Sirens.

I hear them before I see anything. The piercing repetitious shriek cuts through the darkness, slowly chipping it away, revealing the scene to me.

We're on a road which is surrounded by dense foliage, but that is not what catches my eye first. The emergency services are what I see first - the ambulances, fire trucks and police cars that litter both sides of the street, which are producing the bone-chilling shrieks.

Whoa. What on earth happened here?

Alo motions for me to follow him as he advances towards the scene.

In the centre of all the commotion, is the worst car wreckage I've ever seen. What used to be two cars is now unrecognisable, in twists and tangles of charred metal, resulting in it looking like a deranged piece of abstract art. Sharp shards of transparent glass cover almost every inch of the asphalt around the unsettling 'sculpture', each of which reflects the pale sunlight like a mirror.

As we grow nearer, tiny details become clearer to me - like the blood. The metallic scent of it fills the air, and splatters of the crimson colour coat sections of glass fragments, which magnify it, exaggerating the amount of blood there really is.

I glance at Alo with one question racing through my mind - Who was in this crash that I affected?

As if reading my mind, Alo quietly mumbles a name, but I manage to hear it - "Oscar."

Oscar?

The only Oscar I know is my cousin - a distant cousin. He drifted away from us after my mum died.

I glance back at the wreckage, and see three firemen attempting to cut the mangled metal, whilst paramedics surround them, shouting into the mess.

"Just don't move! We'll be able to reach you in a minute." Yells a female paramedic as we come up to the wreckage. Her brown eyes hold anguish for whoever is in the metal death-trap.

Alo and I stand by and watch as the firemen do their work, hacking away at the exoskeleton, before making enough room so that the paramedics can help whoever is inside the car.

Whilst they are working at getting the person out, I look around. A tall policeman is questioning a familiar woman who appears to be extremely shaken, whilst a shorter one is handcuffing a man. Upon closer inspection, I come to realise the woman is my 'mother'.

Why is she here? Where's Oscar?

The man that was handcuffed is taken towards a vibrant police car. His blonde hair is dishevelled, and he has a crazed look in his eyes. As he is walking, he is stumbling a little.

"Drunk driver." Alo says from behind me. "He caused this." he gestures to the crash. I glance back to see the paramedics gently pull out a person. Cautiously I walk closer and my suspicions are confirmed.

Oscar was the one trapped in that.

"Sir, on a scale of one to ten, what would you rate the pain you're in right now?" a male paramedic asks, whilst putting neck brace on my cousin.

"two, I think." Oscar says.

A female paramedic looks completely shocked with a mixture of horrified. "That's impossible after what he's gone through" she whispers to the paramedic who had asked the question.

He nods at her before turning back to Oscar. "Sir, We need you to tell us if you feel anything, okay?"

Oscar only grunts in response.

The female paramedic grabs his calf, and squeezes it. "Can you feel that?" she asks gently.

"No." Oscar says.

She applies more pressure. "What about now?"

"Nothing." Oscar says, his voice rising slightly.

She moves up to his thigh. "Anything?"

"No." Oscar says, his voice becoming more hysterical.

They repeat the process in both his arms, shoulders and torso. Oscar felt nothing.

One word is exchanged between all the paramedics, which causes my breath to catch in my throat. "Paralysis."

"A drunken car accident always affects the opposite party more. Your mother was driving Oscar back to his house, when that man swerved right into them. The drunk got away with a few cuts. The other car? Not so lucky. Your mother sustained a shattered arm, and a broken foot. Oscar was confirmed to be completely paralysed below the neck. Oakley, if you didn't exist, your mother would be dead, but this wouldn't have happened." Alo says, guesting towards the chaos again.

Five people are happy.

Five people are not.

This changes everything.

"Oakley. This is all I can show you, we've taken too long. It's time to make a decision."
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Edited: 2nd August 2015