Chapter 4 Planning sheet

Clarifying a few things so there are no confusions later on: They live in London, Ontario and just for the sake of the story, let's say London has a very low crime rate.

Also, so sorry to everyone for taking… FOREVER to upload this but here it is. I actually finished it a while ago but I never fine tuned it. But it took a while to write and I figure, may as well post it since it took up a bit of time… I'm starting… scratch that I've moved on from fanfiction and started writing original stuff so… this may be the last chapter/story I update. I'm kind of sad about it but being progressive means not staying in the same place.

I'm so, SO sorry for not replying to your reviews :'(. But thank you all SO much for reviewing. I can't tell you how much it means :D. So without further ado enjoy the story.

The brawl continued between the two and they inched closer and closer to the street until they were on the side of the street. Suddenly high beams of a car were shining on the boys until…

Jason, aware of the oncoming car pushed Derek away from him and into the middle of the street. The driver of the car hadn't realized Derek was in the middle of the street until it was too late. Derek had tried to run out of the way pushing off on his right leg. *IMPACT* The car hit Derek's leg causing him to roll from the front to back of the car. Derek hit the ground landing on his left arm. Edwin looked on in terror not believing what had just happened. Still on the ground Edwin could not will himself to move. Jason began to smile and chuckle just a bit and ran away from the scene. Several on-lookers quickly called the police. Edwin summoned the power with all his might to move himself from his previous position and run to Derek's side. He wanted so badly to lay on him but was afraid of making his condition worse. In about ten minutes two squad cars and an ambulance had arrived near Derek who lay, unconscious on the ground. The paramedics brought a stretcher to Derek's side and put his dismembered body onto it. An officer knelt down to Edwin's level and began to talk,

"Do you feel up to riding in the ambulance? You're going to have to answer some questions."

Edwin continued to say nothing but simply stood up and began to walk to the white and blue colored ambulance. He sat himself down on the bench inside the medical vehicle. Sitting down Edwin still felt numb, somehow not really thinking about what happened. It all seemed so surreal to him. Edwin only blamed himself. He repeated in his head over and over again. 'It's all my fault.' How would he get through this? Would he get through this? Edwin himself didn't know whether 'he' meant himself or Derek when he had said 'he'. The route to the hospital from the park seemed like the longest ride of his life.

Derek was rushed to the ER, Edwin was brought inside following the gurney.

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George and Nora arrived at the hospital coming straight from the restaurant. Casey and Lizzie waited in the car as instructed by the parents. George and Nora rushed into the waiting room, George in a three-piece-suit, and Nora in a red evening gown. The two gathered around Edwin in great concern for his well being. The parents began to coddle him, quickly checking for any injuries and frantically asking questions in a way that only a worried parent could. Edwin told them how he had gone for a walk and ran into this guy. He said that the guy tried to mug him but once he realized he didn't have anything he started to beat him up. George and Nora continued to listen to Edwin and look on as worry grew increasingly apparent on their faces. Edwin then told them how Derek came along and started to fight Jason and from there on his story stayed truthful. Nora began to cry into George's shoulder who squeezed Edwin's shoulder and said,

"We're so glad you're okay," while he pulled Edwin into a hug sharing his comfort between Nora and Edwin.

A doctor then came out to the trio and said, "Are you the parents of Derek Venturi?"

In a slightly frantic tone Nora said, "Yes" and George simply giving a nod.

"He's banged up pretty bad. So far as we can tell his leg is broken and his arm is fractured. And judging from the description of the accident it's very possible that he has a concussion. We've done a couple of tests but of course we won't be sure until he's fully conscious. From what we know now he's going to be ranged from anywhere between 7 and 13 on the Coma Scale. Now the higher the number is, the better his chances and the less severe his head injury is. Nora looked on in fear for her eldest step-son as George comforted her by rubbing her shoulder. George continued to keep a hand on Edwin rubbing his back, thinking it must be hard for him to see his big brother, the one he looked up to, in such tattered state.

"Thank you, Doctor." George said in a low, steady voice.

"Oh George, what are we going to do?" asked Nora slightly sobbing.

"Let's take everyone else home, and then I'll come back and wait until they can give us more information." said George, his voice remaining steady.

Nora simply nodded until Edwin spoke up,

"No. I wanna wait here too. If it wasn't for me, he wouldn't be like this."

