A/N: I don't own what you recognize. And I really, really appreciate all reviewers.

I spent a little over a week in the hospital. Hugo was in a coma for all of that time, and the doctors said that wasn't a good thing. I hated knowing that he was in that coma because of me. He was only driving that night because my car broke down and I needed him. If it hadn't been for me, he would have been perfectly fine.

I didn't tell anyone that I thought like this. I knew no one would understand or agree with me. Lauren would try to talk me out of my feelings. Nick would tell me I was being silly. Kate would sigh and shake her head. Kate was sighing a lot. I suppose it was a reaction to stress. I knew that those dark days were awful for her. She had to work her usual eight-hour shifts at the Common Ground and try to spend as much time as possible with her comatose boyfriend. But she did it. She arrived at the hospital at four o'clock every afternoon and stayed until nine o'clock. She read to Hugo. She read him the newspaper and magazines. She would even read him tabloids in the home that he would find them so objectionable that he'd wake up.

"It isn't working," she told me one afternoon. "I spent five hours a day reading complete and utter shit to him, and he keeps sleeping."

"I'm sorry. Have you tried reading The Babysitters' Club to him?"

She smiled. "I haven't sunk that low yet. I'm still working on People and Us."

"Try reading Jane Austen to him," I told her. "He hates it."

She laughed. "I miss him so much, Annie. It's odd. His body is here, but my Hugo is gone. And I don't know when he'll be back-or if he ever will be back."

I sighed. It's hard to hug anyone when you have a broken arm, but I squeezed her hand with my good hand. "You've got me. And you've got Lauren and Dan. Now, I know that we're a poor substitute for Hugo, but we love you. We love you."

"But what will I do if he doesn't survive?"

"I don't know."

Kate sighed. "I love him, Annie. I've never told him that. And I can't let him die without knowing that."

"He'll be back," I told her. "I don't know how I know that, but something tells me that he'll come through this."

"I hope you're right."

Nick came to the hospital every single day. Daisy never came with him. "She doesn't like hospitals very much," he told Lauren when she asked him about it two days after the accident. "She says they freak her out."

"Yeah, well, hospitals freak me out too, but I'm still here every damn day," Dan remarked, looking up from the Scrabble game he and I were playing.

Nick shrugged. "She says they really bother her. And she and Hugo aren't really close anyway. I don't think he likes her very much and that bothers her."

"I'll remember that," Dan said as he played QAT on a triple-word.

"You're an asshole," I told him. "I'm playing left-handed and you're playing freaking QAT on a triple-word."

Dan smiled. "You still love me, Annabel. I'm wonderful, and you know it."

I laughed. "You're supposed to give me a break because I'm injured. If you gave me a break, then you'd be wonderful."

Nick rolled his eyes. "Annie, you've never wanted anyone to take it easy on you before."

"That was before I broke my leg and my arm. Have you ever tried to play Scrabble left-handed?"

"No, but it can't be that hard. It's not like you're trying to write a letter or something."

I sighed. "I'm not going to argue with you while I'm on painkillers."

"You should put that on a t-shirt," Dan said.

I laughed. "You do that. And wear it while you're teaching."

He snorted. "Ha, I'd rather put it on my coffee mugs."

"You could sell them on Café Press or Etsy. You could make millions overnight."

Dan grinned. "You haven't lost your sense of humor."

"Just because I can't walk or write and I won't be able to work for at least six weeks, that doesn't mean that I have to roll over and die."

Nick sighed. He looked like he wanted to say something, but he didn't. We didn't know it then, but Nick wasn't saying everything he was thinking during those days. We all knew he was worried about his brother, but we didn't know what else was troubling him. And we wouldn't know everything until a thundercloud burst open in our lives.

The accident was on Sunday, January 2. I was going to be released from the hospital on Monday, January 10. I spent the intervening time sleeping, resting, and going to occupational therapy. After I was released, I was going to stay at Lauren's parents' house because they had the best facilities for taking care of someone who had as many broken bones as I did.

The night before my release, I was in my room with Lauren and Dan when Nick came into the room, looking like he'd just run a marathon. "I need to talk to Annie. Now. Alone. It's an emergency."

Dan walked over to Nick and put a hand on his shoulder. "Dude, are you all right? You look like you've seen a ghost."

"I might have. I'm not sure yet. All I know is that I saw something and now I need to talk to Annie and I drove over ninety miles per hour on the expressway and I'm pretty sure that's illegal and I might have almost killed myself. But I need to talk to Annie now. Alone, please, I need this."

"Yeah, sure," Lauren said, picking up her own coat and her brother's. "We'll be down in Hugo's room. Let us know if you need anything."

"Oh fuck, Hugo," Nick said as he staggered to the chair next to my bed.

I knew bad news was coming. It was inevitable. But I had no clue what was coming. "Talk to me, Nick," I said as soon as Dan and Lauren were out the door. "Tell me what's wrong."

"Maggie is having an affair with Jay. I went by Mom and Dad's house to check on something before I came here and I found them having sex in Dad's office. And Sam was just sitting in the living room reading The Wall Street Journal like nothing was happening. Meanwhile, in the other room, his wife was having sex, loud sex, with someone we thought we could trust."

"Oh Nick," I sighed.

"And I yelled when I saw them. And that made Sam come running. And now, it's all over. My sister's marriage is ruined. And it's my girlfriend's brother's fault. I can't believe that this is happening."

I sighed. "You suspected this back in September."

"I know, but that doesn't mean that I like being right. That's Hugo's thing."

I squeezed his hand. "Nick, I'm so sorry about all of this. I can't imagine how Daisy must be feeling about all of this."

"Daisy," he said suddenly. "Shit, Daisy, I have to talk to Daisy about this."

"You didn't talk to her before you came here?"

"No, I saw what I saw and I just freaked out and came here. I needed to talk to you. I didn't even think of talking to Daisy. I really need to talk to her."

"Um, yeah, you do. She's your girlfriend and Jay's sister. You need to talk to her. You can't just run away and hide in my hospital room."

Nick ran a hand through his hair. "I wish I could just hide from this whole mess. It's going to be a fiasco. I know it."

"Nick, this is life. You have to live in the real world. You can't just hide in your dreams or my hospital room."

"What would you do if you were in my shoes?"

"No," I said firmly. "I'm not going to tell you what to do."

"Annabel, come on. You're my best friend. Tell me what to do."

I sighed. "Nick, I can't tell you what to do here. I don't know what do."

"But you always have some piece of solid advice."

"Nicholas, go home and talk to your girlfriend. I'm not taking care of you today."

He sighed. "You're not being fair."

"How am I not being fair? You're not being fair. You're expecting a twenty-two year old orphan to solve your problems for you. I'm not an expert in family or even in you. I can't help you. Fix your own life. I'm sorry, but I cannot do it for you."

Nick threw his gloves on the floor. "Fuck you. Fuck the world. I'm going to Daisy. She'll straighten me out."

"Good," I replied firmly, determined to keep him from noticing the tears in my eyes.

"I'm leaving now," Nick said.

"Don't let me stand in your way."

Dan came in just then and saw the gloves on the floor. He picked them up and handed them to Nick. "Take these and be on your merry way."

"I thought I told you we wanted to be alone."

"I came back when I heard shouting. I was worried about Annie."

Nick sighed and took the gloves in his hands. "I'll keep you posted on how things go."

"Like hell if I care," I replied without looking at him.

Dan sat down on my bed after Nick left. "How are you, munchkin?" he asked, running a hand over my good shoulder.

I chewed on my lip for a bit. "How much did you hear?"

"Everything," he replied. "I sat just outside the room."

"You said you were going to Hugo's room."

"Lauren went."

I smiled. "Why didn't you go?"

"I was worried about you, Nan. Nick looked like he was in a mood, and I didn't want him to upset you when you're feeling like this."

"Dan, you are a god among men."

He laughed. "I thought that was Milo's job."

"Oh, the world's most devoted boyfriend," I said with a smile. "Yeah, Kate and I think he should be made a saint or something for the way he's been here every single day to see Hugo and me."

Dan grinned. "And I shouldn't? I've done all of that too."

"Yeah, but you're our friend. You love us. Milo barely knows us and he's here every day. I mean, he's better than Nick."

"How are you feeling about that whole mess?"

I sighed and ran a hand through my cropped hair. "You know that whole stupid, crazy crush that I've had on him for the past decade?"

Dan nodded, his lips pressed together. "I think I've noticed it once or twice."

"It's over. He told me to go fuck myself. I'm over him. I can't be interested in him anymore. I can't do that to myself ever again."

"You can't do what?" he asked gently.

"I can't let him hurt me anymore. I know that loving people means that you open yourself up to being hurt, but that's not what happens with Nick. It's not because I love him that I get hurt. I get hurt because he's an insensitive asshole."

I heard a sudden cough and looked up to see Nick standing in the doorway of my room. I glared at him, and Dan sighed.

"I stopped by my brother's room for a couple of minutes," Nick said, turning his gloves over in his hands. "And then I came back here to apologize to Annie. But I guess I have more to apologize for than I thought."

"Go talk to Daisy," I told him. "We'll talk later."

I went home the next day. And it was another two days before I saw Nick. I saw Nick for the first time on Thursday. Hugo had finally woken up and Nick had volunteered to take me to the hospital to see him. Milo helped me out to the car and put my wheelchair, which Dan and Milo had nicknamed Lord Voldemort, into Nick's trunk.

It was only once we were on the freeway that Nick really said anything. And when he finally spoke, it wasn't mere passing pleasantries; it was big news. "Sam filed for divorce on Tuesday. Julia wants a job working for Dad. And I broke up with Daisy on Monday."

"Why?" I asked.

"Sam filed for divorce because his wife was cheating on him. Julia wants a job because she wants to be more than Maggie's clone. And I broke up with Daisy because she started talking about all the opportunities that I would have if Hugo died. She was just sitting there talking about all of the things that we could do when we got married, things we would only be able to do if Hugo died. She just kept saying 'when Hugo dies' over and over again. And the more she said it, the more I knew that I could never marry her. I can't marry someone who sits there and plots our future based on the death of my twin brother. Just because Hugo and I don't always get along, that doesn't mean that I want him to die. I love Hugo. You know that, right?"

I nodded. "I've always figured that the bickering was a sign of affection."

He laughed. "In a very odd way, it was. But Daisy never saw that. She just saw a chance to get at my dad's money."

"And you've never wanted any part of your dad's money."

"No, I don't care about the business. I love being a librarian. I'll leave the business to Hugo. And I doubt that he'll even be going back after Christmas." Nick paused before sighing. "You guys were right about Christmas, by the way. I should have left when you did."

"That was all Hugo," I replied flatly.

"Well, you've never been a fan of Bertram family Christmas celebrations."

"No, but I wasn't the one who exploded and then instigated our departure."

"No," Nick laughed. "That was a uniquely Hugo moment."

"I'm proud of him for it though," I said. "It's been such a pleasure seeing him grow into a mature, responsible adult."

"Yeah, I don't know where that came from. It's probably your fault, you know."

I laughed. "Doubtful, that's very doubtful."

"Annie, you don't give yourself enough credit. You've been a really positive influence on my brother's life. I doubt you even realize it."

I shrugged. All this shrugging was bothering my neck. "I don't know, Nick. All I know is that I love your brother and I want what's best for him."

"You could make him a good wife."

"No, I couldn't," I said firmly. "And I'm not just saying that because Kate is one of my best friends. Hugo and I are good friends, but he's like a brother to me."

"Like you and me," he said.

"No, Nick, not like you and me," I replied. "Hugo would never hurt do something that could hurt me. He might accidentally hurt me, but he wouldn't keep doing something that he knew was hurting me."

"Are you talking about my relationship with Daisy?" he asked.

