HARMONY

Part 29 "Ooops.... I ran over your pops."

Starting off on their adventure, it doesn't go as planned for Claire and Sophia...

"Oh my god!" Claire screamed as she leapt out of her Volkswagen Beetle. "Are you okay?"

The early morning sun spilled across the dirty gas station in Palm Springs. An attendant looked out from the booth, raised an eyebrow and slumped back onto his chair.

Jim lay on the hot ground grabbing his right leg. "No."

Coming out of the mini-mart, Sophia dropped her slurpy and ran to her Pops. "What happened?!"

Claire tried to pull Jim to a seated position. "I think I sorta ran over him."

"You sorta ran over him?"

A tall, young and handsome man walked over to the trio. "I'm Chester and a paramedic. Mind if I take a look?"

All three smiled and nodded. Chester leaned over Jim and felt his leg. "Broken fibula. Snapped clean." Jim groaned and passed out against Claire, knocking her flat to the ground.

"Can you fix it?" Sophia asked.

"Can you not report it?" came Claire's voice under Jim. "I, um, kinda like just got my license."

"Claire!"

"What? My mom's already freakn' out and this would like totally piss her off."

By now, a small crowd had gathered, trying to make sense of scene. Somebody brought over half the blue slurpy and sticky bags of chips. Chester took out his cell phone and called for help.

Sophia knelt next to Jim, throwing a narrowed eye to Claire. "Pops, can you hear me?"

"I'm so sorry," Claire chimed in, still pinned under his weight. "I didn't see you."

"That's why," Jim grumbled, "you use the rearview mirror."

Chester brought over ice from the mini mart and reassured them that help was on the way. Sophia called Peter. "Claire decided to move closer to the pump and she, well she ran over Jim and broke his leg."

Claire started to wriggle her way out from under Jim, but Chester touched her shoulder. "It's best if he doesn't move. Can you hold on just a couple of minutes?"

"Sure," she sighed and lay against the cement. "I can't believe this happened."

"Where you headed?" Chester asked.

"You wouldn't even believe me if I told you."

"I've seen and heard a lot, kid."

At 'kid' she rolled her eyes and gave a hiss. "Ok, Mr. Worldly. My dad ran away to become a roadie for Wicked Snicker, and we're going to kidnap his sorry ass and bring him home."

Chester was about to speak when Sophia walked up. "Peter's on his way."

"A roadie for Wicked Snicker?" Chester said.

"You told him?"

"He asked."

"That's pretty raw," Chester said. "Hope it works out."

"Well," Sophia said. "It sure ain't gonna work out now 'cause this little Thelma and Louise adventure is over."

A single tear spilled down Claire's cheek. "I know," she said. "I'm so sorry."

The ambulance pulled up and the paramedics strapped Jim onto the gurney. He grabbed Claire's arm. "Don't speed. Always check your mirrors and signal when you're even thinking about changing lanes."