The last time I saw my green-eyed driver was when they carted him through the emergency entrance to the hospital. Despite the paramedics' insistence, I refused to let them put me on a gurney. It's not like I was the one involved the accident. So they rushed me as quickly as they could to one of the nearest exam rooms. They sent for a nurse to check my condition, and, much to my relief, she announced that I was not in need of a doctor.

For the past fifteen minutes or so, my poor nurse had been bent over with pliers in hand, removing every shard of glass stuck in my torn skin. I winced every now and then when the metal tips dug too deeply. My nurse, Mrs. Stebbins, would smile apologetically up at me, but continue with her work.

"That was a brave thing you did for that man," she said, continuing with our conversation. "Who knows what condition he would have been in if you hadn't helped him."

My cheeks warmed slightly at her praise, but I shook my head. "It was kind of stupid, actually. I mean, what girl tears up her knees trying to get someone out of a car? I couldn't even pull him out by myself. He did most of the work."

She smiled kindly at me. "I'm sure that's not how he sees it."

I picked at the lint on my damp shirt, not certain how to respond. "Do, um, ... do you know how he's doing? The driver, I mean. Is he okay?"

"I can only give that sort of information to a family member, hun," she said, eyeing my knee for any pieces of glass she missed.

"Oh," I said lamely, trying to hide my disappointment.

She stood up and patted my shoulder. "Don't worry too much, sweetheart. I'm sure he's doing just fine."

"Yeah," I agreed quietly. "He didn't look that bad, you know? Just a little banged up. He was bleeding some, but that's probably nothing a few stitches couldn't fix, right?"

"Of course," Mrs. Stebbins affirmed lightly - noncommittally, if I was being honest. "We've got some good doctors working here. They'll have him taken care of." She turned from where she was rummaging through one of the cupboards. I balked at the needle she held in her hand, my stomach rolling at the thought of that breaking through my skin.

Mrs. Stebbins gave me a sympathetic look. "It won't hurt much, sweetheart. You'll only feel a pinch, and before you know it, it'll be over."

"Right," I grumbled to myself. I had gotten enough stitches in my life to know that the pinch she spoke of was more like a bite. From a dog. Like a pit bull.

I started to breathe heavily through my mouth, my eyes trained on the ceiling above me.

Mrs. Stebbins sat back down on her small swivel chair, her needle making quick work of the holes in my leg. I closed my eyes, trying to ignore the push and pull of the needle sewing my skin back together. Of their own accord, my thoughts flew back to my green-eyed driver. Despite having been thrown head over heels in his own car, his eyes had been the most piercingly perceptive things I had ever seen. Could that even be possible? Maybe I only thought that because my mud puddle eyes were so flat . . .

"Isabella Marie Swan."

I cringed at the familiar voice. My shoulders hunched slightly and I threw a pleading look at the elderly nurse stitching up my knees. "Please tell me visiting hours are over."

"I'm going to pretend like I didn't even hear that Isabella Marie."

Chagrined, I kept my head bowed slightly and looked up at the now occupied doorway.

Alice was four feet of seething fury. Her black, spiky hair was flattened on one side, and Jasper's old college sweatshirt was sagging off of her small shoulders. The thing practically fell past her knees, and I couldn't tell if she was wearing shorts underneath it. She had a pair of fuzzy, pink slippers on her feet that were scuffed a little at the toes. The fluorescent lights glinted off the huge diamond on her ring finger, and Mrs. Stebbins paused in her stitching to admire it.

I gave her sheepish smile. "Hi Alice."

"Don't you 'hi Alice' me, Isabella," she snapped, stomping her way into the room. "Do you even have the slightest clue as to what I went through because of your stupid, little, cryptic phone call? You need me to pick up your car? At the site of an accident? What the hell, Bella?! And then I have to find out from a paramedic who doesn't know his ass from his elbow that you're in the hospital?!"

"Alice-" I tried to explain, but she wasn't done ranting yet.

"Do you even know what time it is? You're lucky I even picked up the damn phone! What did I tell you about driving all that way by yourself in the middle of a storm? What did I say about living that far away from your job? Didn't I say there'd be trouble? But no. You just wouldn't listen to me!"

"Alice, I wasn't involved in the accident-"

"Then I have to wake up poor Jasper -and you know how much sleep he loses over his job already- to get him to take me over to pick up your dinosaur, so that I can take it home for you -like the best friend I am- and do you know what happened?" She raised the delicate eyebrows on her face, as if expecting an answer, before she exploded with, "I had a heart attack is what happened!"

"Alice, I'm really sorry -"

"And poor Jasper has to go all that way to take your stupid car home, so I can rush to the hospital, because no one would tell me if you were dead. No one, Bella. I had to threaten the receptionist at the front desk to even get your damn room number!"

"Come on, Alice," I begged. "You know I'm so sorry about all of this. Please stop yelling at me?"

"Yelling? You think this is yelling? Are you hurt?" she demanded.

My traitorous eyes flickered to my freshly stitched knees. "No-"

"Liar!" she shrieked. "Isabella Swan, you could have diedout there tonight and I wouldn't have even known until I woke up in the morning to the goddamn voice mail from the hospital!"

"I don't think hospitals leave voicemail-"

"And then what, Bella?! What would I have done?! I would have had to cancel all my plans for Asia this summer, so I could plan your freakin' funeral. And you know how pissed I would be if that happened. I would dance on your grave site and not feel an ounce of guilt. Not. One. Ounce."

