Note: First off, I want to thank Superfan24 for the reviews. You are very sweet and had definitely made my day. So, the story. Not a lot of chapters left…three I think, including this one. No, three after this. I tried to elongate this chapter as much as I could but since most of the chapter takes place in the hospital, it's not that long. I swear I'll update this story as soon as I can but I just got a new puppy and she's taking up a lot of my time and also I need to read for school. The quote at the end seemed to go so well with this story. Anyway, Hope you enjoy this chapter.

Pacey pushed open the doors to the hospital and walked up to the desk with Joey close at his heals.

"Where's Gretchen Witter?" Pacey asked the secretary.

The secretary took a deep breath. "Sir," she said slowly. "This is a large hospital. Tell me why she is here and maybe I can help."

Pacey squeezed his temples with his hand. "She was in a car accident. Went through the window…"

"She just went into surgery about a half hour ago," Joey added.

Pacey looked at Joey and smirked. Joey nodded her head.

The secretary pushed her plump fingers across some papers and looked away from them.

"Then you want to go down that hallway and go into the surgery waiting room to the right."

"Thanks," Pacey said.

"Umm hmm," the secretary said with a roll of her eyes.

Pacey and Joey ignored her roll and rushed down the hallway. They entered the room that read surgery waiting. Doug, Mr. Witter, Mrs. Witter and the rest of the Witter gang looked at them as they entered.

Pacey walked over to Doug. "Is she still in surgery?" he asked.

Doug nodded. "Yeah, it's going to be a while."

Pacey took a deep breath and shifted his eyes to his father. He greeted him and then noticed his crying mother.

"Mom," Pacey said before sitting down and holding his mother in a hug.

Joey stood, not really knowing what to do with her self, before Doug walked up to her.

"Hey, Joey. It's nice to see you again," he said with a smirk.

Joey tucked some hair behind her ear. "Yeah, you too. I wish it was under better circumstances."

"Me too."

Joey nodded. "Any word on how the surgery is going?"

Doug shook his head. "No, no one has come in yet."

Mrs. Witter had stopped crying and dried her eyes when she noticed Joey. "Who's this?" she asked pointing to Joey.

Pacey followed his mother's finger to Joey before looking back at her. "That's my girlfriend, Mom," Pacey said without thinking.

Joey smiled and extended her hand to Mrs. Witter. "Hi, I'm Joey," she said.

Mrs. Witter shook her hand. "Nice to meet you. Oh my, I'm such a mess," she said wiping at her smudged makeup.

Joey took a seat next to Pacey and smiled at Mrs. Witter. "Gretchen will be fine, Mrs. Witter."

Mrs. Witter smiled back. "Thank you," she mouthed before letting some more tears fall and going to her husband.

Pacey took a deep breath ad sat back.

Joey took his hand in hers and gave it a little squeeze. "You okay?" she asked.

Pacey looked at her and smiled. "Yeah, I'm okay."

Joey looked around the room at all of the people. "You have a lot of family," she said.

"Five brothers and sisters," he said.

"It's nice to have them all here."

"Yeah, this is the only time that they find time to come over anymore."

"It's better than just a sister and her husband."

Pacey let go of Joey's hand and held it with the other. He moved his arm around her shoulders and brought her closer. He started to stroke her hair.

XXX

People had started to fall asleep in the waiting room. All of the kids cuddled up to their mothers, while they stroked their hair and tried to sleep at the same time. Mrs. Witter was sleeping on the arm of Doug, while Doug sat with his elbows on his knees still wide awake. Pacey leaned his head back against the hard wall with his eyes closed. Joey leaned on elbow and hand on the arm rest, even though her back had begun to hurt, just so Pacey would continue the circular motions he made up and down her back with his fingertips.

The door sprang open to the waiting room and a smiling male doctor came in.

"Witter Family?" He asked looking over the people.

Pacey, Doug, and Mr. and Mrs. Witter walked over to the doctor.

"How is she?" Mr. Witter asked with red eyes.

The doctor smiled to him. "Gretchen is doing fine. The surgery went well. We were able to reduce the swelling without hitting nerves or disrupting any part of her brain. All of her functions should be as good as they were before. She will be back to her self in a few weeks."

"When can we see her?" Pacey asked.

