A Burnt Novel
"Ugh, I hate your old people music," Cameron whined reaching between the console to change the station. Her seatbelt restricted her reach so she flared her arm towards them helplessly.
"Honey sit back down, I will change it. What channel is it?" Cameron's mom, Scarlett asked, finger hovering over the buttons.
"Just let me do it, it will be quicker." Cameron unbuckled her seat and lifted out of her chair extending her arm towards the controls.
"Cameron please take a seat. Put your seatbelt back on." Her dad, Evan warned checking the review mirror, but only seeing his daughters head blocking his view.
"Almost... and got it." She smiled with delight as the radio blasted what she considered 'good music'.
"Sit." Evan said sternly as he moved to turn off the highway.
"I'm sitting, I'm sitting..." she replied, easing backwards.
But she never got to sit. Cameron never saw it coming. None of them did. Cameron flew forward through the windshield and into the truck that collided with them. The airbags went off only after they were collided from the back causing Scarlett and Evan to jolt forward, then backwards before they knew what was happening. They were knocked unconscious, bleeding out. As their bodies lay motionless an ambulance was called, but the drivers didn't know if they would make it in time.
"Stay with me, come on... yeah I'm just off of..." the man cried into the phone. He looked down for one second, one second! His dad and him were having issues and he just needed to drive so he wouldn't punch his dad in the face. Then all of a sudden a truck came barreling out of nowhere, he didn't hit the breaks in time. These poor people's car was smushed to smithereens from both ends. Although his van was quite smashed it was nothing compared to their Toyota. "Yeah I'm still here," he went on. "You can't miss it."
"Shit, shit, shit." The truck driver screamed when he got out of the car. There was a teenager slammed, face crushed, against the grill of his car, he could smell her skin burning, swore he heard her bones crack under the pressure. "Should we move her?" He questioned the opposing driver, getting closer. "You think they are alive?" The man on the phone shook his head, shrugged his tense shoulders, fear coursing through him.
"I think I see him breathing," the man on the phone said wearily when he looked to Evan, his chest rising and falling slowly, like a beat of a fading drum.
"And the girl, damn I'm screwed man." The truck driver called out kicking at his tire.
"What the hell were you even doing on this side of the road?" The man screamed at the truck driver.
A small cough came from the car and the men stopped yelling, they moved quickly to the sound. "Umm," Scarlett moaned out unable to open her eyes, but she heard voices.
"She's alive. Hi, I'm Andy, and I called the police and an ambulance is coming." Andy shot the truck driver a glare. "You are going to be okay." He told Scarlett even though she looked to be anything but okay.
"Cam, Ev..." she murmured breathlessly. The seatbelt was digging into her neck, taking away her air supply one breath at a time.
"Your family? They are here... sort of." Andy didn't know what to say, didn't know what to do. He was 22 years old, living at home, working at Kohl's until an actual job came his way. He wasn't ready for something like this. No amount of life experience readied you for the moment you collide with someone and possibly ended their life.
"Cam, Ev..." Scarlett tired again and she heard a moan from next to her just as she slipped out of consciousness.
Sirens started to grow louder in the distance and Andy and the truck driver, Dave waved their hands wildly, as if the ambulance couldn't see where the accident was.
"Are you alright?" The medic asked scanning Andy and Dave, as he moved to the crash, to Scarlett, Evan and Cameron. "Dear Lord." He muttered. "Let's get her off of this, slowly and carefully." He said to his team who emerged through the dark moments later.
"Please, please, please, don't die. Please, please, please, don't die. Please, please, please," Dave repeated over and over again as the medic's figured out how to safely pull Cameron off of the grill of his truck.
"What happened?" Suddenly an officer appeared. At least it felt like suddenly to Andy because he had become transfixed on the mess that was in front of him. Fire fighters and rescue teams pried open the car doors and removed Evan and Scarlett from their seats, immediately putting pressure on their wounds and moving them into the ambulance.
"Her face... what's going to happen to her face?" Andy questioned unable to take his eyes off the little girls broken, mangled face.
"Please, please, please, don't let them die. Please, please, please, don't let her die." Dave clasped his hands together praying. He hadn't prayed in years but this felt like a good time to start.
"Please sir can you tell me what happened?" The officer asked again, shinning a flashlight towards Andy and Dave.
