New Step Brother, New Family, New Life? Thanks for Nothing, Dad

McCartney's POV

I was down for the count, slowly slipping in and out of conciousness. I could barely tell where I was, let alone what time it was. All I knew as I lay there on the cold ground was that my whole body felt immense pain as though I had been ran over by a Mack truck.

My ribs ached, my neck was still bruised, my face felt broken, my arms and legs slashed, even my fingers and toes were sore.

I couldn't see. Either my eyes were swollen shut, or I just didn't have the strength to open them. My head swirled painfully, registering jumbled masses of noise. From insects, to cars, to the footsteps of unnoticing people as they passed, to a strange muffled buzzing noise I couldn't quite place.

It took what was anywhere from two minutes to two hours for my mind to pull itself together enough to understand where I was. I realized I was freezing and wet, half laying in the ice cold running water of a creek.

I was laying on my stomach and I could tell my recently healed ribs had fractured or even broken again. So the pressure of my body against the damp ground was nearly too much as I came to.

The only possible thing I could do to squelch the aching was to roll over on to my back. So, I placed my palms against the cool earth and pushed myself over.

The pain nearly knocked me unconcious once again. I was trying to hold in my screams, when I realized what the muffled noises were. Voices. Familiar voices that I couldn't quite place. But, they were calling out something. And I had a feeling it was to me.

As they got closer, close enough to look down the small cliff and see me, I took one last attempt at rescue.

I opened my eyes.

I looked up, hopeful that my icy gaze would draw light and be visible to the passing-by people. I swear one of them glanced down at me, but they kept going. Kept walking away from where I lay. I closed my eyes again and sighed.

A soft clicking sound soon became all I heard. It was fast paced, like running footsteps. Wait... running footsteps!

"There she is! Down there! Jackson, call the others!" I heard someone shout. Then they slid down the side of the creek bank to me. The mud around me sank in slightly from the pressure of people.

Light fingertips danced along my face, outlining my features before reaching my neck. There was light pressure against my neck and it took me a few minutes to realize they were feeling for a pulse.

"She's alive," the person, I now distinguished as a teenage boy, whispered. Then, more loudly, "she's alive!" I opened my eyes, just for a moment, but I could barely see in such dim light.

"Help," I croaked, not sounding like myself. There was an annoying whining noise somewhere in the distance; a siren.

"Shh, McCartney. It's going to be alright," the same teenager said, gently.

From there, everything returned to masses of noise. More people; anywhere from five to nine of them, louder sirens, brighter flashing lights of blues and reds and whites. My brain couldn't comprehend it all.

It was almost like I was on drugs.

Next thing I knew, I was being lifted, put into a van (hopefully an ambulance) and driven off. I felt a poking and prodding at the crook of my left elbow. Then, nothing.

No pain, no emotion. Which meant I could open my eyes with flinching away from the brightness of the overhead lights. My vision was blurry, but my mind was just starting to work, though it was sluggish from whatever the paramedics were pumping through the IV into my arm. But I knew who was in the back of the ambulance with me.

"Smokey," I whispered, forcing a smile on to my lips. Smokey looked teary, surprisingly. She almost never cried.

"Hey Mickey Mouse. How ya doing?" she said, gently, taking my hand in both hers.

"Peachy," I answered, earning a dry laugh from my blue-haired friend. "Don't cry Josie," I murmured, glancing at the petite dark headed girl sitting next to Smokey. Josie smiled through her tears and nodded. And finally, I turned my head to my other side where he waited. He held my hand in one of his and slowly carressed my cheek with the other.

"Hey Tyler."