We Can Run

Let me pull you through; let me sink down with you. – "We Can Run"; Jade Valerie

Glass crashed all around him, flying into the car. He kept his eyes closed; his arms raised and crossed in front of him when the other car had impacted. He could feel shards of glass cutting his cheeks, his whole body being thrown backwards from the force of being hit. He was doing thirty something when the car had run into his, the other car doing clearly over the speed limit.

His eyes tightly shut; he laid backwards, blood flowing down his face. Dizziness overwhelmed him; he barely had enough strength to climb from the car. The other driver was frantic in the middle of the street. He paused for a moment, adrenaline likely being the only strength he had at the moment. He could feel pain radiating from every pore of his body. He scribbled down his information, only to have his hand tremble too much to read it.

Instead, he went around and used his phone to record on video all the different details for insurance purposes. He clicked the end dialing button and stared at the other driver, blood still trickling down his face, into his eyes. He brushed it away and felt his body sap of strength. Looking away, he whispered something incoherent. "Well, this isn't good…"

And just like that, he passed out in the middle of the wreckage.

Lizzie was in the middle of washing dishes at work when she heard her name called by her boss. She dried her hands and went to answer the phone. Her breath hitched when she heard the voice on the other end. "Roberta? You haven't talked to me since David left for New York."

"He came home last night," Roberta replied, her voice trembling. Lizzie could tell something bad had happened. "He was on vacation from school, so he came home to visit. Oh, Lizzie, it's so terrible."

Lizzie lived in Pasadena now; she hadn't seen anyone in Gordo's family since he left for college a few months ago. Lizzie hadn't told Roberta why she moved, she didn't want the family to know. In fact, only Gordo knew, and even then, it wasn't something she was proud to admit to. Fear clenched her heart when she listened to Roberta's confession on the other end. "He was in an accident."

"An accident?" Lizzie asked, dumbfound.

"He said it was absolutely crucial that he saw you, something about you understanding perfectly fine what he was talking about." Roberta didn't need to outright say that she blamed Lizzie; it was clear in her words.

Graduation was nearly five months ago, Gordo left four months ago for college. If Roberta couldn't figure out why it was crucial to see Lizzie, she couldn't figure out how to explain it. "How bad was the accident?" She inquired softly, pressing a hand to her swollen stomach very carefully. She knew that any bad news could be fatal, but she also knew she couldn't live without knowing what happened to her child's father.

Roberta murmured something to Howard, clearly holding her hand over the receiver so Lizzie couldn't hear. When she came back on the line, Lizzie's boss was yelling about her needing to go back to work. Roberta continued speaking, her voice harsh, and likely fighting tears. "It was a head on collision. He's in a coma. Both parties are in the hospital. They said that when the paramedics got there, he was outside of the car, which is part of what saved him…had he stayed in the car, he likely would have been harder for them to get him out." Roberta paused and closed her eyes tightly, rubbing her temples. "Elizabeth, he asked for you when they found him. You guys broke up, what the hell does he want with you?"

Lizzie growled something under her breath, and then snapped at her boss that she'd be done in a moment. Grabbing a paper off the stack next to the register, she asked Roberta for the address of the hospital he was at. As soon as she hung up, she broke down crying.

Amy came from behind the counter and sat beside her best friend, resting a hand on her back. "Eliza, what's wrong?"

Lizzie stared up at Amy with tears in her eyes. "David got into an accident on his way to see me. I didn't even know he was coming. His mother resents me; she thinks it's my fault." She touched her hand to the pendant on her neck, her fingers idly twisting the star in her hand. "Amy, he's in a coma. What if he dies?"

Amy frowned and brushed Lizzie's long blonde hair behind her ears and smiled sadly. "He won't die; he's got a beautiful woman that cares about him, and a baby to come back to."

"He doesn't know about the baby," Lizzie whispered.

Amy blinked a thousand times, her brown eyes showing confusion. "How does he not know? Isn't he the father?"

Lizzie nodded and hiccupped through her next few words. "I didn't tell him because his dream was to go to college, not have a family. Family was always second to being a director. I didn't feel like it was right for me to tie him down when he didn't want to be tied down."

Amy bit her lip, trying not to say what was on her mind. Poor Lizzie had been living alone for so long, assuming this man didn't want to be a father, and yet he knew there was a reason he needed to visit her. "Eliza, he was coming to visit you, you said you guys broke up on bad terms."

"Bad terms don't mean we don't still love each other," She whispered, looking at her trembling hands, through blurry eyes. "At least, it doesn't mean that he doesn't still love me."

"Are you going to go see him?" Amy inquired, rubbing Lizzie's back gently. "Please say yes. He came to see you, you should go see him."

Nick screamed something about Lizzie needing to go back to work. Amy turned to him and shouted back. "Hey, now! Pregnant women need rest or they can sue! Let the woman grieve in peace!"

Those were the moments where she was glad Amy was married to the owner. "I'll go, but I can't promise I'll stay. She said he's at Mercy Hospital in Sacramento…he's an hour from Hillridge, two hours from here. Why would they send him to Sacramento and not here?"

"Maybe it was the quickest one to move him to? It depends on the injuries." Amy pushed her black hair back and watched Lizzie move cautiously. "Do you need me to take you?"

"If you promise not to ask any more questions about my relationship with him." Lizzie added as a requirement.

It was only an hour long ride into Sacramento, but Lizzie had chosen to drive. Amy opened the middle consol and pulled out a stack of photographs. Staring at the first one on the stack, she gingerly touched a hand to the image of the two lovers sitting in a café. The boy next to her was gorgeous. He had shaggy brown hair that curled sporadically, stark blue eyes, and a beautiful smile. He was putting a chain around Lizzie's neck.

