Chapter 10

                The phone's ring cut through the sound of yelling and cheering as Bobby's favorite basketball team scored a point. Jean covered her ears against the noise, made her way across the messy Rec Room, and picked up the phone. "Xavier Institute," she said.

                An unfamiliar voice came on over the line. "This is Officer Howard Young of the NYPD," he said. "Is Miss Ororo Munroe around?"

                Jean felt a trickle of icewater run down her spine. Why would the police be looking for Ororo at this time of night unless… Quiet! She screamed telepathically, and telekinetically muted the TV. "She's asleep. Should I get her, or can I take a message?"

                "We need to talk to her. It's urgent. It's about her ward, Alexandra."

                Upstairs in her room, Ororo woke immediately as Jean prodded her telepathically. 'Ro. There's someone on the phone for you, an Officer Howard Young, and he says it's urgent.

                Ororo picked up the phone upstairs, puzzled. "Hello?" she said into the mouthpiece. "This is Ororo Munroe."

                "Miss Munroe, there was a terrible accident earlier involving your ward, Alexandra. A drunk driver apparently crashed into their car out on the highway; three people were killed--"

                Ororo screamed. Andi…

                Still on the phone in the Rec Room, Jean reached out mentally. Remy had gone to bed earlier that evening with a headache. Remy! She woke him.

                Not so loud, chere, Remy hauled himself upright in bed. Jean, what's wrong?

                The police just called for 'Ro. Andi's been in an accident. 'Ro's almost collapsing, Remy, can you…?

                I'm goin'. Remy flew out of his room and ran up the attic stairs.

                Ororo had crumpled on her bed, crying, and Remy's heart wrenched as he saw her grief. The phone swung from its cord, forgotten as Ororo cried. There was a frantic voice saying, "Miss Munroe? Miss Munroe?"

                Remy sat down on the bed beside Ororo and pulled her in his arms, then reached for the phone. "Dis is Remy. I'm a frien' of 'Ro's."

                "I'm sorry for how that came out," said the officer. "Alexandra isn't dead, she's just badly hurt. We need Miss Munroe to come to the hospital and see if she can identify any of the people who died."

                "Andi is not…"

                "Non, non," Remy said, smoothing her hair. "She hurt, but she not dead. Remy take you to de hospital. Come on. Get dressed." He spoke into the phone again. 'We be down dere soon, Officer. T'ank you for calling."

                "We'll be waiting." And the line went dead.

                Jean hung up the phone, staring into thin air as she sank down into the chair beside the Rec Room's phone. Oh God. She hoped, fervently, that Andi wasn't hurt too badly, and that the girl would survive. She had to talk to Charles, and…Emma. Emma love Andi, in her own way. She had to be told, too. Jean slowly picked the phone up and dialed Emma's number.

                Emma answered on the fourth ring. "Yes?"

                Jean took a deep breath. "Emma, it's Jean--"

                Emma cut her off. "Look, it's almost midnight. Can we do this tomorrow?"

                Jean gritted her teeth, but kept going. "Emma, listen to me. Stop shouting. It's about Andi." Silence.

                Then, "What about Andi?"

                Jean said quietly, "There was a car accident. The officer said a drunk driver crossed the road and hit the car Andi and her friends were in. They pulled three bodies out of the wreckage. Andi's still alive, though. I…I thought you should know."

                Another silence, shorter this time. Then, "I'm sorry for snapping at you. Which hospital?"

                Jean let out the breath she didn't even realize she was holding. "Manhattan General. Remy's taking 'Ro there."

                "I'll meet them there." Jean was almost ready to hang up when Emma's voice came again, softly. "Thank you, Jean. And, Jean? I'm sorry." Then the line went silent.

                Jean hung up the phone. She sat for a moment, silent, then reached out for the sleeping mind that was Charles's, and nudged him awake. Charles?

*                                                              *                                                              *

                The hospital staff pointed Remy and Ororo through the Emergency Room doors as soon as they came in. They didn't need to ask; there were only two critical patients that evening, and this was the second set of frantic people coming in.

                "We're here for Andi…for Alexandra Munroe," Remy informed the nurse at the emergency room desk. She pointed them toward three uniformed officers who were deep in discussion with two other frantic people. Ororo crossed the room toward them.

                "Miss Munroe, I presume?" said one man. Ororo nodded, not trusting herself to speak.

