Hey! Nicole (Nixy) again...hope you like this chapter! I didn't write the last chapter because of report cards and I had NO time. Lol...I'm sure anyone here can relate to how much time school takes...yeah.

So anyway, hope you like this chapter!

And please leave reviews...last chapter was very scarce. Does Puppy Dog Pout Review and I'll give you a cookie! Lol...thanks for reading!

The words caught in my throat, jerking me back to reality.

"If he does wake up…"

What did they mean if he does wake up? Of course he would wake up. There was no doubt of that in my mind.

Right?

Of course, the word death had occurred in my thoughts. Even the possibility of that being the result of his accident. But the actual meaning and existence had not fully taken course in my comprehension. The doctor had spoken those words uncertainly, as if he was not sure. He should be sure, right?

"He'll never see again"

And when he did wake (I had to assure myself this in order to prevent complete and total break down) he would never see? Did he mean that as in…blindness?

That word brought the image of elderly grandparents wearing dark glasses and walking with a cane, or a special dog. Not Griffin. There was no way. No way at all.

I heard a small gasp from beside me, and turned to see Carly gaping at the doctor, wearing a stupefied expression. Something uncommon from the girl I had always admired for her strength and pride. She shook her head in obvious denial, and sunk deeper into the plush corner chair, hiccupping loudly.

The doctor turned once again, and I watched to make sure he had disappeared before turning to Carly, eyes pleading for more explanation. She shook her head and buried her face into her arms.

I remained there for a few moments, allowing her to regain an audible voice. It took a few moments to think of an easy conversation starter that would not put her in tears again, but would give me a clearer idea of what happened.

"Does Ben know?" I finally said gently, when the hiccups had slowed.

"No" She said shortly. But at least she didn't start crying again. Instead, she continued heaving labored breaths, preparing herself I guess.

"Why was he driving?" I just couldn't help myself. The question was one obvious that she had refused an explanation of.

"I don't know" she sniffed. "I don't-"

"Okay" I returned to silence, realizing that I wasn't going to get an answer from her.

XxXxXx

Mom, Carly, her family, and I spent that night in the hospital.

Actually, I wasn't very pleased with the idea of staying for Zack…he was obviously ok. But Mom was hysterical, and insisted on staying as close to "her baby" as possible. And that meant the hospital.

Actually…the only reason I seriously tolerated this little sleep over was because I wanted to stay with Carly and make sure Griffin was going to be ok.

And in this little time…I had been doing some serious thinking. Though I hadn't retained much information from Zack, I had gotten enough. And to me, it seemed to all be more his fault then anyone. Or at least he was the only one that I could blame.

1. He had allowed drunk drivers on the street. And ridden with them. If he had not been with them…they probably would have left at a different time or something like that. And then they wouldn't have hit Griffin. And who cared if Griffin didn't have a license? He was not the one that had hit them. He probably would have been driving whether he had one or not, and the same thing would have happened

2.They were his friends. We had all warned Zack about them. Mom had given up on disallowing him from the parties, since he would find away to go to them anyway. Nothing confused me more then the fact that Zack had not been drunk as well. Seriously…it was not his style.

3. He could have called. Not just Mom, but any of the many friends he acquired some way or another. Exactly why people wanted to befriend him was a mystery to me, but that is beyond the point.

It all made perfect sense to me, and I rehearsed speeches in my head for confrontation to me brother. I had "visited" him once or twice since we arrived at the hospital, at Mom's insistence. And then we had only made small talk such as "You tired?" or "That must hurt". I was not about to confront him in front of Mom. This was something that I had to do when I was with him…alone. I made up my mind, and returned to scanning the pages of National Geographic without much thought

Carly had fallen asleep, wore out from nonstop crying. And she still had not seen her brother. This was all beginning to frustrate me. The mixture of anger towards my brother, and fear for my friend's life gnawing at me I could feel a sort of tiredness threatening to overtake me. In denying it quickly, I was only greeted by even more of a wish to lie down and shut me eyes. Just for a moment…

"Carly North?" Came the doctor's booming voice. I jerked upwards at the sound of his voice, startled from a quite a peaceful sleep, which was strange for my situation.

"Your brother has awakened, but is still in critical condition. We have moved him to the ICU area. I don't feel need to go into further explanation…" he was obviously forcing politeness and trying to hide frustration at having been sent out several times. Carly looked at first me, and then the doctor, without replying. "If you will follow me to the ICU waiting room? Your parents wish that you see him."

"I don't know, I don't know, I don't know," she whispered softly.

"Can I go with her?" I said, trying to sound braver then I felt. Seriously, I didn't really want to see him either. Of course I cared, but I felt a slight fear of what I may see. I was too sensitive for this…

Aw screw it

"Could you do that?" she asked me softly.

"I'm not sure…you aren't family are you?" the doctor wrinkled his nose towards me.

"Well no but…"

"He's his best friend." Carly finished for me.

The words hit me hard. Best friend. I hadn't heard those words and myself used in the same sentence for a long time. Had I ever heard them? Well there was that time in first grade, when Zack and had told the whole class I was his twin brother and best friend.

God had things changed

His best friend…

"I'm sorry, but at this time, only immediate family is allowed, unless the parents say otherwise."

"I'm sure they wont mind" Carly pleaded. "I don't think I could handle being in there alone."

The doctor persisted on, muttering something about a minimum amount of visitors at this time. But he nodded towards us to follow him to the ICU waiting area, and I rose to follow him.

She stepped after him tentatively, and after walking a few steps down several hallways, we came to a large open room full of couches. A small kitchen like area was in the area, with a countertop, refrigerator, and a sink. There was a small area with toys, and a few TVs in separate corners of the room. The room in all had a sort of cozy appearance, I guessed to put the families of the patient's hearts at ease a bit while they waited. Griffin and Carly's parents were not in the room, and the doctor quickly explained that they were currently in the room with him.

I felt my heart dip at the reality of it, and suddenly felt an urging to see him, as gruesome a sight it may be.

We sat on one of the couches together, still not speaking a word as the doctor left the room through some door off to the side. I switched my gaze towards her face, trying to hide my expression of fear and pain and replace it with a braver one in order to give her confidence.

"I'm sure he'll be ok," I said gently.

She still did not reply, but instead turned to face another door opening at the wall…