She had fallen asleep during the ride to the hospital, passed out was probably more accurate. He wasn't sure how she had held it together for as long as she did.

He had planned on dropping her off at the ambulance and heading back over to analyze the scene of the crash. Veronica still hadn't told him what happened, but he knew Keith Mars and he knew Keith would never take attention off the road if it meant putting his daughter in danger. There was almost no way this was an accident. He sighed. There were a million things running through his head by the time he reached the EMTs, Veronica quiet in his arms.

He put her down on the gurney and turned to walk away but a small pressure on his forearm stopped him.

"Lamb…I…where are you going?"
"To do my job, Veronica, I'm the sheriff...I have to examine the scene."

He was prepared for an insult. For some variation on "Why start doing your job now?" or "Oh, there's a first time for everything." What he was not prepared for was the look on her face. She looked at him the same way she had only once before… same long blonde hair… same runny makeup… hell, she was even wearing white under his jacket. He could barely stand that look in his memory, let alone here in the flesh. Especially because she wasn't that girl anymore. This Veronica was made out of stronger stuff than the Veronica of a few years ago. The look on her face just didn't belong there. He didn't know how to respond so he looked down at the small hand that was still preventing him from leaving.

"Veronica."
"Please?" She sounded so tiny. He wasn't entirely sure what she was asking but she visibly relaxed when he said "I'll be right back."

He felt her eyes on his back as he made his way to Sacks. He explained that he was headed to the hospital and to call him if they found anything. Veronica let out an audible sigh when he climbed into the back of the ambulance with her and shut the doors. He really didn't know what to make of that… or of the fact that she was holding onto his jacket so tightly.

"Are you cold?"
She ignored him.

"I really thought he was dead." He didn't know what to say so he just stared at her until she started crying again. He was never good with overly emotional displays, especially from someone like Veronica, who never let him see the least bit of weakness. He reached over to push some hair out of her face, not content to just stare at her anymore. He wasn't sure if he expected her to pull away or not, but he certainly didn't expect her to lean into his touch.

"Sleep, Mars"

"Are you going to leave?"

"We're in the back of an ambulance, where am I going to go?" he smirked at her.

"That's not what I meant" she whispered so low that be could barely hear it as she closed her eyes.

When Veronica didn't wake up even after they'd arrived at the hospital Lamb figured it was a good time for him to go check on Keith. He wasn't sure what to expect as he walked into the ICU. The dislocated shoulder had been set, though he probably tore something. The doctors were planning to look at that after the more pertinent injuries were addressed. Lamb learned that while Keith had yet to regain consciousness his brain activity was good. Keith's legs were covered in second degree burns, but apparently Veronica had gotten him out of the flipped cab before he'd sustained any life-threatening injuries. Lamb still had no idea how she did that. The girl must weigh 110 pounds, soaking wet, how she managed to pull an unconscious body twice her size out of a burning car… he'd have to ask her. Actually, that was his job; he really did have to ask her. He smiled at that, sometimes being Sheriff wasn't so bad.

He headed back to Veronica's room. They'd admitted her for observation. She walked away from that accident almost unscathed, physically anyway. Lamb saw his coat on the chair by her bed and sat down next to her. He knew he could leave. In fact, he knew he should leave. He should go check out the scene. But he had told Sacks to call him if… as if on a timer his phone rang…Great, the break line was cut and there were pieces of foreign contaminant in the gas tank, a crude bomb, most likely. Surprise, Surprise, attempted murder in Neptune. After telling Sacks to send someone to guard Keith Mars's hospital room he hung up the phone.

Lamb ran his hand over his eyes to try to relieve some of the tension and looked at the sleeping girl next to him once more. She was shivering. He knew it was more sanitary, but did hospitals always have to be so damn cold? After an unsuccessful search for a blanket, he wrapped her in his jacket for the second time that night.

He realized he was staring at her. It wasn't like he got the chance to look at her so closely when she was awake.

God, she was beautiful, she always had been…even when she was too young and he shouldn't have noticed. He never would have done anything about it, but he would be lying if he said he hadn't noticed. He pushed some hair out of her eyes once more and hoped that this image of a sleeping Veronica in white would take the place of the white clad Veronica from his memory. This one he could handle, this one he had taken care of... Focus he told himself there are more important issues here than your guilt trips and your infatuations …

He smacked his gum. Right, so he just had to find someone who had a vendetta against Keith Mars. Well that rounded down the list.

TO BE CONTINUED...