"Dad."

Who?

"Come on dad, wake up."

 Who is this dad person? Forget that. Who is screaming in my ear?

"DAD!"

Henry groaned as his eyes opened to a world filled with pain and noise.  Blearily blinking against the light he took in his immediate surroundings, he was in his truck but something was wrong with it. The windows were broken, the windshield was spider webbed and his seats were above his head.  He closed his eyes and rubbed at them hoping when they reopened his world would have been righted.

"No sleeping dad. Not with a concussion." 

There's that dad word again. Henry smacked at the fingers that incessantly tapped his cheek, interrupting his chance at a nap. "Leave me alone m'sleepy."  He heard a chuckle follow quickly but a gasp of pain.  The sharp intake of air was followed by coughing, the coughing was followed by a groan and the groan triggered something in Henry's brain. I'm dad and that's Shawn!  Despite the searing pain he opened his eyes again and looked around for his son.

"Shawn?"  His vision was blurry but he saw the mess of brown hair and the worried hazel eyes.

"Hey dad, naptime's over." 

"What happened?"  The worry in Shawn's eyes grew.

"Close your eyes and tell me what the last thing is you remember." 

Henry gave an exasperated sigh. "Really Shawn?"

"Just do it. Ok and then we'll go from there."

Henry closed his eyes and concentrated.

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"We are sooo late!!"  Shawn kept bouncing around in the passenger seat of the truck.  "Can't this thing go any faster?"  Henry clenched his jaw as Shawn took it upon himself to turn his dashboard into a drum.  "Jules is going to be so mad at me!"  Shawn continued his drumming but it took on a frantic pace.

"STOP!"  Henry reached out with his right hand and grabbed Shawn's wrist. "Just. Stop."  He let go of the hand and sighed in relief when it stayed still.

They rode in blissful silence for the next fifteen seconds. "So why are we taking a road that reminds me of Wrong Turn?"

Henry was confused by the reference but didn't ask. "Because Shawn this road is quicker than the main one."  The truck hit a particularly large hole in the road and the occupants were bucked around in their seats.

"And it's bumpier than the main road too."

"Shut up Shawn.  It evens out in about two miles."  They continued to rattle along the little road till Henry was forced to slam his breaks.

"Woah!" Shawn had put his hands out to brace against the sudden stop.

 Henry gave his son a sidelong glance and saw him breathing fast from the adrenaline dump.  "Yeah woah."  The truck had come to stop just feet in front of a downed tree.

"What now, Dad?"  Henry bit the angry retort at Shawn's condescending tone.

"Now we back up to the turn around and go to the main road."

"What if another car comes this way?"

"Doubtful this road is only really used by hunters and it's out of season."  Shawn just nodded as Henry began the slow decent to the turn around that was only a few hundred feet away, to get a better view Henry unbuckled his belt and twisted around with the aid of his arm on the headrest.

Shawn scoffed. "You used to rag on me for taking my seatbelt off before the key left the ignition and now you're driving backwards, on a dangerous road, with yours off." 

Henry's eyes left the road for a second. "Shut-" 

The trunk lunged violently toward the passenger side and the tires on that side slid off the road, Henry spun the steering wheel and tried to get some traction but it didn't work.  The rear end of the truck left the road completely and Henry felt as the front end left as well, he could hear twigs snapping and feel the truck shuddering as it slid and then his world jerked and he slammed into the roof.  Shawn shouted as the truck continued to roll and after its fifth revolution Henry's brain could take no more and unconsciousness claimed him.

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"Dad?"  Henry opened his eyes and this time his vision was less blurry.  "What do you remember?"

"We were going to a cabin where you planned some big weekend with all of us."  Shawn nodded. "We took this road because we were running late, because you absolutely had to go to Psych before we hit the road. There was a tree in the road, I tried to turn us around and then the truck slid off the road."  Henry screwed his eyes shut as his head began to throb with his heartbeat.

"Dad. No dad you gotta stay awake. DAD?!"  The outburst was followed by another groan of pain.  Henry's eyes shot open and for the first time since he woken up he remembered that he wasn't the only one in the truck when it rolled down the side of the mountain.

"Shawn?"  Shawn was pale and shaky, he was hugging himself tightly and was breathing through clenched teeth. Forgetting his head Henry went to push up with his left arm and almost yelled when it exploded in pain. Definitely broken.  Broken bones was something Henry could deal with, seeing his son in pain was not.  So this time he pushed up with his right arm to a semi-sitting position and reached out to touch Shawn's shoulder. "Hey kid. You ok?" 

Shawn nodded as he opened his eyes. "Yeah just got a little banged up, I wasn't the one who being thrown around as made our little detour."  He smiled a bit. "This new path you took seems quicker than that road, I don't know why we didn't choose this way to begin with."  His tone was filled with worry so the joke fell flat. "Anyways I haven't been able to get a good look at you but now you're awake so...."  Shawn began to poke and prod Henry's bruised and battered body.

Just as Shawn poked a particularly sore spot Henry smacked his hand away. "My head hurts, I'm nauseous, my left arm is definitely broken, my bruises have bruises, and my leg feels like it might be broken too.  On the bright side I can feel everything so my spine is still intact and I can remember almost the whole day so the concussion is not too bad."

Shawn nodded and scooted out of the truck, Henry could hear him rummaging around the brush for something. "Got it!"  Before Henry could ask Shawn was back in the truck with two backpacks which he recognized as Shawn's.  Shawn opened both packs and dumped out their contents. Henry watched in mild fascination as Shawn turned some odds and ends into a makeshift splint and ripping up the light jacket he was wearing into bandages.  Shawn pointed at his arm and Henry lifted it the best he could, hissing as Shawn tightened the splint around it.  "And now your head."

"My head?"  Henry felt around his skull and when he hit the source of his pain stars burst before his eyes, withdrawing his hand he saw red coating his fingers. "My head."

Shawn sighed and rolled his eyes as he wrapped one of the bandages around his head and then tied a knot in it. "How ‘bout you lie down."  He helped Henry lie down on the roof of the truck and with the clothes he had packed padded his head and elevated his injured leg. "Not broken but definitely bruised all to hell."  Henry bit his lip and nodded as the pain flared in his leg as Shawn positioned it.  "You also got a nasty cut on the back of it."  As Shawn wrapped another bandage Henry closed his eyes and started to drift off to sleep. Again Henry was rudely awaken as Shawn tapped his cheek roughly. "No sleeping with a head injury."  Henry opened his eyes and huffed at his son.

"Have you called for help, yet?" 

"Was just about too."  Shawn whipped out his phone and laughed when there were no bars on it.  He slid out of the truck and Henry could hear his footsteps get fainter as he searched for a signal.  Henry sighed and was about to close his eyes when the footsteps came back.  "No signal. They know we were taking this road and will come looking for us when we don't show."  Henry was quiet, Shawn leaned over and saw his dad trying to sleep. "Hey! No sleeping!"

"Well how do you plan on keeping me awake?"  Shawn sat outside the widow next to Henry's head.

"I'm gonna talk. You always said my incessant talking pisses you off so what a better way than pissing you off to keep you awake."

"Well if you're going to talk that much I get to pick the subject."

Shawn chuckled. "Shoot old man."

"Tell me what you did all those years you traveled."  Shawn was quiet for a second.

"Ok let me tell you about the time I became a masseuse...."