All the sounds, metal screeching on metal, the sirens, the voices booming over megaphones, it was overwhelming. And then the lights, so many bright lights, he tried to cover his face but he couldn't move his arms. He squeezed his eyes shut and prayed for it all to go away.


Violet's eyes slowly opened, her vision was blurry, she looked around the room until her eyes landed on Seth and Leslie.

"Violet! Oh thank god!" Leslie said with a shaky voice.

"What happened? Where is Roman? Was it Jake? Where is Dean? Am I ok? Where am I? How did you guys know?" Violet rattled off questions faster than they could answer.

"Vi, slow down," Seth said squeezing her hand. "We have no proof that it was Jake, but someone in a pickup truck ran you and Roman off the road. You called 911, Dean and I both got calls from the cops."

"The cops?"

"Yeah, I'm your emergency contact and Dean is Roman's," Seth reminded her.

"Roman?" she asked.

"Roman took the worst of the impact. He's in pretty bad shape, but he should be OK... when he wakes up." Seth answered.

"I have to see him," she struggled to sit up in bed, but her head was pounding. "Help me, please, I have to see Roman."

"No Vi, you need to rest."

"Leslie, please," she begged, "If it were Dean…"

Leslie sighed, "Come on Seth, help me get her up."

"You can't be serious, Les, look at her."

"I am serious. Roman needs her as much as she needs him," Leslie said, "Now are you going to help me or am I gonna have to drag her down the hall by myself?"

"You are the two most stubborn women I have ever met in my life," he muttered as he helped Violet out of bed.

They held Violet between them and dragged her IV pole behind them until they made it to Roman's room. Dean jumped up when they walked in and just stared at them.

"I was outnumbered man…" Seth said.

"Oh god, Roman," Violet whispered, her knees going weak at the sight of him. He was laying in the hospital bed, his face and arms all cut up and bruised. They set her down in the chair next to Roman's bed, she took his big hand in both of hers and put her head down on the side of his bed.

"There is no way they are going to let her stay here with him." Dean whispered.

"Oh yes they will, I'll make sure of it," Leslie said walking out of the room.

"Damn, I love my wife."

"Did you hear anything else about the accident? Any proof that it was Jake?" Seth asked.

"Nope, not yet. They are towing the car to the impound and will dust for prints, but that will take a while."

They both stared at Roman and Violet, Dean was worried about his friend and what his mental state would be when he came to.


He opened his eyes and looked around the room, it all came rushing back to him, the accident, Violet screaming. He was supposed to be protecting her, how could he let this happen? He had to find her, he tried to reach across his body to rip out the IV tubes but he couldn't move his arm. What the hell? Shit, was his arm broken? He struggled to clear his mind, panicking wouldn't do him any good. He took a deep breath and that's when he smelled vanilla. Violet! She had wedged herself into the bed next to him and was curled up against his arm sound asleep. Thank god she was OK, he wanted to pull her against his chest and hold her, but there wasn't nearly enough room in the narrow hospital bed for him to move. He was amazed that she managed to fit herself in such a small space. He was running his fingers through her hair when he noticed that Dean was in the room with him.

"Ambrose. What the hell happened?" He whispered.

Dean quickly filled him in on the situation, ending with the fact that Violet demanded that she be allowed to stay in his room with him.

"How hurt is she? Should she be here?"

"She has a mild concussion, some cuts and bruises, she'll be stiff as hell from laying like that, but no one was going to argue with her, especially not with Leslie backing her up."

Roman nodded and kept playing with her hair, he was relieved to have her near him, even though he knew that right now there wasn't a damned thing he could do to protect her. "We have to get out of here as soon as possible."

"Agreed! Leslie is packing a bag at Violet's place. No way she will willingly stay with us but she obviously can't stay at her place..." He paused dramatically.

"Spit it out Ambrose, before she wakes up."

"Fine, I think you should take her back to your place," Dean said, "Now, don't look at me like that. Your place is safe, we know that Jake has no clue where you live, you would have noticed if he were tailing you and Violet has never been there, right?"

