Val

This is my first fanfiction piece, so don't be too hard on me, but let me know what you think. Happy reading

I don't own any of the characters of In a Heartbeat, so please don't sue, because I have no money.

Val

I was running late for my shift at the station. It was a Saturday and I had hit the snooze button one to many times. My hair was still damp, and pulled messily up into a clip. And, go figure, my car wouldn't start, so I was jogging to the station. I know how Alex hates it when we're late. Hopefully, one of the guys would cover for me.

I jogged down the block and I started to cross the street. I quickly glanced both ways, without really stopping, and didn't see anything coming. Then, in the corner of my eye I saw a flash of black metal. I heard a crash, and saw glass flying everywhere.

And then, everything went black

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Tyler

We were all at the station, everyone except Val. I was getting worried. Our shift started 15 minutes ago, and Val wasn't one to be late. I don't think she had ever been late to a shift before. I guess I was pacing nervously, because Jamie said, "Sit down, Tyler, your going to wear a hole in the floor."

Before I could respond, the bell rang. We rushed out to the ambulance, and Hank took the call. "Ambulance 6, we have a white female, hit by an SUV, on the corner of Maple and White Water. "We're on it" Hank said. The dispatcher continued to give us her information as we sped along to the site. "We have reported injury to the leg, and eyes, as well as various cuts. She is reported as unconscious. The driver of the SUV is the one that called in. He says he is uninjured, he says he swerved to avoid hitting the girl, and he ran into a glass front of a diner. The diner was closed, so no one was hurt there. Glass shattered everywhere. That's all we have."

"We're here." Hank stopped the ambulance, and we got out quickly and Jamie grabbed the stretcher. And Hank got the box of first aid. It was a good thing that I wasn't holding anything because when I saw the victim, I almost fainted.

Val was lying on the sidewalk, in her EMT uniform, blood everywhere. "Val," I breathed. I rushed to her side and began checking vitals. "BP's stable, pulse is weak, but stable, she's lost a lot of blood, lets get her out of here, now!"

The rest of the trip went by in a blur. Hank drove straight to the hospital, siren wailing, lights flashing, and Jamie set her broken leg. Meanwhile, I was tending to her cuts, she had a major one on the side of her forehead right above her eye. But the thing that worried me most was the piece of glass that had scraped her right eye.

Her usually tan skin looked extremely pale. And the blood from her cuts was matted in her hair and soaked in her EMT uniform.

"Val," I said softly, "what happened? We'll get you to a doctor right away, just hang on," I was on the verge of tears.

Thankfully, we pulled up at the hospital. The doctors were waiting, and the wheeled her into surgery as soon as we got there. We drove the ambulance over to the other side of the hospital, and told Alex what was going on. He let us stay in the main part of the hospital and wait for Val, and called in the relief squad. It was a good thing he did, because I was a wreck, and probably wouldn't be of much good, anyway.

Hours later, (2am) I was allowed to go in and see her. I was told her eye had gotten infected and the infection had spread to the other one. She was temporarily, if not permanently, blind.

Val

"Val, are you awake?" I heard a voice. It seemed close, and familiar, but I couldn't see the voice's owner. I felt groggy, everything took a while to register. It was like my mind was wrapped in a dense fog.

"Val, it's me, Tyler." His voice seemed to slowly lift me out of that fog.

"Tyler," I mumbled. "Where am I? Why are my eyes bandaged?"

He slipped his hand into mine. "Val, you're in the hospital. You were hit by a car on the way to the station. You have a dislocated knee and some damage to your eyes, from the glass shattering. The driver swerved to try not to hit you, and hit a store window. You leg was broken in 2 places and the doctors had to do surgery on your eye. Only one eye was damaged, but it was infected and the infection spread to the other eye."

"Tyler, am I blind?" I asked, sitting and ignoring the pain from various cuts and bruises. He took a deep breath. "The doctors say there is a good chance that in time, you might regain your sight…"

I interrupted him, "Don't sugarcoat it, Tyler."

"They said that right now, you won't see anything yet. You have to keep the bandages on for the next week in order to give your eyes a chance to heal."

I put my head in my hands. "Do my parents know?"

"Yeah, the doctors were able to get in touch with them. They said they would call back and talk to you later. They should be calling in the morning."

I moved my hands away from my face and turned to Tyler, thoughts swirling around in my head. "This changes everything," I said. "School, cheer leading, the squad. Everything normal in my life is being stripped away." I was surprised at how calm I sounded. I guess I was in shock. It hadn't really sunk in yet. And I knew that there would be plenty of time for heart-wrenching sobs later. Right now I just needed information.

"Doesn't a doctor normally tell you this kind of stuff?"

"Yeah, but they thought you might take it better if someone close to you broke the news."

"Thanks. Speaking of which, where is everybody?"

"Um, Val, it's 2 am, the doctors sent everybody home. They all promised to stop by 1st thing in the morning."

I was touched. "Tyler, you stayed up for me?"

"Of course, Val, you needed someone here." I could almost hear him blushing. He was being incredibly sweet. "You better go home and get some rest, Tyler, especially if you've been up all this time."

"I'd rather stay here, there is a couch here I could stay on. If you don't mind. I've been really worried about you."

"That sweet, Tyler. You really would do that for me?"

He gave me a gentle kiss on the cheek. "I care about you, Val. Through this whole thing I've been doing some thinking. When I saw you lying on the sidewalk covered in blood, I realized how precious life is. You had lost so much blood, I was scared I would lose you. I'm so glad you're going to be okay. I want to stay, to make sure this isn't a dream."

"Of course," I said, drifting off. "And, Tyler, thank you."

Well, what do you think? I'm new to fanfiction.net, so let me know if it is any good. I'm not going to say I have to get a million reviews to continue, cause really, I write for myself. I have an idea that pops into my head and it turns into a story, and if others can enjoy it, that just makes it better. But please let me know what you think. I love reviews. Constructive criticism and ideas are always appreciated. But if you don't like it, please tell me what you don't like, not just that it stinks. Thanks! ScarletCord