There was an Accident

"Tell me about her."

"Todd...I can't. I mean, I've never met her. I don't know what to tell you."

"Why would she come to visit me?"

"She didn't!"

Todd moved his head in a slow, almost imperceptible nod.

"What did she say?"

"That she had followed me, in the news, and wanted to meet me, and something about sharing something with me."

Kim's face showed surprise, then something else. She looked like she was trying to not look surprised, but innocent.

"I don't..."

"Kim. I've been awake for a couple of months now. I've come to terms with how I am. I can handle the truth. Don't lie to me, please."

"Not to me, you haven't. Two days, that's how long you've been awake, and the doctors say you can't."

"Do you think they're right?"

"No, maybe, I don't know. I just want my brother back, like you were, and I don't want to do anything that will hurt you."

Todd waited, looking at his sister's downcast eyes.

Slowly, Kim raised her eyes and looked at her brother. He smiled at her.

"We're...Dad and Mom, for you, are suing her, her parent's estate. Kelly's...your girlfriend's parents too."

"Suing? Um, I don't..."

"Going to court, to make her pay for, um, what happened to you and your girlfriend."

"Kelly. Zahra told me her name."

"She wasn't supposed to talk to you. You're suing her."

"She didn't mention that part, I don't think.

"Mom and Dad didn't come to visit me today."

"They did. You were asleep. They didn't want to bother you, so they didn't stay."

"Yeah, I was tired this afternoon. I got out of bed earlier."

"I know. How was it?"

"Hard. They had to pick me up and put me in a wheelchair. They strapped me in, I guess to keep me from falling out."

"I wanted to stay tonight, Todd. I didn't care if you were asleep or awake, I just wanted to be near you."

"I love you, Kim."

Kim's smile seemed to light up the room. She grabbed her blanket and stood up then walked to the foot of Todd's bed and crawled up.

"Kim, I want to talk."

"OK, but I want to lie down with you. I don't want to go home tonight."

Kim gently moved her brother, starting with his feet and legs, toward the railing on one side of the bed, eventually getting to his head and shoulders. She threw her blanket over herself and reclined on her side next to him.

He could feel her legs against his through the blanket separating them, and her hand felt warm resting in the center of his chest.

"Is this OK, Todd?" she whispered beside his shoulder.

He wanted her to touch his hard penis inside his diaper. It had been hard since he noticed her asleep in the chair, but he wanted to talk more.

"Perfect. You smell nice, like..."

Kim's hair smelled familiar, but it took him a few seconds to recognize the taste of his first meal in months.

"Strawberries."

"That's my shampoo," Kim giggled.

"Tell me about us."

"About us? You mean, like, what's going to, I don't know, like, what?"

"What we were like with each other before, growing up and stuff."

"Oh, OK. It's a long story, nineteen years long."

"We're nineteen? I didn't know that."

"No, we're twenty now. You, we, missed our birthdays this year. We always had a birthday party on the weekend after our birthdays. I couldn't stand to do it this year, without you."

"Don't you mean our birthday? Just one day?"

"No, little brother, we have separate birthdays."

Todd had turned his head to face her when she lay down beside him. Now he narrowed his eyes to scowl at her.

Kim laughed. It wasn't a giggle, but a full, happy laugh. It sounded like music to Todd, and he smiled at his sister.

"We're seventeen minutes apart, but I was born at 11:55 at night. You were born the next day at 12:12 in the morning. Officially, I'm a day older than you are, and we have different birthdays."

"That's so not fair," Todd groaned.

"And that's so like you. If I had a dollar for every time you've said that, I'd be a rich woman now."

Kim scooted herself up in the bed, and kissed her brother gently on the lips.

"I love you, too," she whispered, her lips softly brushing against his as she spoke.

"So, back to your, our story."

"If you're going to be interrupting me every minute, it's going to take forever."

"I'm not going anywhere. Take your time."

"I can't tell this story without Kelly, though."

"Kelly? Why?"

"It was always you, me, and Kelly. I don't remember not knowing her. As far as I'm concerned, our family has never moved. We still live in the same house since before I can remember. Kelly's house is one street over, but our backyards are next to each other. They took the fence down when we were little kids, to make it easier for us.

"It was never you and me, it was always the three of us. Peas in a pod is what they called us, the three musketeers. She was my best friend, and your best friend."

