God Only Knows

I may not always love you

But long as there are stars above you

You never need to doubt it

I'll make you so sure about it

God only knows

What I'd be without you

"I love snow days!"

Dillon laughed. "You would think that someone who loved school as much as you do would be upset about a snow day," he teased.

"I do love school," Georgie agreed. She looped her scarf around Dillon's neck, pulling him closer. "But I love you more."

"Have I mentioned that winter is my favorite season?" He wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her close and leaning to capture her lips in his.

Georgie wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him closer to deepen the kiss, leaning back, until…

"Ahhhh!"

They tumbled head over heels into the snow, powder coming up around them.

"It's not fair that PCH has a snow day and PCU doesn't," Dillon complained, brushing snow from Georgie's hair.

She splashed snow at him. "You're cutting class anyway!"

He laughed, rolling over on top of her. "Oh yeah…"

"You know what I've always kind of wanted to do?" She whispered against his mouth.

He was pretty sure he knew. "Really? In the snow?"

"Yeah…"

Dillon loved it when her wild side came out. There was something so sexy about Georgie when she was spontaneous.

"You want to?" he whispered, nibbling her ear.

She moaned. "Yeah…but…"

He laughed. Somehow he knew she wouldn't go through with it. "You want to come back tonight?" he asked, "when no one else will be around?"

Georgie giggled. "It's a date."

He kissed her again and pulled her to her feet. "I'll go get you some hot chocolate."

"Maxie text-messaged me," Georgie informed Dillon as he handed her a cup of hot chocolate. "Jesse is working today, she wants to know if we want to have Chinese with her and Lucas tonight."

"What did you say?" Dillon asked hopefully.

Georgie grinned. "That we had our own plans."

He sat down, looping an arm around her shoulders. "Good." He felt her shiver. "You cold?"

"Yeah."

Dillon held her closer. "Why don't we get out of here?"

"Want to go back to your room?" She bit his neck.

She was trying to kill him. She really was.

"I do," he groaned, "I really do, but I want to give Lucas a chance to have the room to himself some. We kind of monopolize it."

Georgie giggled. "How about the movies?"

"Girl after my own heart."

"Come on." He pulled her to her feet.

They walked toward the road, his arm around her shoulder, her arm around his waist. They dragged their feet in the snow and paused to kiss in the street the way young lovers do.

"Wait," Georgie said. "I forgot my hat."

"I'll get it."

She stopped him. "No, that's okay. I'll be right back."

Dillon watched her run across the road, jog to the bench, and retrieve her hat. She waved and started back toward him.

He didn't see the car as it whipped around the bend, didn't notice it until Georgie was heading across the street.

And he didn't hear himself scream her name.

It all happened so fast, but it felt like slow motion. He couldn't move as he saw the car strike her, saw her body tumble up on to the hood, over the roof, and sail into a snow bank.

The snow began to turn red where Georgie had landed.

And the car kept on going.

If you should ever leave me

Well, life would still go on, believe me

"Seventeen year old female, hit and run, massive breaks and bleeding!"

Dillon raced alongside the stretcher, trying to keep from being sick as he looked at Georgie's broken body, her flawless skin marred by blood.

"Dillon?" Emily and Elizabeth came running over, followed by several other doctors and nurses. "Oh my god, Georgie!"

"Page Bobbie Spencer and Robin Scorpio, now," Emily snapped to the desk clerk.

"Trauma two is open," Elizabeth breathlessly informed the paramedics. "Go!" She rushed after the gurney as Georgie was wheeled in.

"Dillon, no!" Emily caught him as he tried to run in after them. "You can't go in there."

He fought for breath. "I don't care, the person I love is in there fighting for her life." He struggled against Em, but she held on tight.

"We were in the park," he seethed. "We were leaving and she'd left her hat on a bench…"

Robin and Bobbie came running into the ER from opposite sides.

"I was paged."

"What happened?"

"Robin, Bobbie," Emily yelled. "Trauma two. It's Georgie."

"Oh my god…" They ran in.

"She left her hat," Dillon repeated, feeling dizzy.

"Emily!"

Lucky ran to them. "How is she?"

