Ok, you can thank soccerfreeek324 for me updating tonight causeI want them to update their fic too:) I had to throw a little drama in right? I had to keep you guys coming back for more... Enjoy the chap and please review, review, review!

Chapter 15.

Vaughn's POV

"Jack just called… and… Sydney was in a car accident."

Those words made my stomach drop to the floor. I couldn't speak, and I could hardly hear as the pounding of my heart grew louder in my ears every second. I couldn't even see clearly as the tears sprung to my eyes and rolled down my face.

"Is she ok? Where is she? What hospital?" I jumped up from the couch and ran to grab my car keys before my mom could even say anything.

"Michael, she's at Seton Medical Center." My mom got up to rush after me as I searched frantically for my wallet.

"I need to see her, she needs me mom."

"I'll drive you. You can't drive in these conditions."

The car ride was silent the whole way to the hospital. I sunk low into my seat and put the hood of my sweatshirt over my head. The tears continued to fall as I used the sleeves of my sweatshirt to wipe my face.

My mom didn't even say if it was bad or not, but I could feel that something was wrong with Syd. As soon as my mom told me she got in an accident and I saw that look on her face, I felt that same feeling I had when she told me that my father wasn't coming home.

I didn't even let my mom park yet before I jumped out of the car. Running into the entrance, I must've scared the poor receptionist when I screamed for Sydney Bristow's room. She saw the urgency in my eyes and quietly said, "She's in room 412."

I took the elevator up to the 4th floor and did my best to compose myself. Wiping my eyes once again, I spotted Jack sitting in a chair halfway down the hall as soon as the elevator doors opened. I practically ran to him and when I got there, I broke down once again.

"How… how is she?" I choked out.

"Michael, her car was hit by a semi truck over on Grant Street. Luckily, the truck hit her passenger's side, but it still did a lot of damage. There was a lot of internal bleeding that the doctor's were able to stop, but she's lost a lot of blood." Jack put both his hands on my shoulders, holding me up before I collapsed. "There's also bruising around her back, near her spinal chord."

"Is she going to be ok?" Fear struck though me as the thought of Syd's life being taken stabbed me in the heart.

"They don't know, Michael. She's heavily medicated right now and won't be able to wake up until tomorrow. The doctor's said that she is a very healthy girl and if she makes it through tonight, she should be ok."

Sobs racked my body as I tried my best not to fall down. I felt my mother come up behind me and push me towards a chair to sit. When I looked up at her, she also had tears in her eyes. She took the pads of her thumbs and wiped the tears from my face.

"Michael look at me." I looked up to see Jack staring intently into my eyes.

"Sydney needs you right now. Be strong, Michael. Those tears aren't going to make my daughter any better."

Nodding, I pushed myself off the chair and took a deep breath. I walked across the hall and pushed open the door.

Sydney lay on her back with her eyes closed. Her skin looked unusually pale as oxygen was being pumped into her nose and an IV was stuck in her hand. The loud beeping of the heart monitor filled the room and the only light coming in was from the slight crack in the door.

Closing the door completely, I stood there for a couple of minutes taking in the sight of Sydney lying there helpless. She still looked so stunningly beautiful. Even with the two cuts over her left eyebrow and the bruise on her chin, she still looked like an angel.

Walking over to her bedside, I pulled up a chair on the right side of the bed and took her hand in mine. I brought her hand up to my mouth and kissed the spot above her knuckles. Opening her hand and placing it on my cheek, I could feel how cold her hand was.

I couldn't resist the urge to touch her face. Keeping her right hand in mine, I took my other hand and started brushing unruly strands of hair from her face.

"Syd, I don't know if you can hear me. Actually, that's a dumb thing to say cause you're sleeping so you can't hear me. But, I feel the need to talk to you anyways. Seeing you right now, lying there so helpless. You know I've always felt the need to protect you, right? Well, it's absolutely… absolutely killing me to know that I can't fight this with you. You don't know how badly I want you to open up those beautiful brown eyes of yours.

"Did I ever tell you about the day I started to have a crush on you? Well, we were in Mrs. Miller's science class in 7th grade. Do you remember that? Anyways, I remember having her first thing in the morning and on this one day, all the girls in your group of friends wanted to wear those cut off pants. What are those called? Capris? Anyways, all of your little friends came piling into the room wearing capris and then you came in wearing gray sweats and a t-shirt. The looks on their faces were priceless when they saw that you didn't choose to follow. And when they ridiculed you for not wanting to be like everyone else, you simply shrugged it off and went, 'Why would you want to be like everyone else when you can be your own person?'