Todd could see tears welling in his sisters eyes.

"I miss her so much, even though the last few years it was more you and her than the three of us."

"Why?"

"Because on your sixteenth birthday, you went to the DMV to get your driver's license, and after you got it you couldn't even wait until you got outside before you called Kelly and asked her to go on a date with you."

The tears on Kim's cheeks glistened in the dim light.

"I was so jealous. I had loved you for so long, but you were dating my best friend. I couldn't even be mad, because you're my brother, and my best friend, too."

"You were clueless, of course, but she knew. She knew I loved you. She knew I was jealous. She also knew you and I couldn't be together. Not like that, anyway. She never talked about, you know, stuff you two did with each other in private, but I knew when it happened the first time. She was absolutely glowing when I saw her the next day, the day after our senior prom."

"I was so jealous, but I tried to hide it. I wanted it to be me that was glowing, but if it was going to be anybody else in the world, I was glad it was Kelly. She loved me, and never, ever rubbed it in my face that she had you and I didn't."

Todd wanted to hold his weeping sister.

"I'm sorry, Kim."

"No, Todd, don't be. My two best friends, who had always been my best friends, were in love. I knew you'd be spending the rest of your lives together. I couldn't imagine a better situation. I hoped I would find somebody, one day, that could make me half as happy as you two were. I knew I would only be half as happy, because he wouldn't be you, but I was OK with that."

"Kim, can you tell me about Kelly?"

"I suppose if anybody can, it would be me."

"I mean, would it hurt you to tell me about her?"

"Nothing can ever hurt me as much as losing her and you on that horrible night."

"I wish I could hold you, Kim," Todd softly spoke.

Kim lifted herself up on an elbow, and looked down at her brother's arm under the cover. She smiled at him as she pulled the cover down and maneuvered his arm out, and above it. She squirmed and twisted, and eventually managed to lie down with his upper arm beneath her neck and her fingers laced between his. His arm was around her, draped over her shoulder as she held him there.

"Better?" she asked him. Tears were still running down her cheeks.

"Perfect."

Kim drew in a ragged breath, then sobbed.

"Kim? What's wrong?"

Todd studied his sister's face as she wept. Silently, he let her cry. He hadn't really considered how difficult this was for her.

"I...was there," she sobbed next to him.

He didn't know what she meant, but didn't question her as she continued to sob.

"We had all gone to dinner, you, Kelly, me, her parents and our parents." Her voice was thick with grief as she spoke.

"The three of us had finished our first year of college, and all done well. We were celebrating. We had all become one big, happy family. After dinner, you and Kelly were going to a movie, but I had work, so we all drove separate cars.

"I was behind you. I saw the headlights cross the median, the explosion as they hit you, the wreckage spinning across the road."

"Oh my God, Kim." Todd was crying now.

"I just remember screaming. I couldn't stop screaming. I was staring at the pile of twisted metal beside me and screaming. I couldn't see anybody inside. It didn't even look like a car anymore."

Todd tried to pull his sobbing sister closer, but was just too weak, so he just let her cry.

Eventually, Kim spoke again.

"I don't remember them taking me out of my car, or putting me in an ambulance to take me to the hospital."

It took Todd a minute to move his face to the top of his sister's head, and he kissed her.

"I woke up, in the hospital, and I was still screaming. They gave me a shot to make me stop. I didn't want to stop. I never wanted to stop screaming. I knew you were both dead."

Chapter 30

"Eh hem."

Todd had been awake for a few minutes, but hadn't opened his eyes. He liked the feel of his sister's body against his as she slept. She had a bad night, and he wanted to let her sleep.

One of the men who had helped him take his tour the day before was standing in the doorway. He was trying to look mad, but the wry grin on his face betrayed his true emotions.

"Oh, hi," Todd whispered. He still didn't want to wake up his sister.

"You know those beds aren't made for two people, right?"

Todd was glad Kim had left her clothes on last night. He just couldn't seem to manage to not have an erection when she was around though, so he still felt a little vulnerable.

He felt Kim stir beside him.

"Mm, good morning," Kim purred, then quickly sat up as best she could in the crowded bed.

"Oh! Um, hi?"

Kim looked at her brother beside her. He could see a little panic in her eyes. He thought she looked particularly cute this morning with her blond curls going every which way around her pretty face. Her puffy, red eyes were obvious though. Everyone would know she had been crying.