"I'm so sorry!" Dave said dropping to the ground, his head falling into his knees. "I swerved off the road, I didn't see them." He panted through labored breaths. "I spilled hot coffee on my pants, I looked down, I swerved... I'm so sorry." He called to the ambulance even though he knew they couldn't hear him.
"I didn't see them stop, I didn't see the accident." Andy stammer as he pulling as his fingers causing his knuckles to crack. "I hit the brakes, but it wasn't soon enough." The police officer nodded, taking their names and insurance cards, their license plates, all their information would have to be sent through proper channels in an incident like this.
"And lift on three... one," they positioned on top of and around the car, sticking gloved fingers between the grill and towards Cameron's charred and throbbing face. "Two... three." Gracefully they lifted Cameron off of the car, but her face didn't look human anymore. "Get them to the hospital now!" one of the medics screamed up to the driver as the door shut.
"I have to set her arm, and it looks like she got some glass in her ear as well..." one of the medics said as they grazed a gently finger over the blood oozing out of Scarlett's ear. "Help me set the arm." Jenkins and Barrymore positioned around Scarlett popping her arm back in place as Cameron's face was smeared with ointment and wrapped with gauze.
"I have never seen anything like this before." Rau said as he finished wrapping Cameron's face. "This poor girl, there's not much left to see... hey he's up. Jenkins, check on him." Jenkins moved away from Scarlett and towards Evan.
"Hey, you were in an accident, we are taking you to the hospital... no, no, no," he urged Evan back down slowly cradling his head until it hit the gurney. "Please stay down."
"What happened?" Evan croaked out. There was a throbbing in his head and he felt a trickle of blood drip into his eye. He blinked rapidly at the discomfort.
"These burns look old, but your skin is still fragile. I need you to calm down." Jenkins tried to ease Evan's pain, but he was confused and frustrated. First real day out in the field and he got a crispy man, a deformed girl and a beautiful but bloodied woman all about to die on him.
"Jenkins do you job," Rau said evenly, "tell him what happened while you stitch him up."
"Um, there was an accident." Jenkins voice came out weak and unclear.
"My family, Scarlett... Cameron..." Evan huffed as he leaned forward seeing them unconscious around him. "Scarlett." He reached a hand over and grasped hers. "Are they going to be okay?" Evan asked sitting upright through the pain. This was nothing compared to what he suffered years ago, but seeing his family broken and battered, it brought back old memories, things he never wanted to see again, to feel again.
"Jenkins take her, hi sir my name is Max Barrymore. Can you sit still for me?" Evan nodded as Jenkins moved to wrap Scarlett's leg where the glass broke off the windshield and torn into her flesh. "There was accident, a truck collided with your car. We are about 10 minutes out still, but you and your family are in good hands."
"C-C-Cameron's face," Evan stuttered looking to his daughter. "Why is it wrapped? Wh-what happened?" Evan questioned quietly still not releasing Scarlett's hand.
"She flew through the windshield," Barrymore went on as he finished stitching up Evan's eyebrow and cheek, he moved on to his arm which had a giant gash running through it. "Flew into the grill of the truck," he looked up to Evan, he didn't have any pain killers in him, just some dull local anesthesia yet he sat unfazed by the needle, by the gashes around his body. "The doctors will know what to do..." he tried to reassure Evan, but he didn't what could be done. He didn't know if that little girl would survive the night.
Evan had been through worse, his own pain was nothing compared to what he saw when they arrived at the hospital.
"14 year old female, went through the windshield of the car and directly into the grill of a semi-truck. Face is swollen and melted, burnt and I don't know, have a look." Rau said as he pulled the bandages off some of her skin came along with it.
"Dear lord, this is why I make my kids wear seatbelts," the nurse stated blatantly.
"She took it off for one second!" Evan screamed. He told her to sit back down, he told her to put her seatbelt back on. He told her, he told her, maybe if he would have just changed the channel himself this never would have happened. Maybe if they weren't in the city, scenario after scenario ran through his mind as his daughter was brought into an exam room, his wife moved to another.
"A 41 year old male with lacerations, possible internal bleeding." Barrymore interrupted as Evan was brought in with Scarlett. "Get him an ultrasound to check, but he has been really tough throughout this whole experience." Barrymore said to one of the nurses.
"Look at his face, you call that tough?" Nurse Ethaline asked, "that looks like a broken man in desperate need for everything to be alright." Barrymore looked to her, her valentine face giving Evan and Scarlett a hopeful look. "What about her?"
