Crash and Burn
The roar of the engines soothed Seifer as he stood beside his bike in the pit lane at the speedway.
He stretched his arms up over his head as he turned to survey the crowd. His green gaze caught sight of a tall blonde woman in the front row and he smirked.
Quistis knew, without being able to see his face clearly, that Seifer was watching her and she smirked. She leaned over to the man sitting beside her and asked him a question. The man, pleased with getting some attention from the gorgeous woman, smiled and answered.
On the track Seifer's smirk had vanished and a dark scowl took its place.
After a few moments of idle chat she turned back to the track. Quistis smirked wider. She could feel his glare.
She watched him move towards the stands and her smirk turned into a grin.
"Why hello sweetie," she exclaimed in mock surprise as he arrived at the bottom of the wall.
Seifer just scowled up at her as she leaned over the wall. He was about to launch into an angry tirade when a brunette poked her head over the wall next to Quistis.
"Oh, Seifer, I want you to meet Rinoa, a friend from work who just moved here."
Rinoa extended her hand down to Seifer and he took it and kissed it gallantly.
Rinoa blushed and giggled at his antics and Quistis scowled down at her innocent looking boyfriend.
"Rinoa, this is my idiot boyfriend Seifer I've been telling you about."
"Hey, turnabout is fair play baby," Seifer protested from below them.
Quistis and Seifer smirked at each other and she sighed and blew him a kiss. He mimed catching it and she smiled.
"Say 'hey' to Squall and Zell for me and tell them that we are all going out after the race."
Seifer nodded and walked away.
Several minutes later the loud roaring of engines filled the arena. The race was about to begin.
Seifer was on his bike, sitting at the starting line with the other riders.
The green flag dropped and the racers all shot away from the line. Several were running neck and neck at the first turn but a rider that was on the inside of the turn managed to get ahead of the others when the course straightened back out.
The new pack leader handled the next couple turns with ease and then disaster struck. The rider, overconfident, didn't brake enough to take a sharp hairpin turn and his bike slid off the track and fell to its side. Its momentum kept it moving at a startling speed across the grass on the sides of the track.
The rider hunched his shoulders and waited for the impact he knew was coming. The bike collided hard with the wall, smashing the rider against the hard concrete wall.
Quistis was instantly on her feet, vaulting over the wall into the pit area and sprinting across the grass to the fallen bike and rider. Following close behind her came Squall, Zell, and Rinoa.
An EMS unit pulled up near them and the workers, carrying stretchers, firmly forced their way through the group surrounding Seifer, who lay unconscious on the ground, and Quistis, who had fallen to her knees next to him.
Two men lifted him to the stretcher and loaded it into the ambulance. Quistis quickly climbed in beside it and the two men closed up the truck.
Squall, Zell, and Rinoa watched in silence as the ambulance bearing their friends drove quickly off the track and towards the hospital.
Zell shook himself out of his trance and grabbed Squall's arm.
"C'mon man, we gotta go to the hospital. Quistis is gonna need us."
Squall nodded and the two turned to leave. Rinoa was standing behind them.
"Can I ride with you two? Quistis is my friend too."
Squall nodded and the group ran quickly to the parking lot.
Zell leapt into his silver Mustang and tore out of the lot.
Rinoa hesitated when Squall ran to his dark blue Trans-Am.
"I rode here with Quistis, can I get a ride with you?" she asked her neighbor quickly.
He nodded and she climbed into the passenger seat.
Squall quickly shifted gears and the car roared out of the parking lot. He made several quick turns down back roads and soon enough they found themselves outside the hospital.
They quickly parked and ran to the front desk. The nurse gave them directions to Seifer's room but couldn't tell them any other information. The two bolted for the elevator and rode it to the right floor. While they were in the elevator Squall's cell phone began to ring. He answered it.
"Yeah? ... Just take it to my garage ... Yeah, I'll come take a look at it later... Thanks."
Just then the doors opened and Squall shoved the phone back into his pocket as he and Rinoa walked quickly to the waiting room on that floor. They found Zell pacing the room anxiously.
"Have they told you anything?" Squall asked.
Zell just shook his head.
"He's still in with the doctors, Quistis is worried out of her mind. She's down there with him."
Squall grabbed Zell's shoulders and forced the shorter man into a chair. Squall sat down next to him and Rinoa sat beside Squall.
"Just calm down Zell, we don't know anything yet. They'll tell us soon I'm sure."
The spiky headed blonde nodded and stared distractedly at the door from the patient's rooms.
It was three hours before they heard any news on their friend's condition. A doctor came into the waiting room and Zell shot to his feet.
