Crash Collision

         It was another day of arguing. I mean I knew DJ had to be at work, but I was so tired of spending not just one night, but every night alone at home. It would be different if my friends weren't so busy taking care of their families, and running their children all over world's creation for sports practice. I just wanted to be able to enjoy life with the person I cared about. I mean after all I couldn't even tell him that I was pregnant, because he hardly ever came home. That was the sole reason I had ended up over my brother's house earlier.

         These thoughts ran through my mind as the music from the radio station hot 102.9 blared through the car as my brother and I made our way to meet his fiancé for dinner. Today had been such a long and hard working day that I was beyond frustrated. Somehow unaware of my actions I had ended up at my brother's house. Before I knew it I was sliding in to the passenger seat of the red, black, and silver charger that he owned. For the most of the way we rode in silence, but as we neared the Gettysburg and Germantown intersection, my brother slowly turned the music down.

         Glancing his way with a questioning look I asked, "What's up?"

         "Ky' I jus want you to know that no matter what I love you, and I don't want you to ever forger that," he said as he turned his eyes back to the road.

         Before I could answer I heard the screeching and turned to look out my window, but all I could see were bright lights. Seconds before the darkness overwhelmed my I could feel Slam staring over at me, trying to figure out the extent of my injuries. As I tried to turn my head to look towards my brother to tell him I was okay I sensed my brother tensing up, which in the end gave me the feeling that he seen the person driving the other car and as my eyes began to droop to a close I heard the loud screeching of tires as the sirens drew nearer.
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         It could have been days, weeks, or even months, which ever it was I lost track of the time that I was out. When I finally opened my eyes I was surrounded by a load of white light that blinded me at first. The shock of the white light caused me to jump, making me gasp in pain. I sensed a movement at the bottom of the bed. Slowly glancing towards the source of the movement, I could only see my brother moving to the top of the bed, his eyes glistening with tears in his eyes. In my entire life I could only remember my brother crying once, and that was years ago.

         I hardly went back to that time when my mother passed. This was the one memory I could never forget, but also the one that I didn't want to remember. My mother had often left us with our stepfather when we had no school, and most of the time my brother was home. The one day that he wasn't out stepfather started hitting out mother. He hit her with his fists and kicked her with his feet. If he couldn't get a clear shot where he wanted to hit my mother he would hit he would get here wherever he could. And there was so much blood that I could smell it and taste it through my nose.

         At that moment I knew that the only thing that I would want to do is protect my mother, and to stop the beating, so I ran towards my stepfather and pushed him as hard as a ten year old could. Before I knew it I was the one getting pummeled with fists and feet as I now became his new target. Curling up in a ball, all I could remember doing was praying that he would stop, and I would soon feel the relief of no pain. things started to get dark and my eyes began to droop, and tears flowed down my face. At the last minute I heard the front door open, and knew that help had arrived.

         My brother who'd explained to me later, had smelled the blood upon entering the house, rushed to the room where he had heard the noise, to see me getting beat. He threw out stepfather against the wall and told him to get lost while he had the chance. I remember hearing him calling for an ambulance to get me and my mother to the hospital.

         While I recovered from most of the injuries that were given to me, my mother passed leaving me in the care of my brother. From that day on my brother had become my protector, my best friend, and the one person I could always count on no matter what. Hearing my brother clear his throat I was jolted back to reality.

         "Ky' are you okay?" Slam asked.

         "Slam, what happened? How long have I been here?" I asked, looking into his eyes for the answer I already knew.

         "You lost the baby, and you've been in here for about two weeks now. The doctors thought with as many injuries that it was best to keep you sedated so that you could heal some." He replied.

         "Does DJ know about the baby and even that I'm in here" I asked, confused. At this point I wasn't really sure how to feel about the baby, so I continued listening to the words spoken by my brother.

         "Yes, I call him because I thought he ought to know. It was his child right? At the moment though that's not the point. When you looked towards the car did you see anything, recognize anyone?" he asked, with a tread of fear that I could hear because of how his voice shook as he talked.

         "No, all I seen was the lights. I'm sorry. I don't even remember why DJ and I aren't talking. I do remember feeling you tense right before the screeching of the tires and the sirens got closer. Everything else is a blur though." I said, as I looked away with guilt in my heart.

         "Ky', please don't panic, but the person who hit us, it was Dan. They were supposed to notify me when he got out, but they didn't. I had no idea that there was a chance Dan knew were we lived. I moved us out of California to protect us, never would I have dreamed he'd find a way to follow us here." my brother said, as he choked back the tears trying to put on a brave face.

         "Slam, you don't have to pretend that you're not scared I see it in your face. It's okay to be scared. I know that I am." I said, looking into his eyes.

         "Ky' the one thing that I promise you, is that he won't be able to hurt you again." my brother, stated with fire behind his words.

         "Slam, is that what you're truly afraid of. that he's going to hurt me worse than what he did when I was ten. At this point. I'm not sure what else he can do to either of us, but to put us both in the grave. If you think about it he took our mother, and he just tried to kill us in a car crash and instead of killing us we were able to walk away. I might have lost my baby, but me and you well we both have God on our side and nothing to worry about." I said, trying to think of all the pain and fear I was holding in on the inside. "Did they find him?"

