked over to the doorway of the room and saw doctors surrounding someone. She moved her head slightly to get a better look and recognized the man as her father.

"Daddy! Oh no. What's happening to him?" She asked as she heard his heart monitor going crazy. She saw doctors begin hooking him up to a defibrillator.

"Ma'am, please. We're going to need you to stay back while this is done." She recognized him as the doctor that came to her room for assistance. She watched on as they tried reviving her father. Mercedes put her hand over her mouth and began crying again as Nurse Yeadon came from down the hall and wrapped her in her arms, trying to take her back to her room. They hadn't even taken three steps before they heard the steady beat from the monitor as her father flat-lined. Mercedes spun around and saw the doctors lower their heads and call the time of death.

She screamed as she was taken back to her room. The middle-aged woman called for help when Mercedes began gasping for air. Other nurses came over, all trying to get her to relax. Two others brought in a bed for her to rest.

While they adjusted her bed, she looked out to the hall and saw two nurses standing at the nurse's station. They sadly watched as the stretcher was rolled down the hall, the body covered from head to toe with a single white bed sheet.

A minute later, Mercedes was somewhat calmer though she continued crying as the doctor that worked on her father called over one of the women.

The first nurse nodded her head and went over to the man. They only spoke for a moment before she headed back over to the desk and began dialing out on the phone.

The second nurse spoke. "God, can you believe this? That poor girl…losing two people in the same night?"

The other woman covered the phone with her hand. "Make that three…Dr. U just heard back from the O.R. …The woman passed away. She didn't make it through the surgery."

Mercedes' felt hollow. The statement instantly sunk in and caused her to realize all that had truly happened tonight. The fact that her family was dead was the only thing she could think of, before collapsing onto the cold floor underneath her.

A/N: Intense huh?

But hey, at least it's out of the way. Now that most of the hurt is over, we can focus on the healing, which I'm very excited to begin writing. Let me know what you think with a review or PM!

Songs mentioned are:

"The Carpal Tunnel of Love" by Fall Out Boy

"You're all I need to get by" by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell