Thank you all so much for the reviews, it is so much easier to update knowing people are actually enjoying it. Anyway per your requests I updated as quick as possible so yeah I hope you enjoy. Also I'm on my summer holidays now so I can update more often. Enjoy!

….

'I'm sorry sir unless your family you cannot go past this point.'

'But you don't understand we came in with him, we called the ambulance!'

'Sir I'm sorry but I can't let you in, family only-'

'But his brother is in the army and his dad is a drunk! We are the closest thing he's got to family.'

'Sir I really am sorry, those are the rules. Can you please take a seat in the waiting room and someone will be out to update you.'

Lavon opened his mouth to argue but George interfered by putting his hand across his chest 'Lavon come on just leave it. She said someone will be out. Ain't nothin' we can do in there anyway?'

'He's right Lavon, waitin' is waitin' no matter where you do it.' Annabeth said calmly as they all gathered around the coffee table. Lavon fell into the uncomfortable couch and held his head in his hands as George rested against the wall. Annabeth kept switching her attention from Lavon and George to the double doors across from them hoping that someone would walk through and give them good news, but she wasn't hopeful.

'It can't be good that they sent us to Birmingham. I mean can't they deal with gunshots in Mobile?'

'They said Birmingham was better equipped to deal with it. Mobile is their sister hospital. I'm sure it's no indication to Wade's condition.' George said trying to convince Annabeth and also himself but something told him the sudden detour to Birmingham was a huge indication to his condition.

'How long do you reckon Zoe will be?' Annabeth asked trying to get Lavon's mind off Wade.

'I'm not sure, they just wanna check her out, clean her up a bit.'

Annabeth nodded as she sensed Lavon wasn't in the mood to chat, instead she looked up at George who was bust staring aimlessly into space 'George, did you call Brick?'

George shifted his weight from against the wall and cleared his throat 'Yeah uh he said that he would tell Lemon and that if we needed him here he'd come.'

'Lemon better not come anywhere near this hospital.' Lavon muttered under his breath as Annabeth tuned back into him.

'Now Lavon don't do that. No one could have seen this comin'. Lemon didn't know-'

'Know what? Know that goin' to a loan shark would result in nothin' but trouble or that when Wade found out he was gonna just sit about and do nothin'? No. Lemon knew Wade would get involved and try fix it cause that's who he is, this was not his mess nor was it Zoe's and now they're both payin' for it!' He spoke with so much anger and venom and all Annabeth could do was drop her head. She loved Lemon and although she knew Lemon was desperate when she went to Roger she also knew Lemon was wrong and stupid and now poor Wade was left to deal with the unfortunate consequences.

Zoe struggled to lift herself from the examination table, her arms felt like jelly as did her legs but the thing that affected her most was the image of Wade's body falling onto her like a ton of bricks, so helpless and limp. The sound of the bullet leaving the gun and then the sound of it dropping to the ground as Roger bolted out the door. The evening's events ran through her mind like rotation as she struggled to walk down the empty corridor to where Lavon and Annabeth and George were. She felt numb and her heart ached but she was also angry, furious in fact. How could Wade lie to her about such a thing, she could let the past slide, everyone has their pasts but loan sharks? She was hurt but she also knew Wade was hurting more, literally.

She turned the corner and came face to face with George; he gave her a sympathetic look but also an awkward one as he didn't really know what to say. She smiled softly and took a seat beside Lavon who immediately put his arm around her.

'You get the all clear?' he asked in a soothing tone as she rested her head on his shoulder.

'Yeah. A few bruises, nothing in comparison to…' she paused, she couldn't even utter the words '…I'm fine.'

'I'm goin' to try Jesse again.' George said as he made his way down the corridor. 'And I'm goin' to go find some food, you need to eat Zoe.' Annabeth said as she rummaged through her purse for some money. Food was the last thing on Zoe's mind but she didn't have the energy to fight with Annabeth.

'So how you really doin'?' Lavon asked once they were alone.

Zoe sighed 'This is my fault.'

Lavon certainly wasn't expecting that.

'Zoe none of this is your fault. It was Lemon who borrowed the-'

'No not the money. This, Wade in the hospital, fighting for his life.' She paused as Lavon shifted his body around so he could get a better view of her face.

'After he cheated, about 3 days after I was in the bathroom and I found his razor and his shaving cream and I lost it, I just broke down crying. I was so hurt that I threw the razor across the room and in that moment I hoped that…that-'

'That what?'

'That he would die.' A single tear rolled down her cheek as Lavon tightened his grip around her. He felt so bad for her, of course she could conclude this was her fault she was Zoe and she was liable to letting her mind wander.

