Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognize from ATU.

A/N: Thanks so much for the reviews! The answer to the trivia question is "Gimme Some Truth", which is the title for chapter 5. It's a John Lennon song, not a Beatles song… Now, on to Chapter 28!

Jude hated how small and broken his little girl looked as she lay in that hospital bed, sound asleep. She was peaceful for the moment, her chest rising and falling steadily underneath the crisp white bed sheet, for now unaware of the pain coming from her broken ribs. The one side of her face--the side where a bandage covered up the large gash on her forehead--was completely bruised, and there was a smaller cut below her eye. Her broken wrist, now in a plaster cast, was resting against her body. A rhythmic beeping from the machine she was hooked up to was a tell-tale sign that she was, in fact, all right.

Lucy bit her lip to hold in her tears and cautiously joined her husband by Lizzy's bedside. Jude placed his arm around his wife's shoulder as she reached out to hold Lizzy's uninjured hand, the one where the IV had been placed. Lucy could no longer contain her emotions at the sight of her baby girl like this. Tears welled up in her cerulean eyes, brimming over the edge to slide down her fair skinned cheeks. Gently, she let go of her daughter's hand and collapsed into Jude's chest, sobbing.

"Oh, Jude…" she cried, voice muffled and shaking. She couldn't bring herself to speak full sentences. Her head was reeling with so many different thoughts and emotions; she never wanted this night to end in this way, so tragically--almost fatal. Going to prom was every girl's dream, and Lizzy's hadn't had a fairy tale ending.

And really, neither did Lucy's, either. She had gone to her senior prom with Daniel, only to learn by the end of the night that he was leaving her to serve his country in the Army. Several months later, he was dead. Lucy prayed that Lizzy wouldn't experience the same thing--loosing a first love so young.

"Shh, Luce, it's all right," Jude soothed. "Lizzy's okay. She'll get through this--we'll get through this. I promise."

"Mom?" Lizzy said, her voice weak. She stirred slightly at the sound of new voices in the room, opening her eyes to see her mother, crying, in the arms of her father. There was an expression in his soulful, brown eyes that she hadn't really seen before--he was scared. "Dad?"

"Lizzy." Lucy breathed; she bent over to carefully hug her daughter. Jude leaned in to give her a kiss on the top of her head, and let his hand gently run over her hair.

Lizzy noticed her mother's tears. "Mom, I'm fine. Don't cry…"

"Honey, it's my job to cry," Lucy said, sniffling, "I'm your mother."

"Ya feelin' okay?" Jude asked.

"Yeah, as long as I don't move." she replied, referring to the dull throbbing in her ribs, which became like a sharp pain every time she took a deep breath or shifted the slightest bit.

"Do you need any more pain medication? We could call a nurse in for you…" Lucy suggested. Lizzy shook her head. Physically, she was okay; she could handle the dull aches and pains. Emotionally, she wasn't exactly the bright and cheery girl she usually was, but she was doing her best to act like it. She didn't want her parents to worry.

"I feel fine, Mom. Really."

There was a knock on the door, disrupting any further attempts to question Lizzy, which she was somewhat thankful for. However, she couldn't help but feel an enormous amount of guilt wash over her once she saw who was standing at the door.

"Lizzy, you're awake," Mrs. Harrison said, surprised. "The doctor said you were sleeping, and we weren't sure whether to come in or not."

"She just woke up," Jude explained. "C'mon in."

"How are you, sweetheart?" Mr. Harrison asked.

"Okay." The teenager failed to meet Mr. Harrison's gaze. This didn't slip by Jude unnoticed.

"What's the matter, Lizzy?" he asked. This time, she looked up at Mr. Harrison.

"Sorry about your car." she told him, her tone quiet. She felt extremely guilty, knowing that it was the second car she had caused him to lose.

"Elizabeth, there's nothing to be sorry about," Charlie Harrison reassured her. "It wasn't your fault; it was an accident. I'm not worried about the car, and you shouldn't be, either. A car can be replaced--you can't. What's important is that you're okay."