"You're my best friend, Alice," I said, trying not to make it sound as cheesy as I knew it was, "and I love you."

A whoosh of air left her lungs, and she practically deflated in a couple of seconds flat. Her big, puppy-dog eyes teared up, and suddenly she was throwing herself at me; her tiny arms crushing my shoulders and forcing me down to her height.

"Don't ever do this to me again, okay?" she sniffled loudly next to my ear. "You scared the ever loving life out of me."

I squeezed her back, trying to shift my knees off to one side, so she wasn't pressing against them. "I know, and I'm really sorry, Alice. Things just happen, you know?"

"Yeah, but only these things ever happen to you," she teased, pulling away to wipe under her eyes with Jasper's sleeve.

I grimaced at the truth behind her words. "Sorry."

"Don't be," Alice said, smiling at me. "Hospitals and you go together like peanut butter and jelly."
I glowered lightly at her. "Thanks."

She laughed then, the noise making her look just as pink and fluffy as her slippers. "Jasper's worried about you, too," she told me. "I promised I'd call him after I knew everything. Do you need me? I'll only be five minutes."

I grinned at her blatant lie. She was never on the phone with Jasper for only five minutes. "Go call your hubby," I told her, carefully sliding off the table. "I've got paper work to go fill out anyway."

"I'll meet you at the front desk then," she said happily. "After I take you home, I'll fix us a giant pot of coffee."

I tilted my head curiously. "You know I don't like coffee."

"Oh, I know," she chirped, dialing Jasper's number on her phone. "But Jasper and I do." With that, she turned and skipped her way out the door.

"I've never seen one like her come around here," Mrs. Stebbins chuckled softly.

"She's definitely one of a kind," I agreed. "Thanks so much for everything, Mrs. Stebbins. Wish me luck?"

"Luck? With a cop? Honey, I'll not only wish you luck, but know you have my sympathy."

I felt my shoulders drop at the last part of her sentence.

"Come on now," she said lightly, ushering me out of the room. "I've got other patients to fuss over. You go take care of crossing your T's and dotting your I's." She pointed down the hall and sent me on my way.

The cop waiting for me in the waiting room wasn't the same one from the scene of the accident. He was blond, and had surprisingly boyish features. He couldn't have been any older than I was, but I doubted we were the same age.

"Miss Swan?" he asked me, his blue eyes brightening just a bit. "It is a Miss Swan, right?"

"Bella," I corrected him, crossing my arms.

"Bella," he repeated. "It means pretty or something, right?"

"Um, yeah," I answered him awkwardly. "So do I just sign the statement and I'm good to go?"

"It suits you," he said, completely ignoring my question. "I'm Mike Newton, by the way. It's a pleasure to meet you." He held his hand out for me to shake.

. . . right.

"Listen, Mike," I started, trying not to be rude. "It's late, and I really just want to get this over with so I can go home. My friend's waiting for me and she has to work in the morning. Do you mind if I just make my statement so I can go home?"

"Oh. Right," he said, his expression dimming a bit. He pulled a clipboard from under his arm and handed it to me. "Just write down everything you saw and describe it as best you can in your own words. Then sign it at the bottom and you're all good to go."

"Thank you," I told him sincerely, quickly scribbling a brief list of everything that happened.

"So what were you doing on the road at this time of night? Visiting someone?" I glanced up at his personal questions, narrowing my eyes just a bit. "Your boyfriend, maybe?"

I sighed impatiently down at the clipboard. "No, I was not visiting anyone. I was coming home from work."

"Where do you work?" he asked, getting nosy.

"In the city," I answered vaguely, signing my name at the bottom with finality. "Thanks again, Mike. Have a nice night."

"Wait!" he said, putting a hand on my shoulder to stop me from turning around. "You're a real interesting girl, Bella. Do you maybe want to get a cup of coffee with me later? I've got a day off tomorrow. Maybe we could see a movie. Have dinner or something?"

"I'm sorry, Mike." I tried to sound honestly apologetic, but my annoyance with this boy just kept growing. "I'm just not feeling okay, what with everything that happened and all. I have work tomorrow anyway."

"Maybe some other time then?" He sounded too hopeful. "Can I have your number? I can call you-"

"Bella!"

Relieved, I spun around to look towards Alice's voice. She bounded lightly to my side and latched onto my arm.

"Jasper misses me. We have to go now." She pulled on my arm as she spoke, and half dragged me behind her to the door.

I waved once over my shoulder at Mike, but didn't spare him a second glance. I looked wistfully back at the front desk, wishing that they could have at least told me if my green-eyed driver was okay, or even his name. I bet it was as amazing as his eyes.

"Don't dawdle, Bella," Alice snapped as the automatic doors parted for her. "We can't keep Jasper waiting."

I laughed from behind her. "Sorry, Alice. What was I thinking?"

"You were thinking you owed me a shopping trip after picking your sorry ass up from the hospital and saving you from Casanova back there."

I shook my head, not bothering to correct her. I wondered if I'd ever stop thinking about my green-eyed driver's copper hair, or how warm his hand felt when he was holding on to me.

I highly doubted I would.

Thanks to everyone who reviewed! I'm glad you're enjoying the story so far :)

And I want to send a big thank you to my Beta Irritable Grizzzly for reminding me that its "i before e except after c" I'd be lost without you!!!

-GrumpySunshine