Dallas, Texas

"When can I see my wife, and what the hell happened anyway?" JR growled at the nurse at the desk as he paced angrily around the hospital waiting room, though he was less angry than concerned, no one seemed to be able to give him any information about Sue Ellen's state or what had happened. "I'm sorry Mr Ewing, Mrs Ewing is with the doctor now and all it says here on the ambulance report was that there was an automobile accident, I have no new information for you", the nurse felt bad for him, but she couldn't help him. JR grumbled but accepted her words, he'd already offered money for information, but it appeared that she really was telling the truth and had no further updates for him at the moment. Sitting down on the closest chair, he held his head low, unable to control his thoughts from spiralling out of control, only thinking of the worst possible conclusion, that his wife was dead. "JR!" he was surprised when his father walked hurriedly into the room, though he assumed that Julie had informed him of the earlier phone call when Jock returned to the office from his business lunch and that he was here now to support JR. "I came as soon as I got back. How is she? How's your mama?" JR was shocked, he was only Sue Ellen's emergency contact and had only been notified that she was in the hospital, not his mother too. "I… they only told me that Sue Ellen had been involved in a car crash, they didn't even mention mama", he looked up at Jock as if he were begging for forgiveness for not inquiring about his mother's state, though he hadn't actually done anything wrong, he hadn't known. Jock stood and marched over to the reception desk, demanding information but being given the same information that JR was, that there had been an automobile accident and that the doctor was in with the patients now. Silently, he sat back down next to JR, tapping the floor with his foot as he watched the swinging doors, willing a doctor appear, and willing him to have positive news.

Sue Ellen awoke to a light being shined in her eyes and her name being spoken gently, though she didn't recognize the voice that it belonged to, "Mrs Ewing?" she squinted as the light blinded her and slowly opened her eyes as the man turned it off. Looking around the room, she slowly realised that she was in a hospital bed, though she had no idea why, "I…" she coughed before she could speak any more words and was quickly silenced by the doctor who told her not to say anything until he had finished the examination. After he checked her breathing, blood pressure, vision and spinal movement, the doctor slowly explained the information that he had been given in her file; hers and another car had been found in the middle of an intersection outside of Braddock after an apparent collision between the two. From the information given in the ambulance report, it wasn't clear exactly who was at fault, though it didn't really matter right now, what mattered was her health and recovery. "Mrs Ewing, you are lucky, physically, you should be fine in a few days; you just have a few cuts and bruises, but no broken bones. I also believe you may have a mild concussion, so you may experience brief nausea, headaches, dizziness and/or confusion; I recommend…" he continued to speak, but Sue Ellen zoned out as she thought about everything he had just told her, specifically that she had been in a car accident. Sue Ellen gasped as she remembered snippets of what had happened and tears began to fall down her cheeks as she worried about Miss Ellie, "my…my mother-in-law?" she questioned the doctor as he continued to speak. "She's fine, a few cuts and bruises, but overall, it appears that you came out worse, so please, take my advice seriously. Do you have someone who can assist you at home?" Sue Ellen listened and sighed with relief as she heard that Miss Ellie was ok, though she still felt guilty and blamed herself that they were even in an accident, it had to have been her fault; she had been emotional and not paying attention to the road. "Y…yes", she nodded as the doctor asked her about her home recovery, Teresa was always at Southfork, she would be able to tend to her during the day. "Good; now, I'll be back on my next round, but as long as your stats still look ok next time I check you, I think you'll probably be able to go home later this evening"; she sighed with relief as he spoke, it meant that he wasn't so worried about her that he thought her condition required overnight observation.

"She has to live, she just has to", JR muttered mostly to himself. The swinging doors opened and both Jock and JR jumped up to greet the doctor, "Mr Ewing?", they both responded and were relieved when the doctor explained that both Miss Ellie and Sue Ellen only had minor injuries and would be released later in the evening pending a final check-up. "Can I go see my wife now doc?" JR was antsy, he needed to see Sue Ellen for himself and every minute they stood in the waiting room was another minute he wasn't with her, "yes, Mrs Sue Ellen Ewing is in room 301, and Mrs Eleanor Ewing is in room 305", both men thanked the doctor before heading toward the corridor to see their wives. As she sat alone in her hospital room, Sue Ellen let the tears she had been holding in finally spill out and was completely unprepared when JR walked into the room; JR took one look at his wife and ran over to her bed, sitting beside her and wrapping his arms around her as she cried into his chest. JR assumed that she was crying because of the shock of the accident, though that was only partially true; Sue Ellen felt ashamed of the way she had unloaded her feelings onto Miss Ellie and guilty for causing a road accident that could have killed both of them or other people. However, the biggest reason for her tears now was the fact that she still had unshed tears from the unfortunate trip down memory lane earlier in the afternoon; all of her memories from the past four years were still fresh in her mind and she didn't know how to deal with them. "Shh, darlin', you're safe now. Everything is going to be just fine", JR didn't really know what had happened, for all he knew, Sue Ellen could have been at fault, but right now he was just relieved that she wasn't badly injured, or dead. They had insurance on her car and he would settle any legal cases out of court if that became an issue, so he wasn't worried about either of those things; right now, the only thing that was important was that his wife, and his mother were ok; though from Sue Ellen's sniffling, her emotional state right now seemed questionable. Sue Ellen's breathing calmed as JR held her and somewhere in the back of her mind she felt a sense of irony at the fact that this was probably as close to real intimacy as they had been in weeks, if not months, and it just seemed so sad that she had to nearly die for it to happen. "I love you JR", she mumbled; somewhere in between the hysterical crying and calm, steady breathing JR's presence provided her with, she fell asleep, though not before she made her feelings for him clear, he was her husband and she really, truly did love him. JR watched her as she slept, his guilt over the way he had been treating her lately gnawing at him; he justified a lot of things in his life, but they all seemed so silly right now; he loved Sue Ellen and he never wanted her to doubt that he did. "I love you too darlin'", he whispered, kissing her on the cheek and brushing the hair out of her eyes; although she was already asleep and probably didn't hear him, it still made him feel better to say it aloud, he knew that she needed to hear those words from him more often than she did, especially recently.

To be continued…