Hero & Villains

The world seemed to move in slow motion.  The car speeding towards the form of the little girl absentmindedly stopping to pick up whatever it was she'd dropped.  Every second lasted a lifetime until the passerby saw everything that was going to happen and before the universe had chance to allow events to play out in such a tragic way the man had charged out into the road, forcefully pushing the little girl out of the danger zone.  She went falling on her face and let out a cry of pain as she scrapped skin and banged her arm.

However, it was all drowned out by the screeching of tires as the drive of the car slammed his brakes on.  The driver hadn't seen the girl, but he had certainly spotted the man diving in front of his moving vehicle.  The moment the sound of squealing brakes penetrated the air time returned to its normal pace and everything happened in mere milliseconds.

Those watching the scene could only stare in horror as the driver slammed into the body of the little girl's saviour, the body bouncing like a carelessly thrown ragdoll on his bonnet before falling to the floor in a pile of limbs, glass and blood.  Reversing several feet from the limp body, the drive climbed out of the car to stand over the body, hands fisting in his hair as he panicked.  The little girl was still crying, her screams made louder when she set eyes on the man that had pushed her out of the way.

---

The last thing Raleigh remembered was seeing the red car heading straight for the little girl and all thoughts in his head yelling at his feet to charge out there and get her out of the way, regardless of his own safety.  After that there was just a huge blank.  He was unconcious the moment the car hit him.  He had no knowledge of what happened afterwards, of the witnesses gathering around him, the paramedics pushing the crowds away.  They took both Raleigh and the girl to the hospital while the police interviewed the driver and anyone who could offer more information on what happened.

The first thing he noticed was just how numb he felt.  Forcing his eyes opened, Raleigh stared up at the ceiling, his ears picking up on the beeping sounds of the various machines his body was hooked up to.  It was then he began coughing, choking against the tube stuffed down his throat.  Lifting an arm that felt like lead, he pulled out whatever had been jammed down into his lungs causing a warning alarm to go off.  Nurses and doctors instantly appeared around him and they all began fussing and talking to the point where he could barely make anything out.  Eventually though, they left him along to once again take stock of his surroundings and current state.

His right leg and left arm were both in a cast.  Peering under the blankets he noticed a large amount of bandages wrapped around him  Letting out a loud groan he dropped his head back against the pillow and surmised that the only reason he wasn't in intense pain was because he was being pumped full of drugs.  His brain felt like it didn't completely want to catch up with his thoughts and everything swam around in his head like soup.  Glancing to his right he saw various cards and ballons, all proclaiming he should "Get Well Soon" apart from one that looked hand-drawn that said "Idiot" in what was obviously Lake's handwriting.

So Lake had been to visit?  Just how long had he been out?  Wait...when was visiting hours?

"El....?"

"They've only allowed family to visit you - and me," said a small voice from the doorway.

Tilting his head to better see who it was that was hiding behind his raised leg, the little girl he'd pushed out of the path of the car carefully and cautiously picked her way to the side of the bed.  She was dressed in a hospital gown with bandages on her arms, legs and face.  Her left arm hung in a sling.  "The nice nurse lady said you were awake now and I could say thank you," she explained.  "I'm Shawnee."

If the little girl was still in the hospital that meant he couldn't have been out for long.  He gave her a lazy smile (that most likely reflected just how drugged up he was) and rolled his shoulders into the mattress in an attempt to get a little more comfy.  "I'm Raleigh, and next time pay attention to the road."

At that she frowned.  "I'm sorry.  I didn't mean to get you hurt."

"At least you're okay," he said, reaching out his unbroken (because it was far from 'uninjured'), he ruffled his soft blonde curls affectionately.  "Why weren't you in school anyway?"  Raleigh could just recall that it was still during the school hours when he'd been walking down the road.  He was going to buy some more art materials and he only ever went shopping for those kinds of things when Elliot was in school.

"My Momma says I'm too stupid to go to school."

"How old are you, Shawnee?"

"Seven."

Sighing, he shook his head.  "No one's too stupid for school.  Where's your mom now?"

She frowned, looking extremely upset.  "The nice nurse lady said that no one was answering at home.  The lady who comes to our house sometimes was the only person to come to the hospital to see me.  She said my Momma's not at home."  She rubbed at her eyes with her free hand and Raleigh instantly felt the urge to sit up and hug her.  Unfortunately he felt like he'd been hogtied to the bed and all he could do was slip his arm around her shoulders and pull her as close as possible.

"Climb up here," he said, releasing her and patting the space on the bed beside himself.  The girl obeyed and scrambled up next to him where he could reach up and wipe her tears with his thumb.  "You can stay with me until the nice nurse lady comes to collect you.  I'm assuming she knows you're here?"  Shawnee nodded and he smiled.  "So what kinds of things do you like, Shawnee?"

---

Raleigh found out that he'd actually been out for two days, but only family had been allowed to visit him.  Kate, however, being his niece had managed to smuggle Elliot in once she heard about what had happened.  Elliot had been extremely worried when he'd turned up at Raleigh's after school and he wasn't there.  He'd sat in the dark fighting off tears until Kate had found him and informed him of what had happened.  The news had only managed to worsen Elliot's anxiety.  Once he was concious, friends were granted visits and Raleigh felt like he'd done something extremely bad when he saw the look on Elliot's face.

"I was so worried!  What if you'd been killed?  Don't do stupid things like that ever again!"

"But Shawnee...she would of..."

All attempts of explaination was thrown out of the window when Elliot threw his arms around Raleigh's neck and buried his face into his shoulder.  "Three days I've been a mess," Elliot mumbled.  "I'm proud, but I'm also extremely angry at you.  If you had died I don't know what I would have done."

With only one arm completly mobile, Raleigh did his best to console Elliot.  "I wasn't really thinking.  I just saw the girl and the car and my feet moved without me.  I would never - never ever - do anything intentionally that would mean I'd leave you, Eli.  I promise."  

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A.N. ...I was gonna write more...but my brain broke.....