"When you said, that's when I knew you were the greatest girl ever. You stood up to all of your friends and chose to be different. Individuality is something I've always admired and you Sydney Bristow definitely have that."

I let out a long sigh. Why I was confessing all these things to her, I didn't know. I guess somehow I was hoping she would wake up and start laughing at my story. But, I knew she wouldn't awaken until tomorrow.

"Oh Syd, when I walked into the house today and my mom told me you were in an accident, my heart almost stopped beating. Even though I didn't know any details or how bad it was, I could feel that you were in pain. I knew something was wrong immediately. Your dad was actually kind to me out there. I know that's hard to believe, but in a way, he calmed me down. I know you don't think he cares about you, but he does Syd. He's disapproving of you and I because he loves you and wants the best for you. When you wake up, you're going to realize how much you need him and he will realize the same.

"I swear, when you get out of here, I'm never going to let you out of my arms. I'll do whatever you want me to do. I'll drive you anywhere you want to go, take three-hour trips to the mall, let you use my credit card, maybe I'll even go to the store and pick up tampons for you without complaining. Just be ok Syd. Don't leave me here by myself."

Leaning forward in the chair, I bent down to lay my head on top of our conjoined hands. I kept staring up at her, just watching her sleep and praying that she would be ok. Losing my dad was the hardest thing I have ever had to go through in my life. Growing up without a father to look up to was so difficult at times.

I don't know how long I sat there with her, watching her, but it must've been awhile because my mom came in and brought me some food to eat. She brought a turkey sandwich, chips, and water up from the cafeteria. It wasn't the most appetizing meal in the world and considering the fact that I was in no mood to eat, I only took a few bites.

Jack came in a few times to check up on her as well as a few nurses. The nurses would come in every hour and check on her blood pressure and heart monitor. Jack never stayed in the room for more than 20 minutes. Part of me thought he was uncomfortable being in the same room as me, but the other part of me thought that it hurt Jack too much to see Syd in a hospital bed.

He had to go through losing his wife and Syd's mom in a car accident. It must have been really tough for him to get that phone call from the hospital saying that Sydney was in a car accident. What I said to Syd about her dad was true. You could see so much sadness in his eyes when he was telling me what happened to her. And while Jack Bristow is not a man to show emotion, his eyes are what gave him away.

Every time he would walk into the room he would first come over and kiss Sydney's forehead, then ask me if I was ok or needed anything. It was definitely a different side of Jack that I have never experienced. He was actually comforting and kind towards me. He always was kind towards me before he found out I was dating his daughter. The little encounter I had with him when we got home left me thinking he hated me.

Never letting go of Syd's hand, I managed to distract myself by watching TV. A couple episodes of Family Guy and the Simpsons were playing and managed to get out a chuckle from me. It must've been around 10 or 11pm when my mom came back in the room.

"Michael, maybe you want to go home and get some rest. You could take a shower and I'll make you something to eat." She said while coming over to me brushing hair from the top of my forehead.

"No mom. I want to stay with Sydney in case she wakes up."

My mom didn't argue with me at all. She knew I wasn't going to budge so she didn't push me. Instead, she said she was going home to pick me up some clothes and something to eat from Taco Bell. She knew that was the only thing I wouldn't refuse to eat.

Getting up quickly from the chair, I pulled my mom into a tight hug. I was so grateful for having her around and being so considerate. I was convinced that she was the best mom anyone could ever have.

While my mom was gone, Syd's doctor came in to check up on her. He was a tall, middle-aged man, with hardly any hair, and a well-groomed beard.

"Hi, how you doing? My name is Dr. Burke. And you are?" He came over to where I was sitting and gave me a firm handshake.

"Michael Vaughn. I'm Sydney's boyfriend."

"Well, it's nice to meet you Mr. Vaughn. I believe her father just went down to the cafeteria to grab something to eat. I'm just going to take a look at her vitals to see how she's doing."

Dr. Burke first took her blood pressure, and then checked her heart beat with his stethoscope. After writing down a few things on his clipboard, he made sure the pillows behind her supported her back and checked the cuts on her head and arms.

