Part 1

The tiny beeping sound of the heart monitors annoyed Daniel. He supposed they were heart monitors, having only seen them in movies before. Medicine was not really his game; he was the more artistic type, preferring a brush to a scalpel.

Before his brown eyes lay a sleeping brunette, her chest lifting and descending gently, rhythmically, reassuring him that life and peace flowed through his friend. Putting a hand to his tired eyes, he sighed. The sterilized hospital room seemed so unwelcoming he could not help wonder how doctors expected people to heal in such places.

Again, he looked at Hannah. Her face had a few small scratches, but nothing big enough to damage her pretty complexion. How far the damage extended, he had no way of knowing, but the doctors had assured him she would be better in a few days. It was rest she needed most and a friendly hand after her ordeal.

Brushing a strand of black hair away from her eyes, he smiled when she opened her big blue eyes. Hannah staring back at him expectantly, her own smile hidden between a little whispered word.

"Hey."

It wasn't more than one syllable but Daniel already felt relieved. She had been out for so many hours he was beginning to consider calling for a nurse just to make sure she was still alive.

"How are you feeling?" He asked taking her hand in his.

"Better already, with you here." Hannah replied with a grunt. She was trying to sit up but her muscles were still too sore.

"Hey, stop it or you'll rip the stitches," admonished Daniel playfully, pushing her back down.

"I should be so lucky!" Was the annoyed reply from the blue eyed brunette. "Can you get me some water? I'm thirsty."

"Sure."

Taking advantage of Daniel's inattention, Hannah managed to get herself sitting upright with much difficulty. Her left side ached really bad and she had an abominable headache. But it wasn't nearly as bad as it could have been, she thought seeing Christian's last moments of life in her mind.

"Here you go… Don't you ever listen?" Her train of thought broke as Daniel gave her the plastic white glass. Visibly, he had noticed she was sitting and no longer lying like a squashed vegetable.

"Never to you, Danny boy. Surprised you still have to ask." She chipped before emptying the plastic cup.

"If that's how you drink water, I'd hate to think how you drink scotch." Daniel said softly, sitting next to her on the bed.

Hannah smiled at him, knowing full well what was going through his mind. Old Danny was worried about her. He had to have been if he stayed with her and braved Ferocious Audrey's wrath.

As if on cue, Danny's mobile phone rang into the quiet sphere. Hannah jumped a bit, startled but not enough to doubt who was calling. There was only one person to whom he would answer no matter where he was or what he was doing and that was Audrey Simms, his four year girlfriend.

A mental picture of the said woman plastered itself in Hannah's mind as Daniel struggled to get his phone out quickly enough. Audrey was not at all like her. She had a dark blonde hair and a thin physique with long legs and stern eyes that inspired fear but not authority. She had been a model and was the type of woman Hannah did not like to work with but, being a photographer, was forced to.

The two didn't get along mainly because of Hannah's close relationship with Daniel. Despite looking like every man's dream, Audrey was a very jealous and often paranoid, woman. Hannah, was her prime target for accusations and it annoyed the latter tremendously to hear Daniel have to explain himself to the long-legged blonde.

"What... No… I told you I was going to… Yes she's awake… No, I'm not coming home… What... That's nonsense... I'm not leaving her here alone… No, Audrey… I said no… Oh, will you quit it?"

Poor old Danny, thought Hannah sympathetically. Audrey was once again having a fit over their relationship. What was she imagining now, that Hannah had purposely been the victim of a drunk driver to get Danny close to her? Pathetic. But then, that woman had one wild imagination to doubt as honest a guy as Danny. Instead of yelling on the phone, she should have been thanking God for his love for her.

"I'm not leaving her alone in hospital after what she's been through today, okay?" Danny yelled angrily into the phone.

Locking eyes with him, Hannah mouthed to him that it was okay but Danny either didn't get it or didn't pay much attention. The next minute he cut the conversation off, letting the Ferocious Audrey yell to the operator instead of him.

"Sorry about that." He shrugged embarrassed.