'Zoe...'

'No Lavon this is what I wished for, he had broken my heart and I wanted him to die.'

'You listen to me Zoe Hart, you were heartbroken as was he but you didn't mean it, you were just angry and upset and you needed to vent. Let me tell you I have wished Lemon Breeland and Ruby Jefferies dead a few times but I never actually mean it!'

Zoe giggled a little, she knew Lavon was just trying to keep her mind at ease but she still felt awful.

'Lavon he has to be okay. He has to be…' she wept silently into his shirt as he stroked her hair in an attempt to comfort her but he knew the only person fully capable of doing that was the man flat on his back on the operating table fighting for his life.

'He will be, but you gotta stop thinkin' negatively. Come on; tell me a happy story bout Wade.' He didn't want to make it seem like Wade was dead, reminiscing about times past he just wanted to distract her from this notion she had in her head that this was her fault.

Zoe took his suggestion seriously and thought long and hard about a good yet appropriate story to tell. There were so many, which showed just how amazing Wade was but she exactly which would she would say and she smiled even thinking about it.

'It was New Year's Eve, you were busy moping over Ruby and I was feeling really down because New Years in New York was my favourite time of year, anyway my mom had flown home and he told me we were going to watch the fireworks in the town square with everyone else but instead he blindfolded me, put me in his car and drove me to that lake just outside of town and he had a picnic and candles and rose petals scattered across a big rug…' she smiled as she recalled the scene, the backdrop of the lake and the stars along with the dozens of candles '…I was speechless but then, after we ate he led me down to dock and put me in this little boat, that was padded with blankets and pillows and he rowed us out to the middle of the lake and we lay there watching the fireworks…' Lavon looked down at her and smiled, they had never told him of that particular adventure of theirs which meant it must have been really important to them both '…I remember lying there with a feeling of indescribable joy in my stomach , looking up at him thinking this is where I want to be…forever. I was happy because he makes me happy and when we broke up I went back to that lake a few times, and just ran that night over and over in my mind and I just remember praying for that feeling of joy in my stomach again… and I did, at least for a little while.'

'And you will again Zoe I know you will.'

'But how do you know for sure Lavon?' she cried 'I saw the look on the ET's faces and the doctors. It wasn't a good look; I know the look I used to wear that look!' She began to get panicked and flustered; she lifted herself from Lavon's shoulder and ran her fingers through her hair. Lavon hushed her back down into his body and gripped her shoulder 'I know he's gonna be okay because that boy has waited months to finally get you back and no gunshot is gonna get in his way. You just got have a little faith.'

Zoe soon dozed off just as Annabeth arrived back with cups of coffee and a packet of donuts. Lavon considered waking her but she looked so peaceful and at ease. George returned to the group after numerous attempts to contact Jesse but his efforts were cut short. He looked at his phone and saw it was 3am meaning Wade had been in surgery for 3 hours now and still no update, they really needed an update.

'Any luck with Jesse?' Lavon asked in hushed tones as George shook his head 'Nope. Tried his cell that I got from Wade's phone but nothin'. How's Zoe?'

'Distraught, scared, traumatized, you name an emotion she's feelin' it.'

'Poor thing. She had nothin' to do with any of this.' Annabeth said sympathetically as she watched Zoe sleep.

Just then the double doors opened and out walked a handful of doctors. George saw it as a scene straight out of Grey's Anatomy as did Annabeth but Lavon was more focused on the serious look on their faces. The doctors, led by a red haired woman looked at the chart in her hand before walking over to Lavon.

'Are you here for Wade Kinsella?' The red headed doctor asked. Lavon woke Zoe as Annabeth and George rose to their feet.

'How is he?' George asked.

'How did the surgery go?' Annabeth added.

'When can we see him?' Lavon asked as Zoe just stood there with tears in her eyes, she couldn't take her eyes off the doctors trying to read their body language to see if she could get any in tell on how Wade was.

'Just calm down…' the doctor said in hush tones as she and the other doctors took a seat on the couches inviting the others to resume their seats.

'I'm Dr. Nielsen I was head surgeon on Wade's case and this is Dr. Shaw and Dr. Finch they were assisting.'

Lavon looked around; no one else appeared to be speaking up so he decided to take the wheel. He cleared his throat 'I'm Lavon Hayes and this is George and Annabeth...' he looked at Zoe who was sitting there timidly '…and uhm, this is Dr. Zoe Hart. Wade's girlfriend.'

