Yes, DANIEL? Is that really YOU? Oh my God! It's so good to hear your voice! I was so worried! Are you...okay? WHERE are you? I'm with your family right now.

Well, obviously, since I answered your mom's phone. Do you want me to go get her? But wait, first answer my question; are you hurt? We've all been looking for you. Were you headed to Lawrence?"

She heard his laugh, which allowed her to finally let out the breath she had been holding. It was a really good sign, but she could also tell he sounded...softer than she remembered, like he was in pain.

"God, Betty, you have no idea how great it is to hear your voice, too. Um...well, to answer your first of many question, I'm in some pain. My car swerved off the road in the storm and rolled.

I think my ankle is probably broken, and I have at least one broken rib, some cuts and bruises. And my back is still kind of sore."

She bit on her lip, leaning forward, "Do you know where you are? We'll come find you. Why don't you have your phone? Who's are you using? I'm sorry I have so many questions, but…"

"No, it's fine. You need to know. A nice woman named Diana Prince found me and managed to use a blanket I had in the car to pull me to her cabin."

"Who? Diana...Prince? Daniel, are you...delirious or drunk? Did you take something for your pain? You do know Wonder Woman didn't rescue you? She's not real. Are you having any other hallucinations? You weren't drinking while you were driving, were you?"

He laughed again, "No, I wish I had some booze right now for the pain. Unfortunately, she didn't have that much whiskey at her cabin, which as you know isn't even really my favorite drink anyway. Yeah, I'm serious, that's really her name. She said her parents thought it was funny or something.

She's not a superhero, just a very nice lady who saved my life, and this is her phone. We finally made it to her truck. It took us forever, even though she parked as close to the cabin as possible."

"It's great that this Diana woman saved you and took care of you all this time."

"Yeah."

"Um...is she...married? Did her husband help, too?"

He chuckled, "No. It was just her and me. In her parents' cabin all this time. Betty, are you actually….jealous of Diana?"

"NO! Don't be silly. I'm glad you had someone there to take care of you when you were hurt."

"Of course. Well, anyway, I had to lean on her and we sort of made a crutch out of a piece of wood so I could make it to her truck, but it was really slow going. We're on the road now, on our way to Lawrence Memorial Hospital.

I wrecked about ten miles off the MA 101, on her parents' private road. Does that answer enough of your questions?

Wait, how did you know I was even on my way to Lawrence? It was sort of a last-minute decision. I was excited when I finished and wanted to do something to...celebrate. And as far as my phone goes...well, you know me. I thought I had it in my coat pocket."

"We found your notes, then DJ and Justin were on your laptop and I opened your file on the novel. Plus, your mom remembered you telling her about Frost's poems and your publisher knew about the walking tours they have there."

"Okay, wow, it sounds like you guys should start your own detective agency. I'm really sorry to worry everyone, being my usual stupid self, acting so impulsively, and screwing up like I always do!"

"Daniel, stop that. You weren't being...well, okay, maybe you were a little impulsive. But it's not your fault! It could have happened to anyone. You simply had an accident and got hurt. We all love you!"

"You do? Still? After...all this time?"

"Of course! Everyone has been looking for you; the police, your mother, Tyler, Alexis and Henri, DJ, my family...everyone."

"That's great. What about you?"

"What do you mean, what about me? Of course, I'm here, Daniel. Of course, I've been worried about you. Your mother sent Justin to London to get me and I came as soon as I heard you were missing."

"I see. Because I'm an "old friend', huh?"

She was grateful at the moment he couldn't see how much she was blushing at his questioning, "Well, sure, of course you are."

"And that's all? Betty, if you got into my file, that means you guessed my password. How much of my book did you read?"

"I was reading it to try and figure out where you might be."

"Yeah, I got that, Nancy Drew. And I appreciate you and the whole Scooby gang sending out the search party to try and find me. That was really sweet that you all care so much about my welfare. But, I think you know what I'm getting at here. Did you read...my book?"

"I just started reading it a few minutes before you called."

"Yeah, but you're a really fast reader."

"Not that fast!"

She could tell he was in pain and was getting frustrated with her evasion tactics. But she didn't have any idea what to say to him. He blurted out,
"Did you at least read the forward? The part where I said how I felt about you?"

She took a deep breath, "Uh huh."

"And? Can we finally stop all the games? Look, this is my doing. Believe me, I get that I should have said something back in London. I should have...spoken up when I took you out or..hell, .anytime between then and now. I get that I'm a total chicken shit here. I know I'm the one who messed up, Betty, and I should have just TOLD you how I felt, but…"

"No, you didn't mess up, Daniel. I did. This is not all on you! I should have...had the nerve to read your Letter from the Editor. DJ told me about it. I just now read it. It was...beautiful. So was your forward."

"Wait...you're telling me you never even saw my letter in the anniversary issue until now? Really? Can I ask why you never read it before?"

