A/N: It's your lucky day! I was able to find some time to write the second chapter! Again, I'm not sure when I'll be able to update, so no promises for when the next chapter will be up. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Don't own it; I'm a poor college kid.

Riley waited impatiently as one of the EMTs examined her on the sidewalk across the street. Despite her insisting that she was alright, the EMT still checked her over to make sure.

"Everything appears to be okay," the paramedic announced. I could have told you that, Riley thought. She wanted to say it out loud, but she held her tongue. "The bruises on your neck should be healed within the next week," he finished, straightening up from his crouched position and heading back into the ambulance.

Riley gripped the blanket one of the EMTs had given her earlier a bit tighter. All she wanted was for this nightmare to end, but she knew that this wasn't a dream; this was real life.

After a few moments, Riley heard hurried footsteps approaching her. She looked up as more tears filled her eyes. It was her parents. Topanga knelt down beside her daughter and gathered the young teen in her arms as her crying intensified. Both Cory and Topanga wanted to say something to help ease the pain their daughter was experiencing, but they weren't sure what to say. They couldn't say everything was going to be alright, because they didn't know that.

Riley pulled herself out of her mother's embrace and buried her face in her hands. Topanga placed her arm around Riley's shoulder, still trying to offer her some comfort. It was at that moment that the news vans pulled up and the TV crews approached the small family.

"Ma'am, ma'am! Can you tell us what happened? What was it like defending yourself from an armed man? Can you give us some details of what went through your mind?" all the reporters buzzed.

"Make it stop! Make it stop!" Riley whimpered.

Hearing her distress, Cory put himself between his daughter and the news crew. "Back off, would you? She's just been through a traumatic experience, and all you care about is your story?" Cory lectured as he began to put some distance in between the two groups. "Here's something for your story. May daughter has declined to release any information at this time. Thank you!"

The disappointed news crews headed back into their vans just as the other EMTs wheeled Lucas out and brought him into the back of the ambulance. Riley looked up and saw this through the tears. It hurt her so much to see him like this. As much as she wanted to rush over there and be with him as they took him to the hospital, she knew she couldn't. No one was allowed in the back of the ambulance. Cory walked back over to his daughter and offered her his hand. "Come on, let's follow them in."

Riley eagerly grabbed ahold of her father's hand and they headed off to their car. The drive over to the hospital didn't take long, thankfully. Once they were there, Riley got out of the car and dashed inside after the paramedics. Several doctors came rushing over towards the gurney and started spouting out medical terms that Riley couldn't understand as they looked over his injuries. One, for still being in high school and not planning on pursuing a medical career, and two, all of their voices seemed to blend together. Finally, she heard something she understood.

"Have respiratory standing by, get him prepped, stat!"*

Riley watched as they took Lucas down the hallway towards the operating room. She remained there until her parents came up behind her and led her over to a chair beside Lucas' parents. Once seated, Lucas' mother gave Riley a comforting hug, which she gladly returned. If this was heart wrenching for her, Riley couldn't imagine what his parents were going through right now. One of their worst nightmares.

She shifted her body, trying to get into a comfortable position in the slippery plastic chair. Riley finally leaned over and rested her shoulder on her dad's shoulder. Cory took ahold of her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. He wished there was more he could do. No one should have to go through this, Cory thought. Not parents, not friends, not significant others.

Each minute seemed to take an eternity to pass. Riley felt as if she was going to go crazy if she didn't hear anything soon, but when she looked up at the clock, she realized it had only been 15 minutes since they took him back. She let out a frustrated sigh and closed her eyes, trying to prevent more tears from spilling over. It's all my fault, Riley thought to herself. It's my fault that he's here. I should have stopped him! I should have stopped him…

The next thing Riley remembered was feeling her dad's shoulder jerk up slightly, waking her up. One of the doctors that performed the surgery was standing in front of them. The group stood up and Riley held her breath.

"Well?" Mr. Friar asked.

