Chapter three!

Taylor and Ridge spent the rest of the night at Phoebe's side. The next morning, Steffy and Thomas returned to the hospital. Their grandmother had spent the night with them and gave them a ride. Stephanie herself was on her way to Brooke and Ridge's place. She wanted to check on RJ and fill the rest of the family in on what had happened. Steffy couldn't take it any longer. She was desperate to get to her sister. So Taylor and Ridge left the hospital room so Steffy was allowed to see Phoebe. Steffy sat down at her bedside. She took a friendship bracelet and put it around Phoebe's wrist. She herself wore an identical band. The two of them had made these bands when they were little girls. Steffy reached for Phoebe's hand.

"Listen Sweetie, you have to be strong ok? You can't leave me alone! We belong together, never forget! We made a deal, sisters forever!" She laid her head next to Phoebe so that her blonde curls blended with her own dark hair.

Rick awoke in his hospital room. Immediately, Brooke and Eric were at his side.

"How are you this morning?" Rick collected himself for a moment.

"Pretty good..I think."

"Are you in any pain?"

"No! No, I'm okay Dad!" Rick sat up in his bed. "What about Phoebe? How is she?" Brooke and Eric exchanged significant glances. Brooke came to the decision not to tell Rick how serious Phoebe's condition really was. Brooke smiled encouragingly at him.

"She's doing well, considering the circumstances. She had to have surgery, but she came through it and she's going to be fine!" Brooke tried to sound as cheerful and optimistic as possible.

While Steffy sat by Phoebe's bedside, a nurse led Taylor and Ridge into a lounge with Thomas. She offered to bring them some food, but neither Taylor nor Ridge could eat anything. Thomas paced back and forth.

"I've been thinking about this kidney thing all night! What does that actually mean, in detail?" He looked at his mother, to get some explanation.

"If Phoebe really needs a kidney donation, then she'll have another surgery."

"I get that, but who is she getting the kidney from? Someone has to die first, right?" Taylor shook her head.

"I'm assuming the doctors prefer a living donation in her case, which means Phoebe will get the kidney from one of us."

"So you mean either you or dad?"

"Well, if it comes to that, we'll all have to get tested. But the best chances, that all the genetic requirements match, are with Steffy and you. Generally, siblings are more likely to be donors and probably Steffy is the most suitable. The two of them are twins, after all!"

"So in the worst case scenario, Steffy has to donate a kidney to Phoebe for her to survive?!" Taylor nodded.

"Yes, if everything goes very badly! But we're not there yet! Maybe we are lucky and everything will turn out fine on its own."

"Your mom is right! We should try to stay optimistic! Even when the doctor didn't give us much hope, but you never know."

Brooke and Eric joined them. The doctor was just with Rick to examine him. Eric took his son in his arms.

"How's Phoebe doing? Brooke said she's fine, considering the circumstances!" Taylor snorted contemptuously.

"That's an exaggeration by far! Phoebe's condition is stable at the moment, but she's far from being fine! Plus, the doctor has informed us that she may need a new kidney!" Eric and Brooke made startled faces. Both understood the implications of this statement.

"And it's all Rick's fault!" blurted Thomas out. "Because this jerk is too stupid to drive!"

"Thomas, stop it!" Eric snapped sharply at his grandson.

"I understand your desperation, but there's no point in blaming Rick."

"But Thomas isn't entirely wrong with what he says, Dad! After all, Rick was driving and got off pretty easy himself!" Brooke responded in horror.

"How can you say that, Ridge?! Even if Rick isn't badly hurt, he is miserable! This was a traumatic experience for him" Eric was on the same page as Brooke.

"She's right, Ridge! You should have seen Rick this morning. He was completely beside himself! He was in tremendous shock! That's why Brooke thinks it would be best not to tell him how serious Phoebe's injuries truly are. It would only worry him unnecessarily!"

"Worry him unnecessarily?!" Taylor was stunned. "Our daughter may die, but of course Rick can't be unnecessarily burdened!"

"What do you mean Phoebe will die?"

