Ellie jumped at the sound of her family name, stumbling on half numb legs, before rushing over to the doctor. Her mother and Mary pulled themselves together, preparing for the worst.

"At this time, we have been able to stabilize your daughter. When she was brought in, there were several known injuries including; severe head trauma, a broken femur, and major blood loss. Upon further examination, we discovered several broken ribs, a collapsed lung and ruptured spleen. We had to remove her spleen, but were able to repair most of the lung damage. She will need an MRI, and another surgery to repair the femur, probably tomorrow, but for now she is in a medically induced coma."

"Can we see her?" Mary asked.

"Ms. Bennett is currently in the ICU. We only allow one visitor at a time. It is very important that Ms. Bennett rests right now; she is still heavily sedated. If the nurses feel that a visitor's presence is not conducive to a restful environment, they will be asked to leave. Nurse Simmons will show you to her room." With that the doctor excused himself and Francesca Bennett was led toward the ominous swinging doors.

Mary went to sit with Jane and Katie, promising to update them. Hopefully, now that Lydia's situation was secure, Katie's condition would also improve.

"I suppose you are very anxious to join your family?" Will said.

"I'm not really sure where I belong right now." Ellie replied. She didn't want to admit it, but seeing Lydia, in whatever condition she was now in, would make everything about their entire situation become that much more real.

"Well, I have no particular place to be right now," He commented, "I would be happy to sit with you for a while."

"Yeah, its 3 a.m. and you've got nothing better to do than sit in these horrible hospital chairs, keeping me and my thoughts company?" She gave a sarcastic chuckle.

"Sure, why not?" He replied.

"Alrighty, then…" She said taking a seat. She figured in a little while he would get board or tired and head to wherever he stayed when he was in town, probably Charlie's apartment.

She was thinking about telling him to get some rest, when she heard her last name again. Following the voice, across the room she saw a police officer talking to nurse Simmons. Curious, she decided to check it out.

"Hello, my name is Elizabeth Bennett, Lydia's sister; is she in some kind of trouble?" She asked.

"I am here to check on your sister's status. We need her statement as soon as possible. The arraignment is tomorrow and, without her account of the events, we aren't left with much." He replied.

"I'm sorry; we didn't get much information about the crash. Is the other driver at fault?" Ellie asked.

The officer checked his notes.

"According to the first officer on scene, Lydia Bennett was the passenger in the vehicle that ran a red light and caused the accident. The driver, a man named…" the officer again referenced his notes, "George Wickham walked away from the accident without injury; but after showing signs of intoxication on scene, he was administered a breath test and blew well over the legal limit. He was arrested and charged with DUI. Upon further investigation, some drug paraphernalia as well as a small amount of ecstasy were found in the vehicle. Of course, Mr. Wickham claims that it must have been in your sister's possession, but we are still investigating. If we can prove who the items in question belong to, we will be adding charges. His arraignment is scheduled for tomorrow, which is why I need to speak to Ms. Bennett as soon as possible."

Ellie was stunned. The drugs were most definitely not Lydia's. She drank alcohol, but she had certainly never done drugs. Ellie just stood there for the second time that day having no idea how to process the information she had just been presented with. And George? What was Lydia doing with him? More importantly, why had she been in his car when he had been drinking? She knew better than to get in the car with a drunk. This whole thing was just not adding up.

William stepped in, taking charge of the situation like always.

"Thank you for informing us of the situation. I believe if you look at Mr. Wickham's juvenile record, you will see he has been arrested on possession charges several times, so I would check any items found in the car for fingerprints before the arraignment tomorrow. Ms. Lydia Bennett will not be in a condition to make a statement until at least tomorrow after her surgery, but I feel I must inform you that she will not be doing so until she has spoken with her lawyer." Ellie would have been a little annoyed if not for that fact that she didn't have the first clue as to how to deal with the current situation.

The police officer sniffed indignantly, and passed off his card to Darcy before making his exit.

"Do not worry about this, Elizabeth." Darcy reassured her. "I know the DA. I will just make a few calls and get a lawyer set up."

"I'm sorry?" Ellie asked, not sure what exactly he was proposing.

"Well, if you know that the 'illegal materials' are not your sister's, then I'm sure my lawyer and the DA can work something out, so that Lydia can testify and get immunity." He replied as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Well, while I appreciate your desire to help, I'm sure my family can handle this situation. We aren't quite as inept as some people would like to believe; besides, you shouldn't be here, you belong at home." She all but yelled at him. It wasn't that she wanted him gone but more that she hated to have people see her going through this mess. She hated having a person whose opinion mattered see her family in the worst possible light. It was better for everyone if he went and got some sleep.

"As you wish." Will replied, all traces of personality gone in an instant. If she did not want his presence, he would not force it upon her. Still, he would have to have a word with Bingley before heading home - make sure that Charlie knew who to call and how to make sure that, if Lydia recovered, she wouldn't be carted off to jail because he had failed to warn them about that pariah. Still his heart ached at the thought of what had started as such a wonderful day.

AN: Hope everyone is enjoying the story, we are almost done with the angst. PLEASE review! And a special thanks to everyone for continuing to care about my very long story!