"Because...I was afraid you were angry when you wrote it. I thought you hated me for leaving and I didn't want to read it if…"

"If I said something that was really mean that would wreck our friendship? Betty, I could never hate you! Now you know that, in fact, the opposite is true. But I can't...I don't THINK I'm dying anymore. So…well, I really don't want to tell you what I should have said six years ago on the phone for the first time. I want to take you in my arms and...do it right."

She found it hard to breathe, hearing his emotions, "Daniel, I don't know what to say. I should have known...why you followed me to London. If it had been anyone else you did that for, I would have made you tell the truth. But I was afraid….."

"Afraid of what? Of hurting me? Because you wouldn't have wanted to hurt my feelings when you rejected me?"

"You really think I would have rejected you?"

He seemed taken aback by her swift and positive response, "Well, yeah. Wait, you...wouldn't have?"

"No."

She sensed surprise in his voice, but something in his tone changed. He had sounded hurt and dejected before. But now...there was hope in his expression, "You mean...IF I had said something you would have… wanted to go out with me?"

"Well, I was really busy and freaking out a little back then, it's true. But for you, Daniel, yes, I would have made the time." her voice softened.

"Back then. What about now? Is it... too late?"

She smiled, "It wasn't for Robert and Elinor. Personally, I've always believed in second chances."

"Betty…" he was silent for a moment and she could hear the physical pain he was in.

She had tried to be strong, but she was completely overwhelmed to finally know he was at least alive and on his way to the hospital. She took a deep breath, "Daniel? Daniel? Are you okay? Daniel Meade, put me on the phone to your wonder woman for a minute, will you?"

She heard rattling, and then a mature woman's voice, "Hello? This is Diana."

"Diana...Prince?"

"Yes! This is Betty; right? I've heard all about you, Missy."

"You have?"

"Oh, yeah. You bet I have! Lots of good things. Listen dear, this man is in a lot of pain, but we should be at the hospital in Lawrence in about forty-five minutes. Why don't you and his family meet us there, okay, honey?"

"Of course. Thank you Miss Prince. I'm with Daniel's family. We've been worried sick about him. We were searching for him. We all really appreciate everything you've done for Daniel. Thank you for saving him and taking care of him. Oh, here's his mother. Claire! It's Miss Prince on the phone.."

Claire took her phone from Betty, "That's wonderful. Who?"

Betty handed Claire back her phone excitedly, "It's the woman who found Daniel and took care of him. He was in a wreck, and he's hurt, but she was able to get him into her truck and she's taking him to the hospital in Lawrence now."

Claire grabbed the phone, "Thank you from the bottom of my heart, Ms. Prince. This is Claire Meade speaking. May I please speak to my son? Can he talk?"

"No problem, Mrs. Meade. Daniel's a real trooper. He was running a temperature for a while there, but he's a bit better now, so we were able to make it to my truck so I could drive him to get some real medical attention.

I'm sure he's got a few broken bones in his ankle and ribs. We're on our way, like your girl Betty just said. So, go ahead and meet us at the hospital in Lawrence. I'll put him on."

"Thank you again. You're an angel!"

"No problem. I was just in the right place at the right time. Hey, Daniel, it's your mother."

"Mom?"

"Daniel! Thank God you're alive! You had us all so worried!"

"Sorry about that. I didn't mean to...do this. I appreciate everybody coming out to look for me. I'll see you all at the hospital and you can yell at me then."

Claire was trying to hold it together, "I think we can dispense with the 'yelling' this time since we're so happy you're…"

"Not dead? Yeah, well, knowing Alexis, I'm sure she will probably have a few choice words to say."

"Yes, I'm sure she will. I'll call her immediately and have her tell everyone where you are."

"Sounds good. Listen, thanks for not giving up on me. I love you, Mom."

"I love you, too, son. We'll see you at the hospital."

She started to hang up, but Betty gestured to let her have the phone back, "DANIEL? Are you still there?"

"Yeah. I'm here. What's up, Betty? I told you, I'm not saying what you already know now. Not over the phone. Maybe if I was dying or something. But it's just my leg. I may be in a lot of pain. But I'm pretty sure I'll live."

"Don't be silly. Of course, you're going to live! I...just wanted you to know, that I'm really looking forward to reading the rest of your book. I expect you to autograph a copy for me. Um…by the way…very interesting title."

"Thanks,. I was...inspired."

"Yeah...do me a huge favor and hang in there until we can see each other, and then maybe we can finally follow through on some of those things you mentioned in the forward. If...you're up to it."

She could tell he was smiling, despite clearly being in pain, "That sounds pretty damn fantastic, actually! I don't know with my broken ribs about the hugging part yet. But I'm sure we can find somewhere on my body that you can kiss better for me if that's what you have in mind, Nurse Betty."

"Yes, I'm sure we can."