"Are you Seifer Almasy's friend's?"
Squall nodded and the doctor extended his hand to shake. Squall took it and the doctor nodded.
"I'm Doctor Lamb, I performed the surgery on Seifer."
"What's wrong with him? Is he okay?" Zell interrupted impatiently.
"He had broken several ribs and one of them punctured a lung. I had to go in and fix it. He should be fine in a few weeks."
"What about Quistis? How is she doing?" Rinoa asked.
The doctor frowned in thought.
"Is Quistis the young woman that refused to go away the whole time I was working?"
Squall gave a tiny smile.
"Yeah that's her."
"She's very worried but I think she is okay," Doctor Lamb replied.
"Can we see them now?" Zell asked.
The doctor nodded and Squall shook his hand before running down the hall after Zell and Rinoa.
When they ran into Seifer's room they found Quistis sitting in a chair next to the bed while a nurse was checking the sleeping Seifer's pulse.
The nurse left and the friends gathered around the bed. Rinoa stood behind Quistis' chair and Zell and Squall stood on the other side of the bed.
Quistis didn't acknowledge their presence but just sat there, staring at Seifer while holding his hand.
Rinoa slowly reached out and placed her hand on the worried woman's shoulders. Quistis slowly turned in her chair to look up at Rinoa, while still holding Seifer's hand. When Quistis' blue eyes met the caring brown eyes of her friend she finally allowed herself to cry. Rinoa quickly dropped to her knees next to Quistis' chair and pulled her friend into a hug. Quistis' free arm wound around Rinoa's neck and she began to sob.
Squall and Zell exchanged looks when Quistis began to cry. She was their oldest friend and was the strongest of them all. They had never actually seen her cry. To see her like this made them uncomfortable.
Rinoa looked over the bed at the two and nodded slightly towards the door. Squall nodded and pulled Zell from the room. Rinoa returned her full attention to comforting her friend.
"Shhh, it's okay. He's going to be fine. They said he would be better in a few weeks. Don't worry."
Quistis sat back and wiped her eyes with her hand. Rinoa handed her a tissue and smiled gently at her.
"I was so afraid I was going to lose him. I wouldn't be able to stand it if I lost him. Especially if I didn't…" Quistis sniffled as she stopped speaking.
"Didn't what?" Rinoa asked gently.
"If I didn't tell him…" the other girl responded quietly.
Unknown to Quistis, Seifer stirred in his bed. His green eyes opened and he looked down at his girlfriend and her friend. Rinoa saw him and opened her mouth to say something. Seifer shook his head a little, smirked, and winked at Rinoa. She closed her mouth and quickly shifted her attention back to Quistis.
"Tell him what?" Rinoa prompted quietly.
"I love him," Quistis whispered, almost inaudibly.
Seifer heard her however and gently tugged on her hand. Her blonde head whipped around to him and fresh tears ran down her face. He smiled at her and gently pulled her closer. When she was very close he leaned forward the tiniest bit and kissed her gently. His hand that wasn't clutched in hers went to her chin, holding her in the kiss.
After a few moments the gentle embrace ended and Quistis pulled back a bit.
"I love you Seifer," she whispered again.
His green eyes never wavered from her blues as he whispered back.
"I love you Quistis."
She started crying again and he pulled her head down to rest gently on his chest. His arms went around her tenderly, holding her.
Seifer's eyes met Rinoa's where she was standing at the end of the bed, viewing the scene with tears in her own eyes. He nodded to her and she smiled as she left two alone.
Out in the waiting room Squall and Zell immediately questioned her about Seifer.
"He woke up and I thought it would be better for him and Quistis to have some time alone before we all come in and interrupt them."
Squall nodded his approval of her reasoning and Zell grinned.
"I bet they're in there making out," he said with a laugh.
Squall rolled his eyes and Rinoa giggled.
Just then Zell's stomach growled loudly. Rinoa laughed harder and Squall cracked a smile.
Zell just looked sheepish and scratched the back of his head.
"I guess I was so worried about Seifer I forgot to eat."
"There's a food court downstairs," Rinoa offered helpfully.
"Yeah, cool, let's go," Zell said as he got to his feet.
"Should we tell Seifer and Quistis where we are going?" Squall asked.
Rinoa shook her head, blushing.
"Ha-ha, they ARE making out aren't they?" Zell laughed.
Squall smiled good-naturedly but slugged Zell in the arm.
"Leave them alone."
Zell just laughed as he rubbed his arm, heading for the elevator.
AN: Don't flame me for getting Seifer in a wreck. He will get better and it was for the good of Squall and Rinoa's relationship. Plus I'm the author and I wrote it that way so...