Family Matters

Chapter 1: Split Seconds

Disclaimer: I do not own Scooby Doo or any of the characters from said fandom.

A/N: I have not given up on writing "Kiss The Girl" but I just thought I'd write something based in the "What's New Scooby Doo" universe. I hope you all enjoy it. Expect a lot of "What's New Scooby Doo" universe stories from me because that universe seems to come more naturally to me for writing. Expect lots of Shelma and lots of Fraphne in this story. As always reviews are greatly appreciated and though I don't appreciate negative comments I don't mind a little constructive criticism.

"Like where are we again?" Shaggy asked from his place in the back of the Mystery Machine.

"We're headed to Sedona Arizona," Velma reminded him, turning around in her seat to face him. She half smiled at him before she continued "I told you that three times already."

Shaggy shrugged "Sorry Velma, I like forgot…" Scooby Doo mumbled something in his sleep and rolled over beside Shaggy. A small grin formed on Shaggy's face as he watched his best pal's front paws begin to move as if Scooby was chasing something, or more likely, considering their luck, running from something.

"Are you sure you know where you're going Fred?" Daphne asked a few moments later.

Fred nodded "I'm positive," he replied, turning ever so slightly to gaze sidelong at her.

Daphne smiled a little bit before she caught herself. She averted her gaze as she felt a blush creep up her cheeks. She was about to mentally berate herself for the momentary lapse when she heard Velma shriek.

"Fred watch out!" The sound of Velma's voice awoke Scooby who instantly was on the alert. Shaggy and Scooby both leaned forward to see what was happening.

On the road in front of the Mystery Machine a small girl had just run out in pursuit of a bouncing green ball. Fred jammed on the brakes as fast as humanly possible and veered off to the side. The next few seconds were filled with the sounds of buckling metal and the terrified screams of the van's occupents. When the dust had cleared Fred was cradling one arm, Velma was holding the shattered pieces of her glasses in her scratched up hands and Daphne was murmuring to herself as she tried to push open the passanger's side door and hobble out.

Aside from a few bumps, scrapes and bruises Shaggy and Scooby were unharmed. They quickly climbed out and started assisting their friends.

"Daphne," Fred said worriedly as Scooby helped him to his feet. Fred seemed steady on his feet but he did wobble for the first few steps before getting his barings, his arm was definitely broken though.

"I'm alright Freddy," Daphne reassured him as she plopped herself down by the side of the road. "My ankle got twisted is all. I'll be fine."

Fred sat down beside her and draped his good arm around her shoulders. "Are you sure?" he asked.

Daphne smirked at him "I'm sure silly," she told him "You look like you've seen a ghost or something. And your arm…" she seemed to only just then realize that Fred's left arm hung at an odd angle. She leaned closer "Fred," she whispered, reaching out tenderly to inspect the injured appendage "We've gotta get you to a doctor."

Fred shrugged her concern off "Same goes for you," he retorted.

Meanwhile Shaggy pulled Velma from the wrecked Mystery Machine and set her tenderly on the ground. She was a little wobbly at first but she managed to stand under her own power. He took her blood covered hands into his and examined them. "Like, what happened?" he asked, looking down at the many cuts that ran along her fingers and across her palms.

Velma shook her head and instantly regretted the action as it made her feel dizzy, she began falling forward but Shaggy caught her and righted her almost instantly "The glass from the shattered windshield must have got me worse than I thought." She finally answered. It was then that she attempted to look around "My glasses," she exclaimed.

"They broke in the accident," Shaggy explained to her.

Velma again shook her head and again fell forward only to be caught by Shaggy "Not good," she remarked.

"You're telling me," Shaggy countered "We need to get you, Fred and Daphne like to a hospital as soon as possible."

"I'm fine," Velma insisted but as she said this she swayed.

"Not buying it," Shaggy said as he scooped her up in his arms and carried her to were Fred and Daphne were sitting on the curb. He set her down gently before pulling away to look at her. As an after thought he leaned in again and pressed a soft kiss to her lips.

Velma's eyes widened and her mouth dropped open but just as she was about to say something a panic stricken voice broke the silence first.

"Oh my Gosh!" A teenage girl with wavy blond locks that seemed to bounce as she moved towards them, shrieked. "Are you guys alright?"

XXX

Daphne hobbled towards a seat in the waiting room on her crutches. Shaggy and Scooby were already there with Velma whose hands were now not much more than piles of gauze and surgical tape. Shaggy got up and helped Daphne to a seat before placing her crutches within easy reach. He handed her a bottle of water that he had bought earlier from a vending machine in the corridor.

"Any news yet?" Daphne asked as she unscrewed the top of the bottle and took a drink, letting the cool refreshing liquid roll down her parched throat.

Shaggy nodded "It's a bad break," he informed her "It'll be at least another hour before they have it fully set." He returned to his seat beside Velma.

"We're lucky that we were so close to a hospital," Velma remarked as she ran a bandaged hand over her eyes. She had been relying heavily on Shaggy to help her since she didn't have her glasses to aid her. The doctor had gotten in contact with her optometrist back home and had sent out a prescription for the lenses she needed but it would be another week before they arrived.

"Like yeah…" Shaggy looked from Velma to Daphne to the door that lead towards the operating room where Fred was having his arm set to Scooby who worriedly paced the waiting room floor on all fours, occasionally stopping at the door that lead to the operating room and whimpering worriedly before returning to where Shaggy sat. "Lucky…" Shaggy murmured.

No one had been able to find the little girl after the accident but there had been no blood on the outside of the Mystery Machine so it seemed as if the girl, thankfully escaped unharmed. The green ball still remained and had come to rest right under the Mystery Machine's front left tire.

