I sat in my hospital room, feeling the constant pulling of the halo that was stablizing my neck. I was lucky enough to come away with fractures from my C5-T2 that hadn't become displaced. 

The Neurologist had assured me that the pain, tingling, and numbness would be temporary and would go away after the whiplash had healed and my neck was fully stabalized. 

"Dr. Jean."  Said a person standing in the doorway to my room. 

"I'm Detective Lawrence with the New York State Police. May I come in?" 

"Yes." I said.

"I would like to sincerely apologize for your loss. You husband, and two other children were unable to be saved."

"I know." I said. "My husband I knew he was gone, and my other two children, I couldn't get to them."

"I understand. I do have to ask you a few questions if you are all right with that?" He asked. Reaching into his jacket, he pulled out a pen and paper.

"Did your husband drink anything last night?"

"No. We went to the museum, that was all we did." 

"Do you recall being on the correct side of the road?"

"Absolutely, He was fully aware to place and time. He wouldn't have done this intentionally, if that is what you are implying." 

"No, Ma'am. Just trying to figure out what happened."

"What about the driver of the vehicle that hit us."

"He was killed. His truck plunged off the side and into the river as well." The Detective had to straighten out and figure out what happened. But what was the point. I just had lost everything, and they still won't let me see my daughter. The only reason I know how bad her injuries are is because my parents told me.

"Is there a reason why I haven't been allowed to see Katty?"

"No. I don't have any reasons. Child Services is involved, but only due to her current injuries. Not that you did anything wrong." As the detective informed me of CPS involving themselves, I saw the nurse enter the room and check my catheter. 

"I want to see my daughter."

"Ma'am, you are still too serious to move."

"I don't care that I have a fucking halo drilled into my god-damn skull. I want to see my daughter, NOW!" I said, loudly. I barely could move, but I certainly could force my will upon others. 

"I'll see what we can do." The nurse said, as he emptied the catheter bag. 

As I sat there silently, while the detective closed his note pad. I looked at him. "When will you release my families bodies?" I asked quietly. When I asked it, my voice broke. 

"The coroner will be issuing the death certificates in a few hours. You're parents can arrange for them to be moved to whichever funeral home to prepare them." 

"Thank you." I said. The detective nodded before heading out. As the Doctor came in, he looked at me. 

"If you want to see your daughter, we will need to transfer you into a wheelchair. Do you think you can do that?"

"I fucking will do it." I said. As two nurses and a person from transport helped me up, I felt the steel screws moving in my skull, giving me a peircing headache. As they rolled me down the hallway and into the lobby, we soon arrived at the Children's section of the hospital. After just a few moments, we reached the ICU.

"We should warn you, she's in serious shape." Taking a deep breath, I almost tried to nod, but remembered I couldn't.

"Okay." As they rolled me down the hallway, waving their badge into the reader. They finally pulled me into Room 6501.

Looking at my daughter, I saw her cheek was covered in bandages, while a tube snaked it's way into a tracheotomy tube. 

"How bad." 

"She suffered a complete fracture of her Atlas bone. It severed her spinal cord complete. She also suffered from cardiac arrest, and it took 22 minutes for us to resusitate her. Along with her injuries, she suffered a jaw injury, partially ripping it off." I remembered, the tree branch in the car, it went through Jane. "Your daughter more than likely has suffered a severe anoxic brain injury. We don't know what her prognosis will be. However, if she does wake up, she will be entirely reliant on a tracheostomy to breath, requiring a ventilator."

"Is she decerebrate?"

"No." 

"So you are saying, she's brain dead." I looked at my daughter. 

"We don't no for sure."

"Does she have any sort of reflexes? Pupillary reflex, or oculocephalic relflex?" I asked these questions, and watched as my parents looked down slightly. 

"Are you saying she will never wake up? Is it possible she might wake up, or is she vegetative?"

"More than likely she will be vegetative. If she isn't, she will more than likely have severe cognitive deficets, and may be blind." 

"If there's a chance, I won't let her die." I said. "I said she was going to be alright, and she was fine when we arrived."

"She coded in the OR." 

"As I said, my decision stands. If there's a chance, I'm not taking her off."