Saturday's Storyteller: " 'I've got a splitting headache!' she said, referring to the laceration in the back of her head."

by Belinda Roddie

"I've got a splitting headache!" she said, referring to the laceration in the back of her head.

"Yeah, I'm not sure ibuprofen will be strong enough for that," muttered her brother as he sat in the chair across from her hospital bed. The nurse had waddled off to confirm a painkiller prescription with the doctor. Of course, there was no hope for the car - it had been dead at the scene.

Leave it to Kimmie to get distracted and veer off the road! But Dan had resolved not to freak out until he had reached her room in the hospital, and as it turned out, he didn't have to be anxious after all. Of course, his mom had been hysterical on the phone, even after he had told her the good news. He wondered if news of the totaled car stung worse to his parents than the potential injuries that their daughter could have received.

Once the prescription was filled and the request to the pharmacy finished, Dan was allowed to push his sister out of the hospital in a wheelchair and pop her into his SUV. In the backseat was an almost comatose Tim, who had been exhausted from his soccer game and hated to leave the pizza party held for his team early in order to check on his aunt. Dan sighed and shoved himself into the driver's seat, not saying much to the sneering Kimmie as he revved up the engine. She was only about ten years older than his eight-year-old son, so she still had spunk regardless of the situation.

"I've got a hankering for pancakes," she announced as they whirled out of the parking garage, clutching her paper bag. It was loaded with a bottle of pills and bundles of medical papers. Mostly medical papers.

"You should have a hankering for a glass of water and a chance to turn in early," Dan replied, clearing his throat. The rain was beginning to stain the windshield, and he forced the curmudgeonly wipers to squeal against the glass.

"You're no fun."

"You wrecked Mom's car."

"I was trying to escape an asshole! He was swerving into my lane. He was going to sideswipe me."

Dan exhaled. "So you'd rather just slam into a telephone pole and take out an entire neighborhood's power?"

"Glad you were worried about me, bro," Kimmie said, though not without that same painful smirk, as Tim continued to sleep in the back with wet grass from earlier still clinging to his cleats.

This week's prompt was provided by Arden Kilzer.