A/N: Thanks to James, Beverly, Courtney and everyone else who has worked on this with me. Thanks to Alex for cowriting with me and helping me get my ideas and plans into story form. And thanks for being my counsel when i was upset. Okay ya'll, i need reviews. Thanks to the two of you who did review, and i know that others have read the story, but haven't reviewed. Please ya'll review. I want to know what you think. Everyone's got an opinion. I could use some flames, too. And if anyone wants to e-mail me, feel free. It's I'm also on msn messenger as i could use someone to talk to.

Life As We Know It
Chapter 4 Emergency

"Hello? Is anyone there?" Lizzie ran over and picked up the phone.

"I'm here. What is the problem?"

"I'm Sergeant Johnson."

"Lizzie McGuire."

"Hi. I was told to call Miranda Sanchez about something that just happened."

"Well, she told me to find out what it is and to tell her about it. So, what is it?"

"There has been an accident. I understand that Ms. Sanchez is having a Danny Kessler's baby?"

"Yes, go on."

"Well, he attempted suicide, but he told his parents and they were gonna take him to the hospital for a stomach pump."

"Oh God! Is he all right?"

"That's not the worst part. An Edward Sanchez saw him in his vehicle on the way to the hospital and ran into them."

"Are they all right?"

"Danny is, but I'm afraid his parents were killed on impact and Mr. Sanchez was rushed to the hospital with a severe head wound. That's all I know, but is Mrs. Sanchez there?"

"No. She's at my house."

"Can you give me the number to contact her?"

"I'm pretty sure Miranda would rather tell her. Thank you for calling."

"You're welcome. Good night."

"Yes, or rather, good morning," Lizzie said, because the clock now read 2:30.

LIZZIE'S POV

"Miranda we need to talk," I said, trying to mask the panic in my voice as I prepared to tell her news that I knew would change a lot of things.

"Ok, tell me what the hell is going on!"

"Well, you know how Danny wasn't too thrilled about being a daddy? Well he tried to commit suicide."

"Oh my..." she said, but I interrupted before she could finish the thought.

"But he told his parents, and they took him to the hospital to get a stomach pump. On the way to the hospital..." I trailed off, knowing the next four words would cause a huge outburst of emotion.

"What Lizzie?" Gordo asked which made us jump; we'd forgotten he was in the room.

"Your dad hit them."

"That bastard," was all she could get out, before she started crying her eyes out. Gordo and I rushed over to her and hugged her, and I was letting her cry in my arms when Gordo said, "Does her mom know?"

"No. I think we need to call them. Miranda, sweetie, do you want me to call her for you?"

"I'd appreciate it," she said, trying to wipe some of the tears off her cheeks.

"I'll go call her right now," I said, grabbing the phone and leaving the room. I knew that it would be too hard on Miranda for her to have to hear me tell her mother about the accident.

NO ONE'S POV

"Miranda, do you want to talk?" Gordo asked, motioning for us to sit at the couch.

"About what?"

"About anything."

"Do you think I'm a whore?"

"Why the hell do you think that?"

"Well, I'm sorta pregnant at the age of sixteen."

"Big fuckin' deal...Okay, so it is a big deal, but life goes on. Have you learned anything from getting pregnant?"

"So far I've learned to be sure and use a condom and take the pill if I have sex, which I don't think I will now. A condom certainly didn't keep me from getting' fuckin' knocked up"

"See, you have learned something. You wouldn't be pregnant if there wasn't some sort of purpose for the baby's life. Just think you will get to know what a baby feels like inside you before any of your friends, with the exception of Kate, that is."

"She's hardly what you'd call a friend."

"Bad example, but anyway. You will know that you created a life that will look up to you, to love you, to rely on you. There will be a living being inside you that will remind you of the love you felt when the baby was being made, although you didn't know it at the time. You know that no matter how bad everything else gets, you have that baby that will never get mad at you. You won't have to worry about it sneaking out or anything until you're thirty. You can say that you grew old with your child. It's not like most parents, who are forty when their child graduates high school. You'll still be in the cool age range. And your fashion sense won't be completely gone then. Your child, if it's a girl, can get make-up and guy tips from you. If it's a boy, he'll get all that from me, well, not the make-up, but I'd help him play sports and not be a girly-guy. If you look on the bright side, then the dark side seems to have a little more light. Although I think one pregnant friend is enough at one time, I kinda envy you. I wish I was the father of a child, because of all the things I mentioned."

"Don't envy me. I'm being disowned, and the daddy tried to commit suicide," she said, right before Lizzie walked in.

LIZZIE'S POV

"I talked to your mom, and she said that she's coming over to take us to the hospital, so we need to get dressed. She said that if we wanted, we could shower and come up later, but she needs some clothes, so she's gonna get them and us if we're ready. She figured you'd want to go right now, and that Gordo and I could come up later. Under the circumstances, my mom said that she trusts me and Gordo not to do anything she wouldn't allow, so she doesn't care if we go or stay."

