The hours ticked by very slowly for Cloud, Tifa, and Riku. Riku had to call his school so that he would be excused from the test he was supposed to be studying for. Thank goodness they had someone in the office late on Thursday nights.

It was just past midnight when someone else came to find the trio to update them. This doctor had platinum blonde hair and large green eyes. He was a lot shorter than Doctor Wise.

"Are you here for Roxas and Naminé?" He asked. They all nodded.

"I'm Doctor Evans; I'm overseeing the care that those two receive. I've got Roxas in his own room right now, but I'm afraid Naminé is still in surgery. Follow me," he led them from the small waiting room they'd been in, taking them down a series of hallways and stopping in front of an individual patient room, number 242.

Before opening the door, he spoke in a hushed tone, "Roxas might not look like he's very bad right now, but don't let that fool you. I'm going to be very frank right now, Mr. and Mrs. Strife: the chances of Roxas ever walking again are less than five percent. He's going to have no feeling in his lower half for a long while, and after some time, he might get a sensation similar to what happens when, say, you lay on your arm for a long period of time and it 'goes to sleep.' He's hooked up on a catheter right now, until he wakes up from the anesthesia. He's got mild whiplash in his neck and his left arm was fractured in a few places. We've got him hooked up to ventilator as well, because his lungs were affected by the airbag, but that's just temporary. When he wakes up, please don't hesitate to call for me and we'll take the tube out of his mouth." Doctor Evans opened the door to the brightly lit room.

Cloud, Tifa, and Riku all entered, and Doctor Evans excused himself to go check on Naminé, so he would have an update on her for them.

Roxas seemed very peaceful on the bed. He had the tube in his mouth and the ventilator was breathing for him. There were two lines for IVs, one connected to his left hand and the other in the crook of his elbow on his right arm. The doctor had failed to mention the bruises and scratch-like cuts that littered the blonde's skin.

Tifa, careful to not step on any of the tubes surrounding her son, sat on the edge of the bed, grasping Roxas' hand in her own. "My baby," she sobbed quietly. Cloud sat down in one of the chairs on the other side of Roxas' bed. Next to him, in the other chair, was a bag of Roxas' possessions, including his cell phone. Deciding to busy himself, he went through the belongings. The clothes Roxas was in when he arrived at the hospital had been cut off of him and had several small areas where blood had stained them.

Cloud looked at the cell phone in the bag, noticing the small LED light blinking. When he unlocked the device, he saw four missed calls and seven text messages from Roxas' best friend Axel. Cloud and Tifa were good friends with the redhead's mother and father, and Cloud pulled out his own phone, scrolling to Yuffie's number, and dialing. He hoped she was still awake.

"Cloud? Hey. What's up? You never call me. Especially not this late at night. Everything alright?"

"No, Yuffie, nothing's alright… The kids were… they were hit by another car on the highway, on their way to meet Tifa and me for dinner." He stood now, taking the call out to the hallway. He left the door cracked behind him as he stood just outside of the room.

"Oh my God, Cloud, I'm so sorry. Is there anything I can do for you guys? Do you need anything?" She was so sincere, and Cloud teared up again while she spoke.

"I don't think we need anything right now, but I was calling because I'd seen some messages from Axel on Roxas' phone. Would you be able to tell him what's going on? We'll have to call the school in the morning and alert them so Roxas doesn't have to worry about his assignments…" Cloud trailed off.

"Oh, of course I'll tell him. How is Roxas by the way? And Naminé and Ventus?"

"The doctor said Roxas may not walk ever again, that his chances are less than five percent… And he's got some whiplash and a couple fractures in his left arm… And he's covered in bruises and scratches… The only update we got on Naminé was from when she was in the ambulance. They said her right leg was majorly damaged and her right arm was broken. They didn't know anything about her baby, only that her stomach was pretty cut up, but the paramedics said they stitched those cuts. And Ven…" Cloud sobbed at what he was about to say. "Ven was pronounced dead on the scene…"

Yuffie gasped, "Ven's dead? Oh, Cloud… I'm… I'm sorry. How are you and Tifa holding up?"

