It Was Always You, love triangles with no point!

Chapter 18 - Trauma

A young Kareen sits alone in a cold hospital hallway. The nurses had wrapped bandages around her hands, while bandaids plaster her face along with stitches. She stares downward towards the tiled floor, reflecting a blurry image of herself. Her face was expressionless and damaged from the accident. The image of her mother's lifeless body lying against the mangled car's airbag plays on to repeat the events like a slideshow. She pants, her eyes filling with panic, and her heart beating fast. Kareen, panicked, moves her hands quickly through her hair manically, trying to comfort herself.

"She can't be dead... she can't be dead! Mom isn't..."

Her breathing slows and her arms go limp. She leans back into the chair, her head lying limply on her shoulder. Kareens eyes are now lifeless.

"She's gone."

There was screaming coming from the room close to her. Kareen's father is berating the doctors for not saving his wife. Kareen can make out every word her father says.

"Where is the bastard?! Where is the one who killed my wife?!" her father yells irrationally.

He slams his fist down against a desk, causing a slight buckling and creaking. The doctor steps back, slightly afraid of his manic outburst.

"Sir, please calm down!" The doctor begs, holding his hands up defensively.

"I will not! This bastard killed her, and you expect me to just sit here?"

"We cannot release information on patients. Understand me, please."

"No! You understand me! I lost my wife! Reyna meant everything to us! She was- She was..." His voice cracks.

He cries and falls to his knees, covering his face to hide the tears. The doctor steps toward him and leans down, attempting to comfort him. He cries loudly, unable to hold back any longer. The doctor doing their best to comfort him. Kareen, overhearing her father, comes into the room, now sobbing. He uncovers his eyes to see his daughter in the doorway, the two of them now sobbing. She runs to her father, wrapping her arms around him as he does the same. The two are crying together, holding each other close, as the doctor looks over at them, upset by the entire situation.

A few hours pass and Kareen, along with her father, says goodbye to the doctor and some nurses outside the hospital. The doctors and nurses return to the hospital while Kareen and her father make their way to their car. After entering the car, the two sit in silence, both their eyes red from crying. Her father cranks the ignition, the car's engine humming. He places his hand on the steering wheel, staring out longingly through the windshield.

"We're going to be OK Kareen..." He says, his voice cracking at every word.

Kareen looks at him, and breathes shakily, nodding her head in agreement. She leans toward the door and rests her head against the car window. She closes her eyes and drifts off to sleep, tired from the stress and pain of the day. Her father puts the car in drive and leaves the hospital.

After a few hours of driving, they arrive home. Kareens father exits the vehicle, gently opening the passenger side door. He unbuckles Kareen and picks her up. She wakes up briefly, muttering something incomprehensible, and her father smiles. He carries her inside and lays her down on her bed, covering her up in her blanket. He heads into the living room where he sits on the couch alone, and he breaks down once more over the loss of his wife.

Meanwhile, back in Kareen's room, she dreams of her mother. The dream starts off innocent, with the two sharing ice cream together at a shop.

"Oh, honey, you have some ice cream on your nose!" Her mother smiles at her, leaning forward and nuzzling the ice cream off with a napkin.

"Mom, stop! You're embarrassing me." She wines while giggling.

Her mother sits back down, laughing at Kareens reaction. Kareen drops her spoon onto the floor. She gets a surprised look on her face, then bends down to get the spoon. When she comes back up, it horrified her to see her mother's mangled corpse sitting in front of her. Her lifeless eyes stare at Kareen, and her mother twitches, blood running down from her mouth and eyes. Kareen covers her mouth, trying not to scream. Her mother's head cocks to the left, making a loud popping noise, that of a bone snapping. Her mouth opens, and an unnatural voice comes out.

"What's wrong, Kareen?"

A crooked smile forms on her mother's face and she leans forward to get closer to her daughter, bones snapping, and skin tearing. Kareen pulls away, huffing. She falls out of her seat and onto the floor. She looks back to see her mother still reaching toward her.

"Kareen, come to mommy."

"You are not my mommy!" She screams, panicked and afraid.

She shuts her eyes and is suddenly back in her room. Her eyes open as she shoots up in her bed. The sweat runs down her face as she pants. Kareen looks around her room quickly, trying to find the horrible monster, but she doesn't see it anywhere. She calms down a little and her breathing slows. She falls back down onto her pillow and stares at her ceiling.

"It was only a dream... no. It was a Nightmare."

Back in the present day, Kareen now lies sleeping, falling asleep after a long night of remembrance of a horrible time in her life. Her closed eyes wince, and some muffled noises coming from her. She squirms slightly in her sleep, this nightmare still haunting her and playing again, just like that night before. Across the room, Maka hears her. She doesn't move from her bed and just lies there motionless. Her face with a blank, uncaring expression. She closes her eyes, peacefully falling asleep to the sound of Kareen's discomfort.