Chapter 13. I don't know how long it has been since I last updated, and I don't really care to because well…I'm not going to like the answer. Anyway, I finally got a chance to work on this chapter, and I rather like the way it turned out. I hope you like it.
Disclaimer: Technically I do own both Daniel and Katharine.
Spoilers: None

Accidents, and particularly street and highway accidents, do not happen - they are caused.
Ernest Greenwood

Daniel blinked slowly at the ceiling. He could not tell where he was, and found that he had no clue how he had gotten there. Slowly he rolled over in bed trying to figure out where he was. To his surprise he found a woman sitting in a chair next to him with her feet up on his bed. He could not see her face because it was obscured by a book, but he had a feeling he knew who it was. A few moments later, his suspicions were confirmed when the woman lowered her book and spoke.

"About time," Katharine told him with a small smile, "doctors expected you to be up hours ago."

"How long have I been out?" he asked her a little worriedly.

"I'm not sure," she replied with a shrug, "about twelve hours. At least that is what the doctors told me."

"You don't know?" he questioned becoming more worried by the second.

"Not specifically," she explained, "I mean I drifted in and out of consciousness for a little while there at the beginning."

"What happened?" he asked her.

"There was a car crash," she said with a shrug as if she was trying to brush off the incident.

Daniel closed his eyes for a second, and he saw a pair of blinding lights shining on his eye lids. He watched as his memory replayed the image of a car speeding towards him. Then abruptly the image vanished, and he knew that was when the collision had occurred.

"I think I remember," he replied slowly, "what happened after that."

"I'm not entirely sure," Katharine admitted, "the crash knocked you out and sort of dazed me." As she spoke, she slid the marker into her book and placed it on top of the cabinet next to Daniel's bed. It was only then that he realized she had a brace on her right wrist.

"Did that happen in the crash?" he asked her pointing to her wrist.

"Yea," she told him with another shrug, "but it will be fine in a couple of weeks, and until then I can shoot left handed."

"Katharine," he told her, "I'm sorry."

"You didn't do anything wrong," she replied serenely.

"I was driving," he reminded her, "I should have been paying more attention. If I had been I would have been able to-"

"Daniel," she told him no longer smiling, "listen to me very carefully. The same thing would have happened to anyone else who could have been driving. In fact, if anyone else had been driving, it probably would have been worse. You managed to turn the car so it wasn't the direct hit it probably should have been. Doing that was the difference between a few minor injuries and ICU."

Daniel smiled slightly at Katharine's insistence on the issue, and after a few seconds of silence, he spoke again. "What did the doctors tell you?" he asked unsure of how to phrase his question without using terms a more severe medical situation than he hoped either one of them were in.

"I had a very slight conclusion and was dazed, but never officially lost conciseness," she explained, "and I have a fractured," she emphasized the word fractured, "wrist. You have a mild concussion and were out for a couple of hours. Well actually you were out for about twelve hours, but only two or three of those were because of the crash. The others were because you fell asleep. Either way neither one of us will have any more brain damage now than we did before."

"Funny," Daniel told her with nod of his head.

"Thank you," she replied with a grin.

"No problem," he told her. There was another pause. "What do we know about the loon who was driving the other car?"

"Well," she told him, "we know very little about the," she paused for a moment to consider her phrasing, "to use your word, loon, who was driving the other car. A passing motorist saw the crash, and said that the car that hit us just drove by. The witness, who, by the way, we owe a thank you because he was the one who reported the accident to 911, said that the other car looked like it had some damage. The cops checked the area, but didn't find it."

"So basically," Daniel concluded drawing on his fairly limited knowledge about the way cops processed hit and runs, "Unless something turns up relatively soon this becomes a cold case and we might never know what happened."

"I'm sure the cops are doing the best they can," Katharine assured him.

"I know," Daniel replied, "It's just a little frustrating."

"True," she agreed, "but hit and runs aren't really the top of the list of important crimes."

"You forget," he told her with a sort of smile, "This is Carmel not New York or DC. We have less people and less of a crime rate. Hit and runs are a bit of variation for a department that mostly deals with break-ins and car thefts and bad checks."

"Right," Katharine replied with a nod of her head, "I forgot that, but still I'm guessing that, even in Carmel, a crime with no leads becomes cold very quickly. Well okay not no leads," she corrected herself, "they confiscated our rental car for the investigation; so we are going to have to rent a new one."

"And pay for the old one because I didn't buy the ten dollar insurance," Daniel remarked a little bitterly.

"Well no," Katharine said with a shrug, "I ignored you and bought it anyway because I'm paranoid."

"Brilliant," Daniel replied grinning at her, "Dr. Saroyan will be pleased that the Jeffersonian doesn't have to pay for that one."

At the mention of Camille's name, Katharine suddenly froze, and her eyes widened as if she was realizing something for the first time. "I forgot to call Camille," Katharine told him still shocked at the realization, "We were supposed to check in when we got to the hotel in Ordway, which was supposed to be," she glanced down and her watched and grimaced, "over thirteen hours ago."

"You might want to call her," Daniel pointed out, and Katharine glared at him, but she pulled out her cell phone anyway.

"Damn it," she muttered looking down at the screen, "I have seven missed calls."

"All for our fearless leader?" Daniel asked with a small smile.

"Yep," she replied with a nod, "You probably have some too."

"Well," Daniel said trying to act innocent, "I think this conversation has exhausted me. So why don't you call her while I take a nap."

"You're fine," she grumbled even as she punched Cam's speed dial on her phone. Daniel just smirked at her.

So what did you think? I think we will get to see Camille and Katharine talking next chapter. That should be fun to write. I'm not entirely sure when I'll get to, but whatever. I hoped you liked this one.
Oh and in case it wasn't clear: the name of the town to which they are going and in which the victim/her family live/lived is named Ordway.
Anyway, Please reviews.