Chapter four!

Ridge left Brooke after their fight and went back to the ICU. Taylor was alone in Phoebe's room.

"Where are Steffy and Thomas?".

"Eric took them with him, he wanted to take them to the cafeteria to get something to eat.

"Ah, that's certainly for the best. How is Thomas?"

"Quite ok, he's calmed down so far. The whole ordeal is just too much for him!"

"Yeah, I guess that's for all of us!" Ridge sat down in the chair next to her. Taylor could tell he was very upset and agitated.

"Are you okay?" she asked him concerned. Ridge didn't want to talk about what happened with Brooke.

"Yeah, I'm fine!" he answered hesitantly. Taylor suspected something was wrong with him, but she didn't want to probe further now. She squeezed his hand and he gave her a grateful smile. He noticed how exhausted and worn out she looked.

"You should take a break and eat something too!" Taylor shook her head decisively.

"I'm fine! I'm staying here.' They both glanced silently at their unconscious daughter.

Brooke returned to Rick after the argument with Ridge.

"Hey honey, how are you doing? I'm really sorry about what just happened. But don't worry about it! I talked to Ridge and told him to leave you alone!" Rick merely nodded silently at her. Brooke sat down with him. "You'll see, the whole nightmare will be over soon. After all, it was just an accident, it can happen to anyone! You shouldn't beat yourself up over it and move on!" Rick laughed wryly.

"Ridge certainly won't give it a rest anytime soon. He hates me! He'll do anything to make me pay for this!"

"No, he won't. Ridge is overreacting a bit right now because he's worried about Phoebe. But once she gets better, he'll calm down and then everything will go back to normal." Brooke was trying hard to sound cheerful and confident, but Rick had his doubts.

"You know yourself it's not that easy! I bet Ridge and you just had a big fight!"

"Yeah, that's true! But you shouldn't overstate that now. Ridge will realize you're not responsible for the accident!" Rick avoided his mother's gaze and stared at the floor.

Meanwhile, Stephanie was still at Ridge and Brooke's house. RJ had left with Donna; she was going to take care of him for the rest of the day. Stephanie was supervising the caterer who was taking down the buffet from the party. Just then, there was a knock at the door. Lt. Baker stepped inside.

"Hello Mrs. Forrester!"

"Oh, Lt. Baker! What brings you here?"

"I'm investigating the accident of Rick Forrester that occurred here yesterday."

"Oh, I see! Please, come in!"

"Thank you! How are the two injured?"

"Rick is doing very well again. He's not seriously injured. My granddaughter, on the other hand, has been less fortunate. She is in an induced coma!"

"Oh, I'm very sorry to hear that! I sincerely hope your granddaughter will pull through! As for the accident, we still have some questions for them. When do you think at least Rick might give his statement?"

"As far as I know, there is nothing standing in the way of a statement on his part. Do you have any initial findings accident?" asked Stephanie with great interest.

"Well, we already have initial investigation results, a technical defect can definitely be ruled out. Furthermore, we have found out that Rick was driving extremely fast and there are also very few skid marks. Of course, the whole thing raises some questions?!"

"Do you want to say Rick is responsible for the accident?"

"It's too early to tell. But that's precisely why a statement from him is very important!"

"I'll take care of it!"

"Thanks!" He handed her his card. "Please tell Rick to get back to me as soon as possible and all the best for your granddaughter!"

Steffy and Thomas sat in the cafeteria, poking at their food. Neither of them had an appetite. Steffy told Thomas how awful it was to have to see Phoebe in such a pitiful state and that she couldn't even talk with her. Thomas, in turn, told Steffy about the confrontation with Rick. Steffy was horrified.

"You really should get a better grip on yourself! It's not even certain yet that Rick is to blame for the accident."

"Come on, he was Dad seems to think Rick is responsible, too. He really put Rick through the wringer!"

"I'm sure Brooke wasn't thrilled!"

"Absolutely not, I bet there was quite a fight between them afterwards! Brooke sided with her little favorite boy, of course!"

"Did you expect anything else?" Steffy gave Thomas an ironic look. "It's always the same! Everyone is more important to her than Dad! I really wonder what he sees in her!"

"Well love makes you blind and sometimes foolish!"

Brooke was still with Rick.

"Oh, by the way, the doctor was here and said I can be discharged tomorrow!"

"That's wonderful! I'm so happy you're okay and nothing bad happened to you!" There was a knock at the door and Brooke and her son were very surprised to see who walked in.

"Stephanie, what are you doing here?" Stephanie had rushed to the hospital immediately after talking to Lt. Baker.

"Hi. I just wanted to let you know I was at your place. I took care of everything and RJ is with Donna!"

"Thank you Stephanie!" With a stiff expression, Stepanie looked at Rick.

"How are you?" she asked coolly. Rick felt uncomfortable under her gaze.

"I'm doing pretty fine again! I'm able to go home tomorrow!"

"Good, I'm happy for you!" she replied with a honeyed smile. "Oh, by the way, Lt. Baker stopped by. He's investigating the accident. He wants you to report to him as soon as possible!" Brooke was shocked, before Rick could say anything she intervened.

"There's still time for that! Rick isn't even in a position to make a statement yet!"

"Well, in any case, Lt. Baker is waiting for him. He still has some questions about how the accident happened and the sooner you get back to him, the better!" She slammed the card down on the nightstand and said goodbye. Brooke was raging with anger; she had hoped to settle the matter without the police. Rick tried to calm his mother.

"Now don't make a big deal out of it, Mom!" It's only natural for the police to get involved."

"They should all just leave you alone! This whole thing is hard enough for you! I just don't want you to have to go through this!"

"I'll survive it!" Rick wanted to be alone. "By the way, you can go now if you want. You should take care of RJ. I'm sure the poor guy is all messed up too."