Amy turned to look at Lizzie, blinking a few times. It was the same chain in the picture. She flipped to another photograph where it was just him in his cap and gown at graduation, the same chain adorning his neck. That was before they had broken up, so obviously the chain was his. Then it dawned on her that Lizzie wasn't Jewish. At least, she'd never let on to be. Amy went to the next picture and smiled at the black and white image of the baby. "You should show him these."

"He's in a coma, Amy. And what are you doing going through my stuff?" Lizzie grabbed the pictures and tossed them up onto the dashboard. "I'd rather you don't go through my belongings, got it? I'm not dead yet."

"Yeah? And he's not dead yet, either." Amy commented, folding her arms. "Don't you think he deserves to know about his child?"

"I wasn't going to shut him out, Amy. I planned on letting him know about his child. I just didn't think I'd see him for a few more years." Lizzie began to get caught up in the memories. She pulled over sharply on the side of the road, cut the engine and climbed out of the car, crying hysterically. "What if he does die? What if he dies never knowing he had a child? I would have to live my entire life knowing that their daddy didn't even know them."

"Eliza, stop beating yourself up over it. God works miracles. I know you're not a Christian or anything, but this all happened for a reason, trust me." She came around to the driver side so she could drive. "Get in the car; we have a boy that's waiting to see you. He did ask for you, after all."

They arrived at the hospital an hour later with a distraught Lizzie following slowly behind her best friend. She saw Roberta sitting in the corner, a photograph in her hands. Roberta didn't look up as Lizzie came through the room. Lizzie had remembered Amy saying only hours before that nothing brings families together like a child does, but she didn't move to look at Roberta.

Amy didn't move, knowing that Lizzie didn't want to show Roberta yet. The surgeon wheeled the crash cart through the hallway, a very pale looking Gordo lying under the sheets. They had cut his clothes and replaced them with whatever the hospital issued these days. She touched his cheek gingerly, pulling away when she saw the glass fragments. "I thought auto glass doesn't shatter like that?"

"Generally it doesn't," Amy answered, spying bruises all over from the accident. "What's the worst we're looking at?" Amy asked in Lizzie's stead.

"Are you of relation?" He asked.

Lizzie nodded, hoping Roberta didn't hear the lie. "I'm the girlfriend. I was told he asked for me," Lizzie whispered quietly.

"You must be Lizzie." The doctor checked the clipboard. "We're rushing him into surgery now. He's got internal bleeding from a broken rib that punctured a lung. He also suffered from a concussion, lacerations…he'll need stitches. He got off lucky, all things considered. We'll put him in a medically induced coma if the swelling doesn't go down."

"Can he hear me?" Lizzie asked.

The man nodded.

Lizzie leaned forward and whispered into his ear, much like he'd done for her before he left. She removed the necklace and put it around his neck, kissing his cheek gently. "Be strong for them, okay?"

As they wheeled him away, Lizzie noticed a nurse coming towards her. "Would you like his personal effects?"

Lizzie nodded feebly and held out her hand for the nurse to place the bag into her hands. Lizzie reached into the bag for the phone and looked at the last number dialed. She trembled. It was hers. Going through the photographs in the phone, there were several of the accident scenes. She felt very sick as she went through them.

Amy stopped her hand so she didn't look at them anymore and torture herself. Instead, Amy brought up the text messages, staring at one from Matt. "Your brother still talks to him?"

Lizzie looked over Amy's shoulder and blinked. "Not that I'm aware of."

There it was in black and white, the image of their child, followed by the text at the bottom of the message reading Daniel Caleb, the name she'd chosen from day one. Lizzie didn't know if she felt angry with her brother, or if she felt happy that Gordo knew. She took a step forward and looked to Roberta.

Roberta took in the sight of a now-chubbier Lizzie. She already knew there was no way that scrawny girl had put on that much weight in four months. The mother looked to Lizzie and smiled rather sadly. Lizzie handed Roberta the phone to look at the image. "I know we made a mistake," Lizzie began, sitting beside his mother. "But I don't see it that way. If anything happens to your son, at least there's something to remember him by."

Roberta shook her head and handed the phone back to Lizzie after forwarding the message to her own phone. "David has always been obsessed with following his dreams. To throw a wrench in that plan would royally mess him up." She took a deep breath, calming her nerves so she didn't snap on the girl. "He wanted to see you because of this, didn't he?"

Lizzie frowned. "I don't know. I didn't know he knew. This is the first I'm hearing about him knowing." She rested a hand gently on her stomach. "Daniel has been asleep since this morning; there hasn't been much activity from him."

"How far are you?" Roberta asked cautiously.

The blonde looked down at her feet. "Six months. I'm terrified I'll be doing this alone. What if he doesn't wake up by then?" Lizzie whispered. "I'll be raising his son by myself. I don't want that. I don't want to be alone. The thought terrifies me to tears."

Roberta shook her head slowly. "You have me, Elizabeth. I'm sorry for treating you so terribly in the past. We need to stick together; you might be one of us one day." She paused. "As far as I'm concerned, you are one of us. What did you tell him, anyway?"

Lizzie paused and smiled softly. "I told him that marrying him felt right to me," She answered. "And that if he didn't wake up, he'd never meet his children."

"Do you think it will work?" Roberta inquired.

Lizzie looked to Amy for an answer, and then turned back to Roberta. "I don't know. I'm praying it does. I gave him his good luck charm back."

Rewrite of Star of David; similar premise, different name. I'll keep both of them up. That way you guys can choose which you like better. I think I like this one better. Less plot holes this way. Miranda will be making an appearance, but that's going to be explained later. And it's probably incredibly evident by my stories that I love pregnancy in my fics. XD

Read and Review, please? :)