"She's in recovery right now so she won't be up for another hour. I'll allow the parents to see her when she wakes up but the rest will have to wait until morning."

"Thank you Doctor," Pacey said shaking his hand.

The doctor nodded and smiled before leaving. Doug looked over at Joey then back to Pacey.

"Pace, you should get home. It's almost one in the morning and you have Joey with you," Doug said.

"You sure, Doug?" Pacey said as Joey came to his side.

Doug smiled at Joey. "Yeah, go get some rest. It's been a long night."

Pacey hugged his family goodbye before leaving the hospital. As the doors swung open to the outside, a heavy wind blew causing Joey to bring her arms around her bare shoulders.

"Here," Pacey said taking off his suit jacket and putting it around Joey's shoulders.

"Thanks," she said softly as he was mere inches away.

Pacey looked between her luscious brown eyes and her lips. "I wouldn't want you to freeze," he said before moving away and walking towards the car.

Joey started walking to the car as well. "Sometimes I hate winter," she said under her breath.

XXX

Joey emerged from the bathroom in an old T-shirt and a pair of boxers, holding her dress and shoes in her hands.

"Feels good to get out of that dress?" Pacey asked from his standing position next to the table, in pajamas his self. He watched as Joey set down her things.

Joey smiled. "You have no idea." She tugged on her shirt. "Thanks for the clothes."

"No problem," Pacey said looking down to the floor.

Joey bit her lip and walked to him. "Are you okay, Pace?" she asked grabbing his hands.

Pacey smiled at their hands and rubbed hers with his thumbs. "Yeah," he said still looking down. "I'm just wondering how Gretchen is right now."

Joey gave his hands a small squeeze before moving in closer, leaving a six inch gap between them. "She'll be okay, Pacey. Don't worry about your sister. If I know anything about a Witter, it's that they never give up without a fight."

Pacey looked at her and didn't move away. "Jo…" he said trying hard to not close the gap between them.

"Yeah?" she said still looking into his beautiful blue eyes that were staring back at her.

Pacey quickly turned his head. "We should get to bed," he said not looking at her.

Joey turned a slightly pink. "You're right," she said letting him go and moving away. "I don't know what I was thinking."

"Joey," Pacey almost whined to her walking away form.

Joey kept on walking into the bedroom without saying a word.

XXX

A thin yellow ray of light streamed into the bedroom and onto Joey's face. Slowly, she opened her eyes to see where the light was coming from. The door to the bedroom was ajar and the light from the kitchen shined in. Joey lifted her body from the bed and opened the door. She moved into the kitchen and saw Pacey drinking from a glass at the table.

"Pacey?" Joey said, her voice still filled with sleep.

Pacey looked at Joey and smiled. "Nice hair," he said putting his glass in the sink.

Joey rolled her eyes and leaned her back against the counter. "This is what hair looks like at…" she glanced at the clock. "…Three in the morning. What are you doing up?"

"I just wanted something to drink. I was hoping it would help me fall asleep."

"Oh," she said shortly.

They stood there in awkward silence for a few seconds.

Pacey cleared his throat. "I just want to say thanks for coming with me tonight…or last night, which ever way you look at it. It really helped that you were there."

Joey smiled. "You don't have to thank me. You know I'll always be there for you, Pacey, no matter what."

Pacey looked up at Joey and smiled. "I know but you weren't just there for me. You were there for my Mom too and you just met her today. You're just…wonderful, Joey."

Joey tucked some hair behind her ears and looked down as her cheeks turned a slight pink. Pacey loved it when she blushed. He slowly walked over to her. Pacey put his hands next to each side of her on the counter before leaning in and kissing her. He pressed her up against the side of the counter. Joey didn't hold back and deepened the kiss. Once the kiss died down, they stood there touching foreheads.

"What was that for?" Joey said looking into his eyes in an almost whisper.

Pacey moved his head back so he could see her full face. "I didn't want you to think that I didn't want to kiss you before. I was just…I don't know what I was thinking," he said running his fingers along her hair line and behind her ear.

Joey licked her lips. "Got it," she said wrapping her arms around his waist and pulling him into a kiss. Pacey smiled on her lips and wrapped his arms around her back, pulling her in even closer.

"A kiss makes the heart young again and wipes out the years." - Rupert Brooke