Chapter 12 – I will get to the bottom of this

Lucifer didn't exaggerate about his driving skills; the trio arrived at the hospital relatively quickly. Thanks to the straightforward instructions of the receptionist, they soon found the rooms where Dan and Amenadiel were accommodated. They were in separate rooms, which was perhaps a good thing in the present situation. Chloe was grateful that she was spared the embarrassment of having to explain why Pierce and Lucifer had come with her.

She opened the door of Dan's room and immediately spotted him. He was still unconscious, dressed in a hospital gown and his face was bruised and full of small cuts. He was receiving medication through an intravenous line.

Chloe gasped at the sight and rushed to his bed. She pulled a chair closer to the bed, sat down and grabbed his hand. She was still in shock. Dan was a responsible driver and she couldn't imagine how could this happen. The clerk at the reception didn't know anything specific about the accident, just that two men were involved. Her thoughts wandered to Amenadiel. Maybe when they wake up, they would provide some explanation.

She was caressing Dan's knuckles absent-mindedly. After a while, he stirred and his eyelids fluttered open.

"Hey," Chloe smiled at him reassuringly.

Dan's eyes flickered to her and his face contorted in pain as he tried to speak.

"Easy," Chloe told him and resumed caressing his hand. "You're in the hospital. You and Amenadiel had a car accident."

She wasn't sure if Dan remembered the accident and they hadn't met with a doctor yet, so they didn't know whether he had a concussion. But she figured that telling him about his current situation could provide some sense of safety.

Dan nodded and tried to speak again. His voice was raspy, but he succeeded this time.

"Yeah, I know. It was bad. I didn't – think we will survive," he sighed and closed his eyes for a moment. For Chloe's relief, he seemed quite lucid and oriented.

"What happened?" she asked quietly.

"I worked quite late. I wanted to – close a few things about – the Skalbeck-case." Dan seemed to have difficulty speaking, but he was becoming more fluent with each sentence. "I found something that bothered me. Anyway, after I finished, I picked up Amenadiel. We planned to – go to a baseball game tonight. We were already near the stadium, on the 110 when something – very strange happened to my car. The software error caption – started flashing on the dashboard – and I simply lost control over the car. I thought – something like that can happen only in the movies." He shook his head and chuckled weakly. "The clutch, the break, the accelerator – none of them worked. I couldn't even move the steering wheel. The car somehow – accelerated on its own and – started to drift just when we reached the tunnel." He shuddered at the memory. "And then we crashed into the side of it. The front of the car was totally destroyed. I really don't know how we survived," he sighed tiredly and closed his eyes.

"It doesn't matter. The point is that you did survive. And you will be okay." She squeezed his hand a little to emphasize her point.

"I hope that, too," his mouth curved into a faint smile. "I'm really grateful you came here. I know we're not – anything anymore…" he trailed off and glanced at Marcus who stood at the doorway. "I hope this didn't interrupt any of your plans for tonight."

Chloe started to blush and hoped that Dan was too distracted to notice. She decided to assure him quickly and then change the topic.

"Don't be silly! We're still friends. And you're the father of my daughter. We will always care about each other." She cleared her throat. "But something you said, bothers me. Your car was recently inspected. How could it go haywire? Plus, what happened is very unusual."

"Yeah, it's odd. But I guess we will never get to know what really happened. The car is a wreck."

"Right," she sighed. "The only thing that matters is that you survived."

"About that…I heard the doctors say that Amenadiel survived the accident as well, but that's all I know. Could you check up on him?"

"Of course." Chloe smiled at him and stood up. She headed to the door, but another thought occurred to her and she turned back.

"One more thing. You said you found something strange in the Skalbeck-case. What was it?"

"I was gathering background information about the company before you arrested Wayne Price. I wanted to see if I could find something suspicious. And I did, but I'm not sure if it's related to the current case. It turned out, that there were three owners originally. Three men founded SkyFly-Tech Solutions: Wayne Price, Brian Morris, and Lance Brassington. But two years ago, Lance Brassington died in a car accident. His car just went wrong all of a sudden, but it wasn't clear how, because it was in excellent technical condition before the accident. I called the office to ask more about this strange accident. I spoke with a secretary—Ms Woodberg if I remember correctly—and she told me what she knew, which wasn't too much. Most of his shares were bought by the other two owners after his death. I put my notes about that on your desk."

"Huh." She nodded and felt a shiver down her spine. The resemblance between the accident Dan had just described and his own car crash was uncanny. "Thanks. I will look at it tomorrow."

She left the room with an uneasy feeling.

oOo

"Brother," Lucifer greeted Amenadiel as he stepped into his hospital room.

The older angel was lying on the bed, and there was a bandage on his head, but otherwise, he seemed all right. Lucifer let out a relieved breath and he could feel some tension leave his shoulders. He would never admit it to his brother, but he was worried about him. Amenadiel was currently mortal, and they didn't know what would happen to him if he died. There was a chance that he would go to Hell, and despite their earlier squabbles, Lucifer didn't desire to see him there.

