Chapter Text
A paramedic riffles open a transport chart. His pen moves fast regardless of the bumps on the road.
“Name?” he asks, lined with desperate urgency.
“Lenore Vandernancht,” a second paramedic announces, based on ID confirmation. “Passenger in rear-left seat.”
“Age?”
“Mid-Twenties, 23 years old”
The chart paper is damp at the edges from rain and movement, the paramedic pays no mind to this as they continue.
“Mechanism of injury?”
“High-speed multi-vehicle collision. Significant lateral intrusion on the passenger side.”
Lenore’s vision spots in and out, ceiling lights blur into long streaks of white that sway with the motion of the vehicle. Her breathing is uneven and her left side bruns so deep a consuming ache that’s scars deeper than surface level. A sharp yell escapes her throat as someone tries to gently press near her hip as they adjust her positioning.
Her head thumps against the stretcher as she withers in pain.
“Okay—okay,” the paramedic says quickly. “Don’t move her like that again, we’ve got a suspected pelvic involvement.”
He caps his pen as he finishes his writing.
“Patient responsive but disoriented. Possible internal bleeding risk. Administering fluids now.”
The second paramedic presses two fingers to Lenore’s pale wrist, counting under her breath.
“Pulse is fast, about 128,” she reports. “Weak but present.”
“Blood pressure’s 92 over 58” Another adds, confirming with a second glance to the monitor.
The numbers glow green in the bright lighting, nothing feels reassuring to the paramedics.
“Respirations?”
“Shallow. Around 24 and irregular. Pain response affecting pattern”
A paramedic guides an oxygen mask over Lenore’s face, she tries to turn her head again to the sound of voices but her body cooperates the way she doesn’t wants it to. Her left side sends a sharp, immediate protest.
“Don’t move her left side, suspected pelvic and femoral trauma.”
“Let’s confirm ID again,” A new paramedic flips the chart open, writing still legible from the soft rainwater. “Any wallet, phone, or family contact on scene?”
A paramedic shakes their head.
“Nothing usable. Passenger ID was partially recovered from the scene, drivers license, damaged but readable. Name matches earlier verbal confirmation.”
The paramedic glances at Lenore. “Lenore Vandernacht?”
Lenore’s twitches at the sound of her name.
The paramedic reaches for the radio.
“Dispatch, confirm passenger identity, female, Vandernacht, Lenore. We may have family notification pending. Requesting next of kin information if possible.”
Static crackles for a moment before a breakthrough. “Copy. Stand by.”
The monitor beeps steadily beside Lenore.
“BP recheck?” The paramedic asks.
“Still low but stable, 94 over 60 now.”
“Heart rate?”
“122, trending down slightly.”
“Good. Keep fluids running.”
“Trauma incoming!” A paramedic calls out as the stretcher rolls forward through the interior of the hospital.
Cold air hits Lenore all at once her eyes squeeze shut from the sharp fluorescent lights that blind her vision compared to the rain-dimmed world she just came from.
Two paramedics are met with a team of nurses as they match pace reading charts for the patient.
“What do we have?” she asked, glancing back at the paramedic.
“High-speed MVC, passenger side intrusion. Suspected pelvic fracture, multiple lacerations left flank, possible internal bleeding risk.”
A second nurse takes the transport chart straight from the paramedic’s hands.
“Name?”
“Lenore Vandernacht,” the paramedic confirms.
The nurse repeats it under her breath as she writes it into the intake system.
“Any allergies known?”
“Unknown at the scene.”
“Medications?”
“None reported.”
The monitor beeps steadily as the nurses roll others through the ER doors as paramedics dismiss themselves.
“BP?”
“Still low but improving, 92 over 62 from last check.”
“Respirations?”
“22, shallow but stabilizing with oxygen.”
“Keep fluids running wide open. She’s borderline hypovolemic.”
Lenore lets her mind slip further back to distract her from the pain.
It started with music, not the crash that burns her very bones, not the rain that seeps into her clothes. But with music, beautiful and such lush music. The way Theo strummed the violin like it was second nature to him and Lenore sat slightly behind him, her fingers in tone and patience with the piano keys. Lenore was used to the smooth music her and Theo could make together; she'd thank her mother for getting her into piano lessons if their relationship wasn’t so complicated.
It was a small recital hall with warm large lights and the faint smell of polished wood and old curtains, tinged with people below them with wine swarming through their veins, Lenore never enjoyed the quiet it made her feel mad if she didn’t have something to distract herself from the thoughts in her head.
The first piece began softly, a duet they’ve played so many times before that it’s as familiar to them as their names. Theo led with the soft note of the violin, Lenore followed with a measure of serenity. She remembers the way her wrists loosen as the music takes over through the black-and-white keys, the way the audience disappears into the back of her mind so soft and fuzzy.
At one point, she looks up.
Theo is focused in that distant way he gets when he’s fully embraced inside the music, like everything outside the performance had stopped existing. By fault Lenore always looked up to Theo, he was everything to her, she couldn’t imagine a world without it.
The backstage was warmer but louder in a different way, people swarmed them in congratulates in overlapping sentences. A woman from the venue thanked them three separate times before Theo finally laughed and assured her they’d enjoyed themselves. Someone handed him flowers, and asked about future bookings.
Lenore had spent most of the time gathering loose sheet music and organizing it into her folder before the pages became hopelessly mixed together, something she didn’t feel like doing when she got home.
“Getting nasty out there.”
Lenore had looked up briefly, through the window she could see rain streaking the glass in silver lines. She rolled her eyes, it was nothing unusual, just weather, just another rainy evening, nothing worth remembering as she picked up her folder and made her way to the coat rack.
Theo, however, was pulling on his coat and throwing Lenore her coat.