"Are you sure I can leave you alone?"

"Of course!" She gave him another kiss on the cheek and walked out the room. Rick breathed a loud deep sigh once he was alone.

Brooke decided to talk to Ridge before heading home. She made her way to the ICU. Through an observation window, she peered into Phoebe's room. She clearly disliked the scene she saw. Taylor and Ridge were sitting next to each other, holding hands. Ridge had his arm around Taylor and she was leaning against his chest. Brooke's eyes darkened.

"You should leave them alone!" a voice sounded behind her. Brooke turned around, startled, Stephanie was standing behind her. "You shouldn't bother those two right now! They need each other in this situation and you should respect that!" Brooke gave her another icy look and strode away. A smile flitted across Stephanie's face as she watched her son and Taylor.

Later, Bridget motioned for Taylor and Ridge to go out into the backyard for a moment to get some fresh air. They reluctantly followed her, she handed them each a sandwich.

"Here! Eat them or you'll be in trouble with me!" she added with a grin. The two resigned themselves to their fate. For a while they sat in silence, each listlessly chewing on the sandwich. Ridge reached for his cell phone to call Brooke.

"What the hell?" He stared at the screen, stunned.

"What's going on?"

"Brooke! She just pushed me away!"

"Oh! Did you guys have a big fight earlier?" asked Taylor, curious.

"Well, you can't really call it a fight. It was more like a declaration of war!" Taylor looked at him in disbelief.

"What?"

"I told her I definitely want the accident investigated thoroughly, and if it turns out Rick is responsible, I want him to deal with the consequences."

"I see, surely Brooke didn't like that?!"

"No, she demanded that we all leave Rick alone. She threatened me virtually!" Taylor seemed unimpressed.

"Did you expect anything different? Rick is her son. It's obvious she's going to take his side and protect him!" Ridge jumped up furious.

"And what about me? We're engaged! I'm the man she wants to marry and pretends to love. But does she care about my feelings?! All she thinks about is that little bastard!" Taylor rushed up to him and gave him a hug to comfort him.

"Hey, calm down! You'll see, it'll be okay! You are not alone...I mean, even though you're engaged to Brooke...the kids and I, we're still your family and we're always there for you!" A smile flitted across Ridge's face.

"Thanks Doc!" He wrapped her in his arms. "I wouldn't be able to stand all this without you!"

"I feel the same way, I'd go crazy if I had to go through all of this alone!"

Brooke, meanwhile, sat with her sisters in her living room. They had all eaten dinner together and afterwards Brooke had played with RJ and then put him to bed. Katie turned to her.

"What about Hope? Does she know? Surely she was going to come to the wedding?"

"I called her and told her I don't know exactly when the wedding will take place. I didn't tell her about the accident, though. I didn't want to worry her, she should concentrate on her school."

"Yes, that's certainly for the best!" nodded Katie to her and Donna agreed with her as well.

"After all, Rick will be just fine if he gets to come home tomorrow already!"

"It's just the thing with Phoebe sounds awful!" commented Katie. "If she really needs a new kidney...how is Ridge holding up with the whole situation?" Brooke sighed.

"He's completely stressed out and starts to lash out. In his eyes, Rick is responsible for all the misfortune!"

"Excuse me?" Donna and Katie's eyes widened. "But you said it's not proven yet that Rick caused the accident?!"

"Ridge is convinced of it and he wants Rick to pay for his mistake." Katie gave her a sympathetic hug.

"You shouldn't overstate his behavior. Ridge is in a difficult situation right now! He's deeply worried about Phoebe! In a situation like this, it's normal to react a little unfairly. You'll see, once Phoebe is well again and the whole drama is over, Ridge will calm down too!"

"Yeah, I hope you're right!" Brooke jumped up and paced anxiously around the room. " is, right now we can't talk in a reasonable way. Before at the hospital we had a pretty nasty argument!"

"Don't worry! Ridge loves you and he wants to marry you!"

"Yeah, but there's another problem!"

"What is it?" ask Donna and Katie curiously.

"Taylor! I have the bad feeling she hasn't given up her hopes for Ridge!"

"What?! But I thought Ridge told her about your engagement and that he chose you?!"

"Yes, that's true and according to him, Taylor took the news quite well. But since the accident..she is around him all the time, curled up in his arms. I'm afraid she might take advantage of the situation to win Ridge back!" Donna and Katie realized what Brooke was getting at.

"Then you have to do something about it!" Katie urged her forcefully. "You have to be there for Ridge and show him that you are the woman by his side!"

"Yeah, you're right!"

Ridge and Taylor were still in the garden. The fresh air was doing them good.

"When, do you think, the doctors will be able to give us the all-clear…when do we finally know what will happen further more?" Taylor shrugged helplessly.

"I don't know! It's hard to say, it depends on how severe her injuries truly are. But it will certainly take a few days before we know for sure. If there isn't a crisis before then!" Ridge slapped his hands over his head.

"This waiting is driving me crazy! It's so awful, there's nothing we can do for her." He broke down sobbing and wailing. "If Brooke and I hadn't thrown this damn party, none of this would have happened. Phoebe would still be with us and well! This is all my fault!" Taylor took him in her arms, soothingly stroking his head.

"No, Ridge! It's not your fault! Don't go there! No one could have expected something like this to happen!" In desperation, he clung to her and she held him very tightly and talked soothingly to him.

Brooke came out of the ICU when she spotted her daughter.

"Bridget, good to see you! Can you tell me where Ridge is? I just went to Phoebe's room, but he's not there!"

"I ordered him and Taylor to take a break. They're probably still in the garden!"

"Ah, thank you!" With hurried steps, Brooke headed towards the garden.