"I think I'll go with Mom. I'll have to get dressed first, though."

"Ok," I replied, looking at Gordo and trying to keep from crying myself after Miranda left the room. I'm the only one that knows what all is going on. I just told them the fewest details I could. She doesn't know his parents are dead, and that her dad is badly hurt. Oh good! Mrs. Sanchez is here!

"Miranda is getting dressed. She's going with you, and I am going to shower and get up there as soon as I can. She doesn't know the whole story, so you might want to fill her in. I couldn't bring myself to tell her. Gordo's gonna ride with me as soon as we both get showered and dressed. We should be there in about thirty minutes to an hour. We're gonna stop and get something for Miranda, and flowers for Danny and Mr. Sanchez. Please call when you find out anything."

"Well, I think you've covered it. Yes I will call, and I will be sure to tell her the whole story. Thanks for being there for my baby."

"That's what friends are for, Ms. Sanchez."

"I better get changed! I've wasted too much time already!"

"Ok."

"Lizzie, what is it that you didn't tell Miranda and me?"

"Well, you better sit down. Mr. Sanchez was rushed to the hospital with a sever head wound, and the Kessler's, with the exception of Danny, were killed on impact."

"Why didn't you tell Miranda that?"

"I thought her mom should. I couldn't bring myself to tell her, I would have cried too much."

"I see where you're coming from. I'm gonna go take a shower really quick," he said, but there was no passion in his voice, only worry. I completely understand. Doing anything is the last thing on my mind. Ok, maybe not the last, but I wouldn't do it under the circumstances.

"I'll see you when you get done. Scream down the stairs when you get done with your shower, so I can get mine over with."

"See you then," he said, and with that, he walked up the stairs into Miranda's bathroom. I bet he feels awkward, I mean, I've showered over here before, but not when Miranda wasn't home, and especially when it was just me and Gordo, since we've never been alone at Miranda's before."

NO ONE'S POV

(IN THE CAR)

"Mom, I can tell there's something you're not telling me. Why do you care so much about Danny being in the hospital?"

"Because it's not just Danny that's in the hospital. Your father's in there too."

"Lizzie didn't say anything about that."

"She didn't want to be the one to tell you, and I don't blame her. Both of Danny's parents were killed on impact, and your father has a severe head wound. From the way she talked, he's not supposed to live very long."

"So are you saying I need to make peace with him?"

"Yes, I am. I think you need to get his forgiveness before it's too late. He really doesn't hate you; he's just hurt, like I am."

"Big deal! I could care less how he feels. He said he hates me! He won't even talk to me. I bet he was drunk when he hit them, it wouldn't surprise me!"

"Don't talk about your father that way!" she said, as they pulled into the parking lot of the hospital.

"I'll try not to; he just hurt me that badly."

"That's all I can ask. Please don't fight with him."

"Fine. I'll really try as hard as I can. You can't ask much more than that."

"Good," she said, as we walked up to the front desk.

"May I help you," the receptionist said, smiling that fake smile they always do.

"Can you tell me what rooms Danny Kessler and Edward Sanchez are in?"

"Yes. Kessler, ICU 235, and Sanchez, ICU 236. They just came in about thirty minutes ago."

"Thank you," Miranda said, as she took off after her mother down the hall towards the elevators. As they got off on the second floor, nothing could prepare them for what they saw.

Edward was being carried out of a hospital room, and one of the nurses was pulling a white sheet over his head. The doctor came up to Isabella and asked, "Were you related to a Mr. Edward Sanchez?" "Yes," was all that she could get out. "I'm sorry," he said,

"We just lost him 2 minutes ago. We did all we could."

"Thank you, doctor," she said as she watched Miranda run into a room labeled '235-Kessler, Danny'

(IN THE ROOM)

"Danny? Can you hear me?"

"Miranda? Is that you?"

"Yes it's me. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, how are you?"

"As good as I can be under the circumstances."

"Miranda, I'm really sorry for being such a dumb ass. I just got scared when I found out that you were pregnant, and that was how I reacted. I couldn't see any reason in living, but I know now that you and the baby are why I'm still alive."

"Danny, it's okay. I sorta wanted to hurt myself when I found out I was pregnant, but I didn't try to kill myself. What did the doctors say?"

"They pumped my stomach and set me up for a psychologist's appointment in about thirty minutes to see how messed up I am. They told me about your dad. I'm so sorry," he said, sounding both hurt and angry.

"Yeah, Edward's dead. Big fucking deal! I am glad that bastard is dead. I know I won't miss all the shit he put me through, though..." she said, stopping as soon as a doctor entered.

"Mr. Kessler, it's time for your appointment with doctor Gerenhardt."

"Bye baby! I got to go to the loony doctor," he said, as the doctor put him in a wheelchair and wheeled him down the hall, while Miranda just watched him go.

(IN THE OFFICE)

"Hello, Danny. I am Gerenhardt. How are you today?"

