I'm trying, I promise. It's so difficult to write for me, but I promise all these unfinished stories will be completed, even if it's only because having unfinished business gives me anxiety lately.

Summary: After having a serious accident, Derek looms around the house unseen, learning things about his family he never expected. Eventual Dasey.

Disclaimer: I don't own Life With Derek nor The Invisible.

The Invisible

Tired and Delirious

Casey sat in the corner of the Emergency Department's waiting room on a hard chair and slumped down with a grimace. Being told that she couldn't have any information because she was a minor made her angry enough to stay awake and try and think of a plan. Unfortunately, she was distracted enough by the sound of Derek's voice that she couldn't for the life of her think of any way to figure out where he was.

"Casey?" Derek slowly sat down beside her, watching her face closely for any sign that she was able to interpret what he was saying. "Can you hear me?"

Casey shifted uncomfortably in her seat and tucked her mussed hair behind her ear. Underneath her heavy jacket she had goose-bumps running all the way down her arms. Her eyes scanned the ED lobby and tried her hardest to listen for the voice of her step-brother.

Derek sat sideways in one of the stiff chairs and faced Casey completely. He was certain that she had been able to hear him before they had sat down, but now he didn't know how to get through to her again. "Casey? We have to get upstairs... Can you hear me?"

Casey could surely hear him, but she wasn't entirely sure she wanted to admit that this was real. She sat forward in her chair and placed her face in her hands. This situation had flown past 'too much to handle' a long time ago, and she was failing to cope anymore. Rubbing her cheeks with her palms, she realized that the burning sensation in her eyes wasn't just from the extreme tiredness, she was on the brink of tears. With a long sigh, she sat back in the chair and tried blink back the salty pools that made the ceiling blurry as she stared up.

"Casey, come on, I know you could hear me before when-"

"Yes!" Casey hissed angrily, not moving her head from where it leaned against the wall behind her. "Yes, I can hear you, okay?"

Derek smirked at Casey and couldn't help but dart his eyes over to the receiving nurse to watch the questioning glance Casey had received. Just because she was tired and delirious didn't mean she wanted to let other people know.

"Well are you going to sit there all night, or are you going to get up and go upstairs?" Derek asked, leaning towards her and unhooking the long brown tresses from her ear. Casey's hand flinched up quickly to catch the hair before she could comprehend what must have happened. Her eyes widened and she let out a gasp as she stared at the empty seat next to her. Derek took his turn being speechless. The action that finally broke through to Casey startled him almost as much as it did her.

Casey wound her fingers around the chunk of hair and sat up slowly. "This is real," she whispered.

"Yes, Case, it's real." Derek murmured, reaching his hand out towards her once again, this time gently stroking the back of his fingers down her cheek and hoping she would feel it.

Casey's blood ran cold as the word registered in her mind, and her fingers twitched to reach out towards the source of the sound. "How...?" She asked, but then shook her head. She didn't really want to know. He may very well be dead and talking to her from another life, and if that was the case, she didn't want to know. "What do I do?" She asked almost silently, suddenly feeling bright and alert though her eyes stayed on her own feet.

Derek leaned forward and whispered into her ear, "Up."

George watched silently from where he lie awake in bed as Nora padded down the stairs and stood in the dimly lit entrance of their room. She seemed to be lost in a world of thought, her face tormented as her fingertips dully drummed against the doorway. He wanted to get up and go to her, wanted to comfort her and find a solution to make their family piece back together just as suddenly as it had fallen apart.

The house was tense as it had never been before. There hadn't been a joke uttered, not a mention of a deal, a debt or a conspiracy. The children weren't eating, the television hadn't been turned past the news channels, and there hadn't been once single appalled screech from any female in the house... of course there hadn't been one single prank pulled by the males to elicit a scream.

George wanted to get up and comfort his wife, but instead he remained where he was. Half covered by their down comforter, laying in the dark with his hidden gaze on her unseeing face.

Nora's tapping slowed and she sighed before patting the frame twice more and walking towards the bed, unaware that George was watching her. Separately but at the exact same moment, the two of them suddenly saw the extreme and damning error in not pursuing Derek's disappearance as soon as they had noticed he was gone. Unable to envision anything but continued heartbreak, the couple relented to laying awake for the rest of the night.

Tomorrow, George vowed, things would get put straight. He'd fix his family.

It's short... but I just had to get something up. I promise I'll keep on trucking.