Authors Note: Thanks to Sarah8 who posted my first ever review! And thanks for being so sweet! For CH2 this is going to be a little bit of a jump-around of what happens after Jerrica's accident, as far as each set of characters...it might be a little confusing to follow, but I hope the sequence conveys the story I am trying to tell...ENJOY!

Rio never drove this fast. Ever. He was always the sensible one, chastising the girls when they traded stories of being pulled over for speeding. However, today he was willing to make and exception. Aja's words were still swirling around in his head; he couldn't shake her cold dose of reality, and he supposed that was for the better. She was right, every word she said was true. He WAS two timing Jerrica with Jem, and he had the nerve to accuse her of being a liar. The worst part was that if what Aja said about her being Jem WAS TRUE, he was lying right to her face, and she knew! 'I still can't believe it, but it would sure explain a hell of a lot' he thought, noting that he had overlooked the similarities between Jem and Jerrica due to the guilt he felt. As he sped down the street, he knew at that moment that they were one and the same, everything he loved about Jerrica was what attracted him to Jem, and he was slightly relieved to find out he wasn't REALLY cheating on his girlfriend, but only slightly. He reached the first traffic light three blocks before the park, realizing that was where Jerrica was probably headed. They had their first kiss at that park, on the tire swing, and he knew her father took her and Kimber there when they were little girls.

Wracked with guilt, he drove up another block and was passed by The Misfits van, and he honked at them and yelled "Slow down!" only to receive two middle fingers and a meek wave, Stormer not being brave enough to flip anyone off.

"Stormer! What the hell are you waving to that LOSER for?" Pizazz snapped, passing another car and pissing off another driver.

"Why should I flip him off, he didn't do anything to us" she asked, naive as usual.

"WHY? How 'bout he's a loser roadie for JEM and the SKANKOGRAMS? HELLLLOOO!" as Pizazz was berating Stormer, she turned around to face her and didn't see the distraught young woman step out in front of the van just as they blew through the intersection.

Rio watched it all in horror. As the van approached the intersection, Jerrica stepped right out in front of it, totally unaware. Even though Pizazz tried to swerve and avoid her, it didn't work; the other drivers honked and yelled of the danger, to no avail. As soon as he saw what he hoped and prayed wouldn't happen, he wrenched the gearshift into park, grabbed his keys and jumped out of the van, racing to the intersection. Hoping to stop the inevitable and knowing he couldn't.

Pizzaz's van veered right into a lamp post after it hit Jerrica and she jumped out to run to the young woman's aid. She was the first to admit she HATED the Holograms, but she didn't want to kill any of them, at least not this way. Rio was already kneeling next to Jerrica, checking her pulse and screaming for someone to call 911. Stormer had run across the street to get some help, and Roxy was busy flagging down a police officer.

"Jerrica! Jerrica! Can you hear me!" Rio's chest was heaving, and sheer panic had overtaken his whole body.

She lay there, limp and lifeless, with a thready pulse and broken ribs. He couldn't believe this was happening, he would give anything to turn back time for one second. 'I should have saved her! If I had just listened, NONE OF THIS WOULD HAVE HAPPENED!' he was screaming inside, tormented by the fresh memory of Jerrica getting plowed over by the van. It seemed like hours before the ambulance arrived, and it was all a blur while he was fighting to keep his emotions in check, for Jerrica's sake as well as his own. In a whirlwind of police and EMT activity, he managed to get in the ambulance with Jerrica and toss his keys to Stormer, who offered to drive the van back to Starlight Mansion and tell Kimber and the other girls what had transpired. Rio held Jerrica's hand and talked to her the entire way to the hospital, but for the first time in his life, he wasn't sure if she was listening.

Stormer watched the scene unfold with a heaving stomach and a heavy heart. She had no personal problem with Jerrica, and was in fact good friends with her little sister, Kimber. She closed her eyes and said a silent prayer for the young woman lying on the ground, and for Rio, who looked like he was about to die right there in the crosswalk. He was helping the EMT's move Jerrica, something about a possible neck injury and they had to strap her to a board. It was bad. Rio was fighting with the EMT to let him into the ambulance, and after she had gone across the street to get some help, she ran up to him and told him to toss her his keys, so she could drive the van back to Starlight Mansion and tell Kimber to meet him at the hospital. It was the least she could do, and besides, she didn't want to be around while the police were giving Pizazz and Roxy the third degree. He looked at her gratefully from the ambulance floor next to Jerrica's lifeless body, and tossed her his keys, telling her to bring the girls to Bethesda Hospital. She nodded and ran back to the van, jumped in and swung and illegal u-turn back towards Starlight Mansion.

When she arrived, she pulled the van up and quickly parked and got out, leaving it running in case the girls wanted to leave right away. No sooner had she done this than Aja came out, ready to kick Rio's ass for coming back without Jerr.

"Rio Pacheco get your sorry ass-"

"Aja, get Kimber and Shana and get in the van! I'm here to take you to Bethesda, Jerrica was in an accident!"

It all rushed out of Stormer's mouth and Aja stopped dead in her tracks. Aja was about to smack Stormer back to Misfits Music when she saw the tears running down the other girl's face.

"Stormer! What happened, why do you have Rio's van?"

Kimber had come out of the house, and when she saw Stormer's tears, instantly knew something was wrong.

"It's Jerrica, Stormer says there was an accident and we have to go to Bethesda!" Aja choked out, before she began to cry tears of her own.

Shana, upon hearing this exchange ran out the front door of Starlight Mansion and was pulled by Stormer toward the van. They slammed the doors and peeled out of the drive, Shana driving and Stormer telling the Holograms how the horrific event came to unfold.

They rushed into the ER, and ran up to the check-in desk, scaring the hell out of the nurse on duty.

"My sister Jerrica Benton was brought here, she was in an accident of some kind?" Kimber said, tearfully trying to hold back.

"Jerrica Benton, Jerrica Benton, let me check with the doctor's on duty" the nurse calmly deflected, instantly pissing Kimber off.

"I want to know what happened to my SISTER! SOMEONE BETTER TELL ME RIGHT NOW!" Kimber screamed, pounding her fist on the desk for emphasis.

At that moment, Rio walked out from behind one of the curtains, his shirt covered in blood from the seemingly spontaneous nosebleed Jerrica suffered in the ambulance due to her extensive lung and chest injuries. He spotted the Holograms, along with Stormer and walked over to them, still in a dazed shock.

"Kimber, Jerrica is in the OR right now, they're repairing a tear-through in her right lung" he said dejectedly, almost breaking down.

"RIO! You son of a bitch!" Kimber immediately lunged for Rio, but was caught by Stormer and Shana. They were barely holding her back, and she was fighting them all the way.

"I swear on my mother's grave IF SHE DIES I WILL KILL YOU!" Kimber at once broke free from Stormer and Shana, and sucker punched Rio.

"KIMBER!" Shana yelled, exerting herself for the first time since receiving the news, "we are ALL upset about this, but kicking Rio's ass, although well deserved, isn't going to change anything!"

Luckily, at that moment, the OR doctor came through the curtain and said calmly "Ms. Benton?"

"I'm Ms. Benton" Kimber said, shooting Rio the dirtiest look she could muster.

"Jerrica is in the ICU, we repaired the severe pneumo-thorax in her right lung, but she lost a lot of blood from her nose bleed and the operation, and we are still waiting on the results of the CAT scans and MRI's, which will most likely just confirm her extensive broken ribs. We are not sure of the severity of the internal injuries your sister received, but we will have more a more complete diagnosis for you when we are done reviewing the tests. For now, no matter what the results, it is a touch and go situation. I will keep you updated on Jerrica's condition, and you may go see her for a few minutes if you like. I am sorry I cannot tell you more at the moment, but rest assured we are doing everything that we can."

He smiled a wan smile, and Kimber nodded solemnly, a mumbled 'thanks' all she could summon at the moment.

After a few minutes of silence, Kimber got up and whispered "I am going up to see Jerrica, I'll be back in a few," and with that she was gone, but not without a cutting look in Rio's direction.

Rio sat across from Shana and Aja, his head in his hand, still covered in Jerrica's blood. He scrubbed his face with his hands, wishing all of this was a nightmare, knowing the cruelty of the situation was all too real. He had been there in the ER, watching the doctors race against time to save Jerrica's life. She was in a coma now, and no one knew if she would regain consciousness. He only blamed himself, and if Kimber wanted to kill him, hell, he would let her.

"Rio, how bad is it, really?" Shana asked tentatively, wanting the truth because she didn't want to be deluded into thinking everything would be fine if it wasn't going to be.

"She had quite a few broken ribs, all on the one side, and one of them ripped through her right lung pretty badly. She suffered some kind of nose bleed in the ambulance from a closed head injury, and they aren't sure if there is any brain damage. There's no initial spinal injury, which means she can probably still walk, but that's if she ever wakes up" he said, those last three words barely escaping his lips before he choked, tears threatening to fall down his face at record speed.

"Rio, about Kimber-" Aja began, but he stopped her.

"What about Kimber?" He said sardonically "she has every right to want to kick my ass. This is my fault remember?"

He got up and walked off to the men's room, shaking from the sobs the girls knew he was desperately trying to hide from them.