         "No, Ky' and believe me they have looked everywhere." he said, as there was knock on the door.

         Before either of us could answer DJ walked into the room, dressed in his officers' uniform. I could tell that by the fact that I was awake that it helped to make his day a little bit better because his lips curved into the biggest smile I think I've ever seen on his face. "Ky' your awake!! How are you feeling?" he asked, before I could attempt to even get a word out of my mouth otherwise.

         "I hurt DJ, but why are you in uniform? Tell me you are not working this particular case?" I asked, begging him with tears to tell me no.

         "Ky' I tried to talk the captain into letting me do the case. that was out child he killed and nobody besides your brother or I want to find this guy more." he said, with to much concern in his voice.

         "But your captain told you no, yet at the same time you feel the need to go against his word and still attempt a shot at this case." I asked, with more fear in my voice than I intended to be there.

         As the tears started to fall I was able to say, "DJ, you literally have no idea what you're getting yourself into. He almost killed me when I was ten. Do you honestly in you mind think that he wouldn't try and kill you or anyone of us in this room right now? He probable already knows that this is the hospital I'm in. If he could find me in a whole new state then he's got to either have someone on the inside or some really strong connections out there." I said, gasping with pain as I tried to use all my breath to get out all of these statements.

         "I have no doubt in my mind that he wouldn't try and kill me to keep making your life a living hell, but I won't let that happen. He might have a connection on the inside or some really strong connects on the outside, but the one thing he doesn't have is the love I have for you or the love and the hurt that I feel at losing the child you carried in you. So just know that with that alone, it will give me all the strength I need to put him in cuffs and back behind bars." he said, as he got down on one knee, and pulled out a small black box out of his pocket. "I know things are not exactly perfect right now Ky', but you are my life. I love you with everything in me and I promise to love and cherish you until the day that you die. Will you marry me?"

         I didn't know what to say so I looked over at my brother hoping he would give me some kind of clue, but all he did was shrug his shoulders. It was almost as if he was saying that the decision was all mine and that I was the one to make up my mind. Looking back at DJ I knew what my heart was telling me to do. So going with my gut I turned back to face DJ who was till on his knees waiting for my answer. "Yes, but on one condition."

         "And what's that baby?" he asked, with a smile on his face.

         "You have to promise to come home and climb in bed with me every night." I said, with only one worry on my mind.

         "You got a deal." he said, as the doctor came in doing round as he slipped the ring onto my right hand.

         "I'm not interrupting anything am I?" the doctor asked, as he flipped through my charts. "Ms. Michaels your heart rate seems to be up quite a bit. I'm assuming your brother informed you of the situation about the car accident."

         "Yes, for the most part I'm up to date on everything, I just wish the pain would stop." I said, as I started to feel the sharp throbs in my upper chest and over the rest of my body.

         "Well, it's time to give you another shot of morphine, so I will go ahead and do that, but you might feel really sleepy within ten to twenty minutes." the doctor stated, as he gave me the shot of morphine and then left the room.

         "Slam, DJ, don't leave me." I managed to get out as I started to feel the droopiness set in.

         "We aren't going anywhere." One of them muttered as I drifted off to a land filled with no worries.
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         Slipping into the janitors blue and stained covered uniform, I knew what the overall goal was so the thought of how disgusting I felt slipped through my mind. the little girl and her brother thought that they would be safe from me, but how wrong they were. It was all about the people you knew, and being in jail the past ten years allowed me to meet the right people. I knew without a doubt in my mind that the little brat had seen me the night I hit the car.

         Pushing the cleaning cart into the elevator that had finally reached the basement floor, I quickly hit the button to the fifth floor. Seconds ticked by as the elevator slowly made its way upward. By the time that the elevator reached the fifth floor beads of perspiration were appearing on my forehead.

         So as not to be seen I quickly made my way around grabbing trash from each room. As I entered the last room the closest to the nurse's station, and seeing that the girl was fast asleep and that there was a can of Pepsi sitting on the sink. Pulling out a bottle of sleeping pills I slipped two into the can hoping that they would do the job. Knowing I'd be back later I grabbed the trash and exited the room.
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         Sometime the next day I opened my eyes, and again was blinded by the white lights. The only thing that I didn't do was jump, because I didn't want to experience the same amount of pain as I'd felt the day before. I knew from the amount of pain and injuries I knew of that weren't internal that it wouldn't be anytime soon before I went home. Once my eyes adjusted to the light once again I glanced around the room looking for Slam or DJ to find Slam passed out in two of the hospital chairs he had placed together to make a bed out of.

         I didn't want to wake him so I laid my head back on the pillow and closed my eyes. Everything seemed peaceful until I heard a knock on the door. It bothered me that the person on the other end didn't acknowledge themselves and that my brother didn't even twitch in his sleep when he normally was a light sleeper. Looking over to the lunch table I spotted my phone and reached over and grabbed it putting myself in severe pain. Once the phone was in my head I sent a text to DJ asking where he was. Very quickly I switched the phone to vibrate so that whoever was at the door wouldn't hear the phone go off.