"We're… well, we're not okay… I don't think it's really, fully sunk in yet…"

"Hey, if there's anything at all I can do for you, please let me know. I'm more than happy to help you out with anything. I mean that. I'll come by the hospital tomorrow after I take Axel to school. Is there anything you want me to bring for you guys? Clean clothes or something?"

Cloud was grateful to have such a supportive friend in this ordeal. "Um… If you wanna grab some clothes for Tifa, I'm sure she'd appreciate it. I was gonna go home to take a shower tomorrow, so I can wait until you get here to leave. And… some coffee would be great, Yuf."

"Coffee and clothes for Tifa… got it. I guess… I'll see you in the morning, then?"

"Yea. See you then." He hung up the phone then. He wiped the tears staining his face and tried to compose himself as he went back in the room. He might as well try to doze a little bit, since he was sure it would take a while for Roxas to wake up. And who knew how long the update on Naminé would take?

~o~

After Yuffie hung up the phone with Cloud, she took a few minutes to steel herself for the conversation she was about to have with Axel. She knew he wouldn't want to go to school in the morning when he heard the news, but until Roxas was able to handle visitors, she wasn't going to let her son miss school.

Yuffie knocked on the door to Axel's room, seeing a dim light underneath the door. She called, "Axel? You awake honey?" She peered in, seeing Axel in bed with the rest of his homework scattered around him.

"Hey mom," he said, not really looking up from his work.

"Can we talk, Axel? I just got off the phone with Cloud." She fully opened the door, coming inside and taking a seat on the bed in the only spot that wasn't taken up with a textbook or notebook.

"Yea, sure," he replied, setting aside what he was working on. "What's up?"

"Well… Apparently after Roxas left, he was on his way with his brother and sister to go meet Cloud and Tifa for dinner… And I guess when they got to the highway, they were hit by another car. They're in the hospital right now, Axel."

"What?" Axel was floored. He figured Roxas had just forgotten to text him and fell asleep or something. "Is he… He's gonna be okay, right?"

"He'll survive. But Axel, the doctor said Roxas has less than a five percent chance of ever walking again."

"Oh, God, Roxas…" Tears filled Axel's eyes as he thought about his best friend. "Do they know anything about Ven and Naminé yet?"

"They said Naminé had some damage to one of her legs, and she has a broken arm, but no word on her baby yet. And Ven was… He's dead, honey…" Yuffie was quiet as she let the news sink in.

Axel didn't know what to say or do. His best friend was in the hospital, and said best friend's little brother was dead. He swore he'd do whatever it took to help Roxas through everything. They weren't best friends for nothing.

"I wanna go see him tomorrow."

"I knew you'd say that, Axel, but I don't want you missing school. And besides that, I don't know if he can even have visitors outside of family right now. I'm going to go take some clean clothes by the hospital tomorrow for Tifa, and I'll find out while I'm there if he can have visitors by the time school is over. Okay?"

Axel had no choice but to accept her answer. "Fine…"

"I know this is a hard situation and that you want to be there with him, but you understand what I said, right?"

"Yea… I know where you're coming from."

"Okay. And Axel?" The redhead looked back up at Yuffie. "Try to get some sleep tonight." She closed the door behind her, leaving Axel to himself.

~o~

It was about three in the morning by the time Naminé was out of surgery. Roxas was wheeled to the room where his sister was, Tifa, Cloud, and Riku following behind the nurses closely. It was at that time that Doctor Evans came back to them. He kept them from going into the room (315) until he was able to give them an update on her condition.

He addressed Riku, "I'm assuming you're the baby's father?"

"Yes, sir."

"Alright. Before I tell you about Naminé, I wanted you to know, we had to perform an emergency C-Section for the baby. There was some internal bleeding that Naminé had that was causing pressure to build up in her uterus. The child has been moved to the NICU, and is under close observation until we're sure he's out of the woods. You'll have to help fill out paperwork about his birth certificate and such, but it can wait until Naminé wakes up." Doctor Evans turned to Tifa and Cloud now.