"They sure stitched these up nicely. It is amazing she didn't have any broken bones. She is still heavily sedated and will most likely not wake up until tomorrow, tomorrow morning at the earliest. The good news is that her vitals are getting stronger every time a nurse comes in to check on her. That is an extremely good sign and leads me to believe that she will be just fine. As you can see, the color in her cheeks are starting to appear again."

Looking a little closer at Syd, I did notice that she didn't look as pale as when I first came in here.

"What about the bruising near her spinal chord? Do you know if that left any damage?" I asked.

"We don't know yet. From the looks of it, she shouldn't have any problem with having feeling in her legs. The bruising didn't look too serious when she was first brought in, but since she is sleeping right now, we can't tell. We were more concerned with the amount of blood lost she suffered. But in all seriousness, she is doing well right now." I let out a sigh of relief. Hearing that news gave me a bit of reassurance.

"Thank you Dr. Burke."

"No problem Mr. Vaughn. It is nice meeting you. I'm going to go talk to her father and tell him the news. The nurses are going to be in and out of here all night. I'll be back around 5am tomorrow morning."

I said a silent thank you to the sky as soon as Dr. Burke left. Knowing that Syd would be ok made me feel so much better. If I ever lost her, I wouldn't know what to do with my life.

My mom came back a little while later with my food from Taco Bell and my backpack, which I assumed, was packed with extra clothes and my toothbrush. I gave her a kiss on the cheek and another thank you. Telling her the good news from the doctor, a 'thank you god' escaped from her lips as she told me she would be back in the morning.

Finishing my midnight dinner, I walked into the bathroom and pulled on the sweats my mom brought me. When I looked in the mirror, the sight of myself was not pretty. My hair was all disheveled and dark circles were starting to appear under my eyes. My eyes were slightly red from crying and I was in bad need for a shave.

When I walked out, I was surprised to see that Jack was sitting in the chair that I previously occupied. He had a pillow and a couple of blankets sitting on his lap.

"You're not going to tell me I need to go home, are you?" I asked him.

"No. Besides, it is not like you would listen to me Michael." Letting out a short laugh, he continued to speak. "I just wanted to thank you for being here for Sydney. I know… I know I treated you unkindly when you two came home and I wanted to apologize for that. From watching you today, I know you love my daughter and will take care of her. All I want to do is see her happy and I know you give her that happiness. So once again, I am sorry for treating you the way I did."

Wait, I wasn't dreaming right? Jack Bristow was apologizing to me? I needed to sit down because I didn't think he was serious.

"I don't know what to say Jack. But, thank you." He gave me a slight nod and then handed me the pillow and blankets.

"I got these from the nurses station. I know you don't have a bed, but hopefully you can get some rest." And with that, he exited the room.

Syd's POV

As soon as I opened my eyes I was immediately confused. I couldn't register where I was and my body ached to the point where I couldn't even lift my head. An oxygen tube was blowing cool air into my nose as I noticed a needle poked in my hand.

When I tried to groan, my throat was so dry that no sound came out of my mouth. Still groggy, I tried to remember what the hell happened to me. After a few minutes, it all started coming back to me. I remember being so angry with my dad that I went for a drive. I was driving so fast and losing control, but I didn't care.

My eyes still felt tremendously heavy as the loud beeping of the heart monitor brought me fully out of the haze. My shoulders and lower back is what hurt the most. While it was a dull ache in my shoulders, a sharp pain was hitting me right in the middle of my back.

While trying to regain all the feeling in my body, I suddenly felt my right hand encased in someone else's. Their skin was a little rough, but so warm and comforting. Turning my head to the right as much as I could, a sleeping Michael Vaughn was sitting in the chair next to my bed.

His head was slightly tilted to the left, which I knew would give him a terrible stiff neck in a couple of hours. A blue blanket was draped over his whole body, all the way up to his shoulders as a clean white pillow sat in his lap.

I tried to speak to him, but again, no sound escaped from my mouth. Doing the best I could, I squeezed his hand as hard as I could, hoping that would wake him up. After a few more hand squeezes and a couple of attempts to pick up his hand and shake his arm a little, his beautiful green eyes fluttered open.

It took him quite awhile to realize that I was awake and staring back at him, but when he did, he jumped up from the chair and started placing wet kisses all over my face.

"Syd! You're awake! Omg, Syd, when I found out you were in an accident I nearly died. If something would ever happen to you and I lost you, I don't know… I don't know how I would survive."

He pressed one final kiss on my forehead and stroked my cheek a few times.

"I'm going to get the doctor now, I'll be right back."

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