"Well, we should get going, and let you rest," Mrs. Harrison said, linking her arm around her husband's. "We'll take a bus home and leave the car keys for you." She told Lucy and Jude.

"Luce, why don't you go with Charlie and Maggie and get some sleep?" Jude recommended. "I'll stay the night with Lizzy."

"Jude, I can't leave her--"

"It's all right, Mom. Go get some sleep. Dad said he'd stay." Lizzy agreed.

"Are you sure?"

Lizzy nodded in reply. "I'll be back at noon, then," Lucy compromised. "And I'll call everyone in New York to tell them what's going on."

"Better call Julia, too." Lizzy put in.

"And I'll call me mum from the hospital as well." Jude said. He gave Lucy a kiss and watched as she left with the Harrisons. Lizzy did her best to get into a sitting position; Jude helped her, placing pillows behind her back. He had a feeling that she wouldn't really be able to sleep. Silence settled in between them until Lizzy got up the courage to ask the question that had been weighing on her mind since she had woken up. Earlier, after the x-rays and such had been completed, Lizzy had fallen asleep before the doctor ever had a chance to tell her how her boyfriend was.

"Did you…umm…hear anything about Paul?"

Lizzy's heart beat faster in her chest, anticipating the response, hoping it wasn't something too bad.

"We saw Paul's mom, and the last we heard that he was in surgery," Jude answered, causing Lizzy to hang her head, sadness etched into her features. "Would ya like me to find out what's goin' on?"

Lizzy glanced up, fresh tears threatening to fall. "If you could…"

"Are you going to be all right in here by yerself?"

Lizzy nodded, and Jude exited the room, throwing a hesitant glance in his daughter's direction before he was fully out the door. As much as Lizzy wanted to know about Paul, part of her wished that she could've spoken up, and said that she didn't want to be left alone. Being left alone meant she had nothing to occupy her but her thoughts, and she couldn't handle that, because her thoughts were simply a mess.

She was scared--every time she closed her eyes she could see that car coming toward them; she could see Paul's panicked expression and his last attempt to save her. Not himself, but her. He was always thinking of others before he ever thought of himself. Lizzy hated to think that that could be the thing that probably caused him to get hurt so badly--his tragic flaw. Then again, the car happened to hit the driver's side, and that couldn't have been Lizzy's fault. But what if she had been driving, and not him? Lizzy always thought Paul was stronger than she was; he was the one she came to for help, for advice. If she had been driving, would she be dead right now? What if they couldn't save Paul? What if he was dead?

Lizzy didn't want to think like that. Paul wasn't dead. He couldn't be. She could still see Paul's face, and almost feel his arm thrown across her in a vain attempt to protect her from the impact of the oncoming car. How could she possibly leave Florida--leave Paul--after all of this? He probably wouldn't be fully recovered by graduation. How could she leave when he needed her most--when they needed each other most? There would be emotional scars left to heal, as neither one of them had never been through something so traumatic as this.

"Lizzy." Jude's voice interrupted her thoughts. She hadn't realized that he had returned, and had been calling her name for the past half minute. She blinked, and looked up at him.

"Yeah? Sorry…I must've spaced out," she apologized quickly. Then, she swallowed hard. "How is he?"

"He's recoverin' in the ICU," Jude informed her. "I guess they have 'im hooked up to some machines that are breathing for him, for now. They almost lost 'im in surgery, but--"

Jude stopped when he saw his daughter crying. Not the silent tears which she had been crying before, but full out sobbing. He hadn't seen her cry like this since they first ran into each other on the streets of New York City--and they had been happy tears then. Jude sat on the edge of her hospital bed, running a comforting hand up and down her back.

"He's all right, Lizzy," Jude reassured her. "The surgery worked…he'll be okay. It'll take 'im a bit longer to recover, the doctor said, but he'll be fine."

"C-Can I s-see him?" she question, wiping her tears away with the hand that wasn't partially wrapped in plaster. "I-I need t-to see him."

