"What?!" I exclaimed, my heart pounding against my chest.

Maybe this was some kind of sick joke that Gerald wanted to play with me because he was pissed at me... God I hope it's that.

"He's down at the hospital, it's bad Victoria. V-"

Before he could complete his sentence I cut him off. "I'll be there now."

"Okay then, I'll explain everything to you once you get here." He said and ended the call.

Just then it sunk in that he was telling the truth. Gerald was really hurt, he was in the hospital and he was hurt. My heart was pounding and I could faintly hear Nate's voice in the back but I ignored it. All I could hear was my frantic heart.

Nothing's going to happen to him, he'll be alright. I know it. He's gonna be okay, he has to be okay! There's no way I'm letting anything happen to him.

I looked at my surroundings and seen that we had stopped at the side of the road, Nate was calling my name and asking what was wrong.

"Take me to the hospital." I whispered, my voice was barely audible.

Relief flickered in his eyes, probably because I could still speak, but it was quickly replaced by worry.

"Why the hospital? What happened, Victoria?" He asked worriedly and cupped my cheek.

"Gerald...h-he's been in a c-car crash." I stuttered, still feeling shocked.

"Oh shit!" Nate muttered, his face was just as shocked as his voice.

He dropped his hand from my cheek and started driving again.

My mind was swimming with thoughts, negative and positive ones.

"Nate, I'm scared. What if something bad happens, I won't be able to live without him." I said and felt a lump forming in my throat. I couldn't even think about never seeing him again. Sure he was angry with me and it felt like he had actually left me but him dying is a whole different story.

"It'll be okay. Nothing bad will happen. Positive thoughts, okay?" He comforted.

Usually Nate could easily comfort me but it just wasn't working today. I was anxious and all I wanted was to know if Gerald was okay.

"We're almost there, sunshine. Just relax and it'll all be alright."

I nodded in reply, barely acknowledging his words. My mind was a mess, an emotional mess.

I bit my lip anxiously. Damn can't we get there already?!

We finally reached the hospital and after we parked I got out the door and sprinted to the entrance of the hospital.

I ran to the desk and spotted a plumpish, dark skinned lady with square glasses and a round face.

"How may I help you, honey?" She asked me with a polite smile.

"I'm looking for Gerald. Gerald Iver, he was submitted because of a car crash." I told her frantically and impatiently tapped my fingers on the desk while she looked through her computer.

"I unfortunately cannot let you through, it's family only." She said with a apologetic look.

My anger was rising by the minute.

"Listen here, I-" I started but got cut off.

"It's okay, she can come through." I looked  behind and seen Mr. Iver say. He looked stressed out and had a depressing look on his face.

"Mr Iver." I said and ran up to him. "How is Gerald? Is he okay? What happened? Is he awake? Is he badly hurt?" I ranted.

He placed his hands on my shoulder in a comforting manner. "Relax sweetheart, I'll explain everything now." He forced a smile at me.

"Is he a friend of Gerald's?" He asked and gestured towards Nate.

"I'm Nate. Gerald and I play soccer together." Nate said and smiled politely at Mr. Iver.

"Nice to meet you."

"Now can you tell me Gerald's condition!" I said a little too loudly. My patience was growing thinner and thinner.

Mr. Iver sighed. "His car had collided with another and they were both going at a fast pace which caused him to topple over and to make things worse another car came and hit the side of Gerald's car."

"And Gerald? How is he?" I asked, not caring about his car or the other people. All I cared about was Gerald being okay.

"He has a severe head injury, a broken leg, few cuts and lots of blood loss."

That sounded bad, really bad. A broken leg? He loves soccer so much, how is he going to play with a broken leg? And he's head injury? I was no doctor but a head injury can lead to him being in a coma.

I collapsed on a nearby chair and ran a hand through my hear, I wanted to scream. I couldn't believe this was happening to Gerald. He didn't deserve any of this, he was the kindest and most genuine man I knew. He deserved rainbows and butterflies and all that happy shit; none of this.

"They're currently doing a blood transfusion for him but they're not sure if they have enough blood for him due to his blood type which is one of the rarest." Mr. Iver said and sat down next to me. His face was filled with grief and stress.

Not enough blood?! My heart stopped beating at that. I was scared. What if there's not enough blood? Then what? Are they just going to leave him to die? No they can't do that, it was a hospital not a butcher.

I felt a few hot tears roll down my cheek. Why must this happen to him? Why couldn't it have been me instead? I deserved it way more than he did.

Nate looked at me and bent down to face me.

"Hey he'll be okay, nothing is going to happen, I promise." He cooed and wiped my tears.

I was smarter than that, I knew those were just words of comfort, they weren't true. After all how was he gonna know whether he'll be alright or not? It's not like he could see the future.

"There's a bit of an issue, Mr. Iver." A medium height man with brown skin, and a thin, oval shaped face told Gerald's dad with a worried look.

"I thought I said that the money is not an is-"

"No, that's not the problem. We've run out of blood and we checked every blood bank in the state and no one has a single bag." The doctor said with a sympathetic look.