Roman looked skeptical, "Yes, but, first off, how are you going to convince her not to go home? Second, my place is a mess."

"I'm not going to convince her, you are. And Leslie already swung by your place, she put clean sheets on the bed, washed the dishes and put food in the frig."

"Let Leslie talk to her, she stands a better chance than both of us combined."


Violet shook her head, she still couldn't believe that she let Leslie convince her that she had to stay with Roman at his place because he needed someone to look after him and make sure he was OK after the accident. The fact that Leslie had already been to her place and packed a bag with three days worth of clothes made it crystal clear that she was tricked. Roman met her in the lobby and they both got into the back of the waiting cab. Roman's car was more than likely totalled and her car was back at her place.

"Um, so, I wasn't planning on company, so my place might be a little messy," Roman said once they got moving.

"No worries. Its all good."

"And, its pretty small and bare. I mean, I'm no interior decorator and I don't have a lot of stuff." He added.

"Do you have a table and a couch and indoor plumbing?" She asked.

Roman laughed, "Yeah, I got all the basics."

"Then we'll be fine," she said squeezing his hand.

A few minutes later Violet was standing in Roman's living room, "Oh yeah, Roman, this place is a mess," she said sarcastically, "I mean, look you left the TV remote on the couch and a pair of shoes on the floor, you slob."

"I couldn't remember what the place looked like," he said opening the frig, "Wow, Leslie left a ton of food in here. She must have been up all night cooking!"

"Yeah, she cooks when she is stressed. What did she make us?"

Roman shifted all the containers around looking at each one, "Looks like chili, macaroni and cheese and beef stew. What do you want to have for dinner?"

"Chili for sure! But can I take a quick shower first? I still feel all icky."

"Sure, follow me, I'll get you some towels."

Violet took the fluffy white bath towel from Roman and dragged her overnight bag into the bathroom. She showered quickly and wrapped herself in the towel while she unzipped her bag. Right on top was the most gigantic box of condoms she had ever seen in her life, she felt her whole face flush as she read the post-it note Leslie stuck on the outside of the box. She quickly pushed it to the bottom of her bag and started looking for some pajamas. Nothing, just jeans and sweaters and lacy lingerie? She held up the red lace teddy, what the hell, this wasn't hers! She was going to kill Leslie…

"Roman?" She called from behind the bathroom door.

"What's up, Vi?"

"Umm, Leslie kinda forgot to pack me any comfy clothes."

"Oh. Oh… Uh, I can get you a t-shirt. But, I don't have any shorts that would fit you."

"Ok, if you don't mind, that would be great."

Roman came back with an old Marine Corps shirt and slipped it to Violet through the crack in the door. She pulled it on and was surprised that it came down to her knees, she was equally surprised that Leslie actually packed her some clean underwear.

She plopped down on the couch and took the bowl of chili Roman offered her. They ate in silence both grateful to have such loyal friends. Roman washed both dishes and returned to a teary eyed Violet.

He kneeled down on the floor in front of her, "Sweetie, what's wrong? Are you OK?"

She nodded her head and looked down at her hands. "I'm scared," she whispered. "I know I said I was tired of hiding and all that, and I am, it's just, he's getting even more crazy every day and I'm scared."

"Aww, Vi, of course you are scared," he said as he took her hands. "You'd be crazy if you weren't."

"I'm tired of wearing my big girl pants and pretending that everything is OK."

"Well, Sweets, I hate to be the one to break it to you, but right now you aren't wearing any pants," he joked.

She tried to laugh but the tears spilled over and streaked her cheeks, "I'm scared," she whispered again.

He sat on the couch and pulled her into his lap, she rested her head on his shoulder. "It's OK to cry, I won't tell Ambrose." He said rubbing her back.

And she did, she buried her face in his strong chest and cried her eyes out. He didn't say a word, just held her and rubbed her back until her sobs turned to hiccups and her hiccups turned into adorable little snoring noises.