Lizzy's nurse helped her into a wheelchair, placing a pillow behind her back to cushion her body in order to help with the pain of her broken ribs. She escorted Lizzy and Jude onto the elevator up to the ICU, and wheeled Lizzy down the hall toward Paul's room, towing Lizzy's IV with her. They stopped just short of the doorway, where Jude told Lizzy he would let her visit him alone, knowing she needed that. He told her he was going to call her grandmother, and that he would be back in a little bit. The nurse wheeled her in and positioned her wheelchair close to Paul's bedside.

She was afraid to look at him. When she finally did, she had to force herself to not start crying again. His face and arms were more bruised and cut up than hers were, because of all the shattered glass that had flow in his direction at the time of the impact. He was hooked up to many more machines than she had been, too; there was a large tube down his throat, which was helping him to breathe at the moment.

"How long will have that?" Lizzy asked the nurse in the room softly, gesturing to the tube. She glanced up from checking Paul's vitals.

"Until he wakes up and we know he's stable."

Lizzy hoped he'd wake up soon. He just looked so…lifeless. She couldn't stand it. She wanted his bright, green eyes to open, wanted him to smile and talk to her and tell her that they were both going to be fine.

Gingerly, Lizzy leaned in and ran her fingers through Paul's shaggy, disheveled hair, brushing it off his forehead, cautious of the bandages and bruises. She sat with him in silence for well over five minutes, just watching over him and feeling guilty for what he was going through.

"I'm so sorry, Paul," she whispered at last, her voice trembling. "I'm sorry our night had to end like this."

Carefully, she took his hand in hers, and rubbed circles into the back of his palm. Tears were beginning to blur her vision; she promptly blinked them away.

"And I'm sorry I'm leaving you behind to go to New York. I feel incredibly selfish for it. I have everything I've ever wanted…my real family, a chance to go to college for art, living somewhere where I actually feel like I belong…but I won't have you there with me," Lizzy wiped a tear that managed to escape. "And you've always been there. I don't know what I'm going to do…I wish I could take you with me to New York. I don't want to loose our friendship."

When Jude came in, he saw Lizzy sitting dejectedly in the wheelchair, clutching Paul's hand.

"Ready to go back, Lizzy?" he asked. The teenager tore her gaze from her boyfriend and nodded. She was feeling somewhat tired now. Jude wheeled her back down to her room, neither of them talking. What Lizzy didn't know was that her father had heard the last part of her conversation. He had known all along that it would be hard for his daughter to leave Paul in Florida, but he hadn't known until now how much of a rough time she was having with it. He could sympathize with her on some level, considering he knew what it felt like to leave someone he loved behind--he had left Lucy in the States when he was deported back to Liverpool. Although they had technically broken up their relationship, he still loved her, and that's why it hurt him.

Once Lizzy was in her hospital bed, Jude sunk down into the chair, pushing it closer to her. Neither one of them attempted to start up a conversation. Lizzy sat staring with a blank expression on her face, and Jude mostly kept his eyes on the tiles on the floor.

"I want to go home." Lizzy said suddenly.

Jude peered over at her. "Doctor said you'd probably be able to leave the hospital sometime tomorrow."

Lizzy shook her head, indicating that her father hadn't understood what she had said. "No, I want to go home."

Now Jude understood. And he didn't know quite what to say. He figured the sudden change in Lizzy's decisions over the whole situation were due to all the stress related to the accident and her confused feelings toward her relationship with Paul.

Lizzy rested her head against the pillow. She hadn't really phrased that right, but she didn't know what else to say. It wasn't that she wanted to go home--well, she did, but not yet--it was more like she wanted home to come to her. She wanted her family here, now more than ever. She needed them. She needed Sadie's advice, she wanted to hear JoJo's soothing guitar riffs…she wanted her uncle Max to cheer her up with his amazing sense of humor…she wanted Prudence and Rita to paint her nails or something--anything--to get her mind of the cloud of misery hanging over her head. She wanted some of her aunt Valerie's chicken noodle soup, and she wanted her cousins surrounding her with smiles, childish antics, and laughter.

She felt more homesick than ever before.

A/N: Please review! And, please check out the "Dizzy Miss Lizzy"-related oneshot entitled, "Beautiful Boy". Leave a review and tell me what you think! Thanks! Trivia will make an appearance in the next chapter, I promise…