"'Sup? And how am I supposed to be? I'm in the hospital and everyone's treating me like I'm crazy."

"Well, you did try to commit suicide."

"So! Hasn't everyone?"

"Less than you think. Can you tell me why you wanted to kill yourself?"

"Okay. I fell in love with this girl, Miranda," Danny said, as doctor Gerenhardt began to take notes on a clipboard.

"I think you might be more comfortable on the couch. Let me help you," he said, pulling Danny out of the wheelchair and helping him get on the couch.

"Ok. She and I started dating about six months ago. I really love her, and we started having sex, on almost every date. And then I found out that she was pregnant. I got yelled at about my parents for that and about my grades that have been slipping," he said, his voice beginning to break.

"That's okay. Take your time. I know this is tough."

"I was in my room, really mad and upset, and I couldn't find any reason for living. I mean, I totally screwed up her life, and mine was just going down the tubes. I couldn't see any way but down. I felt like my whole world was crashing down. I really loved her, but I denied us ever having sex. I know that it hurt her, but I couldn't face the fact that I was irresponsible, if only for a moment like that. I hated myself. The only option to me was taking my pills from when I was really sick. I took a whole bottle, about 100, in around 1 minute. After I did, I began to think about how much I was gonna miss my life and all the things I had going for me that I didn't see before I took the pills. I began to think what was gonna happen. I thought how the baby was gonna grow up without its real father. I couldn't stand that. I love Miranda, and I couldn't stand not being with her again. She's still my love. I'm not complete without her. I realized that suicide was a permanent fix to a temporary problem. I made the mistake of trying to die, even though it seemed to be the only option at that time. Thank God that he showed me that I didn't want to die. I know I'd be burning right now if I did kill myself," he said, breaking down into tears that he had been holding back since the beginning of his story.

MEANWHILE...

(MIRANDA'S HOUSE)

LIZZIE'S POV

"Gordo?" I called, seeing if he was out of the shower.

"Yes, Lizzie," he responded, telling me he was out of the shower.

"I think we should call first and make sure they still want us to come up there."

"Ok, whatever baby."

"I'll just call the front desk," I said where no one could hear me. Ok, it's ringing.

"Front desk, how may I help you?"

"Hello. Can you please connect me to Danny Kessler's room, please?"

"Sure. Just one moment."

"Hello?" Miranda asked, sounding surprised to hear the phone ring.

"Hey Rander! How is he?" I asked, trying not to sound worried.

"He's in the psychologist's office right now. The doctor said he'd be there for about an hour."

"How's Edward?"

"He's dead, and, quite frankly, I'm happy about it. He deserved to die."

"That's mean, but I sorta agree with you. How are Danny's parents?"

"The doctor won't tell me, and I didn't have time to find out from Danny, so I don't have any idea."

"We'll be up there in about 10 minutes."

"No, you don't have to come now. Ya'll just hang out at my house or something and watch a movie or something. It's like 4:30. You may just want to get some sleep. Under the circumstances, I can't see why anyone would say anything if ya'll just slept in the living room. Just don't fuck on the furniture or anything. I don't want to be afraid to touch it from now on."

"Don't worry. That's what the floor is for."

"Not their either."

"What about in the shower?"

"Lizzie...." she said, and you could tell she was tired.

"Sorry, I was just kidding. I'll see ya when you get home."

"Quite all right. See ya later."

"Bye."

"Bye," she said, and with that, she hung up the phone.

(TO GORDO)

"She said that we should just watch a movie and get some sleep, or to just do whatever."

"Then what are we gonna do? Do you wanna pick up where we left off?"

"No," I replied, rolling my eyes at him. He's such a typical guy. I know what he's thinking. "I was thinking we should curl up and watch a movie."

"We need to sleep anyway, so if anyone comes in and sees us snuggled up, they'll think we fell asleep during the movie. It sounds like a plan to me. Which one are we gonna see?"

"We already decided on 'Something's Gotta Give', so let's go with that."

"Ok," he said, leaning back on the couch. I walked over to him and sat right by him, leaning into his chest. He smelt of my hair, but I pretended not to notice.

"Apple," he said. That's the flavor of my shampoo.

"Huh?" I said, acting temporarily deaf.

"Nothing sweetheart. Just talking to myself."

"You better stop that," I said, deciding that someone needed to put in the DVD. As soon as the movie began, Gordo fell asleep. I went right back into my spot, and minutes later, fell asleep. I awoke hours later, turned around, and kissed a sleeping Gordo. Little did I know, my mom was right there in front of me watching my every move.

"Elizabeth Brooke McGuire! What are you doing still here?"

"Miranda said I could stay," I said, looking at the clock. It's 8:00 on Saturday now. At least I got a little sleep.

"Why are you sleeping with Gordo?" she asked, waking him up with her screaming at me.

"We were watching a movie but fell asleep."

"Go get in the car. NOW!"

"Fine. Bye Gordo! I'll call you later."