I sighed and bit my lip. "I'm not entirely sure. I think I'm talking about a lot of things that have taken place over the past several years, probably ever since I met you when we were kids."

"I don't want to hurt you, you know?"

"Nick, I know that you don't want to hurt me, but unfortunately, you have hurt me many times. You have sheltered me from things unnecessarily. You have misjudged me. You look down on me."

"You're a great person, Annie, but you always undersell yourself."

"See, there you go again. You're always talking about how I'm not living up to my potential, but you never take time to consider whether or not I'm happy in my life."

"Well, are you happy?"

"Yes!" I replied emphatically. "I am very happy, Nick. I love my jobs. I love my friends. Sure, my love life hasn't panned out yet, but I have faith that it will someday."

"You're happy?" Nick repeated.

I nodded. "I'm pretty happy. I have been for months, but you've never noticed that."

"So you're saying that I've been a bad friend."

"And that's how you've hurt me. I need a friend who cares about me and isn't constantly trying to change my life to fit his standards. I want someone who accepts my life the way that I am."

Nick sighed. "Annie, maybe we need to start over. Maybe we need to go back to the beginning and rebuild our friendship. How does that sound to you?"

I smiled. "It sounds like a really good idea."

He grinned. "Well, we're at the hospital now, but we'll have to work on that on our way home. But for now, let's go see that damnable brother of mine."

"I'm sure he'll be lovely and enchanting and thrilled to see us," I said. "Let's go in now."

So we went inside. And I'd like to note that in helping me transfer from the car into the wheelchair, Nick only banged my broken leg against the car twice and my arm against it once.

Hugo was lovely when we got into his room. He greeted us with warmth and civility. "Nicholas, my fucking bastard of a little brother, you've come to see me! How are you?"

Nick sighed. "I'm great. And there's no need to ask you how you're doing, I suppose."

"Oh, I'm great. I've got Kate here with me. I'm still alive. And they're giving me lovely painkillers. Life is good." He grinned. "Now, Annabel, how are you, my dear girl? You look quite done for. But you're still as lovely as ever to me."

I laughed. "You're alive, Hugo, and that's all I care about."

He smiled. "I know. I look like hell. You don't have to tell me."

"You don't look like your normal gorgeous self; I'll admit that."

Hugo waved a hand. He was connected to all sorts of beeping monitors and IVs. "This is all for show. It really impresses Kate."

Kate laughed. "Hugo, I could punch you for that remark. But I can't; I'm too happy to have you alive and awake."

Hugo grinned. "I couldn't die. I'm too gorgeous to die. This mug is going to get a hell of a lot older and uglier than it is right now before St. Peter gets to see it."

"You bastard," Nick sighed. "You have no fucking clue how worried we've been about you."

"You worried about me? I'm touched."

"I think Nick actually went so far as to pray for you," I said.

Hugo smiled. "You love me, Nick. Well, I'm sorry that it took all this destruction and hell-fire to bring us together, but I'm glad to know that my brother actually loves me."

Nick shook his head. "Oh man, like Kate, I'd punch you in the face if I weren't so happy that you're still alive."

"Well, we're all glad that I'm still alive, which is great. But can someone tell me how Tessie is holding up?" Tessie was his car. He'd named it after the Dropkick Murphys song.

"Tessie died," Nick said. "She gave her life to save you and Annie."

"Well, that sucks. That really fucking sucks. But at least Annie and I are still here, right?"

"You're an asshole," I said, wheeling myself next to his bed. "But I'm so glad you're still here. I don't know what I would do without you."

"Eh, you'd love, babes. It'd suck, but you'd make it. So would Kate. But Nick would probably die without me, right?"

"You're a bastard," Nick said. "You really are a bastard."

"Hey, we're twins," Hugo replied. "So if I'm a bastard, then so are you."

"Jackass," Nick sighed.

"Hey, I'm glad to see you too."

All I could do was laugh. I was just so happy to have him back. Sure he was in really bad shape physically, but he was alive. And that was good enough for me. He was still alive; I wouldn't have his death on my conscience.

A/N: Please review!