"Where's Elizabeth?"

Luke exchanged uneasy looks with the boys, none of them making the first move to break the news. Zander brushed his bangs from his eyes and licked his lips like he always did when he was nervous. When Emily looked imploringly at him, he hastily averted his gaze.

Sonny sniffed delicately, covering his mouth with his hand. Suddenly, he'd have given anything to be able to excuse himself from the room.

Next to him, Carly was having similar thoughts, but did not possess the tact and reserve her husband did. Tact and reserve, along with the ability to hold down solid food, where the first things to go for a pregnant woman. The blonde cleared her throat, looking anywhere but at Emily when the young woman fixed her sights on her at the sound. "This, um, this is probably a family moment, so it might be best if we, um…"

She didn't have to finish; Sonny and Courtney were out of their seats before she did. The trio edged awkwardly toward the door, shooting apologetic glances at anyone they managed to bump into on the way.

"I always thought that Corinthos is a cowardly lion," Luke confided to Reginald, sneering as he did so. "At least his heartless tin man of a wife is brave enough not to hide. Usually."

"And I suppose you're giving me one guess as to who the Scarecrow is," Reginald remarked dryly, his lips curving into a grimace as he watched Courtney through the pane of glass on the door.

"Damn straight, Pookie."

"I told you never to call me that again."

"You were the one who told me to call you that in the first place."

"I was drunk – let it die."

"Well, ok, if that's the story you're using."

"Why do I hang out with you?"

"Because I get you free booze."

"Oh. I knew there was a good reason."

"Sure – you were just too drunk to remember it."

"Hello?" Emily's voice was laced with impatience. "Does someone want to tell me where Elizabeth is?"

AJ glanced around the room, noting that most eyes seemed to be on him. Screw self-penance. "I'm not doing it," he blurted out defensively. "I'm the one that told everyone else."

Alan sighed, taking off his spectacles and rubbing them with a handkerchief. "Someone do it," he muttered under his breath, not wanting to scare his daughter any more than she already was.

"Don't look at me," Luke muttered, shoving his hands into his pockets. "Or him, for that matter," he added, tipping his chin at his son. "He gets all wiggy." Nearby, Ned put his hands up in the air, showing defeat. Jason remained motionless, staring at a point on the blanket but not seeing it.

"Not me," Skye mumbled. "I've been the bringer of bad news often enough."

"Mostly just by being present," Edward growled quietly, still smarting from Luke and Sonny's overtures to his wife.

"Put a sock in it, Edward," Lila commanded crossly. Alan and Monica stared at her in surprise. "And put those eyes back in your heads," the old woman directed, her brows furrowing. "And don't look at me to do it."

"Oh, for Christ's sake," Monica huffed. "Come on – there is no room for secrets in this hospital!"

Emily scoffed, crossing her arms over her chest. "Once you get past all the secrets, you're already out by the front door."

Monica widened her eyes at Alan, signaling to him that she expected him to step up to the plate and explain to their daughter why her best friend wasn't with them. He shook his head furiously and turned to glare at Ned.

Ned, in turn, snapped his fingers at Luke, who stared at him as if he'd sprouted three heads. Then the older blonde draped an arm around Reginald's shoulders, giving the young butler a firm shake to let him know he was It.

Reginald gave Nikolas, who was seated at the foot of the bed, a swift kick in the shins. The prince's growl of surprise was cut short as he shot daggers at the butler, then elbowed Lucky.

His brother gave him a Fuck you look and smacked Zander upside the head with a flat palm. The boy rubbed his head resentfully and looked up to quirk a brow at Lila. Emily was watching this exchange with a mixture of irritation and foreboding, and had to keep reminding herself that if she interrupted this round of Pin the Tail on the Scapegoat, she'd never get any answers.

Her eyebrows shot up in surprise when her sweet grandmother glared at her boyfriend and shook a fist at him. Turning on her husband, she gave him a quick tap on the shoulder. "Edward, dear, I believe the task at hand lands on your shoulders."

"But – but, Lila, dearest-"

"Edward." There it was – that no-nonsense tone. There was no arguing with Lila when she used that tone.

"All right," he growled. "But let the record show that neither the Blues Barfly over there or the Corrupt Cuban were man enough to do this."

"Duly noted," Lila chirped, clasping her hands in her lap.

"Finally," Emily sighed, leaning back against the pillow as she awaited her grandfather's explanation. What could have been so important that it would have prevented Elizabeth from being with her? Best friends were always there for each other, and Elizabeth had never failed her in her entire life.

Is she sick? Emily wondered. Does she have mono? Wait – you have to kiss someone to get that. Who would she have kissed? Her eyes darted to Lucky, but she doubted it was him. Is she out of town? Did something happen with her family? I swear, those people make us Quartermaines make us look like the Cleavers. AJ would probably be Beaver. Although I don't know if Jason qualifies as a Wally. Maybe she left the country, like when we went to Tijuana that year. Oh, my god – what if she's in jail? A smirk rose to the girl's lips. Go, Lizzie! Embrace your bad self!

The sound of Edward clearing his throat jarred Emily from her rambling thoughts. He reached a soft hand, just as weathered as her grandmother's, hesitantly to clasp hers. His hand was large, she realized. It swallowed hers completely. And there was a certain gentle grace about him, something that made it possible for him to comfort her just by holding her hand.

"Emily, dear," the old man began. "What I have to tell you is not going to be easy."

The girl swallowed, nodding bravely.

"And I'm going to need some help," Edward added solemnly, glancing around the room. Monica and AJ nodded gravely, and even Luke stepped closer. Edward watched them carefully before attempting to continue.

"Sweetheart, I was the one that called Elizabeth when your condition worsened." His hands, his strong hands, were beginning to tremble. Emily watched as he raised one slowly to his head and patted his hair before replacing the hand on the bed. It was an awkward motion – incongruous. He seemed all out of sorts, and the knots suddenly forming in her stomach told her that there was a reason, and it couldn't possibly be good.

"Your mother called Jason at about the same time. We were standing just out there, see? We both made the phone calls while your father ran down from the ER. You'd have been proud of me, my dear. I learned how to use speed dial on that blasted cellular contraption your mother insisted I get."

Emily smiled, but it was more for her grandfather than anything else. He needed her to smile at his jokes.

"Jason got here in under ten minutes," Edward added, glancing at his grandson. Jason dipped his head but remained unable to meet anyone's eyes. "Everyone else was already here, and we were waiting for her."

"We knew she'd be here," Reginald broke in, folding his hands at his navel. "We knew she wouldn't let you go through this alone." His voice was soft and raspy, so low that Emily had to strain to hear him.

"That's not the type of girl our Angel was," Luke spoke up. He shifted uncomfortably, looking away from the girl in the hospital bed. "Nothing ever kept her from her friends when they needed her."

"Damn straight," Nikolas added, struggling to keep his voice normal. "She always put all of us first. I can't even count all the times that she dropped whatever was important to her just because we needed her." His thoughts drifted back to his father's resurrection, when Elizabeth had agreed to forsake Lucky and pretend to be with him. The rouse had almost cost Elizabeth her life, but the young woman went into it with her eyes wide open. Words could never convey how much he owed her for saving his family as well as the Spencers.

"You sound like you're giving a eulogy," Emily whimpered, her eyes on the young prince. She didn't even bother trying to hide the tears as they crowded into her eyes.

Jason let out a breath slowly, his hand resting flat against the blanket.

Edward licked his lips, trying to gather his wits enough to continue. "AJ arrived not too long after."

Emily's gaze swept over her brother as he shuffled his feet and stuffed his hands into his pockets.

"He looked like he'd been to Hell and stayed there," Edward added. "At that time, your mother and father's pagers went off."

"Which was really strange," Monica interrupted, "because everyone knew we were not to be interrupted."

Emily's own hands began to tremble, and she folded them together, hoping to hide her nerves. Her grandfather might decide to stop if he saw how this was affecting her, and she owed it to her best friend to be brave.

"AJ told us that Elizabeth had just been brought into the emergency room." Alan's somber voice relieved his father of the painful burden.

Emily gasped, her long fingers covering her mouth. "Oh, my god. What-"

AJ sniffed, stepping closer to the bed. "Maybe I should take over." Knowing he'd meet with little disagreement, the brunette shifted past Skye and chose a spot next to his grandfather. With no room to sit on the bed and nothing to lean on, AJ placed a hand on Edward's shoulder for support. The older man reached up and grasped it, squeezing gently and urging the man to continue.

