Chloe wasn't spoken of again. The police caught them and the girl, who had a string of prostitution and drug charges. Chloe tried calling Hange from jail but Hange hung up on them. Their camera had been sold and the reason Chloe and the girl got caught was because they tried to use Hange's credit cards for almost $500 of stuff at WalMart.

Nanaba moved into Mike's log cabin house that he'd built with his own two hands on family land he owned and Levi moved back to the motel with Hange. Life and work and love went on. Hange and Moblit dated and Levi stopped by the diner whenever he could.

It was a few weeks later, on a Tuesday, when Levi and Mike were preparing to head to the diner to eat lunch. The whole gang was planning on meeting them there. Hange ambled up. "Is there room in the truck for me? I hate to take the car since we're all going to the same place."

Levi looked slowly and pointedly at the huge, white, crew cab truck that was Mike's. "Seriously? I could comfortably fucking live in that thing. No lie, I can lie down and stretch out on the back seat! I'm gonna start bringing a pillow for naps!"

Mike laughed, "Sure, Hans! No problem."

At the diner they commandeered a booth and two of the chairs at the low counter just across from it and sat down with their drink orders. It was lunchtime so it was busy. Moblit and Nanaba showed up quickly and they all got arranged, Hange and Moblit in the chairs, Mike and Nanaba in one side of the booth and Levi in the other. Erwin would come sit down once the lunch rush calmed down. They all ordered their food and were chatting and telling each other about their day so far. Erwin was wiping off the tall counter with his towel when the phone to the diner rang. The phone rang constantly around meal times as people phoned in to-go orders. Erwin went to get it, turning his back on the counter and putting a finger in his other ear so he could hear better.

Moblit and Hange sat with their chairs turned to face one another so they could talk to the others in the booth and Moblit was relaying an amusing story about a couple he had shown a house to. Everybody was listening and laughing and suddenly Levi got a bad feeling. His face fell and he frowned. What the hell?

Everyone else went quiet and looked at him.

"Levi?" Hange said, "You OK?"

"Nothing. It's nothing. I just got a … chill."

"Goose walked over your grave," said Moblit.

"What?"

"It's something my grandma used to say. If you get a little shiver out of nowhere she'd say a goose just walked over your grave."

Levi shot a glance at Erwin. He was still on the phone but no longer hunched over, listening. He was ramrod straight and preternaturally still.

"Erwin?" Levi said faintly and slid out and stood up from the booth. He stepped toward the tall counter. The phone, an old black desk model, was right beside the cash register.

The cash register was at the beginning of the low counter, where the tall counter ended abruptly. Levi leaned over beside it. "Erwin?"

The hand piece of the phone suddenly slipped out of Erwin's hand and fell to the floor, shattering like black glass. One of the waitresses looked at Erwin and uttered a little scream. Erwin never moved.

"Erwin!" Levi tried to reach him from where he was standing, grab his arm, something. "Erwin?! What's wrong?"

Everyone was standing now. Mike hurried behind the counter and just as he reached Erwin, Erwin fell to his knees on the greasy tiles between the counter and the grills.

Mike went to his knees as well and his long arms went around Erwin. Erwin finally turned his face to Levi. It was a mask of horror. He said one word.

"Eren."

They sped down I-26, heading for Columbia, Mike and Nanaba in the truck ahead and Moblit, Hange, Erwin and Levi in Moblit's car just behind them.

Erwin was a mess. They'd finally gotten from him that it had been the highway patrol on the phone. Eren had been in an accident and had been taken to the emergency room at Parkridge. The only details they'd given were that it had involved a semi-truck and several cars and that it had been 'pretty bad' and that Eren was alive when the ambulance took him but not conscious.

The hospital had refused to divulge any information over the phone despite Levi cajoling them and then, bullying them.

At the Chapin exit they had to slow down for traffic and Moblit struck the wheel with his hand in frustration. They could see Mike, in the truck ahead, raging.

They finally reached the exit and saw what the hold up was. They were still cleaning up the accident. Erwin moaned and scooted down in the seat and hid his face in his hands. Levi patted him soothingly as all the emergency lights bathed the interior of the car in washes of color. The cars and people were gone but the crews were still working on removing the semi which lay on its side by the edge of the road.

Once past the exit, they flew and Moblit spoke over his shoulder. "Not far now." He had to have said that a dozen times since they'd left.

It had been true though and, a few exits later Mike and Moblit peeled off the highway.

The hospital was, blessedly, right there. It was a big, pretty thing, obviously fairly new with a gorgeous glass front and multiple stories. Just the sight of it had made Erwin perk up a bit. They obnoxiously bulldozed their way into the emergency room parking and swiftly slid into spaces. Levi took Erwin's arm to steady him as they went in, not giving any fucks who saw them.

They anxiously crowded the desk. The two ladies behind it looked unimpressed, obviously used to this stuff. They were, however, very kind. One gave Erwin a sheaf of paperwork and the other went back personally to check on Eren's status.

They found a space in the waiting room and sat. Erwin's hands were shaking so badly that Levi just gently took the paperwork from him and filled it out himself in his small, precise script, asking Erwin the questions. Erwin handed Mike his wallet and Mike found his ID and insurance cards.

The one nurse who had gone back to check on Eren came over to them. "Mr. Smith? You're Eren's father?"

Erwin nodded.

"Eren has been taken up to surgery …"

"Oh, god!" Erwin said.

" … If you want to go to the second floor waiting room, there's a place you can wait on the doctor. They'll come out and tell you what's going on when they get done."

Nanaba, who had been steadily crying, looked up tearfully. "Can we all come?"

"We're family," Mike said firmly.

"Yes, of course. The elevators are over there."

The emergency waiting room was much less full but the people there were tense, quiet. Despite the cheerful attempt at decor the attitude in the room was somber.

Levi got himself and Erwin a seat as close to the doors to the surgery suites as he could but there were only two. The others were forced to sit a short distance away.

Erwin had been crying steadily and his handkerchief was soaked. He had hardly said anything. Levi produced a pristine white one from his pocket and gave it to him, stuffing the wet one into the same pocket. Fuck it. He could wash his jeans and the handkerchief later.

The woman on duty brought over a few more forms for Erwin to sign and Levi had to hold the clipboard for Erwin.

"Is there anyone else that you authorise to have information about your son, Mr. Smith?" she asked gently, tapping the HIPAA forms.

Erwin indicated Levi. "Him."

She hesitated. "Are you family?"

Levi took a deep breath. "I'm his partner."

Erwin stared at him and the woman stared at him. Levi looked belligerent. Was same sex marriage even legal in this shithole state? "I'm his husband. Eren is our son."

He immediately felt bad about the 'shithole' thought. He wasn't mad at South Carolina; he was angry and felt helpless about the situation. He tried to rein it back a little.

"That's fine," the woman said (although she looked very bemused) and walked away. Levi relaxed a little bit.

"Why … why did you say that?" Erwin asked in a small voice.

"Was it not OK? Shit, Erwin, I'm sorry."

Erwin took his hand and squeezed. "It's perfectly fi-fine. You just took me by su-surprise."

"They won't let anybody in to see him except close family and I thought … I thought you might want me to go …"

Erwin burst into tears again and leaned heavily on him. "Oh, Levi. My baby …"

Levi stroked his hair. "I know … shh, shh … I know. I'm sure it'll be OK. I'm sure he'll be OK. We just need to be patient. I know it's hard."

He looked over at the rest of them. Hange and Nanaba were crying steadily and Moblit and Mike looked positively grim.