"Good morning, Kim. Did you sleep well?" the nurse asked her.

"Um, not so good. We were talking."

Kim pulled her blanket off and threw it on the floor before crawling off the foot of the bed. Todd could see the blush on her cheeks.

"I understand. I'm a medical professional, and I know how close twins can be."

"So this doesn't need to be a big deal?" Kim looked up at the nurse as she spoke.

Todd kind of thought her asking if it was a big deal might make it a big deal.

"I have no problem with it. It's not like you were naked."

"I've just missed my brother so much, and now he's back."

"I'm just here to get Todd ready for his day, not cause trouble for anybody."

"Well, OK then. I have things to do today, but I'll be back tonight, little brother. Love you."

Kim kissed him on the forehead, and left after retrieving her sneakers.

Chapter 31

Todd's breakfast was Fruit Medley. He just tasted something almost sweet underneath the nasty though. It was easier to keep down today, and he almost didn't gag at all.

After his trip through the hallways, they helped him raise his arms for a few minutes before putting him back in bed. He was shaky and sweaty when they finally put him back in bed.

"Hey, any chance of the TV working today? It's not that the room isn't beautiful and luxurious, but it's kind of boring."

"Sorry, the maintenance guy is swamped. It might be a few more days," the nurse said as he headed for the door.

"I know what's wrong with it."

The nurse stopped and turned to look at him.

"Oh?"

"Yeah, it's the bad programming. There might be pictures of me on the news."

"Kim knows better..." the nurse started gruffly.

"It wasn't Kim. I had a new visitor yesterday."

"New? Who?"

"Zahra something or other."

"What the hell. I'll be back."

Chapter 32

After Todd's lunch of the least nasty of all flavors, peach, there had still been nothing said about the TV. He thought they were intentionally avoiding it, hoping he would forget.

His arms were aching a little bit from his morning workout, and he was considering asking for something to make him feel better when Doctor came to his room, with two men in suits.

"Todd, we're sorry to bother you, but we need to talk," one of the suits said.

The suit introduced himself as the hospital administrator and the other suit as Todd's attorney. He didn't particularly care about names. He had enough other things on his mind. Of course, Doctor needed no introduction, though Todd still didn't know his name.

"It's come to our attention that certain parties have been in contact with you, inappropriately," Attorney started.

"Um, I've been told I went to high school, and did well my first year of college," Todd interrupted. "I don't remember any of that. I'm finding more words every day that I don't know. If you want me to understand with the fewest interruptions, you're going to need to simplify things."

"If I say something you don't understand, just raise your hand," Attorney started again.

"No."

"Um, no?"

"I can't just raise my hand. I've been in a coma for six months. I'll just say 'stop'.

"Fine. I hear you had a visitor yesterday. Zahra Muzainah. She shouldn't have come to talk to you, and we need to know what she said."

"It takes three of you to ask me what a stranger said to me?"

"There's a medical issue here, Todd," Doctor spoke up. "Your memory, if and when it comes back, shouldn't be influenced by somebody telling you about it."

He didn't want to get Kim in trouble, and she had told him way more than Zahra had. He wondered if he should tell Kim to not tell him anything else, but he wanted to know, and it seemed that the 'if' Doctor had used was pretty big.

"The fact that someone on the hospital staff let her in to talk to you is also troubling, for me," Administrator added.

"OK. She told me she had followed my story on the news. She had some interest in my recovery, because of something about sharing something with me. She told me her father was driving the car that hit us, Kelly and me. I didn't remember Kelly's name until she told me. She asked if I hate her, and that some people would. That's about it."

"That's all? She didn't tell you it wasn't her fault, and that you shouldn't be punishing her?" Attorney asked.

"Am I punishing her?"

"Yes. You're asking her to pay you for what her father did."

"No I'm not. I've never asked anyone to do that."

"I'm asking her to, on your behalf."

"Why? She wasn't driving. Probably she couldn't have done anything to stop it."

"The money we're asking for would have been hers, eventually, if her parents had lived. It's hers now though."

"So, it wouldn't have been hers if the accident had never happened. Doesn't seem like it would have changed her life, but now that it did happen, it won't change her life if she doesn't get to keep it. Should I care?"