“We should get moving.”
Lenore raised an eyebrow. “Afraid of getting wet?”
“I’m afraid of sitting in traffic for three hours.”
Lenore chuckled, shuffling on her coat. “Fair.”
Theo grinned triumphantly.
“Exactly”
The van smelled faintly of coffee and old upholstery, their car had been in the shop for some time for reasons Lenore couldn’t remember, the instrument cases were packed carefully in the back. Theo insisted on checking them twice before finally climbing inside. Lenore claimed her usual seat beside the window and rested her head against the cool glass, outside the city lights blurred through the rain. Theo sat across from her, scrolling through his phone, every so often he’d hum a few notes from the piece they performed.
Never the whole melody, just fragments, bits that got stuck in his head, it was comforting and familiar.
The rain intensified the farther they drove, at first it tapped lightly against the roof, then it drummed, and then roared. The windshield wipers worked furiously. Back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. Lenore watched them for a while, her eyelids grew heavy, the repetitive motion made her sleep, the warmth inside the van wasn’t helping. She closed her eyes just for a second.
One moment he was slouched comfortably in his seat, phone balanced loosely in one hand, the glow of the screen reflecting faintly across his face. The next, he was sitting upright and alert. His attention fixed elsewhere ahead. The change was so subtle that under normal circumstances she might have not noticed. The road beyond them was a blur of red taillights and white headlights smeared across the wet pavement, the driver cussed under his breath.
Theo immediately grabbed the back of the seat in front of him.
“Hey—”
The words had barely left his mouth, then everything happened like a nightmare. A horn exploded through the night long and violent but much too close. Lenore moved her head to peer at the windshield, white light filled her vision, a wall of it, moving and growing and coming straight towards them.
Someone shouted, maybe the driver, maybe Theo, maybe herself. She couldn’t tell, the van jerked sharply as tires screamed against the soaked asphalt. The sound was horrible, rubber fighting to find traction it could not find.
Then, the impact arrived, pure force that knocked the breath from Lenore’s chest. Something slammed into the side of the van with enough power to throw her against the seatbelt. The vehicle lurched sideways so violently it caused her vision to blur, pain shot through her shoulder as it struck the door. Something struck her hip, hard, so agonizingly hard the white blind paining flashed in her eyes as she began to panic.
“Lenore!”
Her mind pushes through the fog to recognize Theo’s voice, in such effort she’s never heard before.
Lenore's body hit the top of the van, she didn’t know how her seatbelt came loose, but fear overcame her. The ceiling became the wall, the wall had become the floor, instrument cases crashed heavily somewhere. The van slammed to a stop to force her eyes open, hot pain exploded everywhere on her left side.
Her ears rang, a high continuous sound. As if someone had placed a tuning fork on her skull, the voices ahead of her were muffled and distorted.
Lenore woke slowly, as if she was surfacing through layers of heavy exhaustion like she was swimming in deep water. She pressed her head on the warm pillow, she couldn’t understand what had disturbed her. Everything had felt so still and warm, the steady hum of the air conditioning flowing through the room, accompanied by the distant squawk of wheels somewhere out in the hallway.
Her eyelids felt impossibly heavy, sunlight greeted her through partially opened blinds, pale morning light stretching across the room. For several moments she simply stared at the ceiling,it was white, too white. The kind of white that existed in hospitals.
The realization settled uneasily in her stomach. It unfurled gradually as awareness returned to her body, a deep ache in her ribs, stiffness in her shoulders, and something far worse radiating from her left hip. Not the sharp agony she felt in the crash, it was dull and constant and as heavy as stone. Her breathing hitched, a pounding began in her head as Lenore swallowed hard, looking around the room.
Flowers were everywhere, they crowded the windowsill, the bedside table, and any other room that was available. Roses in shades of pink and deep red, Lilies with their sweet perfume, Hydrangeas tied with satin ribbons. Cards peeked out from blossoms, written carefully among stems and leaves.
The sight made something tighten painfully in her chest, people knew. The regular audience members, students who lingered afterwards to ask questions, people who had sat in crowded recital halls to hear Theo and her perform. The room smelled overwhelmingly of flowers, enough to make her gag.
A soft knock brings her attention to the door as she watches a nurse come in carrying a tablet and a small paper cup. She paused the moment she noticed Lenore’s eyes were open.
“Oh,” she said, her face brightening up. “Well, good morning.”
Her voice emerged rough and weak.
“...Morning”
The nurse reached over to check the monitor beside the bed before glancing at her tablet.
“Lenore Vandernacht,” she read aloud. “Twenty-three years old. Woke up right on schedule.”
Lenore blinked, rubbing her eyes.
“How long?”
“You’ve been here for two days.”
Lenore winces from the throbbing pain in her head, the nurse hands her a pill that she takes with water.
“...Theo?”
The nurse smiled gently. “Your brother's okay.”
The tension in Lenore’s chest released so suddenly it almost hurt.
“He is?”
“He’s okay. Broken arm. Concussion. A lot of bruising. But he’s expected to make a full recovery.”
Lenore closed her eyes in relief as she let a breath she didn’t know she was holding.
“As for you,” she continued gently, “you had more extensive injuries.”
The nurse glanced at the chart.
“You suffered fractures to your left pelvis and hip during the collision. You underwent surgery the first night you arrived. The orthopedic team repaired the fracture and stabilized the area.”
Lenore’s eyes drifted downward toward the blanket covering her body.
“You are going to walk again.”
She swallowed, tears falling down her temples.
“You’ve got a long recovery ahead of you. Physical therapy. Follow-up surgeries aren’t impossible. But doctors are optimistic.”
The reassurance came so quickly it was obvious this wasn’t the first time she’d given it.