                "Your daughter's in emergency surgery at this moment; I don't have any news on her condition. I'm really sorry, Miss--"

                "What happened?" Ororo cut in. Normally she wouldn't be this rude, but this was Andi they were talking about…

                "I was just getting to that. A man in a black SUV was driving drunk down the road. A passing motorist called us to let us know he was weaving all over the road, but by the time we got a patrol unit there, the accident had already happened. The SUV crashed into the left rear door of the blue Chevy Malibu your daughter and three of her friends were driving in. The boy sitting there was killed instantly; the second girl, sitting behind the front passenger, died when the car's back end slammed into a telephone pole. The pole fell across the front passenger side of the car; Alexandra was sitting there when it fell. When we got the pole off that side of the car and the paramedics pulled her out, her legs looked pretty bad." Ororo choked back sobs, and turned to bury her face in Remy's shoulder.

                The officer turned to the other couple. "Mrs. Harper, Mr. Matthews, your boy was injured when the metal from the outside of the car was pushed inwards by the force of the impact. Ryan sustained damage to his internal organs when the metal cut into his abdomen. Both children are still alive, and the doctors are doing everything they can do to save them."

                Ororo turned to Linda Harper, who also had tears in her eyes. "You are Ryan's mother, then?"

                Linda reached out and embraced Ororo numbly, tears streaming down her face. "And you're Andi's. I'm so sorry, Miss Munroe. If I'd suggested any other place, any other restaurant, maybe this might not have happened."

                "What?" Ororo pulled back to look at the other woman.

                Linda wiped her eyes, but the tears didn't stop coming. "Ryan bought Andi a ring. He was going to propose to her tonight. I suggested the Kiss Café to him, as a place to go after the performance tonight so he could propose. I wish I'd made reservations somewhere else, anywhere else, but there. Maybe this wouldn't have happened.

                Ororo hugged the other woman. "It is not your fault. Do not feel responsible."

                The door to Emergency opened, and two more people came through; Ororo recognized them as the Dawsons. The officer took them aside for a few words of explanation, and Ororo winced as Rose's mother screamed in terrible grief and collapsed. She was sorry for the other woman…but at the same time, felt guilty because she was glad it was Rose, and not Andi.

*                                                              *                                                              *

                Linda, Ororo, Jason, and Remy stood as a doctor clad in bloodstained surgical scrubs came tiredly through the door. He addressed himself to Ryan's mother and uncle first. "Mr and Mrs. Harper…"

                "Mr. Matthews," Jason corrected. "Ryan's father died of cancer a few years back. Ryan's mother is my sister; Ryan and his brother are my nephews."

                "Well, Ryan's injuries were severe. He's lost a lot of blood, and if the police and paramedics hadn't reached him so quickly we would have lost him. He's still alive," he said quickly, seeing Linda's anguished face. "But he's in a deep coma. I don't know when he's going to awaken; his brain activity is minimal." He held up a hand to stop Ryan's mother, and turned to Ororo. "Your daughter's alive. She's sedated for the moment, you can see her when they transfer her to intensive care upstairs.

                "Both her legs were shattered and her hips were broken when the telephone pole fell over the portion of car she was sitting in. Alexandra has hairline fractures in her ribs, and she sustained numerous internal injuries. We have her in a cast right now from her waist to her toes, and metal pins holding her hips together. We aren't sure she'll make a complete recovery, considering how fragile her bones were. I hear she's a dancer?" Ororo nodded numbly.

                "Her dancing career's over, I'm afraid," the doctor said sorrowfully. "Her legs will never be strong enough to handle the stress again. She may, eventually, be able to walk again, but that is a very optimistic view. And she's always going to need some type of assistance. I'm thinking a wheelchair at the very least, although braces or crutches might be a possibility if she recovers that much."

                He turned back to Linda. "Your son's body will recover completely. If or when he comes out of his coma he'll be able to resume regular activity; but right now I can't say when that will be. He still has measurable brain activity, and he's got a strong heartbeat. Would you like to see your kids?"

                Linda nodded, and Ororo nodded. The doctor took them up in the elevator, and showed Linda and Jason into one room, then took Ororo and Remy down the hall a little further and showed them into another room.

                Andi lay there, pale and still, her face frozen. There were so many tubes and needles and things going into so many parts of her body she looked like a doll wired to a machine that was supposed to reanimate her. Ororo wished that were true. She wished Andi would just rise up out of that bed, whole and happy, smiling, telling her that it was all a joke, a mistake, and she was fine. But it was just wishful thinking, and Ororo knew it. Andi might never get up from that bed; and it was all the fault of some drunk driver who would never see the faces of his victims, whose lives he'd never know he ruined, because he was dead. It seemed monumentally unfair to Ororo.

                She sat down in a chair beside Andi's bed, taking the limp, pale hand. Her hands brushed up against an unfamiliar hardness on the girl's finger, and she looked down. The sparkling diamond winked back at her, a promise of hope and love that now might never come true. And then the full reality of it all hit Ororo, and she bowed her head over Andi's hand and began to cry. Remy came over to her, whispering words of sorrow and regret in French into her ear, and she leaned against his shoulder and soaked his shirt with her tears.