Okay. I'm back. No worries. I promise I won't abandon this story, had to clear that up. And oh my gosh. I was talking to my friend about Avatar the Last Airbender and I was like 'I ship zutara so much... Wait. ZAtara. As in Zatara, aka Doctor Fate? Oh shoot, even fictional characters ship them!' Like his hero name is literally...Anyway...
Thanks to everyone who's read, favorited, and followed!
To Batmanismyhero: Thanks for the review! I tried as hard as I could to keep them in character, so I appropriate that you mentioned that! Thanks!
To Queen Sound: Thank you! That has to be one of my favorite parts too. Thanks for reading and reviewing!
Disclaimer: If I owned YJ, would I be here? No. I'd be off making tons of money from fanboys and fangirls...
Ch. 8.
Wally
We turned out of the gas station and slipped onto the main road. It was December 24th, Christmas eve, and Bart and I were anxious to get home in time for 'Grandma Iris's famous Christmas party.' The food was amazing. I look briefly in the rear view mirror at Bart, who was wrapped up in six blankets, or 'fuzzies' as he had dubbed them, four pillows and his beloved stuffed cheetah, Simba (I tried to reason with him that Simba was a lion but he didn't budge), which he was again squeezing the life out of. I smile slightly and shift my eyes back to the road, the engine humming softly.
"Daddy?"
"Yeah buddy?"
"Do you wanna hear a song I learned?"
"Sure Bart."
He cleared his throat, causing me to lift an eyebrow, and opened his mouth.
"Jingle bells, Batman smells, Robin laid...-"
I did a double take. I stopped in the emergency lane and swung my head around towards him.
"Just where did you here that?" It was the song Dick and I had made up a couple years ago, when we were like nine, to annoy Bruce, and I had added 'Robin laid an egg' to annoy Dick. We then stopped creating the song and instead began creating different insults at each other.
'Kid mouth drowned in eggnog-'
'Dicki got stuck to an icicle-'
'Dude really?'
'Shut up. Yours wasn't any better!'
We had such a promising career in the music industry...
"You and Dick were singing it." He told me with a deadpan expression.
My eyebrows flew skywards and my lips turned slightly down and I shrugged and reignited the engine.
He continued. "... An egg..."
I drowned him out.
"You can't sing it. You don't know the backstory." I pout quietly to myself.
Snow had begun to fall, the little crystals dancing from the sky. I glare at them.
"Daddy! It's snowing! We might get a white Christmas this year." Bart yelps excitedly.
"Oh, yay. Extra work. Shoveling the snow on Christmas seems like mighty fun." My eyes slip to the digital clock. 2:30. Two and a half hours to go.
30 minutes left
The roads were pretty much empty, save the occasional car entering and exiting through the exists. The snow had added a slight layer of slippery snow so I had to go about 10 miles under the speed limit, much to my annoyance.
"Can I have a snack?"
I grab a Quakers chocolate chip bar and throw it to him without so much of a glance. I stare at the sign ahead. Hospital, one mile away. I screw up my face, confused. I never pay attention to hospital signs. Why now? I shrug it off and continue on, slowing even more when the snow picked up, trying to focus on the road more. Turns out, not everyone had the same idea in mind.
A large Walmart truck flew out of one of the exits, slamming into my can, causing it to swerve into the ditch, and then flew on ahead.
Our car did a 360, spun wildly and slammed hard into the ditch on the right side of the car, causing the air bag to blow up in my face. Unfortunately, my head still smacked the window, hard, causing me to go limp. Not the car... was the last I thought of before everything went dark.
Some time later...
I groggily woke up, slowly opening one eye at a time, trying to understand my position. I look at the white thing I was laying on, which I had thought was a pillow. It wasn't. It was an air bag. I jerk my head back, softly hitting the back of the seat, which was impaled with little shards of glass.
"Ow." I groan, looking out the window at the deserted, snow covered road. I shiver, as the engine had gotten messed up during the crash, hence the lack of heat. I think of the blankets Bart had and decided to steal one. Then I froze. Bart hadn't made a single sound this entire time. I turn with painstaking slowness, and nearly had a heart attack. Bart had been on the right side of the car, and we had landed on the right side. He was sprawled to the side, head against the window that was shattered, blood pooling out of a large cut on his left temple, and his skin was an unearthly blue, and he was shivering like crazy.
I instantly grab my phone in an attempt to call 911, but when I pick it up, I end up picking up a smashed piece of plastic and glass. Nevertheless, I attempt to make the call, but it was futile. Angrily I throw the piece of junk against the passenger seat. A tiny wail brings me back to my senses. I jump out of the car, run around to the other side and slowly attempt to open the damaged door, with little luck, so I go to the other side and manage to get it open.
Scooping him out of the car and wrapping him in his red and yellow 'fuzzy' blankie and turning back towards the road in hopes that a car would drive by. No such luck.
I stare at my son, who was now blue and overly pale and groan slightly. I look back at the hospital sign and began running towards the direction of the hospital, making sure that Bart and the blanket wrapped around him were securely in my arms.
"This is probably one of the most cliche things ever." I complain to myself while running close to top speed, internally thanking Barry for putting me on the track and cross country teams, and drilling me non stop about running in general.
It began snowing.
"Aw, come on! How cliche can a situation get?" I yell at the sky. Iv'e never been a big fan of winter, but this is just pushing it. The snow, which had to be at least an inch already was quickly accumulating, making it harder and harder to run in, much less navigate.
"Where's a car when you need one?" I mutter.