         Within seconds DJ texted back that he was on the way to the hospital, and in my gut I knew why my brother hadn't stirred when the person knocked on the door. In that instant the door handle turned and I knew who was on the other end of the door. Quickly I sent a last minute text to DJ that said he's here, I Love You. As the door fully opened Dan walked in with a quite smirk on his face as if he'd won a battle that had long ago been started.

         "Hello Ky'" he said. "Long time no see. How have you been?"

         "Good no thanks to you." I said, even though I was shaking on the inside I couldn't help, but come back with a quick remark that would hopefully stall him. "The true question is how have you been and what are you doing here?"

         My goal was to keep him talking in hopes that DJ would get here before he could do too much damage to me. This was because I knew what he truly wanted. I also knew why he was really here and it wasn't to see how I was doing.

         "I've been good. Really good and I don't understand why you are asking what I am doing here because you and I both know the real reason I'm here." he stated, all the more while inching closer and closer to the bed.

         "Honestly I don't know why you're here. To be honest I don't even know where you've been the past sixteen years." I said, trying to act all innocent and play the victim.

         "Don't you lie to me girl," he said, raising his voice in anger. "You helped your stupid brother send me to that place. A place with no freedom, where I couldn't even go to the bathroom in peace, or take a shower as long as I wanted. The two of you are the reason that I missed my mother's funeral and missed the passed Sixteen years of my life. If only you hadn't put your stupid self in my way never would I have ended up in that dreadful place."

         "It's not my fault and I wouldn't change what I did either. I would do it again in a heartbeat. She was my mother and I would give anything to have her sitting here with me right now. You deserved to go where you were send. Dan, you slowly killed my mother as you hit her with your fists and kicked her with you feet. The worst part was even when you had seen all the blood instead of stopping you kept going. Even when I placed myself in front of her to protect her you began hitting me. You hit me until I blacked out and only stopped when my brother came through the door and slammed you against the wall. So don't you dare try and blame me for the mistake that you made. the mistake that cost you the past sixteen years because it was your fault and not mine." I responded, with fire in my voice.

         "And yet you still haven't learned your place as a woman in society when to keep your mouth shut, when to speak, or even voice your opinion you filthy little whore." he said, as his hand grabbed my right hand clutching it tight in his grasp, staring dead at the engagement ring DJ had just placed on my finger the day before.

         I knew that the next thing out of my mouth needed to be with caution instead of fear, because in my heart I knew if I said the wrong thing that his hand would find my face or he would drag me out of the bed. "Dan, what do you want me to do? What do you want me to say?" I asked.

         "What do I want you to say? I want you to apologize and to feel what I have felt the past sixteen years. As far as what I want you to do, I want you to beg for your life. and to beg me for whatever else you want me to give you." he said, as his face was put into all of mine.

         I was able to smell the beer coming off of his breath, and knew that until DJ showed up I had to play the game. And again the game was on his side as he held the cards in his hands as well as my life seeking as how there was no way that I could even attempt to run with a broken leg, and broken ribs. When it came down to it I knew that it was time for me to make my move and to stay in the field. I felt my phone vibrate, and a sense of hope appeared in my heart. DJ was close real close and he was waiting for the right moment to make his move.

         "Dan, I owe you nothing. Besides how did you even find me? There are a millions of people all over the world, how did you figure out that we were in Ohio and not in California?" I asked, as curiosity got the cat.

         "For a little girl you sure are nose. but since I'm trying to drag this out I've had people watching the two of you since I started dating your mother. Even after I was locked up they still continued to watch you. And my friends on the inside and the outside helped me to locate you as quickly as I did. You can thank the government that your about to die, I mean they really should pay more attention to the prisoners that show no remorse, because look at how far I've come and loot at everything I am about to get." he said, with a chuckle.

         Before he could go any further DJ and his partner barged into the room shouting "Put your hands up and don't move or we will shot."

         He threw his hands up and all the while looked at me saying. "You little bitch. How dare you? When did you call them you haven't used a phone the entire time I've been in the room."

         "Your right I didn't use my phone my brother is knocked out in the chair because of something you convinced the doctor to give him, and the only other person who would have been at the door was on his way when you first knocked." I answered, as DJ read him his Miranda Rights and placed the cuffs on his hand.

         DJ helped his partner walk Dan down to the car where another squad car waited to transport him to the county while they waited for his arraignment. Only when DJ knew both the officers had him under control did he return to my room and rouse my brother, and then finally came over to my bedside kissing me on the forehead saying. "You scared me for a minute Ky' I really thought that he was going to get to you before I could.

         "I'm fine, truly I am. You don't have to worry so much the worst he did was grab my arm and examine the ring on my hand and call me names. DJ you came in at the right time, and I can't wait to be your wife and to hopefully carry another one of your kids that can actually make it into this world." I said, as I reached my lips towards his searching for a kiss I knew would come, while all my brother cold do was sit in his chair and smile at the fact that I had finally found happiness.