No blood? For fucks sake! Why can't something ever go right?!

"What?! You're telling me that you don't have any blood for my son?! You're supposed to be a hospital; you're supposed to have tons of blood everywhere!" Gerald's dad yelled.

"Wait calm down." Nate said to Gerald's dad.

"What blood type is Gerald?" This time he said to the doctor.

"He's a B-, why?"

B- was an extremely rare blood type, people with a B- blood type can only receive blood from two groups; which was B- and O- meaning I couldn't donate my blood because I was a AB+.

"I'm an O- so I'll donate my blood." Nate said firmly.

My eyes widened. "What? You wanna donate your blood?"

Gerald's dad looked at Nate with shock, relief and gratitude.

"Are you sure you want to do this? It's a lot of blood." The doctor raised his brows at Nate.

"If I weren't sure would I have offered?" He replied edgily.

A lot of blood? What if he fell ill afterwards? God this is so fucked up! Why would he even wanna donate his blood to Gerald? He hated him.

"Very well then. Please follow me so we can start." Doc gestured for Nate to follow him.

"Wait." Mr. Iver called. "Are you sure you wanna do this, son? I mean it's a lot of blood and you could fall ill. Do you want to risk that for him?"

Nate smirked. "Once I make my mind up, there's no going back."

"Thank you. I mean it, thank you so much." Gerald's dad said gratefully and tapped his shoulder in a polite manner.

Nate nodded with a polite smile and walked away. I sunk into my seat and buried my head in my hands.

I haven't prayed in more than two years but right now I was begging God to make everything alright, to make Gerald better, for him to open his beautiful brown eyes and see his smile again.

I hadn't realised that I started crying until I felt a hand on my shoulder.

"You really care a lot for him, don't you?" Mr. Iver asked me with a small smile.

I nodded at him. "I've known him since I was 11 and he was always there for me. I care about him so much. How I wish that I had rather been the one in there and not him." I said in between sniffles.

He smiled and handed me a tissue. "Here sweetheart." 

I took the tissue from him and forced a smile.

"As for what you said, I disagree. You most certainly do not deserve to be lying in that bed suffering, of course my son doesn't either but that's not my point. My point is that you are a sweet and kind girl and you most certainly do not deserve anything bad."

I chuckled humourlessly. If only he knew that I had hurt his son lately, that I was scared of losing our friendship and hurt him. I hurt him, I actually hurt my Gerald. I hate him. So if you ask me going through what Gerald was going through is too soft for me; I deserved much worse.

I brought my knees up to my chin and stared at the white wall in front of me. I was nervously gnawing on my lip, waiting for something to happen. Fuck I hated waiting so much!

I looked at the time on my phone and seen that only 17 minutes had passed by since Nate left. How long does this shit take?!

"How much longer do you think they'll be, Mr. Iver?" I asked, feeling more impatient as each minute ticked by.

"Not sure, but my guess is that it'll probably be quite long."

I sighed in frustration.

After a little more than an hour Nate finally came with a nurse beside him. He looked a little pale and weak, but nonetheless he still had a confident stride as he walked.

I sighed in relief when I seen him, but I was still nervous for Gerald.

"Make sure he goes home and gets plenty of rest, he donated a lot of blood." The nurse told us sternly and I nodded.

"I said I was fine." He said rudely to the nurse which earned him a glare.

I knew he was lying though, his eyes were droopy and he looked to be a bit weak.

"Just make sure he gets rest before he faints." The nurse said irritably.

"Yes I will." I answered. "Is Gerald alright now?"

"We are currently doing the blood transfusion, it shouldn't take long due to it being an emergency. I will let you know once we're done." She said and walked off.

I got off my seat and went over to Nate and without thinking I wrapped my arms around him tightly.

"Thank you so much, Nate. You truly are the best." I told him gratefully. I was so thankful for what he did.

He held me back tightly. "It's just a little blood sunshine, nothing major."

I pulled away from him and rolled my eyes at him.

"Idiot." I muttered.

Gerald's dad walked towards us and smiled gratefully at Nate.

"I barely know you and this is the first time I'm meeting you but thank you, thank you for helping my son. I will never forget what you did for me and my son and I will forever be grateful to you. You truly are a great young man and I'm sure your dad must be proud of you. If it weren't for you I could've lost my boy and I would't have been able to handle that, so once again thank you Nate." Mr. Iver said, his tone filled with gratitude.

Nate stiffened a little after hearing the mention of his father but he quickly eased up.

"Please don't thank me Mr. Iver, it was my pleasure doing it. I can't separate you from your son; you're too much of a decent man to deserve any loss." He said and I could see the genuineness in his eyes and I knew that he meant that. 

"You need to get home and rest." I said sternly.

"I'm fine Victoria."

"I can tell that you're weak Nate, please go home and rest."

"Victoria is right, you should really get some rest." Mr. Iver said.

"I'm really fine. I just could really use a coffee." He said casually.

"I'll go get it right away." Mr. Iver said politely.

"No it's alright, I'll go get it." Nate said.

"Please it's the least I could do for what you've done for me." And with that he walked off.

