[Note: Takes place six months after the episode 4.06 and deviates from all episodes thereafter.]
Will glanced into the mirror as he finished getting dressed. He wondered if Gunnar had made breakfast this morning. He could really go for some of Gunnar's flapjacks. As he looked at his reflection, he took a deep breath. "We're getting there." It had become something of a ritual for him over the last few months.
The last six months had been filled with highs and lows, ups and downs. Some of the lows had been particularly bad such as radio stations refusing to play his songs, boycotts of his concerts, homophobic slurs flung at him when he appeared at local venues. Those were bad, but fortunately there had been some pretty big highs to counterbalance the lows. He had signed to Highway 65, and Rayna had been nothing but supportive. She had promised Will that she would have his back and she had in spades. He had always thought highly of Rayna but now he thought she walked on water. She wasn't the only one supporting him either. A lot of country artists had shown support for him as well. Will had thought that Wade Cole's diss of him at Juliette's album launch was indicative of how other artists would feel. It was nice to know that Wade was in the minority. His album had moderate success as did his songs Broken Song and Spinning Revolver. They had performed better than expected. And despite the boycotts and picketers, his concerts had sold well too. He really was getting there and had come a long way in six months.
Will watched as his reflection smiled sadly at him. "Yeah, I know. I wish…" Will shook his head and glanced away. He wished he could share all of this with Kevin but he couldn't. He still thought about Kevin almost every day. Whenever something good happened it was always followed by a pang of remorse as he realized that the one person he wanted to share it with he couldn't. If he had a dime for every time he had reached for his phone to call Kevin, he could retire happy. He wondered if that feeling would ever go away. Would he ever stop reaching for his phone to call Kevin? With that last thought swirling in his head, he opened his door and went down the stairs.
Will bounded into the kitchen and went straight for the coffee pot as he turned and saw Avery and Gunnar sitting in the living room watching the news. They were both riveted to the screen, their faces serious. "What's going on? The world didn't blow up while we were asleep did it?"
Avery half turned his head towards him as he responded, "There was a big car crash on I-40 last night."
"That sounds awful." Will said as he poured coffee into his favorite mug.
"Apparently a semi came across the median and crashed into oncoming traffic on the other side of the highway." Gunnar said his eyes never leaving the TV screen.
Will walked over and stood behind the couch sipping his coffee as he started to tune into what was happening on the set. "We're now going to go back to Amber Wells who is at the scene of last night's horrific crash on I-40 which occurred late last night. Amber is there anything more you can tell us?"
"Good Morning Kate. The only new piece of information we are hearing although it hasn't been confirmed is that the driver of the semi fell asleep at the wheel which is what caused last night's accident. As you know, he is one of several people listed in critical condition at Nashville General Hospital this morning. Four people were killed on scene although those names have not yet been released pending notification of next of kin. As you can see behind me, the clean up efforts are still ongoing, and we are being told that it will be several more hours before traffic will be moving freely along this stretch of highway. For those of you trying to get to work this morning, please use alternate routes as you head out."
"Amber, the car loaded onto the tow truck behind you, was that one of the cars involved in the collision last night?"
Will watched as the cameraman panned off of the news reporter and zoomed in on a black sedan sitting on a tow truck. He heard Gunnar give a low whistle at the damage. "Yes, it was. As you can see, the entire left side of the car has been shattered. This car was actually in the farthest lane, the slow lane, when the semi came across the median. The semi crashed into at least three other cars before hitting this one reducing the impact significantly. Even so, you can see the damage the car sustained."
The cameraman panned from the left side of the car around to the back before starting to go around to the right side but Will never got that far. As soon as the camera swung to the back of the car, Will's world tilted. He suddenly felt dizzy and he couldn't seem to breathe. He vaguely heard something that sounded like a dish breaking.
"Will! Will what's wrong?" Gunnar was beside him in an instant with Avery not far behind.
It took Will a long moment before he was finally able to say, "Kevin."
Gunnar looked at him in confusion. "Kevin? What are you talking about?" Gunnar glanced back at the TV and Will saw his face tense.
Avery apparently saw it too. "What's he talking about? What's going on?"
Gunnar turned back to Avery with a somber look. "Kevin drives a black sedan."
"There are a lot of black sedans." Avery said rationally.
Gunnar turned back to the TV just as the cameraman was panning back around the car. Gunnar's eyes closed as he whispered, "Not with that license plate."
They all just stood there in shock as the news reporter droned on. Then the anchor woman broke in, "Amber, I'm sorry to cut you off but we have breaking news just in. We are switching now to our reporter, Josh Henderson, who has been at Nashville General all night. Josh, what can you tell us?"
"Good Morning Kate. We have just been informed that the driver of the black sedan that viewers just saw in that last clip has passed away from the injuries sustained in the car crash last night. This now brings the death toll to five…"
That was all Will heard as his knees buckled out from under him. Luckily both Avery and Gunnar caught him before he went crashing down to the floor.