A/N: Worm A/U. I don't own Worm, it belongs to Wildbow.

Chapter 1:

Darkness and pain. That was all I felt, for a moment at least. My vision recovered quickly enough. Looking down at myself, I saw that I was covered in glass. There was some blood running down my arm, and if the sensation on my face was anything to go by, I was probably bleeding from my head as well.

Looking up, slowly because of the pain in my neck, I saw the damaged windshield. Damaged was probably putting it nicely, it was destroyed if I was being honest.

I turned my head and looked at my mother. She was in worse shape than I was. The car had hit her side, she was bleeding more profusely than I was, and...

...

Damn it, I must have passed out again, briefly. Maybe a concussion. Nothing major, easy enough to fix by...

Woah. I realized that I did know how to fix a concussion. I was also struck with an idea on how to reinforce a skull to prevent further concussions. With the right materials and tools it would be easy to...

I shook my head. Not the time. I looked back at my mom and was bombarded with information. Numerous injuries caused by blunt trauma...those could wait. None appeared life threatening, at least from a cursory glance. The bleeding was more concerning now. If my new and strange estimates were right, judging by her rate of blood loss, she would bleed out in about 10 minutes. I unbuckled my seatbelt and went to investigate further.

Lots of cuts, a bruises that didn't look good at all...I was taking it all in, trying to formulate a plan. I was ripped from my thoughts by the sound of the passenger door opening.

"Holy shit, kid you shouldn't be moving around." the man said. "Just sit tight, okay? The ambulance is..."

I shook my head, and he paused. "Listen..." I said, my voice sounding ragged. Maybe I was worse than I thought? No, nothing too bad. I was sure of it. Nothing that couldn't be fixed, at least. "I...I need some things. My mom, if I don't do something..."

"Listen, I'm sure she'll be fine until the ambulance..."

I cut him off with another shake of my head, and spoke louder. "She'll die." I said. "I need some things. Is that your house?" I asked, pointing at the building behind the man. He nodded.

"Good..." I said. I looked back at my mother and thought for a moment, then nodded. "Alright, here's what I need."

The sound of my father's voice from the hallway was clear, even through the closed door of my room. He had arrived about twenty minutes earlier, to discover my mother in surgery and myself in a hospital room being examined. The doctor had left a few minutes ago, to my relief. I was fine, I assured him. He still seemed content to waste his time on me.

Finally, my father entered the room. He looked awful, crushed. "Taylor..." he said. "What happened?"

"The other car didn't stop at the sign..." I said. "Just kept going." I paused, then tried to put on a smirk. "Guess I'm not going to Emma's today, huh?"

My father shook his head, smiling a bit despite his mood. "They're still working on mom, they seem confident she'll make it..."

"She will." I said. It wasn't a question in the least. I was certain. The man who had come to check on us, and who called 911, hadn't exactly had what I needed, but the supplies he could give me were adequate to do what my brain told me I needed to do. I decided to keep the idea that my mother would be in better hands if the doctors had allowed me to perform the surgeries she needed. I could have fixed her, and even tossed in some improvements, I was sure.

"The EMTs, they said...they said you were working on her when they arrived?" dad asked. I nodded.

"I couldn't do nothing. If I had, she would have died." I said.

He seemed to mull that over for a moment before speaking again. "How did you know what to do?" he asked. A look in his eyes told me that he was thinking the same thing I was.

"I think I have a power." I said. It was kind of a lie. I didn't think it, I knew it.

To his credit, my father took a deep breath and let it out slowly, then spoke. "Okay...we'll deal with that once your mother is up. She was pretty banged up..."

"A broken arm, concussion, fractured ribs, some internal bleeding, and several deep gashes." I listed. "I was able to stitch the gashes. Not the best work, but adequate. The internal bleeding didn't seem too bad, but she had already lost a significant amount of blood. She was hooked up once she was in the ambulance, though, so I'm confident..."

My father was staring at me, his mouth agape.

"Um...she should be fine. I'd guess that the surgeries shouldn't take too much longer, but she'll be out for a while yet, depending on the anesthetic used." I finished.

My father shook his head and sat down in the chair next to my bed. "Oh boy..."