You're Still the One

Part 9: The Accident

Before the awkward conversation continues, the trio is interrupted by the arrival of a downtrodden Louis and frustrated Jessica.

"The facts check out. Apparently, Ross here did graduate from Harvard in 2010. Dean Pelton gave us a glowing recommendation about the 21yr old who achieved the highest test scores in their history," stated Louis while grinding his teeth.

"Apologies, Mr Ross. We should have checked your credentials before jumping to conclusions," said Jessica.

"Thanks Ms Pearson, but I think it's Mera that needs the apology more than me," said Mike, standing and staring at his boss' boss.

Louis scoffed at having to apologise and stared at Jessica. The room went eerily quiet as Mike continued to stare at Jessica, not backing down from her glare. Meredith moved to interject before Mike got into a fight with his boss. Meredith pulled Mike back into his seat and in hope of ending the staring competition, placed EJ in his lap.

"It's fine, MJ. It's not the first nor will it be the last time that someone judges me based on what happened," said Meredith.

"No, it's not," said Harvey, in shock that Jessica would stay silent, "I want to apologise on both the managing and junior partner's behalf for their actions against you, they were completely out of line."

"What the hell, Harvey?" exclaimed Louis.

"Harvey is correct." said Jessica, "we should never have accused you or your brother of anything."

"Perfectly alright, Ms Pearson. I hope my history won't affect Mike's job here."

"Not at all"

"And caution will be used regarding any cases like the one used during the Mock Trial?" asked Meredith, ignoring Mike's glare.

"Of course."

"What did happen this morning?" asked Harvey.

"PTSD. I had a flashback and it triggered a panic attack," said Mike.

"But why?" asked Harvey

"Our parents died in a car accident, involving a drunk driver, a rich one."

"Mike and I were the only two witnesses, but Mike was the star."

"Why?" asked Louis, interested in finding out what was making Jessica so ashamed.

"I was barely injured, a few scratches and a broken collarbone, Me..." said Mike.

"Barely? That's sounds pretty bad puppy, how old were you?" asked Donna.

"I was 11, Mera was 17. Compared to Mera, it was nothing."

The group turned and at Meredith.

"EJ, why don't you go grab Mummy's phone and headphones and watch a video," said Meredith, doing her best to ignore the stares.

"Can I sit at your chair, Ha'ey?" asked EJ

"Sure, you can sit in my chair," said Harvey.

Once EJ was settled, Meredith walked back to the group and sat down between Harvey and Mike on the couch.

"Mike, you okay to do this?" asked Meredith, waiting for his answer.

"We were driving home from our favourite restaurant, Mum and Mera were singing and Dad and I were laughing at them. We were stopped at an intersection and when it turned green, we slowly started moving forward. It was winter so Dad was being careful and when we were about a car length passed the lights, a car came from the other direction and headed straight for us."

"Dad tried to turn but we slid," continued Meredith, "the car hit the passenger side once, we spun, and it hit the driver's side. We clipped the kerb or something and we started rolling, I don't remember how many times but eventually we landed on our side. We took a while to come too, when we did people had already started coming to the scene. Mum was unconscious, barely breathing. Mike was mostly okay. Dad seemed fine except for a head wound."

"Meredith was the worst of us. She was crushed behind Dad's seat and the car door caved in on her. She couldn't move. Someone started yelling at us, Dad replied. They managed to pull my door open, but my seat belt was stuck. Dad yelled at them to get Mum out, that she wasn't conscious. They pulled Mum out the from windshield, but it was too late. We didn't know that. Dad refused to leave without us. Ambulance and Firefighters arrived. They tried to get Dad out, but he wouldn't"

"We both screamed when they said it. He stayed. Mike was cut out and lifted out of the car. I was stuck. They were trying to move the driver's seat forward. They just managed to move it when a fireman mentioned that there was a fire in the car. The firemen were told to hurry or get out. Dad was furious, saying they couldn't leave me. Someone stopped a gas leak, everyone was screaming to get out and they left but one fireman didn't leave. He stayed with Dad was helping to move me towards the open door."

"Dad climbed out first. He screamed at someone to help him with Meredith, but no one moved, I ran towards them I was stopped. Dad jumped down from the car and he pulled her out of the car with the fireman's help. He'd just grabbed her, and they were walking away, and the car went up. It exploded."

"Dad, Sargent Peters, and I were flung away. We landed hard and in flames, the firemen extinguished the fire and dragged us away. Dad died in hospital, cranial pressure, collapsed lung and ruptured spleen. And I was in a coma, burns and severe nerve and muscle damage to my legs.