"Hey, Lucy," Amenadiel said somewhat groggily.

"What on earth had happened to you, Brother?" Lucifer inquired impatiently.

"Dan and I were going to the stadium to watch a baseball game. But something in his car went wrong. He lost control and we crashed into a concrete wall."

His voice was calm, but Lucifer sensed that something was out of place.

"And how did you survive a head-on collision with a concrete wall?"

Amenadiel averted his gaze.

"I…A few moments before the crash I was sure that this would be the end for me, and I made peace with that thought. But I knew it would be the end for Dan, too. And we became friends recently, you know. I couldn't bear the thought that his life would end so soon. I wanted to protect him. And just a millisecond before the crash, my… my wings popped out. They shielded him and – well – absorbed most of the impact. Dan passed out, and now he probably thinks that the airbag saved his life."

Lucifer's earlier indifference started to be replaced by confusion. His eyes were wide, and he resembled a comical cartoon figure right now.

"But how's that possible? You lost your wings!"

"I know," he sighed, and a strange gleam began forming in his eyes. "But I have a theory."

"A theory?" Lucifer asked sceptically.

"Yes. I think my wings grew back because I acted selflessly. I wanted to do the right thing. I willed them back," he mused.

"You willed them…Brother, your condition must be more serious than I initially thought. You most certainly have a concussion."

"No, Lucy, I'm serious. I think…I think that we may... self-actualize."

Lucifer scoffed, and Amenadiel folded his arms defensively.

"Then how else would you explain this?"

Lucifer was gaping for a while, looking for a plausible explanation, then something crossed his mind.

"I don't know. But tell me, Brother, if you could will your wings back, why didn't you will your invulnerability back, too?" He pointed to the bandage on Amenadiel's head and raised his chin defiantly.

Amenadiel looked perplexed.

"I…I don't know. But I don't care. I saved Dan's life. That's all that matters."

Lucifer relaxed again and nodded.

"I presume, you're right. I just…"

He couldn't finish the sentence, because he heard a soft knock on the door, and soon the Detective stepped into the room.

"Hi," she greeted them. "Amenadiel, it's good to see you. I'm so glad, that you're okay, too."

She glanced at Lucifer.

"I wanted to stop by later, but I promised Dan that I will bring him news about your condition. I didn't want to interrupt anything."

"It's all right, Chloe," Amenadiel said, and his mouth curved into his trademark angelic smile that was so calm and reassuring. "I'm quite well. I just had a little concussion." He pointed at his bandaged head.

"I'm really happy that there is nothing more serious," she smiled back at him. "Please, call me if you need anything. I will stay here for a while with Dan."

"That's very kind of you," Amenadiel bowed slightly.

"Right," Chloe said and gestured towards the door. "I will go back then…" She cleared her throat. "Ehm…Lucifer, can I talk to you for a second?" she asked hesitantly.

"Of course, Detective," he said and followed her to the corridor.

She studied him while he closed the door behind him and turned his gaze at her. He seemed to be polite and distant as he stood there, hands shoved in the pocket of his trousers, but there was a strange restlessness in his eyes. Despite this, he waited patiently for her to start.

"Lucifer…I – I know this evening turned out differently than we planned. I'm sorry."

Lucifer frowned.

"There's no need to apologize, Detective. I mean, of course, you wanted to be at the side of Daniel in a situation like this. And even if you had ignored the call, I would have received a call from the hospital regarding Amenadiel and the evening would have been over. Besides, it wasn't your fault that these unfortunate events came about."

Chloe averted her gaze and chewed on her lower lip.

"Detective?" Lucifer stepped closer and eyed her with a confused and somewhat worried expression. "You can't think that it was somehow your fault, right?"

"Dan told me something that really bothers me. He was still working on the background check of the Skalbeck-case, and he figured that a few years ago one of the owners of the company died in a strange car accident. He was asking around in the office about it, and a few hours later he had an equally strange car accident as well. It can't be a coincidence!" she said nervously. "Lucifer…what if we closed this case too soon? What if I was sloppy, and now Dan is bearing the brunt of my carelessness? What if-"

Lucifer grabbed both of her hands and squeezed them to get her attention.

"Detective, you followed the evidence, and did what you thought was the best."

Chloe knew that Lucifer meant well, but he wasn't right. She wanted to close the case because she was thinking with her guts, and she wasn't listening to her detective instincts. She knew something didn't add up, but she ignored this intuition. And now she felt incredibly guilty about that.

She withdrew her hands from Lucifer's and steeled herself.

"No, I was rash. But it won't happen again. Tomorrow I will go through all the information Dan had found. I will get to the bottom of this. Until then…I think we should postpone everything that we planned for tonight."

"I agree," Lucifer nodded, and his face was impassive.

"Okay, then…See you tomorrow, Lucifer," she told him, and he offered a tight smile in response as she turned to go back to Dan's room.