"It's okay. You can go home, you know? I'm fine but Audrey seems pissed off." Hannah replied smiling to hide her sourness and resentment towards that woman. 

Danny sat back on the bed, looking exasperatedly at the mobile in his hand. "Audrey's always pissed off, you know that. But I'm not going anywhere. I don't care if she's having a heart attack, you're my friend and you need my help now. She can do without me tonight." He said with a sigh.

If only you didn't love her so much, Danny boy, thought Hannah bitterly. She doesn't know what she's got, she doesn't deserve you, kiddo.

"Please, you and I both know I've been through worse," sighed Hannah. "Look, if you don't go home, she's going to hate me even more for keeping you guys apart. Maybe she had something planned for tonight; it wouldn't be nice to ruin her plans." She pointed out like a good friend.

"But…" began Danny.

"No buts, Mister Garrett! Go home and don't worry so much about me! I'll be fine. I'm so sleepy I'm not going to be much company if you stay anyway." When he didn't seem convinced, Hannah continued. "Go home you! I'll call if anything happens, okay?"

Danny looked on the point of refusing when the phone rang again, the name on the screen reading Audrey. He looked apologetically at Hannah, and then leaned to kiss her on the cheek before hopping off the bed and towards the door.

"You promise to call?" he asked with his hand on the doorknob.

"Yes, now go before a nurse comes barging in to scold you for bothering the patients with that cell!" said Hannah with a smile.

Danny gave little laugh and then was out, the door closing behind him with a slight sound. He was already speaking to Audrey on the other side. From could be heard through the thin hospital walls, Hannah thought he was apologising. 

"Yeah, go and be with that bitch…" whispered Hannah to herself.

For a few moments, silence reigned in the room. The beeping machine was still giving small sounds from time to time, an electric fan buzzing in the corner to refresh the June air. The low ceiling and the many types of equipment everywhere made the look seem more like a storage room than a hospital room.

If it were just a bit darker, Hannah imagined it would have looked exactly like a school-janitor's broom closet. Of course, she had never seen inside a janitor's broom closet before unlike so many of her other past school friends who talked with big smiles of their latest "date" with a boy. She had not been the type of girl to join in those conversations, nor had she been the type to "date".

Ever since her youngest years, Hannah had been more of a boy than a girl, preferring cars to dolls, football to gymnastics and conversations with boys instead of prissy girls. That was how she had met Danny, a long time before when they were in high school. He had been her saviour in many ways, getting her away from bullies, helping her out here and there. It had been more than anybody had ever done for Hannah but enough to make her loyal to him.

Friends through bad and worse, laughing and supporting each other through art school after high school and ever since. They had never dated, their relationship never being tarnished with feelings they both knew would at some point vanish. Instead they had preferred longevity and camaraderie.

There had been relationships for both of them, but none had surpassed theirs. Hannah's habit for bad choices had led her through many trials, more than she would have liked to remember. But Danny, he would always be there to pick her up after she would be crying and hurting. He'd put her back together.

For that and so much more, Hannah was grateful.

Feeling her back hurt from sitting up, Hannah let herself lie back down, the pillows soft and welcoming beneath her head. Solitude wasn't that bad when she knew Daniel was okay. And being with Audrey was better for him than another fight.

Closing her eyes, Hannah bit back tears.

They were not for Daniel. They were for Christian and his last moments of life. They were for her stupidity at not keeping her eyes on the road. They were for God and the catholic couple, who had heard her screams, called the police and went to help her.

She must have screamed but she did not remember herself screaming. She had a hard time breathing but it might have been because of the panic.

Christian was laying motionless in front of her on the hood of the car implanted into her bumper. He'd flown through the windshield, his face a mask of blood and torn flesh.

Hannah cried out, struggling to move, to get out of her car. Her seatbelt had held her back from following her brother. But she'd still hit the wheel, that was evident as she could feel a strong pain in her chest.

All was quiet as she struggled to move, tears running down her cheeks when she realised her brother was neither moving, nor breathing. Despite her own agony and angst, she realised Christian was dead.