"As for your daughter… We got the bleeding to stop when we performed the Caesarean section and got her stabilized. Unfortunately, with her leg being so badly damaged, we weren't able to repair it. That left us with amputation as the only option, so we amputated above the knee. Her right arm is now in a cast as well. She's still under the effects of anesthesia as well, but her lungs weren't affected like Roxas' were, so she doesn't need the ventilator. She's just got a breathing mask on now. If you'd like to go see the baby, let one of the nurses know and they'll take you."

As before, Doctor Evans excused himself, this time to check on other patients. Riku was torn… should he stay with his girlfriend until she woke up? Or should he go see their… son? He stood in the hallway, not sure at all where he should go. When he didn't immediately follow them in, Cloud turned back around, seeing Riku obviously stunned.

"Riku," Cloud said. Riku looked at the blonde. "You've got your phone on you right?" At Riku's nod, he continued, "Go be with your son. We'll call you if she wakes up. But your son needs you more right now."

"Thank you," Riku seemed grateful to have someone make his mind up for him. He hugged Cloud briefly before walking to the nurses' station to be taken to the NICU. Cloud was momentarily taken aback. After the initial shock, he joined Tifa and sat with her on the window seat. They were solemn and quiet. Cloud was sitting with Tifa between his legs, stretched out on the small bench. She reclined against him, and he stroked her arm in an effort to relax her. They were in for a long night.

~o~

Riku followed a brunette nurse, whose name was Aerith, to the NICU. He understood the reason for moving Roxas to this floor; not only so he could be in the same room as his sister, but so anyone visiting them could also visit the NICU, which was on the third floor. He didn't know what to expect. He and Naminé had discussed names, but they hadn't decided on one yet.

Aerith asked the new father, "Is yours the new arrival?"

He looked at her kind green eyes, nodding. She commented, "He seems like a fighter. I've got a good feeling about him. Don't be too shocked by all the equipment he's hooked up to; we've got a small feeding tube leading to his stomach through his nose, an IV for steroids to help his lungs develop faster, and a ventilator since he can't breathe on his own yet." Aerith led Riku to one of the incubators in the mostly dark room, and Riku – though not affected by the sight of the tubes and machines – was surprised at just how little the baby was.

The baby's incubator had some information on the end of it, listing him at 14 inches long and weighing just 2 pounds and 6 ounces. Aerith stood at the end of the incubator, ready to add at least a last name to the information. "Is he going to have your last name?"

"Yes. Shibuya." Riku told the nurse, listening to her pen scritch-scratch on the paper as she listed his last name on the paper. "I'll leave you to have some bonding time then. I'm sorry about the circumstances of his birth though," Aerith said, referencing Naminé.

"Thank you." She walked away then, leaving Riku to sit with his son. He and Naminé had wanted the gender to be a surprise, but he had been positive that Naminé would have a girl. He smiled sadly down at the tiny baby.

"Hey there, kiddo. You're going to hang on until your mommy gets to meet you, right? She'll be so happy to know you're alright. You'll be able to help her recover faster, especially since your uncle Ven didn't make it through. You'll be the light she needs to get through everything." Riku sat in silence after that, occasionally looking out the window as the sky got progressively lighter.

He got a text around four that Roxas had woken up. He sent back a quick reply, asking how he was doing.

From: Cloud
4:03 AM

He's really groggy from the medicine. He doesn't really understand what's going on yet. Doc is gonna take the tube out of his mouth, but said Roxas will probably be sleeping for a while yet.

Riku replied with a simple 'keep me updated' and went back to watching his son again. The sun began to rise outside.

A/N: So. Baby is born, Roxas is still doped up on meds, and Nami is still out cold. I meant to have Hayner's point of view, but it seems as though I have to wait till the next chapter to include that. I wanted to get this chapter uploaded because I'm going to St. Louis over the weekend because one of my cousins is graduating high school, and I won't have access to my laptop while I'm away. I plan to get started on chapter 5 after I get home from this trip. Hope this will hold you guys over! It's the longest chapter so far (but it's really short, sorry). In the meantime, send me some reviews! I'll reply as soon as I can. I hope you guys are still enjoying this.

Fun fact: this is the fastest I've updated a multi-chapter story. Ever.