"Yes, you should care, Todd. The insurance has already paid almost as much for your medical bills as they're going to. You still have a long way to go before you can hope to have a normal life."

"Is that what she meant about sharing something with me?"

"Most likely."

"She didn't seem too worried about that, like she already knew it was going to happen."

"We offered to settle with her. We asked for everything she was going to receive from her parents. That was yesterday morning. Then she showed up here yesterday afternoon."

"I think she was here in the morning, but I was busy until after lunch. What do you mean, you offered to settle?"

"We told her, well, her attorney, that if she paid us the amount we asked her for, we would stop asking."

"What about Kelly, her parents, Kim...all the people that loved Kelly. Money isn't going to make them feel better."

"You're right Todd, money won't make them feel better, but it might make them a little bit less unhappy. Her parents would be getting a good deal of money to make them a little less unhappy about losing their child."

"So what difference does it make what she said to me yesterday?"

"We just assumed that she would be trying to get you to take less. It doesn't sound like that's why she came."

"What happens next. You're waiting for something else, right?"

"Yes. Her attorney will write us a counter-offer. He will say she will pay less. It will be a fraction of what we asked for. We'll go back and forth like that until we agree. If we can't agree on a fair amount, we'll let the court decide."

"I want to know when anything happens. You'll tell me, right away, right?"

"Todd..."

"You're my attorney, right?"

Attorney looked at Doctor and he nodded. Then he looked at Administrator, and he kind of shrugged his shoulders and nodded.

"OK, Todd. I'll let you know."

Chapter 33

"Dinner time, Todd."

Todd groaned without opening his eyes. His arms hurt, but Doctor had not let him have anything to give him relief.

"You need to eat. Now up and at 'em, young man."

"What flavor of monkey piss do you have for me tonight?" he groaned without opening his eyes.

He thought monkey piss was a fitting description, once he had been told what a monkey was.

"Peach."

"I just had that for lunch."

"Yeah, and you said it was the best, so until you say you're tired of it, you can have all you want."

"I'm tired of it. Isn't there some flavor I haven't gagged on yet?"

"We just got a new flavor you haven't tried yet. Mango."

"Mango...mm. Sounds delish. What's a mango? It sounds related to monkey."

"It's not anything like monkey. It's a tropical fruit. I haven't tried it, but I like mango pie and fresh mangoes."

"OK, I'll have that then."

"I'll write a note for in the morning. You gotta have what I made already tonight."

"You make that stuff, and you're willing to admit it?"

"Yeah, smart ass, we make it, with tender loving care, just for you."

"I guess I'm supposed to appreciate it then?" Todd winked at the nurse.

"That would be nice."

The nurse smiled at him and held the end of the tube to his mouth.

"Mm, yummy as always. Thank you sweetheart."

"Your pet names don't affect me at all. I know you call all the nurses that. Even Dale."

"Dale loves it when I call him sweetheart."

Todd managed to choke his meal down without gagging. Peach was, in fact, his favorite. At least until tomorrow morning when he got to try mango.

"I have a present for you," the nurse announced as she was putting the blood pressure cuff back into the pocket of her scrubs. They only checked his vitals now before or after they fed him.

"Now who's flirting with who?"

"Not me! I'm happily married!"

The nurse picked up his hand and plopped a flat, square, black box between his bony fingers.

"What's this?"

She flipped it over in his hand to reveal five large buttons: Power, Channel Up, Channel Down, Volume Up, and Volume Down.

"It's the remote for your television."

"They fixed it?"

The nurse rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, they fixed it. It just needed a remote control."

Todd was flipping through the channels, for the fifth time, looking for a news show, when Kim bounced into the room, and kicked the door closed behind her with a loud bang.

"Oops. Sorry. I'm just so happy to be here, I got carried away."

Todd pressed the Volume Down button until the TV was silent. He had to have the remote on the bed and just push the buttons from there.

"Oh, you've got your TV working? Nice."

"Kim, you're looking gorgeous tonight."

"Thank you, lover," she said as she spun around for him on one foot. The motion caused her loose skirt to spin outward and up, and her red panties clearly showed under it.

"Why the unusually good mood tonight?" Todd asked his sister.

"Do you love me? I mean really love me, like I love you?"

"I do. I don't think it would be possible to not love you, the way you love me."

"And that's why I'm in such a spectacularly good mood!"