Although he was right, neither George or Nora blamed him. They showed this by puling him into another hug and Nora saying, "This wasn't your fault Edwin, none of this was." Edwin deeply sighed melting into the embrace given to him by his father and step-mother.

George took the girls home, stopping to pick up Marti from the babysitter's house. While he was gone Edwin thought back to the moment of impact. He took in everything: Derek's face as he tried to run back to the sidewalk, Jason's evil looking face of satisfaction, and the rustic color of the Corvette that had zoomed by under the street light. He would remember these things, like he remembered the night Jason had stolen his purity. Edwin sat in the waiting room in the same chair he had been in since he arrived with the ambulance. His elbows rested on his knees and his hands intertwined with one another. Edwin was so deep in thought, meticulously going over every detail in his head, that he hadn't even noticed his dad walk up beside him. It wasn't until he felt a nudge from him that he jumped a bit and looked up at him with fear in his eyes. George apologized for startling him and began to speak,

"I know this is rough for you. It's not like he hurt himself playing hockey or getting into a fight at school. But I want you to know something son, if there's anything Derek isn't it's a quitter. He's gonna fight through this. He's going to fight and he's going to come back to us. And before you know it everything will be back to the way it was."

As Edwin listened on to his father's somewhat comforting words he thought to himself, 'No. It'll never be the same again, too much has happened, too much has changed.' But Edwin only nodded to ensure his father that he was listening even if he only caught every other word.

A few hours went by and the doctor stood in front of the two but before he could speak George stood up quickly and said, "Is he awake yet? Can we see him?"

"He's not awake but you can see him, but it's best if you each go one at a time. I don't want to risk him waking up with too many people around and becoming too alarmed."

George nodded and said, "I understand."

George understood how much pain Edwin was in and decided to let him go first. Edwin slowly walked down the hallway, mentally preparing himself for what he might see. He continued half way down the hall and made a right turn into room 14. The second Edwin made the turn he saw Derek's right leg in a pulley system and because of the obtrusion and his own position he was unable to see Derek's face. Taking that first glance at the lower half of his brother's body made his stomach sink. After coming to his senses he took half of a step forward and hesitated. He wasn't sure if he really wanted to see Derek this way. He had seen him in the ambulance on the ride over, actually he stared at him the whole ride over. But to see Derek in his current bandaged state would be the affirmation that everything was not all right and that there was no one to blame but himself.

After the moment of hesitation he continued to walk forward, around the bed and to Derek's side. He stared at his brother, the one he'd grown up with, the one who had made him feel a bit better the past couple of days. He couldn't believe the state Derek was in. He's never seen him so weak and fragile. Even in the past when he had been injured he still ad that snarky slightly arrogant Derek demeanor. Nothing like this. Derek was always invincible, nothing could ever really hurt him. As he continued to watch Derek in his unconscious state tears started to well up in his eyes. He put his own hand into the left hand on Derek, the one that wasn't bandaged, and squeezed slightly. As he held onto Derek's hand it felt warm. He began to study his brother's hand intently, analyzing every aspect of it. Feeling the callouses on his palms from hours of playing guitar and clutching his hockey stick. Looking at the patterns the lines on his knuckles made. Holding onto Derek's hand made Edwin feel a bit better about everything. The heat radiating from it gave him hope that everything would be okay. He suddenly came crashing back to his version of reality and realized that it wouldn't. Although he despaired he still felt a little bit of joyfulness just holding onto Derek's hand.

Edwin became slightly disgusted with himself. Edwin hated how he felt like a little kid holding his mommy's hand the way he clung to Derek for a feeling of security. He wouldn't be little kid, he wouldn't be helpless, and he wouldn't be the kind of person that Jason would take to a room and do with as he pleased. Edwin knew that action had to be taken, if not for his own sake then for the sake of his brother who risked his own life to protect him. Edwin said, "Thank you," before walking out of the room with a mission.

The Next Day

Back at the Venturi-McDonald house everyone went on with their day, gloom following them wherever they went. All except for Marti who was told how Derek was staying the night at a friend's house. George and Nora decided to fill all the details in later of how Derek broke his leg and arm climbing a tree or some false story. In the early afternoon Edwin told George that he was going for a walk and that he would be back in an hour or so. Edwin left the house and caught a bus to the downtown area of London near the police station. Edwin walked a couple of blocks down the street getting closer to the station. Once at the doors, he put his hand on the handle, took a deep breath, and pushed. The door didn't budge and Edwin laughed slightly when he read the sign on the door that said pull. Edwin crossed the threshold and walked up to the front desk awaited by a slender woman police officer. The woman looked up as Edwin approached the desk and said, "Can I help you?"

