Crash (Sequel to Unexpected)

Story Time

I hear him before I see him. His little footsteps come rushing down the hallway and Andy’s heels click against the tile rapidly.
“Brayden Daniel! Stop running!”
His footsteps stop and then there is a knock at my door. Andy and Brayden both enter and I smile.
“Hey Brayden.”
“Auntie Skye!”
He scurries over and hands me a get well card he made. I look at the little stick figure drawing and atrocious handwriting before smiling.
“Thank you, little man.”
He wraps his arms around me tightly and I wince.
“Brayden, Aunt Skye has some boo-boos. Be careful.”
He loosens his grip and then steps back. His eyes are the same color as mine. It shocks me sometimes when I notice my features in him. My ears and eyes are the big ones but he also has adorable little dimples that Andy claims he got from me.
“How was school?”
“Awesome! Mrs. White bringed in a lizard!”
“Wow! What color was he?”
“Green!”
The nurse chooses this moment to interrupt and inform me that I’m free to go and that all my paperwork is in order. I climb off the bed and grab my purse. I move slowly and carefully, not wanting to aggravate my injuries. Brayden continues telling me all about his day at kindergarten as we take the elevator down to the main floor. The warm spring air envelops me, the sweet scent the rain left behind sneaks into my nostrils. The pavement is still glistening with the moisture of the storm that lasted all day yesterday and into the early afternoon today. I climb into the backseat of Andy’s car, sitting next to Brayden’s car seat. We pull away from the hospital just as Brayden starts to tell be about how one of his classmates threw up on the carpet.