Austin pressed the button on his steering wheel to turn on his emergency blinkers. He pulled the car to the edge of the road and shut the engine off. Clouds of steam rose from under the hood. Austin groaned and rolled his eyes. His car had overheated once again.

He got out and walked around to the front. Carefully, he felt for the latch under the hood and pulled it, exposing the hot engine. A loud hissing noise met his ears and he noticed water dripping out of the radiator.

His left pocket buzzed. Austin reached in and pulled out his cell phone.

"Austin?"

"Sam, hey. I'm glad you called. My car broke down."

"Again? I thought you'd taken it to the shop?"

"Yeah, no. That check from my dad hasn't come through yet. Can you come pick me up?"

Twenty minutes later, Sam was nowhere to be seen. The rainclouds that had been threatening to open up all day finally did, letting loose torrential rain.

Austin drummed his fingers on the steering wheel. He thought he heard a car approaching so he turned to look. Headlights blinded him as the car approached. He squinted, trying to see if it was Sam's car. It wasn't. The car sped past, splashing Austin's car with muddy water.

His cell phone buzzed again. He looked at it. It was a number he didn't recognize, but he answered anyway.

"I'm Deidre Finch, I'm a nurse at County General Hospital. I'm trying to contact an Austin Ames."

"Speaking."

"Mr. Ames, your fiancé Samantha was in an accident."

Austin's heart skipped a beat. His mouth felt too dry to speak and his blood seemed to turn cold. He finally croaked, "Is – is she okay?"

"Sir, if you could come down and fill out some forms . . ."

"Is – she – okay?"

"I'm afraid I can't answer that, sir."

The hand holding the cell phone dropped. Tears welled up in Austin's eyes. He had a terrible feeling that Sam was not okay. He suddenly felt that he would never see her beautiful eyes again. He'd never hear her laugh, or see her smile, or . . .

The woman from the hospital was still talking, but Austin didn't want to know what she was saying. He flipped his phone closed and closed his eyes. Sam would never have been in an accident if he hadn't called her to come get him. She would have stayed in their cosy little apartment, reading or working on her novel or something. She wouldn't have been out in the downpour. She wouldn't have . . .

Austin dialed the number for a tow truck. He wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes and tried to steady his breathing. If he could get to the hospital, maybe she'd be okay. Maybe all she needed was so see him. Maybe he could save her.

Maybe not.

A/N: To all of the JB fanbrats who are angry about their stories being removed, let me remind you once again that this category is for stories about characters from the movie A Cinderella Story. You were not reported because we have grudges against you, you were reported because your stories broke the rules. If you can't grasp that fact, you don't need to be posting stories on a public website.

Thank you for your time.

- I Love Canon