The doctor scratched the back of his neck. "He was very lucky. The bullet lodged between the inner skull and the back of the brain. We were able to remove it and there's no apparent tissue loss. If he comes out of it, it's possible he'll suffer little to no brain damage."*

"If he comes out?"* Riley asked, suddenly not liking where this conversation was going.

"There was a lot of bleeding, and severe swelling causing intracranial pressure…he's slipped into a coma. It's not uncommon for this kind of trauma. People have pulled out, it's just hard to predict. We've administered an anti-convulsive therapy, but there's always the possibility of multiple complications after brain surgery."*

Everyone felt a bit better with the doctor's news. Everyone, but Riley. All the 'what ifs' started to float around in her head. What if he doesn't wake up? What if they're wrong? It's all my fault…

Topanga put her arm around Riley's shoulder once again. "Come on, sweetie. Let's take you home."

Riley nodded in response, but she didn't want to leave. She wanted to stay and be with Lucas so she could be there when he woke up, despite knowing he probably wouldn't wake up any time soon.

Cory placed his arm around Riley's other shoulder and the two parents led her out to the car. As they drove home, raindrops began to pelt the car's windows. Riley looked out of one of the windows and looked up towards the clouds. Please, let him be okay.

"Riley, go sit down and relax, I'll make you some hot cocoa," Mrs. Matthews said as the family walked through their apartment door. Riley nodded as she walked over to the couch and plopped herself down on it.

"Wanna watch something?" Cory asked softly.

Riley shrugged. "Sure."

Cory walked over to the TV and turned it on while he rummaged through the pile of DVDs in the bin below it. Not finding what he knew his daughter would enjoy, especially after this whole ordeal, he walked over to one of the closets in the hallway to continue his search.

Riley looked up at the screen, and wasn't happy about what she saw.

"In our breaking news coverage this evening: an attempted robbery in a local bookstore left one man killed and another in critical condition. Only one person was able to walk away with minor injuries after she was somehow able to disarm and incapacitate the shooter. She has declined to release any information at this time about—"

Riley grabbed the remote from the coffee table, shut the TV off, and threw the remote down on the hardwood floor, nearly cracking its plastic coating. Both Cory and Topanga shifted their attention to their daughter as she brought her knees to her chest and tried to keep the tears from flowing once again.

"Riley…what's wrong?" Topanga asked as she sat down beside her.

"It's all my fault. All of this happened because of me!" she sobbed.

Cory walked around and sat on the other side of her. "No, sweetie. It's not your fault, you didn't cause this. You didn't know what was going to happen."

"It is too my fault!" she screamed as she jumped up from the couch. "I could have stopped him! I should have said something before he went to try and find the guy. Now he may not survive because of me!"

"Honey, you couldn't have stopped him."

"Yes I could have!" she yelled as she dashed off into her room and slammed the door shut.

Cory and Topanga looked at each other. They both knew that Riley couldn't have done anything to stop Lucas. Sure, they didn't know exactly what happened, but Lucas would do anything to protect Riley. Why couldn't she see that?

"Survivor's guilt?" Cory asked.

Topanga nodded. "I think it's going to be a while before she realizes that it wasn't her fault. Maybe Maya can help her get through this."

"I hope so."

Riley lay on her bed and clutched Lucas' jacket in her hands as more tears flowed down her cheeks. Every moment or so, she would smell the jacket's material, longing for some comfort in smelling his scent. She wrapped the jacket around her and closed her eyes. I'm so sorry, Lucas. Please forgive me. Please make it. I don't know what I'd do if I didn't have you.

* Lines used from J.A.G's episode 'Hemlock'. They're pretty much verbatim, but I did combine a few lines (because you're not going to have military officers interrupting the doctors here) and changed 'she' to 'he'.

A/N#2: Hope you enjoyed it! Lucas' parents didn't have a large roll because, like in 'Don't Let Go', I don't know much about their character yet. If you could leave a review before you head out that would be great :) Until next time!