Chapter Seventeen

Casey's P.O.V.
All our bags were packed and ready in the car for us to drive up the coast. Ruby insisted on driving, so I took the passenger's seat instead. The weather conditions weren't smooth at all. It was incredibly windy, and it was pouring with rain. Brax told us to reschedule, but I said to him that either way we would be okay. There weren't many cars driving up, so Ruby decided to drive a little faster than the limit. At first nothing went wrong, until a car came out of nowhere. Both cars' windshields were completely fogged up, and neither of us could see a thing. Ruby was driving straight up a narrow hill, but the car came from our right. I don't know how it crashed into us, but everything went dark.

Third Person
All the passengers in both cars were stuck. By the looks of it, they were all unconscious. The car from the right had hit Ruby and Casey's car in the very middle. It had slammed against their car. The roads were completely deserted so there were no witnesses for the accident. Everyone had been left there without any help.

"There have been severe weather warnings issued on the north of Summer Bay. All those heading up the coast should reschedule plans as the weather could get a lot worse."
As soon as Charlie heard this on the radio, she perked up. Ruby and Casey had left for the coast this morning. Neither her nor Brax had heard from either of the two, so she wasn't sure if they had arrived safely or not. She grabbed her keys off her desk and raced out of her office.
"Where are you going, Sergeant?" Constable Watson asked, once Charlie had walked past the front desk. "There's box loads of paper work that needs to be done."
"That'll have to wait," Charlie replied. "There have been weather warnings issued, and I have no idea where Ruby and Casey are."
"Have you given them a call yet?"
Charlie quickly pulled her phone out of her pocket and speed dialled Ruby. It just kept ringing and ringing, so she hung up.
"She isn't picking up," Charlie told Watson.
"Maybe she's busy?" Watson suggested.
"No, I highly doubt so. I told her to call me once she got there, and I haven't gotten one yet."
"Okay, fine, but try to make it quick. The paper work won't get done on its own."

Charlie drove quickly but steadily along the slippery roads. She wasn't driving on the same route as Casey and Ruby did, yet she couldn't help but notice two cars closely against each other. Reversing her car, and heading towards the direction of where she started, she then took up the route leading towards the two cars. As she got closer and closer, a blue familiar car caught her attention. It was the one Ruby had left with earlier that day. She ran out from her car. She was right, it was Ruby. Another car had crashed right against it. She quickly dialled the ambulance, and called for some more back up. She tried to call Brax too, but he didn't answer. Charlie went closer against the two cars. The other car was driven by someone she had not recognised. There was only the one person in the car, who was still bleeding. She started panicking when she saw Ruby and Casey. Neither of them replied when she shouted their names. Luckily, more cops and two ambulances had arrived. Being forced by a worried Charlie, the ambulance took Casey and Ruby out of the car first. The car had to be slightly taken apart to carry both of them out. Blood was sprawled all over the two teenagers. They were both unconscious and had oxygen masks placed on them immediately. Charlie kept pacing back and forth, calling Brax. He still didn't answer, so she texted him, telling him there was an emergency and he had to go to the hospital straight away.

Charlie forgot about the other car and left the other cops to deal with it. She followed the ambulance to the hospital, and wanted to make sure that Ruby and Casey were treated right away. Only moments after she and the ambulance had arrived, she heard familiar footsteps. Brax and Heath were now at the hospital too.
"Charlie, Charlie, Charlie," Brax said. "Where's Casey? What happened? How is he? What about Ruby?"
"There was an accident on the road. A car had collided with theirs," Charlie explained.
Heath didn't look happy at all. "Who was it?"
"I don't know, sorry," Charlie said.
"What do you mean you don't know? Don't you care? Your daughter is hurt too!" exclaimed Heath.
"Of course I care! That's why I got here so quickly!" Charlie said, struggling to hold back her tears. All she wanted was for her daughter to be safe. No matter how old Ruby was, she was still Charlie's baby girl.
"Whoever it was can't get away with this," Heath shouted.
Brax shot Heath a death stare. "Just drop okay, mate? You're not helping."
Everybody knew better than to mess with Brax, so Heath, being the one who loves his food, went over to the vending machine.
"I'm sorry for how he's behaving Charlie," Brax said.
"Nah, it's fine. I understand where he's coming from. All of us want Casey and Ruby to be safe. That's all I want," said Charlie. She couldn't fight back her tears. Her eyes turned watery and tears started rolling down her cheeks.
"Ruby will be alright babe, trust me. She's a brave girl," Brax told Charlie.
"Yeah, I know... You're so strong Brax. Your little brother is in with the doctors, and you seem to be holding up fine."
"That's because I know Casey will be fine. He's got a thick head."
"At least it'll come in handy now..." Charlie attempted to joke. "If only Ruby will be the same..." She started crying again. She had done so much to raise Ruby. It hadn't started off well, but they had a strong relationship now. Charlie couldn't bear to lose her daughter.
"Charlie, sssshhhh... It'll be alright," Brax assured his girlfriend. He motioned for her to follow him and sat on the seats in the waiting area. Brax pulled Charlie close to him, allowing her to cry on his shoulders while he cuddled her tightly.