Dreaming

Chapter 2

Previously…

She picked up the needle and inserted the medicine into his line. If he was breathing well tomorrow she would remove the breathing tube.

Across the world…

Backstage a concerned Ralph cornered a distraught Casey.

"Casey, you're a bit off tonight."

Casey sighed, her eyes darted nervously, and she tried not to fidget. "Yeah, sorry about that."

"Wanna talk about it?" Ralph narrowed his eyes and placed a hand on her shoulder.

Casey stopped shifting but started wringing her hands. "Not really Ralph."

"Is it Derek?"

Casey's eyes lowered. The few people who knew about her and Derek wanted to keep there jobs badly enough not to even mention Derek in Casey's hearing let alone ask her such a direct question. However, Ralph was an old friend. Sometimes she wondered why she had hired Derek's best friend as her drummer. It was like he was channeling Derek when he could see through her. "He's woken up, but they need to keep him sedated until they are sure he can breath on his own."

Ralph slapped Casey hard in the shoulder. "That's good news Case! How could that make you blue?"

"Now that's he's waking up they can evaluate for permanent damage." Casey's voice was low, her blue eyes wide and scared as she finally looked at Ralph. "What if he has amnesia? What if he has permanent brain damage? What if he-he-he isn't Derek anymore?" Casey was clearly going into freak out mode.

Ralph recalled Derek's advice. "Casey" he said grabbing her shoulders and shaking her a bit. "Casey. He'll be fine. You need to calm down…Princess."

The old nickname stopped Casey for a second. She looked into Ralph's calm eyes and started to breath again. He really can channel Derek thought Casey.

"No more drama until the doctor says you need to worry. Okay?"

Casey nodded and continued her deep breathing remembering her high school guidance counselor's instructions. I can get through this she thought.

In the hospital…

Derek blinked and opened his eyes. He felt groggy. Worst hangover ever? He noticed everything was harsh white and he blinked his eyes again. His throat was sore and scratchy like he had a bad cold. He his body ached like he had been on the bottom of a hockey pile-up.

"Well hello there cutie!" said a voice brightly.

Derek groaned and turned his head toward the voice. A pretty woman stood looking down at him. He registered that she was wearing a white lab coat but couldn't process why. He tried to smile, after all a pretty woman is a pretty woman.

"Hurt." He sounded like a little boy.

The woman chuckled. "I imagine you do. I'm Dr. Johnson and you're a patient here at White Memorial Medical Center in Los Angeles. You were in a motor vehicle accident." Her eyes narrowed. "Do you remember?" She said with concern in her voice.

Derek groaned and closed his eyes. He recalled the nightmares and croaked out "Some."

The doctor smiled and sat on the edge of his bed to begin her diagnostic tests. "We were really worried about you for a while. When you came in you were pretty banged up. We had to induce a coma to allow your body to heal but I wasn't sure if you would wake up from that coma or what the permanent damage would be."

"Permanent?" Derek's voice was gravelly. He really needed a drink of water.

"Well you had a concussion, and testing showed it wasn't the first concussion you've suffered so there was a risk of permanent brain injury."

"Hockey." Derek thought he nodded his head but wasn't sure as the room was swimming a little.

The doctor stood and reached for a cup on his bedside table. She spooned out an ice chip and told him to open up. Derek couldn't believe how good that ice chip tasted, like ice cream on a hot summer day. He swallowed and his throat felt a little better. "I know you're a hockey player Derek. Apparently a pretty good one too considering all the media attention you've been receiving."

Derek couldn't help but feel his ego swell a little bit. He smiled. "Accident?" He asked after sucking on another ice chip.

Dr. Johnson took a deep breathe and hoped he wouldn't freak out. "Two months ago you were in a serious motor vehicle accident. You were on your way home and a drunk driver hit you."

Derek's eyebrows raised but he kept his cool mostly because of the pain medicine that made him drowsy. "Bastard."

The doctor chuckled. "I see you still have a sense of humor."

His face turned serious. "Long time."

"Yes it was a long time." Dr Johnson began writing on her clip board and moved toward the door. "I have other patients to see now, but I'll be back in a few hours. Try to rest now. The TV remote is on your left side."

"Thanks." Derek shifted uncomfortably in the scratchy bed wishing for his old brown recliner. What was I doing two months ago? His eyes searched for a calendar and widened when he saw the date.

AN: Thanks for reading and reviewing. Very excited about the 102 visitors and awesome reviewers: rumoredreader, kmr04, Dimples08, Dark Supernatural Angel, not complaining, leanaplumz. Hope to hear from you again.