The Doctor turned her attention to the bruised and battered lady touch tight with Lavon 'Ahh I see well then I will give you this information. Wade's left lung is punctured it collapsed completely, the bullet went right through leaving a substantial amount of damage, too much damage to fully repair now so we managed to put a temporary support in to hold it in place and we'll go back in in a few days and hopefully repair it fully.'

'So he's okay?' Annabeth asked hopefully.

All 3 doctors dropped their heads 'There was a slight complication during surgery…when Wade came to us he had lost a huge amount of blood and half way through the procedure his blood pressure dropped dramatically. We lost him for a few seconds.'

Annabeth gasped as Zoe's stomach flopped, her body felt numb and although the doctor kept speaking she didn't process any of it. She had to see him; she had to hold his hand and stroke his hair and tell him that she loved him.

'So what does that mean?' George asked.

'Well, we resuscitated him and his stats restored to normal almost immediately. We have him on a ventilator to help him with his breathing, he's in recovery now and soon we'll bring him up to the ICU.'

'So he's okay?' Annabeth asked not really sure of what the doctors were telling them.

'Short term no but long term yes. He should make a full recovery once I repair the lung.'

They all blew out a sigh of relief except for Zoe who never moved, her eyes fixed on the floor. George and Lavon continued to fire questions at the doctors until Zoe cleared her throat 'Can I see him?'

'Not right now, a nurse will be down in a few hours to bring you to him so if you want to get some food maybe sleep now is the time to do so.'

Zoe nodded her head disappointedly she was expecting an answer along those lines but she still felt the need to ask.

'Thank you Doctor.' Lavon said as he held Zoe's hand.

'Yeah thanks for everything.' George said chiming in.

'That's my job…' she said standing up 'Oh I almost forgot….' She reached into her pocket and pulled out a clear ziplock bag '…We found this in his hand when we were about to operate. We weren't sure what it was but now that I've learnt your name is Zoe I assume it belongs to you.' Zoe took the bag out of her hand to see her locket looking up at her, immediately tears began to stream down her face as she looked to Lavon for comfort. Her heart ached for Wade as she sobbed uncontrollably into Lavon's shirt.

….

Zoe had no interest in eating and so as the others tucked into cold cafeteria food she gently slipped away and made her way to the nurse's station.

'Excuse me; I was just wondering if I could see my boyfriend? He had surgery a few hours ago. His names Wade Kinsella.'

The nurse flicked through the number of files in front of her before searching her computer 'We sent a nurse to find you not too long ago; you must have been in the cafeteria. You can go see him now, just through those double doors and he's 4th room on the left.'

'Okay thank you.'

Zoe took her time walking down the corridor; it was silent bar the beeping of machines. Most of the rooms were filled with sleeping patients most with various tubes coming out of them. She counted the rooms until she reached the 4th.
The lights were dim letting off a sense of calm from the room. It was small and simple with only a bed, two chairs and a number of machines and IVs. The minute she walked in he caught her eye. He normally came across as strong and powerful but laying in that bed with tubes coming out of his mouth and through his nose he looked small and lifeless. He looked peaceful though as she held a tight grip of her locket. For some reason she was nervous about taking a seat beside him, the noise of the ventilator was daunting.
She rested her two hands on the bed as she noticed the clip on thermometer on his index finger and IV connected to his arm, she cracked a small smile thinking about the fuss he would have caused if they tried to put a needle in him while he was conscious. She examined him from head to toe but especially his hair. How could someone get shot, have surgery and still manage to maintain an almost perfect hairstyle. After settling down Zoe felt comfortable enough with putting her right hand on his while keeping the locket in her left one.

'Hi…' she cracked out, she scoffed to herself. He was lying there with a tube down his throat begging to hear something other than beeping and all she could say was hi.

'Lavon's here and George and Annabeth too.' She paused in anticipation of his response 'And the doctor said you did great, you're going to need to have another surgery in a few days but you're going to be fine.'

She paused again before looking at his face, it was so solemn and plain yet if Zoe looked at his mouth long enough it looked like he was smiling even with a big blue tube coming out of it.

'I'm not sure if you can hear me but I've seen enough episodes of One Tree Hill to believe that you actually can so, I just want you to know I'm angry and I'm upset and I'm confused and I have a really bad bruise that no amount of concealer will fix but I'm also scared, I'm scared of losing you so I need you to know I'm not going anywhere. I'm going to be here today, tomorrow and every other day until you wake up. I promise.'

….

Hope you enjoyed it and please review! Also for those who were asking I have not forgotten about my other story I have just been super busy but I promise it is coming, be patient with me! Thanks (: