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"Ok, both Mr Tippin and Ms Calfo are out of surgery. Both have sustained internal injuries, however Ms Calfo's are considerably more severe."
"Are they going to be ok?" Eva asked.
"Only time will tell," the doctor replied. "They are both still under the affects of the anaesthetic at the moment. It's only when they wake up that we will be able to ascertain the full extent of their injuries."
And then he turned and left, leaving all of Will and Francie's family and friends each and every one of them trying to digest the news they'd just been given.
"I'm staying here, Vaughn." Sydney said bluntly. "I can't leave Will and Francie."
About an hour had passed since the doctor had given them Will and Francie's prognosis, and for the past ten minutes Vaughn had been trying to convince Sydney to go home for some rest. Needless to say, his attempts had been fruitless.
"Please Syd. The doctor said that they'd be out of it tonight. Let's go home, get a few hours sleep and them come back in the morning."
Sydney shook her head. "I'm not tired," she said, fighting back a yawn. Vaughn just looked at her, his eyebrows slightly raised. "Vaughn! Don't look at me like that! Even if we did go home, tired or not, I wouldn't sleep. I want to be here in case anything happens."
"Please Syd."
"Why are you being so stubborn?" Sydney demanded. If it weren't for the situation they were in, Vaughn would have laughed.
"Me? Stubborn? I am not the stubborn one here."
"You're both as stubborn as each other," Amy said, walking up to them. "And if this kid of yours inherits it from both of you, god help us all." She gave them a small smile. "So what are you being so pig headed about?"
"Vaughn thinks I need sleep." Sydney muttered. "But I want to stay here."
Amy glanced at Vaughn's face, etched with worry and concern, both for his wife and their friends and then turned to Sydney.
"I'm afraid that I have to side with Mike on this one." Amy said. "Go home. Get some rest."
"But—"
"No buts," Amy cut her off. "It's not just yourself that you have to look after. I'm staying here with mum, dad, Eva and Leon. I promise that if anything happens I will call you the second it does."
Sydney hesitated. The idea of leaving Francie and Will distressed her beyond comprehension, yet deep down she knew that both Vaughn and Amy were right.
"Ok," she relented. "I'll go home. But," she turned to Vaughn, "I'm not sleeping."
Vaughn held up his hands. "I am happy to negotiate."
"Now, you promise to call me?" Sydney pressed Amy.
"I promise." Amy gave her a quick hug. "See you soon."
Sydney had been right. Even though she was exhausted, she couldn't sleep. Her mind was working too fast to allow that to happen. Vaughn was experiencing the same thing. So instead of going to bed, the two of them stretched out on the couch, trying to derive as much comfort from each other as possible.
"Things were going so well," Sydney murmured at one point.
"Pardon?" Vaughn asked, taken aback by the sound of her voice. They hadn't really spoken since getting home. There had seemed to be nothing they could say to make the situation any better.
"I said things were going so well." Sydney repeated. "Think about the last twelve months. Us getting married and now the baby; Francie opening the restaurant; Craig moving back; Weiss, Ainsley and Las Vegas. We've been happy, our friends have been relatively happy…and now this? I can't help but think it has something to do with me."
"What on earth could make you think something like that?" Vaughn asked, flabbergasted.
"It just seems that bad things happen to the people I love. My mother, Emily and now Will and Francie."
"Syd, I have always respected you opinions, but I'm sorry, what you just said is totally ridiculous." Vaughn said bluntly. "What happened tonight was an accident. Yes, it was a terrible accident, but an accident all the same. You are not going to do yourself or Will or Francie any good by thinking those things."
Sydney shifted her position so she could look directly at Vaughn. "I only wish I could think of something else."
It was early morning when the phone rang. Sydney and Vaughn were still on the couch, having spent the night there. Upon hearing the phone, Sydney leapt up and dashed across to the kitchen bench.
"Hello?"
Vaughn sat up, rubbing his stiff neck, watching Sydney as a relieved expression crossed her face.
"Ok…yeah…we'll be there soon…Bye." She hung up the phone and turned to Vaughn. "That was Amy. Will woke up about fifteen minutes ago."
A smile broke out on Vaughn's face as he stood up. "That's great. Any news on Francie?"
Sydney's expression darkened slightly. "There's been no change. But," she added, trying to sound positive, "who's to say that she won't be awake by the time we get there?"
Vaughn just nodded as he walked across and wrapped Sydney in his arms. "Did you want to go down now?"
"I just want to have a shower first." Sydney replied, giving him a kiss and then heading towards the bathroom.
As Vaughn watched her walk away, it was only then that he realized that she was still wearing his tracksuit pants.
"Can you remember anything?" Amy was asking Will as Sydney and Vaughn entered the hospital room.
"Bits and pieces." Will replied. "The last thing I got before the accident is Francie saying that I would stop moping like a girl as soon as she and Craig got some hard liquor into me."
"Sounds like Francie." Sydney commented, and Will turned his head in their direction, a large grin erupting on his face.
"Hey!"
"Hey yourself." Sydney said, walking to the side of the bed. "You cannot possibly know how much of a relief it is to hear your voice."
"Let me hear you say that in a couple of hours time." Will joked.
Amy let out a small laugh. "He does have a good point," she said, standing up. "I have to go and get home to Troy and Dill. But I'll be back this afternoon."
Will nodded. "See you then."
After farewelling Amy, Sydney and Vaughn sat themselves down in the chairs by Will's bed.
"So how are you feeling? Physically?" Vaughn asked.
"Like I got beat up by a car," Will replied. "I am just aching, like everywhere. Still, I shouldn't complain. Things could be a whole lot worse." His expression suddenly turned serious. "You guys haven't heard anything new about Fran, have you?"
Sydney shook her head. "Only that she still hasn't woken up."
"Oh, ok." Will paused for a few seconds. "Have you seen Craig?"
"I saw him last night, but he was kind of out of it. Pain meds and all that." Vaughn replied. "Why?"
"It's just that he was down here about twenty minutes ago. He seemed really down. It was almost as if he felt guilty about having lesser injuries and the fact that he goes home today."
"Guilty?" Sydney queried. "But he's not at fault. He has nothing to feel guilty about." She shot Vaughn a look when saying this, clearing telling him not to bring up their conversation the night before.
"And that's what I told him. "Will said. "But I think he's really appreciate you dropping in to see him before he gets discharged.
"Already planning on it," Vaughn replied. "He's next on our list."
"Hey, what are you two doing here?" Craig asked as Sydney and Vaughn walked into the room. He was dressed, with his left arm in a cast and sling and was sitting on top of the bed.
"We're doing the rounds," Sydney replied, walking over and giving him a quick peck on the cheek. "How you doing?"
"I've felt better."
"So when do you get out of here?" Vaughn asked, standing at the foot of the bed.
"The doctor has to come and do some final examination or something. The nurse said that he'd be about fifteen minutes, which means that I'll probably be waiting here for hours." Craig paused. "Not that I'm anxious to get out of here."
"Huh?" Both Sydney and Vaughn said simultaneously.
"You don't want to leave?" Vaughn added.
"Not when my mother is insisting that she stay with me until I get back on my feet. The idea of living with my mother again…" Craig shuddered. "I know she's right, I could do with the help for the next couple of days, but she treats me as if I'm ten!"
Upon hearing Craig say this, Sydney looked at Vaughn, her eyebrows raised questioningly. After a second he nodded. This little interaction did not go unnoticed by Craig.
"So that's what Ainsley was talking about," he said.
"Excuse me?" Sydney asked.
"She told me that you two have creepy conversations with your eyes. I'd never seen it until now…hey, come to think of it, she and Weiss do the same thing."
"Well fine," Vaughn said. "If you're going to call us creepy, we won't ask you to come stay with us."
"What?"
"Come and stay at our place for a couple of days." Sydney said. "It'll save you and your mum getting into a series of domestics."
"Really?" Craig asked. "Are you sure?"
"We wouldn't offer if we didn't mean it." Vaughn said. "We've got plenty of room."
"Ok then." Craig nodded. "Thanks."
"Right." Sydney said. "Now we were going down to ICU to see Francie. We'll come by here when we're done."
"Alright- but don't rush or anything. I can't see the doctor getting here anytime soon."
"Ok." Sydney and Vaughn headed to the door.
"Oh Syd," Craig's voice stopped her and she turned around. "Even though Francie is still…you know, could you tell her that I said hi?"
Sydney nodded. "Of course."
As they approached Francie's room, Sydney could see a figure slumped down in the chair by the door. Upon getting closer, she saw that it was Eva, Francie's mother.
"Eva." Sydney hastened her steps until she reached her. "What's wrong?" she asked, sitting down.
Eva looked up, her eyes red. "The doctor was just here. He said…he said that the affects of the anaesthetic should have worn off by now, but Francie is still unresponsive. Because she hasn't woken…because she won't wake…she's unconscious…" Eva paused, struggling with her words and Sydney could feel her stomach start to churn. "He said that she is in a coma. That my baby is in a coma and that we should prepare ourselves for the possibility that she might never wake up."