Hospital: in 0.5 miles. I sigh in relief when I see the sign. "Thank the Lord."
Soon I could see the hospital come into view.
Now for my over-cliche entrance. I think with a wry smile.
Bursting inside I look wildly for a nurse or, anybody that worked here, even a janitor would be accepted at this point. And my head was starting to feel even worse, and I'm pretty sure I'm going to have a case of frost bite for a while.
I spot the front desk. Frantically i explain the situation to her (Though from her facial expression, I was probably talking too fast for her to understand.), and she quickly gets a few nurses to take us to the intensive care unit.
It's 8:45. Bart's still unconscious and I was sitting in the chair next to him, tapping my foot wildly fast, with an ice pack strapped to my head with a bandage and 15 stitches in my left arm.
The nurse said he was fine, just a minor concussion, the cut on his head, and hypothermia, which I also had. I take a sip of the warm tea they gave me, which was basically just water and herbs. Wait, isn't that what tea is? I shrug and pull at the light blue blanket and lean back in the chair. So much for the Christmas party. Bart had been looking forward to it for so long...
"Daddy?"
I bounce back to attention. "Yeah, buddy? You okay?"
He nods. "What time is it?"
"8:50." I answer immediately, I didn't even have to look at the clock.
"Oh." He looks down disappointingly. "We aren't going to grandma Iris' Christmas party, are we?"
I smile tightly. "No, sorry buddy. We had a accident..." I trail off.
"My head hurts."
"So does mine."
He looks up. "Really?"
"Sadly."
"That means I'm just like you!" He announces happily.
I grin at his enthusiasm.
"Where's my fuzzy blankie?"
"Right here." I toss it to him, and it lands on top of his head.
"Daddy!" Came the muffled protest.
"Love you."
He pulls it off. "I love you too." And then throws Simba at me. It hits me in the face. I blink.
"Where did you get Simba from?"
"The car...?"
"You mean I lugged that thing all the way from the car to here? I knew you weren't that heavy!" I gap at him. Of course he had the cheetah with him. Given how hard he squeezes it, it's no wonder he didn't let go.
9:00.
"Okay Bart. Time for bed. We have to go to sleep, or Santa won't come."
His eyes pop out commercially. "We need to go to sleep! Close your eyes!" He demands. 'Santa's not real though." He adds. "I just say he is so Gar won't get mad at me."
I smirk. "Sure thing buddy."
"Goodnight, daddy."
"Goodnight, Bart."
"Daddy?"
"Wha?" I mumble.
"Merry Christmas Eve."
"You too."
...
"Daddy?"
"Yes?"
"Will grandma and grandpa understand why we can't come?"
"Of course they will."
...
"Daddy?"
"Goodnight Bart."
"Goodnight."
Soon Bart's out, and I'm left alone, staring at the snow silently falling to the ground.
"Looks like you got your wish..." I mutter before falling asleep.
It's 7:30. Slowly I wake up and take in the room. There's Bart, who was still asleep, hugging his blankie and Simba. There's the lamp, the window, that person, and the other and-what?
I blink and sure enough, there're people sleeping in our hospital room. Is this even allowed?
Iris is asleep, on the second chair-Mom?- with Dawn and Donny-What?- leaning on both opposite legs of the chair, and Barry-Dad?- laying flat across the floor, using his arms as a pillow. The little fern in the room is now surrounded colorful presents.
I'm dreaming. I pinch myself.
"Ouch." I hiss. Nope. Not dreaming. Well, this is unexpected.
"Looks like you got your wish, again." I whisper to Bart's sleeping form.
Bart stirs awake. He looks at me, and then at my parents and siblings. He blinks, confused, before a huge smile crawls across his face.
"Grandma! Grandpa! Dawn, Donny!" He shrieks before I can shush him.
Iris jolts awake, as do the twins, but Barry ignores it, instead staying asleep. Iris whacks Barry.
"Barry!" She hisses. He jumps up, like he was just shocked, and grins sheepishly at Bart and I. And Iris.
"Hey, kid, kiddo. Merry Christmas!"
Donny grins. "Yeah! Merry-"
"Christmas." Dawn finishes.
Isis smiles fondly at us. "Merry Christmas, boys."
"Merry Christmas!" We reply.
Bart swings his head towards the window.
"Daddy!" He exclaims. "We have a white Christmas!"
Barry laughs. "We sure do, kiddo. Oh, and Wally, we sent your car to the repairs shop, all your stuff is back at the house."
Iris smirks slightly. "Except for the food. Your father ate all of it."
Barry just grins cheekily and turns to the presents.
"Now, we only had enough room for Bart's presents, but we'll give yours to you later." He hands them to Bart.
He eagerly rips one apart and pulls out a stuffed falcon. ("It's from me and Dawn!")
"Thank you, Dawn and Donny!"
They nod in satisfaction. "It's the fastest bird in the world."
If Bart's smile could get any bigger, it just did. "I love it!"
From Iris he got a Lion King puzzle, and from Barry a pair of roller skates.
Iris then brought out a pair of knee and elbow pads, and a helmet.
"I knew you'd forget." She says to Barry.
A nurse knocks on the door.
"Hi, Mr. West?"
"Yeah?"
"You and Bartholomew will be released in about an hour. Okay?"
"Sure, that's just fine."
I grin, my wish finally came true.
Christmas turned out all right after all.
A/N: So, chapter eight. Yeah. Ugh. Now I want it to be Christmas. Way to go me. So? Good, bad? Feel free to tell me what you think! Reviews are always appreciated!
~FanAdd