"I was here for a while," AJ began. "I saw Jason come in. That was when I left. I didn't go far," he added, noticing the questioning look in Emily's eyes. "I went home to get that Captain of my Dreams book." Emily nodded, shifting on the bed. Her eyes never wavered from her older brother's.

"I was driving and Skye called me up. She told me that just a minute or so ago, you showed signs of animation." He rushed ahead, not wanting to let himself dwell in the disappointment he had felt when he heard his sister stirred only to slip back into her comatose state. "You made a strange face, as if you were hurt."

Emily's eyebrows drew into a sharp V but the young woman knew better than to interrupt.

"We hung up and I turned the corner and…" he had to pause for a moment as the grotesque image flashed before his eyes. A new wave of hatred for Courtney, one that he had never felt before despite her lies and adultery, washed over him. To think that the woman didn't even have the good grace to show remorse or compassion as she should. Sure, she was upset, but anyone who knew would instantly see that it was more out of a fear for her own hide than Elizabeth's well being.

Emily's breathing hitched. Edward squeezed her hand hard while patting AJ's reassuringly. Lila bowed her head and her lips were moving slowly, softly, in reverent prayer.

Lucky got up from his perch on her bed and raked a hand roughly through his hair. Emily didn't even glance up as the young man quickly left the room, closing the door softly behind himself.

"There was an accident."

Emily closed her eyes. Lila's inaudible prayers turned into soft whispers. Nikolas could be heard daintily sniffing away his tears, trying to make as little noise as possible.

"It was Elizabeth's car – I recognized the plate." AJ's voice grew increasingly raspy and his throat began to ache as he fought to keep his tears at bay.

Luke stepped forward and gripped the metal railing at the foot of the bed. He stared off at a point on the wall behind Emily, his knuckles slowly turning a sickly yellow as he gripped the bar.

"It was pretty bent up," AJ admitted, massaging his neck. "It had been hit from the side – her side."

Jason squeezed his eyes shut.

"I ran up to it, and she was unconscious at the wheel."

A lump formed in his throat, but Jason swallowed past it. If there was a just God, she shouldn't have felt much pain.

"I called 911 and the ambulance came. I rode with her."

Edward patted his hand again. Ned cleared his throat quietly. "At least she wasn't alone, with strangers. You were there."

AJ dipped his head. "They rolled her into the ER when I ran back up. Mom and Dad had to leave to operate."

When he worked up enough courage to look at his sister, AJ's heart broke in two. Emily was trembling in the bed. Not before, when her hands shook ever so slightly from fear and anticipation. She was shaking. Forcibly. Noticeably. Her hands still covered her mouth, her eyes as wide as saucers and brimming with tears. He looked away, unable to witness his sister in so much pain.

"I-Is she going to be all right?" Emily sobbed, blinking her eyes to clear them. The tears that were pooled within spilled out and coursed slick paths down her suddenly pale cheeks. "Please, tell me she's going to be all right."

AJ shuffled his feet and looked away, and she didn't like how his eyes were shining and how his Adam's apple bobbed when he swallowed noisily.

Jason's hand fisted in the blanket, his knuckles growing as pale as Luke's.

Reginald had spun away from her and all she could see was his back. He braced both hands against the cream-colored wall of the room, pounding them softly. His head remained bowed.

Ned burrowed into his chair, tenting his fingers over his nose. His eyes were closed tightly shut. Next to him, Skye pulled her knees up and into her chest.

Edward released AJ's hand and patted him on the back, his own head bowed as Lila continued to pray, unable to quell even her own sobs as they interrupted the holy words.

Emily's eyes moved frantically from one family member to the next, seeking the answers their emotions prevented them from providing.

Lucky had long since left the room and Nikolas was wishing he had joined him. Next to him, Zander's shoulders slumped mightily.

Alan and Monica remained unmoving, their eyes trained on the sheets.

"Mom? D-Dad?" Emily's voice was soft and tremulous. "Please, I am begging you, tell me she'll be all right." She was almost unable to finish her sentence, and Monica paused to wipe her eyes on her husband's handkerchief.

"We were called to operate," Alan got out. "Along with John. You remember him, right, honey?" Emily didn't nod, just gazed at him with terrified eyes. Alan hated seeing her like this. "She's in the ICU now, Emily. She's resting, sweetheart."

His father's gentle words were too much for Jason, and the hardened enforcer buried his head into the blankets of his sister's bed, pulling his legs up slightly off the floor as he curled up. Monica's chest constricted and she gently stroked his hair, soothing one hand up and down his back. She thought back to what he had said – how he was the brain damaged one, and Elizabeth should never have had to deal with it, too, and it broke her heart even more.

"Come on, Dad," Emily choked out, watching her brother for a minute. He looked so broken and desolate. Her father was definitely trying to make light of things for her benefit. "Be straight with me."

Alan sighed and dropped his head. When he looked up at her again, Emily saw the lines of worry etched deeply into his face. He seemed to have aged ten years from the last time she saw him.

"We spoke with John not too long ago," he continued with much effort.

"Actually, it was last night," Monica broke in quietly, still stroking the hair at Jason's nape. Her son showed no intentions of moving, and that was fine with her. He didn't have to pretend to be strong for them.

A look of confusion crossed Alan's face as he pondered over his wife's words. Had that much time really passed? "Well," he began, having accepted what she said. "We spoke with him after they got her settled in the ICU."

Again with the kid gloves. "And?" Emily asked pointedly, new fears reducing her tears. She wanted everything out in the open – it wasn't her parents' call to shelter her from her best friend's ordeal. "Please – just tell me."

Alan nodded, trying to find his voice. "She suffered a blow to the frontal lobe, Emily. John says there's almost a certainty of brain damage."

Monica felt Jason tense up even more under her hand.

Luke dropped to his knees at the foot of the bed, folding his arms over the railing for support. Behind him, Reginald abandoned his fist-fight with the wall and fell to the floor, leaning his back against it.

"W-What?"

The word hung in the air and Alan struggled to say the words again.

"There's almost a certainty of brain damage."

It was all Emily could do to just stare at him, her eyes and her mouth wide open. A sob claimed her then, and her shoulders shook with its force.

Edward's vision blurred as he watched her draw her knees into her chest, wrapping her hands tightly around them as her shoulders continued to shake with sobs. They grew louder, more choking. Zander gently drew her hair behind her ears when it covered her face, fearing it might suffocate her. She continued to wheeze and choke, and he caught fragments of words.

"That can't- No – she's too young – she can't leave me."

Alan leaned forward and enveloped her against his chest, smoothing a hand up and down her back in an attempt to soothe her ravaged body. Above her head, he met Zander's green eyes. He sighed and reached out an arm, pulling the younger boy into his embrace. Next to Zander, Nikolas, too, wrapped an arm around his friend's shoulders, his own tears dropping onto the sleeve of Alan's omnipresent suit jacket.

Monica placed an arm over Alan's shoulder, squeezing tightly. He looked back for a minute, offering her a tight-lipped smile that she returned. Her hand never moved from her youngest son's head. She could feel him trembling as well and hesitatingly stroked his cheek in an attempt to get him to turn his face out of the blankets. A few more minutes and he'd start to choke just like Emily did.

AJ knelt on the floor next to his grandfather. Edward pulled the boy roughly to his side, and the minute his strong hands found AJ's shoulder, he knew his grandfather wasn't going to let him go. Ned grasped Skye's hand tightly, smiling at AJ when he turned around. When his cousin dropped his hand on Ned's knee, the older man squeezed it back, his eyes shining his respect for AJ's bravery.

Luke remained where he was, not moving. Edward shifted to glance at Reginald, who merely lifted a hand in acknowledgment.

And so they sat still, holding each other. Emily still wept, bitterly and angrily, pained beyond words at waking up to a world without her best friend.

Lila's soft whispers were louder now, and the Quartermaine matriarch's voice, usually so soft and tremulous, seemed to cut through the silence.

"Omnipotent and Eternal God, the everlasting Salvation of those who believe, hear us on behalf of Thy sick servant, Elizabeth, for whom we beg the aid of Thy pitying mercy, that, with her bodily health restored, she may give thanks to Thee in Thy church. Through Christ, our Lord. Amen."

"Amen," Edward spoke softly, his head bowed.

Lila spoke on, her eyes closed and head bent forward in reverence as she recited a prayer for the suffering. "For those who suffer, and those who cry this night, give them repose, Lord; a pause in their burdens. Let there be minutes where they experience peace, not of man but of angels. Love them, Lord, when others cannot. Hold them, Lord, when we fail with human arms. Hear their prayers and give them the ability to hear You back in whatever language they best understand."

There was not a dry eye in the room as one word echoed throughout. "Amen."