"How did…"

"Report came over the police scanner, hit and run," Lucky explained. "They said the victim is Georgie. Jesse went to PCU to get Maxie."

Dillon doubled over. "I think I'm going to be sick."

Emily grabbed a nearby wastebasket. "Here."

He gasped. "False alarm."

Emily put down the trash can and rubbed his back. "Come on," she said. "You need to sit down." Lucky slipped away. Emily guided Dillon to the waiting area and sat him down on a couch.

"Here," Lucky came back, holding out a cup of water.

Dillon nodded in thanks, sipping from the cup. They watched him carefully. He took slow breaths, trying to will his body to calm down.

"Please," he begged, looking to Emily.

She nodded. "Come on." She led him to the closed trauma doors, told him to wait and entered. He leaned against the glass, looking in. He could see doctors and nurses rushing around, machines, and lots of blood. And in the middle of everything lay Georgie.

"Dillon!" Maxie raced over to him, followed closely by Jesse and Lucas. She flung herself at him, and he caught her, hugging her tightly. He knew she was as scared as he was.

"What happened?" Lucas demanded.

"We were in the park," Dillon explained, looking at Lucas over Maxie's shoulder. It helped to have someone to lean on. "We were leaving, and she left her hat, so she was running across the street to get it and the car came and it hit her and it kept on going."

Lucas punched the wall. "Damn it," he yelled, shaking out his sore hand. Maxie let go of Dillon and moved to Lucas, wrapping her arms around him. Dillon let his head fall back.

"Guys."

They looked up as Bobbie, Robin and Emily came out of the room. They looked grim.

"Robin?" Maxie's voice wavered.

"She needs emergency surgery," Robin said gently. "We have to take her up now."

"Mom and Dad…"

"Mac had a commissioner's conference in Philadelphia," Robin told Bobbie. "Felicia went with him."

"We had the station put in a call, and there's a PCPD chopper en route to get them," Lucky supplied.

"She can't wait," Robin said kindly, but firmly. "We have to go now."

"I'll take them up," Emily offered.

Robin and Bobbie turned to go back into the exam room. "Is she…" Dillon called out. He couldn't finish the sentence.

"Honey, I promise, we're going to do absolutely everything we can," Bobbie assured him.

Somehow, hearing that just didn't help.

Welcome to Hell.

The world would show nothing to me

So what good would living do me?

Three hours.

He felt like he was on a moving walkway, going through a tunnel, with the operating room in front of him.

Mac and Felicia had arrived an hour ago, and Mac was pacing like a caged animal.

Robin and Bobbie had scrubbed up and were in the OR with Georgie.

Lucky had gone back to work on his and Jesse's shift alone.

Emily and Elizabeth had returned to their rounds.

They'd all left instructions to call with any news.

Dillon stood in front of the observation window. Maxie gripped his hand and leaned into Jesse on her other side. Lucas kept a firm hand on Dillon's shoulder, gripping tightly. Felicia stood to the left, staring, praying for her youngest.

Suddenly, something wasn't right. He could see panic in the doctors' eyes. The green heart monitor began to zig zag more dramatically. People moved faster.

"What's happening?" Maxie yelled. "What's happening?"

Mac ran. "What's going on? What's wrong?"

The crash cart was pulled to the table, and the electric paddles placed on Georgie's chest.

They watched as her body seized, once, twice, and again.

Then there it was. That long green line that says "This is it, this is the end, and from now on, Dillon, your life won't mean nearly as much as it did one minute ago."

The moving walkway started to spin, making everything around him seem far away.

Through his haze he saw Dr. Drake knock the tray of instruments to the floor, his perfect record shattered. He saw Robin lean into the wall, her shoulders shaking, and saw Bobbie bury her face in her hands.

Outside, he heard the sounds, but they seemed far away. Felicia screamed, Lucas gagged, Maxie just said the word "no" over and over again. All Dillon could see clearly was that long green line.

He blinked, and realized he was crying. He reached up touch his face. His cheeks were soaked.

Dillon felt the ground start to drop out from under him. He reached out, falling into Maxie and they sank to the floor, clinging to each other, hoping that if they held on tight enough, it would all go away, and Georgie would still be there. Hoping for that.

But knowing she was gone.

God only knows what I'd be without you.