Everyone turned around, Rick suddenly appeared. He hadn't been able to stay in his bed after the examination, so he had left his room in search of them. A nurse had told him where he could find his family. He just opened the door and overheard Taylor's last words. Brooke ran up to him, deeply concerned.

"Honey, you're supposed to stay in bed! There's nothing wrong with Phoebe! She'll be fine! Don't worry about it!"

"How can you say that?" hissed Ridge at Brooke angrily.

"I want to know what's going on?!"

Thomas couldn't control himself any longer, he stormed up to Rick and grabbed him by the collar.

"I'll tell you what's going on! My little sister is in a coma, fighting for her life and she may need a new kidney! And all that because you creep got in that car with her!" In desperation, he shook Rick. Ridge and Taylor intervened and dragged their son away from Rick.

"Stop it Thomas, it's no use!"

"Leave him alone, he's not worth it!" Eric grabbed his grandson and pulled him away with him so he could calm down a bit. Rick stared from one to the other.

"Is this true? Did Thomas tell the truth?" Brooke knew she couldn't avoid the truth any longer.

"Yes, it's true!" She took him in her arms. "It looks like Phoebe may need a new kidney and unfortunately, she's nowhere near as well as we all hoped!" Rick looked down in shame and shook his head in disbelief. Ridge slowly approached him.

"And now for you! I see you seem to be doing quite fine again. Then you can finally tell us how the accident happened in the first place?!" Rick hesitated and couldn't get a word out. Brooke intervened.

"Let it go, Ridge! You can see, he is struggling! Give him a break"

"All I did was ask a simple question! So? How did the accident happen?!" But Rick didn't give Ridge an answer and just stared at him silently. Ridge moved even closer to him and sparkled at him menacingly. "Fine, keep your mouth shut, but at some point you have to give us the answer and at some point you have to answer to the cops! And I guarantee you, if you are the slightest bit responsible for the accident, you will pay for it! I promise you!" Ridge stormed off in a huff, Brooke followed on his heels.

Rick turned to Taylor.

"I want to say..." But Taylor brushed him off.

"I'm sorry, but I can't deal with this right now!" She left him and walked back to the ICU.

Ridge had stormed into the indoor garden, where he ran around in circles, outraged. Brooke hissed at him, furious.

"How could you be so cruel to Rick! Didn't you realize how terrible the situation is for him? He really has enough to cope with!" Ridge laughed derisively.

"Excuse me? Rick's having a hard time to cope with all this?!

Can you think about anyone else but your holy glory son?! What about Phoebe, who is in a coma and no one knows if she's going to survive?! And no matter how everything turns out, she will only have one kidney for the rest of her life! What about Steffy and Thomas?! Or did you ever think about Taylor and me?! Do you know how it feels to see your own child lying there unconscious, hooked up to all these machines and there's nothing you can do to help?! Believe me, Little Ricky is not the only one who's having a hard time!"

Still, I'm not going to let you attack him once more and threaten him! You will keep yourself together with Rick, do you hear me?!"

"So you're taking his side? And how I feel about it, you couldn't care less!"

"Ridge, of course I care about you! But Rick is my son and I'm not letting him be the scapegoat here. And you better get a grip on Thomas!"

"Thomas may have overreacted a bit, but he's scared as hell for his sister! No wonder he lost control in this situation!"

"Still, I expect all of you to back off and about the accident...and what you just said about the cops. I think we should handle this within the family!"

"What are you saying? That we should all act like nothing happened and Rick gets off scot-free?! No way! Absolutely not! I want this accident thoroughly investigated and if it turns out Rick was at fault, he has to deal with the consequences!"

"You can't do that Ridge! Rick is my son!"

"And Phoebe is my daughter!"

"Ridge, be reasonable! Rick is family!"

"That doesn't mean he can just drive around like a maniac and risk my daughter's life! Trust me, Rick will realize what he has done to us!"

"You will leave him alone! Or….."

"What?! Are you threatening me?" The two stared at each other, frowning and feisty.