"40 year old female, with a dislocated shoulder, which we set in the car," Jenkins chimed in. "Small lacerations on the shoulder and I was picking out glass shards from her leg the majority of the ride over," he told the pretty nurse. "We should scan her and see if there is any more in her."
"Probably best to check him too," Ethaline said looking to Evan. "What's your name?"
"Evan, Evan Brooks. This is my wife Scarlett. Can you tell me where my daughter was brought? I need to see her, make sure she's okay."
"Of course Evan, I will have someone locate your daughter right away, what's your daughter's name?"
"Cameron. She had her face wrapped. They said she flew into the grill of the car. Her face was all wrapped up I couldn't even see her." Evan sobbed as Scarlett stirred in her spot. Ethaline nodded to another nurse who exited immediately.
"Can I get you checked out? Do a few scans and make sure you're-"
"Check Scarlett first." Evan interrupted. "Make sure she is okay." Ethaline nodded just as someone brought in a portable scanner.
"Get me Dr. Banner." Ethaline said calmly as she pulled the scanner away from Scarlett. "Can I check you while I wait for the doctor to get here to check on your wife?" Evan nodded slowly.
"Evan?" Scarlett moaned.
"I'm here. I'm here, love." Ethaline loved how in love they were, she wanted to find that one day. She needed to find that, someone that cared more for her above anyone else, made sure she was okay before themselves. Ture love, that's what they had and she wanted just a fraction of it in her life.
"You are good to go, Evan." Ethaline said after pulling out a small shard from his side and patching it up. Once she reviewed the scans, she knew that something really wasn't right with Scarlett. "Scarlett though," she turned back to Scarlett who tried to sit up, but her body refused to move. "I need you to stay put. There are some shards of glass in your stomach and I think the doctor is going to want to do surgery to remove it." Scarlett nodded as Evan stood up, grabbing her hand.
"Where's Cameron? Is she okay?" Scarlett looked around the room frantically for her daughter. "And Eliot? He wasn't with us right?"
"No, Eliot was at his friend's house. A sleepover, remember? He is safe, I will call when I know you are all safe." Evan kissed Scarlett's head the taste of her blood lingering on his tongue, she nodded knowing he was in control, Evan would get them through this, like always.
"Hello, I'm Dr. Banner." He looked between Evan and Scarlett then to Ethaline. "What have you got for me?" Ethaline held up the scans. "Oh, well then... mind if I take a look?" he asked Scarlett as he pulled up her shirt and examined the cuts along her abdomen.
"Our daughter... is she okay?" Banner looked between them, he was swamped with people tonight. He couldn't keep track of who was dead nor alive anymore.
"Ethaline, will you check on their daughters status for them?" She left immediately. "Now it looked as though you might be needing surgery but I'm going to try and get this out in the least invasive way possible." He informed Scarlett as he began to scrub and cleanse Scarlett preparing her wounds. "I'm going to ask you to wait outside while we do this." Dr. Banner informed Evan as a mask was placed over Scarlett's mouth and she drifted to sleep due to the anesthesia.
"I love you," Evan whispered as he was lead out.
"Oh my," Ethaline held a hand to her mouth when she saw who she assumed was Cameron Brooks. "This little come in with two parents? A car crash?" she questioned stepping closer. They nodded barely looking to her as they tried to salvage her face. "What can I tell her parents?"
"Nothing, tell them nothing." Dr. Cade demanded, "you scrub in and figure out how to help save this little girl." Ethaline did as she was told. Hours passed, Scarlett was fine waking up from the anesthesia, Evan was antsy, but no one allowed them to see their daughter. She was brought back into surgery where they tried to remold her face but the bone was shattered, her soft tissue was damaged beyond repair, her connective tissue and muscle irritated. Her veins, arteries where allowing blood flow but it was weak and her nerves were severed and fried, they had no idea what to do next.
"Evan?" Scarlett said as they sat her upright.
"The surgery went well, they got out all the glass and..." Evan looked out the window. "Cammie is still in surgery, they aren't telling me anything." Evan now knew how his parents felt when he was rushed in and out of surgery, not knowing if their son was alive or what really happened.
8 hours later, it was 6 in the morning and Evan and Scarlett were filled to the brim with exhaustion and overwhelming pain. 8 hours of pacing and crying, 8 hours of praying that God saved Cameron, that she wouldn't have to live a life like they did, filled with discrimination and strange looks, having to live, but not really living at all.
