Two things:

1: WARNING: Tissue alert ahead...you've been warned.

2. I just have to share...in March I will be attending a meet and greet autograph session with our boys. I'm beside myself with excitement. Roman Reigns in person **fans self**. Taking my kiddos with me, so I can't go all fangirl in front of them, but inside I'm going to be squealing like a teenage girl. Pictures will follow!

Okay...on to the story...remember grab your tissues.

Chapter 30

"Easy," Seth warned as Amber swung her legs over the side of the bed and prepared to stand.

"I'm fine," Amber grumbled. "I've been getting up and down to go to the bathroom all on my own, you know." The moment she caught the wounded puppy dog look on Seth's face she sighed as guilt stabbed at her. Damn it! Ever since the accident two days ago, her emotions were all out of whack. "Sorry. I know I'm being a bitch and I don't mean to be."

Seth grinned as he pulled her to him. "It's okay. Right now I think you have a right to be bitchy." He pressed a soft kiss to her forehead, then another to her lips before he brushed her hair back. "As soon as you're better, I'm taking you to Vegas and we're getting married."

She arched a shocked brow and her lips slowly tipped into a wry grin. "Really? I don't get a say in this?"

He returned her smile with and even wider one. "Nope. You already agreed to marry me and at this point I don't care how it happens as long as it does and soon."

Amber lifted a hand and cupped his face, her thumb playing with his facial hair. She certainly didn't object to marrying him tomorrow if he wanted, but curiosity made her ask. "Why the rush?"

He snared her hand and pressed a soft kiss to her palm, then stroked his other hand through her hair before grazing a finger over the bandage on her forehead. Beneath it were eight stitches that she was sure would end up leaving a scar. It would serve as a permanent reminder of what she'd survived. "I don't want to ever have to worry about you like that again," he finally said.

His statement had her kitting her brow in confusion. "Marrying me won't prevent bad things from happening, Seth."

"No, but it will make me feel better," he replied.

How could she possibly argue with that logic? "Fine, but you have to deal with the wrath of your family when we don't give them the traditional wedding your mother is looking forward to."

He kissed her hard. "No problem. Now, since that's settled, how about I help you get dressed so we can blow this Popsicle stand?"

She nodded. "I want to see Dean and Zoe first."

Seth grinned. "I can make that happen."

She didn't look anything like Zoe, Amber decided as she stared at her friend. The person laying in the bed in front of her had Zoe's hair, but her skin was ashen, her face swollen and covered in scrapes and scratches. Her eyes were closed as she lay beneath the maze of IV's and breathing tubes, blood pressure and heart monitors. Except for the subtle rise and fall of her chest from the forced breathing of the respirator, her body didn't move. According to the doctors, Zoe still had brain activity and as long as she did, there was hope.

Tentatively, Amber reached out and touched Zoe's hand she felt the warmth and gained some reassurance. Still, she was struggling to come to terms with the situation. Her mind desperately wanted to twist events around and place the blame on her shoulders. If she'd only gotten help to them faster. If she'd taken the front seat instead of Zoe. If she'd allowed Seth to stay and ride with them, then Zoe would have been in the back seat with her...and Seth would be lying in that bed instead.

Her stomach churned at that thought and she'd immediately wrestled with the guilt of being relieved that it was Zoe instead of Seth. What kind of friend was she for thinking such a thing?

Unwilling to allow her to take on the guilt, Seth and the others continued to remind her that she'd done more than anyone could have possibly asked of her. They continuously bombarded her with the facts and forced her to face the truth. If she hadn't gone for help Dean and Zoe would both be in the morgue right now and despite Zoe's current condition, it was still better than being dead. It took some effort, but she managed to keep the negative thoughts at bay.

Amber sighed and glanced over her shoulder at Seth. "I just wish there was something I could do to make this better."

Seth placed his hands on her shoulders and pressed a kiss to her forehead. "Me too, but you got them help. You're praying for them both and you're supporting them. I don't know what else you can do."

Knowing Seth was right, she closed her eyes and nodded. Maybe it was because she'd suffered through the experience with them that she felt this strange bond with Zoe and Dean. Whatever it was, she'd been doing everything she could to help them both, despite her own injuries.

She could still see the look on Dean's face when she walked into his hospital room with the others and Zoe's doctors. They'd asked the doctors to wait to tell Dean all of Zoe's condition until they could be there to support him.

Her heart hurt as she remembered the initial moment of shock, then the mix of tangible and intangible pain that danced across his grief stricken face while the doctor's explained Zoe's dismal prognosis. The utter devastation in his eyes as he'd sent everyone away in a fury of rage that sent his tray of food crashing to the floor anything that was within his reach flying. The others obliged him. Maybe because they'd known him longer and understood him to be a loner who needed to handle things in his own unique way. Only something deep inside Amber screamed for her to stay. She held her ground and refused to go, waving Seth away when he urged her to give Dean some space.

Space, she understood, wasn't what he needed right now. Not when he was probably feeling completely alone and horribly crushed by the weight of Zoe's prognosis. Instead, she'd slipped onto the edge of his hospital bed, reached for him. He'd fought back, screaming obscenities and swearing at her, but she'd held her ground, determined to give him not what he wanted, but what he needed.

It wasn't an easy battle she waged against him, but in the end, the crew had eased back into the room to find Dean sobbing like a small child as Amber cradled him against her chest.

Her heart broke for him as she absorbed his grief and pain and she'd simply held him until his tears ran dry. She knew from experience that he'd desperately needed to purge some of those emotions. The loneliness and helplessness he felt wasn't something that would go away and from this point forward he was going to need all the support they could give him.

Whether, in the end, Zoe lived or died, it was going to be a long, painful struggle for him and that struggle would be made just a little easier if he allowed them to be by his side. When his tears subsided and she'd finally let him to pull away, she hid the small smile threatening to escape as she watched shock entered his face at the sight of their friends now surrounding his bed. Lexi and Roman stood at the food of the bed, Roman had one hand on Dean's cast covered leg, and his arm wrapped around Lexi as she wept against his chest. Sadness and love lit his eyes as he stared at the man he called brother.

Seth stood next to the bed, resting a hand on Dean's shoulder as he exchanged looks with Amber. Heartache weighed heavy in the silent air as they simple huddled together as a unit, knowing that this situation, as heartbreaking as it was, could have been so much worse. The pain of that knowledge spread over each and every one of them as they did their best to give strength and encouragement to Dean. They weren't just a group of friends, Amber realized. They were family and they would always be there for each other and together they would get through this horrible tragedy...no matter the end result.

We're coming up on the end soon. Once this story is finished I'm afraid I'll have to step away for a little while to go make some actual money writing instead of playing on here with you guys. I have so much fun writing the Shield fiction, but I have two birthdays coming up and that meet and greet ticket to pay for, so work will need to come first for a little bit. And I just want to say thank you again to everyone who follows, favorites and comments on my stories. You're all the reason I keep coming back to write.

Sienna