"Yeah... I'd like to report against someone for rape and pushing someone into the path of a moving car." Edwin said almost sobbing.

"Alright, well go ahead and have a seat and fill this out." The woman said nonchalantly handing Edwin some papers on a clip board.

"Thanks." Edwin said taking a quick breath. He sat down in a chair facing the side of the front desk. Edwin tried his best to fill out the paper work as quickly and neatly as he could, his hands shaking recalling every detail in his head. Having to play the scenario over again was almost too much for him. The only thing getting him through it was remembering Derek in the hospital bed and how the very least he deserved was justice. He filled out the rest of the paper work only shedding one tear. When Edwin finished he handed the woman the clipboard with the papers attached.

"Alright someone should be in touch with you within the next day or two." said the woman behind the desk.

"Thank you." said Edwin with a small smile finally getting a glimpse of hope. The smile was quickly destroyed as the memory of Derek's mangled body in the street from the night before. Edwin turned around and began to walk out of the building. He got back on the bus which stopped just a couple of blocks before his house. He walked the rest of the way home.

When he got back everyone was sitting in the living room talking about what had happened to Derek. Marti was at her daily activity center for kids. The second he walked into the room he instantly felt the despair coming from everyone else. Before anyone could open their mouths to acknowledge Edwin everyone quickly snapped their heads towards the ringing phone. George gave a look to Nora, who was holding his hand, gave it a squeeze and stood up to answer the phone. The entire room was dead silent, not a single breath could be heard. They all awaited anxiously to see if it was the hospital calling and if Derek had waken up. A few words were exchanged between George and the person on the other end of the phone. George said one last "Thank you," before hanging up the phone.

"He's awake! Everyone get in the car."

At George's first words everyone in the living room jumped up, grabbed their shoes and hurried to the family car. The drive over went be very quickly. Everyone was talking about their plans with Derek to make him feel more comfortable, or to keep him entertained. Edwin was probably most excited because it meant he would now have someone to cuddle with and other various acts. They pulled into the hospital parking lot, found a spot and everyone sped to the wing where Derek was being held.

They all went into the room, ran to Derek, and immediately began to coddle him. Now that the family was reunited a great wave of relief washed over everyone. The same wave also cleansed them of the severity of the situation; now it was just Derek with a couple of broken bones, so nothing out of the ordinary. Now with the family all together they talked and laughed about anything and everything. They stayed for what didn't seem like enough time at all.

"Everyone, I need you all to leave now. He has to get his rest." said a thin bony-faced nurse.

"Alright, we'd better get going then." said George

Everybody stood up and said their goodbyes to Derek showering him with hugs and kisses before exiting through the doorway. Edwin began to walk away but was stopped by Derek's hand on his, just the way he had the previous day. Back when Derek wasn't a rag doll.

"Hey, Ed?" Derek said his voice sounding a bit raspy.

"Yeah Derek?" Edwin said coming closer and fully taking Derek's hand into his own.

"I'm sorry I couldn't stop him from hurting you." Derek said his eyes half-lidded from the medication.

"No. I'm sorry. It's because of me you're in here like this." said Edwin shifting the blame to himself.

"Remember it'll be alright." said Derek giving Edwin's hand a light squeeze.

"Edwin, c'mon. Let Derek get his rest."

"Alright Dad I'm coming." said Edwin regrettably.

Before Edwin turned all the way around to walk out the door, Derek still held onto his hand and said, "I love you." Edwin simply smiled and responded with "I love you too, Derek."

Derek then let go of Edwin's hand and let him walk out of the door. The rest of the family waited for Edwin at the open elevator doors. Once Edwin reached the doors they all descended and returned to the parking lot their car occupied. On the way home everyone was in a mood much more cheery than when they left the house. Even Edwin who still blamed himself for Derek's condition.

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The next day in the afternoon a phone call came for Edwin. The court date for Edwin Venturi vs. Jason Seymour would be in three weeks. "I'm going to make it up to you Derek. I promise."

END CHAPTER 4