Life After High School - Ten Years Later

By Risty and Silver

Disclaimer: The short answer is: No. The long answer is: Nnnooooooooooooooooo.

Summary: You've read this far . . . man.

+~+~+~+

(Benny's POV)

Forest, Blaze and I were sitting outside the inn, talking quietly amongst ourselves when Gimli rushed up to us. Damon had excused himself a few moments before; he didn't say where he was going and none of us thought to ask. What Gimli had to say made my blood run cold.

"There…there's been an accident" he managed to say. "Its Emma…please come…"

That was all we needed to hear. He turned round and ran back to the tavern and we followed him, running as quickly as we could.

"Forrest, go and find Damon," I ordered. "Quick. Tell him to come quick!"

He nodded and ran off in the opposite direction. When Blaze, Gimli and I entered the bar, we found Lucas and Randy kneeling beside Emma. Randy was holding a cloth to her head, a cloth that was soaked with blood. I waved them back and took their place. It didn't take a doctor to work out that she had very serious head injuries.

"I've called an ambulance," Lucas told me. "It should be here soon. The children are still asleep and nothing is out of place. She must have fallen."

"Right then" I nodded, not taking my eyes from her. There was no movement or anything coming from her. She was breathing, but only just. "Forrest has gone to find Damon. Blaze, Randy, Gimli, I want you to stay upstairs in case the children wake up. If they ask, just tell them that there has been an accident and that Emma is in hospital, but don't tell them anything about her condition. Lucas, I want you to go down to the hideout and call Elrond and Kivan. Tell them what has happened, but please tell them not to come down at the moment. We'll call again when we have more news. And tell them not to tell Wendy or Colan or anyone else just yet. Hopefully we've have time for that later."

They all did as they were told, except Gimli who hung back.

"Benny" he said quietly, his voice barely more than a whisper. "Is…is she going to be all right?"

"I don't know, Gimli," I told him honestly. "She…she has serious head injuries. If we can get her to hospital soon, perhaps she'll come round. But there is also a possibility that she might…" I trailed off, unable to speak. "That she may be brain damaged," I said after a moment, fighting to hold back my tears. Emma was everything to me, my sister, my friend, and I could not stand seeing her in this state. "But we won't know until she wakes up…"

He nodded silently and went back upstairs. Then the ambulance arrived and Damon and Forrest arrived. Damon took one look at Emma and broke down completely. I put my arms around him and he clung to me like a child. And while I was comforting him, I allowed myself to shed a few tears too. While we were riding in the ambulance, I did my best to explain her condition to him, as well as the technical terms they were throwing around, but I don't think he was taking anything in. He wanted so much to believe that it would be all right and to be honest, so did I. But such a serious head injury would take a long time to recover from and I did not know if she was strong enough. If she recovered, it would take days for her to wake up and until she did, we would not know the truth extent of her injuries. I suspected foul play, I don't know why but I did. Although at the point, Emma's condition and Damon's well-being were my priorities. Anything else could wait.

(Lucas' POV)

I called Elrond and Kivan and told them what I had been instructed to tell them. I didn't tell them about the suspected brain damage, after all nothing had yet been proven, but I did tell them that she had serious head injuries. Both wanted to come down, but I managed to persuade them to wait until we knew more. Elrond said that he would tell Billee and Legolas, but no one else.

As I put down the phone, another number caught my eye. Jaime's number was scribbled on Benny's work pad. I picked up the phone again, then hesitated and put it down. There was no point, she and Emma were no longer friends therefore she did not need to know. And either way, it was not my business to tell her. I didn't particularly want to interfere in Damon's business and I knew that he and Benny had no real wish to see Jaime either. Best to just leave it.

I put my head in my hands and gave a sigh. It had been a long night, but I would not be able to sleep. Not until I had heard some news…