Happily Ever After

Crash Boom Bang

It was late one winter night in New York. Pi and Alexis had decided to get married. Yes they had broken up but they met again a few years later and really finally hit it off. Castle, Kate and their three kids (Johanna, Nathaniel, and Sydney) where on the way home from the wedding rehearsal dinner. It was blowing pretty hard and the visibility was pretty low but Castle was taking it slow and careful. He had is precious family in his minivan he was not about to lose any of them. Pulling up to an intersection Castle waited for the light to turn green and continue through. He had his wipers on the fastest they would go so he could see best. Carefully inching through the intersection a car comes from the right side and tags the corner of the van. It spins and with the strong winds causes it to flip. The one driver is ok for the most part and because he thinks he's ok and has no involvement he drives on through leaving the van upside down. It's all a blur as everything spins so fast, but once it stops Castle can tell he's upside down. He looks over at Kate as he tries to squint to see her. He can tell she's got red on her head, most likely from hitting her head which caused her to pass out. He's trying to see behind him but he can't turn his head. The pain is all to much for him. He can hear small cries though as he looks in the rear view mirror. He knows the baby (Sidney) is hanging upside down. He can't see his other kids and it terrifies him. Moments later a car is passing through and sees the van. Before getting out of his car the bystander calls 911. He knows it's freezing out there and he'd rather stay as warm as possible for as long as possible. A few moments later he grabs his jacket from the back set of his car throws it on and runs to the van. He can sees the front windshield is broken and he knows snow and cold are coming in by the second.

"Sir!" The man yells looking at Castle through the windshield.

"Sir please!" He begged.

"Stay with me! I called 911 they are on their way!" He shouts. He can hear the cries of a small baby in the back. He knows he's not supposed to move anyone but the cries are to much for him. He was going to try and get the baby out just as 911 arrive. Looking up, the bystander directed the EMT and firefighters over to the car. He points inside and tells them about what he had seen and heard. They usher him away and the firefighters are working out a way to get the family out. An EMT puts a c-collar on Castle and he is pulled out first. He's just barely awake but as he's being pulled out he's crying for his family.

"Sir, I'm going to need you to calm down!" He says trying to hold castle down. Hannie is out next and then they finally get Nathaniel. Next they are working on Kate. There's a firefighter trying to get Sidney out but he's stuck in his car seat. Finally Kate is out and she's starting to wake up. They clean up her head and sew in a few stitches to keep it closed. Hannie is now sitting on her dads lap. She's got a broken arm and a butterfly bandage on her head from when she hit her head. Seems to be fine but they want to take her in to make sure she did not have a concussion. Nathaniel was slowly waking up nothing major on him either. They had him on a stretcher just to check him out. It was Sidney. They couldn't figure out a way to safely get him out. He was still crying loudly and it killed Castle to hear his new baby cry. It was freezing by now and seeing that both Hannie and Nathaniel where ok for now they put the three in the one of the ambulances and closed the door. They wanted to keep them so they could take them all to the same hospital. Looking at every possibility the firefighters tried everything but it seemed as though the car seat was stuck. They wanted to just release it from its base but it was lodged and they where afraid of unbuckling Sidney for fear his head might snap and they'd be screwed. Finding an adult neck brace in the truck they cut down the foam so it would fit around the babies neck. Securing it closed with some tape just to hold it momentarily while they unclipped him. Getting the straps undone they slowly ease the baby out and hold him upright. They know his blood has to settle because he's been upside down for almost 20 minutes now. By now Kate is fully awake maybe not completely aware of what's going on but she knows it's bad and she has to see her baby. Seeing them walk over she cries out and reaches for him.

"Sid!" She cries. The EMT walks over and stands next to her.

"We need to check him out first ok? Then you can have him, I know he's got to be hungry." The EMT sighs. They check him out and so far so good. They hand him over to Kate and she tries to feed him inside the truck as they finally all make there way to the hospital. It's momentary but she's forgotten how to breastfeed. The EMT looks at her worried.

"Ma'am you ok?" He asks watching her. He thinks she might of suffered a brain injury from the crash.

"I'm ok, just fine." She says as her hand trembles trying to get him to latch on. He won't latch on because they are in an unfamiliar place and in a moving car. She freaks and is not sure what to do now.

"He won't eat, you have to help me." She says as the EMT looks at her.

"Just calm down, we will be at the hospital soon and the nurse can give him some formula. They arrive and the family is checked out to make sure nothing is wrong. Castle suffered from a fractured collarbone, Hannie broke her arm, Nathaniel came out ok, Sidney just had a few minor bumps and bruises, and Kate seemed to be having some memory issues. Every few minutes she'd forget but then moments later she'd remember and would act like nothing happened. They tried to figure out what was causing it but had no luck. They where just told that it should go away. It was most likely from her hitting her head. Finally the next day the family is able to go home. Alexis and Pi had decided to cancel the wedding and Martha, Castles mom offered and persisted to come over and help as everyone healed.