Shaggy who had somehow found himself in charge with Fred being in need of surgery, had found a mechanic who could fix the Mystery Machine for them. The only catch was that it wasn't gonna be a cheap fix and it would take at least ten days if they were lucky. Shaggy sighed and turned again to look at Velma.

The doctor had said that her dizziness and lack of balance most likely had to do with her overcompensating to make up for not having her glasses. Shaggy hoped that was all it was, then again since he had rarely seen Velma without her glasses it was easy to believe. She seemed incredibly comfortable wearing them; he'd even seen her sleeping with them on more than one occasion.

The next forty five minutes were filled with the most glib of conversations between the group as they waited for news on Fred. Shaggy made several trips to the vending machines but not to stuff his face as he usually would, he was too worried about all of his friends and the accident was too fresh in his mind for him to be thinking about food. He made the vending machine trips primarily to do some thinking.

Ghosts and ghouls and freaks in costumes were the norm. Sure Fred's driving had gotten them into a few close calls and the Mystery Machine seemed to break down on a whim but they'd never actually gotten into an accident like that before. It was an entirely new level of terrifying for Shaggy when he had seen how badly his friends had been injured and he couldn't help wondering how it was that he and Scooby had been so lucky to escape the crash with only the most minor of injuries. He couldn't remember the accident itself very well. The last thing he remembered before hand was Velma telling Fred to look out and the little girl running in front of them. Everything afterwards was a blur until after the Mystery Machine had already crashed. The first thing that had caught his eye was Velma's bleeding hands.

After a quick glance to his side to make sure that Scooby was safe he and his canine friend had sprung into action. He had noticed Fred's broken arm and would have gone to aid his friend if Scooby hadn't beaten him to it. Daphne was already outside of the van and Scooby jestured with a paw at Velma, indicating that Shaggy should help her while Scooby would see to Fred. Shaggy had done so almost feverishly as he leant over through the driver's side door, or what was left of it. He couldn't shake the image from his mind of those bleeding hands and the terrified look on Velma's face.

Shaggy had sunk into a seat by the vending machines and was deep in thought when he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned to see Velma, looking a little bit confused but mostly concerned. She took the seat next to him "You alright?" she asked softly.

"Like, not really," he admitted. He reached over and took one of her bandaged hands into his.

Velma looked down, not that she could really see much detail in the floor below her feet but she would rather focus on that at the moment. "I suppose it could have been far worse," she remarked finally.

Shaggy nodded "Like, yeah, that's like what really scares me…" he murmured.

Velma was going to ask him to elaborate on his thought when Scooby came out to retrieve them "The droctor's rere," Scooby informed them.

The two got up and followed Scooby back into the waiting room where a doctor was already conversing with Daphne. Shaggy and Velma approached the doctor. Daphne smiled at her friends brightly "Guys, this is Doctor Garret, he's Fred's surgeon," she explained.

Doctor Garret shook hands with Velma and Shaggy "As I was telling Ms. Blake," he began "Your friend's arm is gonna be fine. We've finished setting the bones and he's resting comfortably in the recovery room. We'll need to keep him here for a couple of days just to make sure that he's healing properly. You can come back tomorrow to see him."

"Thank you Doctor," Daphne said before giving him their contact information.

The doctor left and once again it was just Daphne, Velma, Shaggy and Scooby. There was a brief pause before Daphne spoke again "Well, since we won't be able to see Freddy until tomorrow, we should probably find a place to stay tonight."

XXX

Fred had been moved to a private room and was slowly coming out of the anesthetic induced haze that was clouding his mind. He was wondering about Daphne and the others. He had heard only the barest amount from Shaggy before he'd been taken to sugery. Velma had been getting stitches for some of the more deep cuts on her hands and Daphne had been getting her ankle X-rayed to see whether it was simply spraigned or broken.

"Like, don't worry about it man," Shaggy had said before the anesthesiologist had arrived "You just worry about yourself, I'll take care of everything."

"Thanks Shag," Fred had replied. Niether Shaggy or Fred had brothers of their own so they had been like each other's seragate brothers since day one. Fred would always look out for Shaggy and even though the opportunity didn't arise very often, when it did, Shaggy would look out for Fred.

Fred tried to take Shaggy's advice as he lay there but he found it quite hard not to worry about his friends. It was a few moments later when he happened to turn his attention to the open door of the room. In the doorway stood a young girl. Fred's eyes widened as he recognized the child. It was the girl from earlier, the one he had been veering to avoid when the Mystery Machine crashed.

Her skin was rather pale and her heart shaped face was framed by short straight bbrown hair. Her eyes were blue and looked sad, very sad. She was dressed in a pair of blue jean shorts and a pale pink t-shirt and wore a pair of beat up sneakers. For a moment Fred wondered if she was real or a figment of his imagination.

He smiled at the little girl as she entered his room. The child didn't say anything, she simply looked sad. Fred watched as the little girl watched him. He wondered what she was doing in the hospital in the first place. Had she in fact been injured somehow in the accident? The child placed her hand on the cast that incased Fred's broken arm. It was then that she spoke.

"Sorry…" she whispered before backing quickly out of the room.

"Wait," Fred called feebly after her but it was too late, she had already disappeared from sight. Fred tried to settle himself after the strange encounter but he found his thoughts returning to the little girl. She could not have been more than five years old. Had she really been there? Or had he simply imagined the whole thing? The tiny hand that touched his cast and the soft whisper of a voice could not have been an illusion.

Then another much stranger thought occurred to him. A thought probably brought on by fatigue and the remnance of the anesthetic that were still working thir wayout of his system. It was a thought that he was fully aware was something that would be more likely to occur in Shaggy's mind than his own. With the child's pale appearance and sad gaze along with the seeming lack of a logical explanation for her presence in the hospital… was she a ghost?