"Hi, Evan, Scarlett," Ethaline's face gave them the slightest bit of hope that everything would be alright. "Cameron is coming out of surgery now. I can take you to her once she is in a room."
"Thank you," Scarlett said, reaching for Ethaline's hand. "She's okay?"
"I think that..." Ethaline looked away not knowing what to say. "Cameron is alive," Ethaline decided on. "The doctor is going to talk to you as soon as she can." She looked to them, bruised and broken faces. She couldn't be the one to tell them what was to come of their daughter. "Would you like to call anyone before you get in there?" She pulled a phone up on the desk for them.
"Should we call the Kyle's let them know?" Evan questioned pointing towards the phone.
"I can call, but I don't want them to tell Eliot. It will only worry him. Just to see if they can keep him a bit longer. Until we have things figured out." Scarlett said reaching for the desk phone.
Evan paced as Scarlett talked her sweet voice filling the waiting room, calming Evan on the spot. He leaned against the wall watching Scarlett cup one hand over her opposing ear to hear Karen Kyle better. Thank you Lord that Eliot was at a sleepover, Evan thought as Scarlett said goodbye.
"She said it was fine and will be praying for Cammie." Scarlett told Evan once she put the phone back down. "Can we see her now?"
"Oh my sweet girl." Scarlett said raising a hand to her mouth in shock. She didn't know what she was looking at.
"Her face, her face." Evan couldn't stop saying it. Her face was gone.
"Mr. and Mrs. Brooks?" Dr. Cade asked as she walked through the door, shutting it softly behind her.
"What happened? You were in surgery for so long..." Scarlett sobbed. "What happened? What did you do?" She knelt down at the side of Cameron's bed, pressing her head against her daughters hand.
"Her bones were shattered, her tendons and muscles destroyed... I have never seen anything like it."
"What does that mean though?" Evan questioned, looking from Dr. Cade to Cameron. Ethaline stood perfectly still in the corner of the room, Cameron was her patient now. She was going to stick with girl until she was healthy again, she was going to stick with her until the end.
"It means that her face may never be the same. That she is going to need surgery, many surgeries to try and repair her facial structure. The rest of her body is fine besides some small lacerations and a dislocated shoulder. Which we popped her shoulder back in place and we stitched her up, those will heal quickly compared to her face. But I'm sorry to say that she may never be the same." Scarlett looked to Evan her own face puffy from tears, she couldn't believe this was happening. She knew how her parents felt now after her car accident all those years ago now. The waiting and waiting and hearing those words she may never be the same drilled through Scarlett. Her children were happy and healthy and Scarlett and Evan made sure that they had a good life. What was she supposed to do now that something out of their control took total control of their lives?
"She is going to be okay?" Evan questioned confused, frustrated. She didn't look alright, she didn't look like in a few days she would be up and ready to take on the rest of freshman year. She looked like she would be hiding in her room for the rest of her life.
"We are going to do everything we can to give your daughter the best life possible. But first we need her skin to heal and her body to rest. It will help if she is stronger before we continue." Dr. Cade went on. "Cameron is now my top priority and I will do everything I can to get her back to normal."
"Normal, as if it was all too simple before this." Scarlett said with a chuckle.
"We will figure it out, we always have." Evan said kissing her head. She looked up to him with a small nod, tears dripping from her cheeks to the floor. This was her baby girl though, not her, how was she supposed to deal with this when she couldn't do anything to make her baby girl feel better? To fix her... Scarlett continued to cry softly as the doctor talked.
Dr. Cade went over what they did, but from the looks of Cameron's sleeping face it looked like they did nothing but remove the dents of the grill that seared her skin. Ethaline waited quietly, moving to get them water and anything they needed, she couldn't imagine what they were going through.
"I'm going to do some research, make some calls." Dr. Cade informed them. "See what we can do for Cameron." Dr. Cade said and she left. She was going to have a long day ahead of her.
"Mom? Dad?" Cameron tried to speak but her words came out mumbled and muffled by fresh bandages.
"Honey, don't try to talk. We were in an accident..." Scarlett's voice broke.
"It's going to be okay, you are going to be okay. The doctors are trying to fix you, make you well again." Evan said wrapping and arm around Scarlett. "I'm so sorry we couldn't protect you."