"You okay?" I asked him. He had his hand pressed against his temple and his eyes were close to shutting closed. He looked like he was about to pass out.

"Yeah just a little light headed."

"Come on, sit down."

He took a step and stumbled a little. I quickly grabbed his arm and steadied him.

"Whoa careful." I helper him over to a chair which he gladly sat on.

"And you say you're fine." I glared at him.

"I am fine, just a little light headed but I'll be good after a few minutes."

"Just go home and rest." I sat next to him and said in a demanding tone.

"Victoria I'm fine, okay?" He snapped.

"Wow I can see just how fine you are." I sarcastically said.

He sighed. "I'm sorry for snapping, I just hate it when people force me to do things that's all."

"It's fine, I understand."

"Why did you do it?" I asked him seriously.

He frowned. "Do what?"

"Donate your blood for Gerald. I know you hate him, so why'd you do it?"

He sighed. "Gerald means a lot to you, you care deeply for him and I knew if something happened to him you would've lost it and I couldn't see that. So by shear luck my blood type was compatible with his so I could prevent you from losing him. Even though the bastard doesn't deserve you."

I'd be lying if I said that I wasn't a little shocked. Nate saved the life of a person who he hated just so he could prevent me from being heartbroken. He truly was a great person with a heart of gold.

I held his hand and kissed his cheek. "Thank you Nathaniel, if it weren't for you I could've lost someone important to me." I said genuinely.

He smiled at me. "No need to thank me sunshine."

****

I grabbed a light cardigan, pulled my bedroom door closed and headed downstairs.

Today was the second of December which meant that today was exactly three months since Gerald's car crash. I know what you're thinking, what happened in those three months? Well let me explain, Michael has been giving me the silent treatment since he's met Nate again, the most he does is nod or shake his head. Even when I told him about Gerald's accident all he did was nod stiffly.

As for my sister, well she's still living here but I'm barely at home to notice her so it really hasn't been affecting me.

Nate still hasn't given the gun to his granddad.  His excuse is: 'I'll give it when everything is back to normal.' I hated when he said that.

"Leaving for the hospital, Miss?" Gloria asked me.

"Yes I don't know what time I'll be back so don't prepare any dinner for me." I told her and hurriedly ran towards the door.

"Wait you're forgetting this." Gloria called after me and pointed towards the plastic containers with food in it.

"Oh crap! Thanks for reminding me." I grabbed the food and jogged out the house.

I walked in the hospital and a few nurses greeted me which I smiled at in return.

Even since they did the blood transfusion Gerald still hasn't woken up, he's been out for exactly three months. Everyday I always came and visited his unconscious body with the hope of him opening his eyes, only to be disappointed everyday.

For the first few days I slept on the very uncomfortable armchair next to his bed and stayed the whole day but I unfortunately couldn't stay for a whole three months; I had responsibilities. I was glad that his leg was pretty much all healed up though.

As for the food well that was for Gerald's dad, he's pretty much lives here so Gloria thought it'd be nice if I brought him some homemade food since takeouts can be extremely unhealthy and sickening.

I walked into Gerald's room and spotted his motionless body, every time I saw him like that my heart clenched; I couldn't stand seeing him so helpless, pale and fragile.

"Hello Victoria." Mr. Iver greeted with a polite smile.

He seemed to have aged 10 years in these three months, he had a beard on his face, they were a few odd strands of grey hair and his eyes had bags.

I smiled back at him. "Hey Mr. Iver. I brought you some food from home, I thought you could do with a little homemade food." I handed him the food which he gratefully took.

"Ahhh thank you sweetheart." He said. "Well since you're here I can leave for work."

I frowned. Today was Saturday though?

"But today is Saturday..."

He chuckled. "I know. I haven't lost my sanity you know. I haven't done any work this whole week and I probably have a huge pile so I decided to get that off my plate today."

I made an 'O' with my mouth. "Oh, that makes sense.

He nodded. "I'll see you tomorrow or later then."

"And I will eat this in my office." He gestured to the food in his hand. I smiled politely at him.

And with that he walked out and gently closed the door.

I walked over to Gerald and sat on the little space next to him on the bed. I held his hand and intertwined my fingers around his hand. I gently brushed his hair away from his face and placed a soft kiss on his cheek.

"How much I wish you could wake up. I wanna hear your voice again, I don't care whether you're calling me a bitch or an angel all I care about is hearing your voice again; I wanna see your eyes again whether you stare at me with hatred or love I just wanna see your beautiful eyes again and know that you're okay. I just want you to wake up and be okay, that's all that matters to me. Please wake up." I pleaded even though I knew he couldn't hear me.

A sob escaped my lips and soon tears were falling down my cheeks. I've been coming to see him everyday since he's been here and since the accident happened I never cried but for some reason today I felt more emotional. Maybe it was because I was hardly ever alone with him, there was always one of his friends that came to visit or a distant relative to him.

Even bitch Caroline came a few times; the first time she came she was furious that I was here and demanded that I left, as if I would listen to her. Anyway when Gerald's dad heard her say that he took my side and said: 'Gerald is my son and I can decide who can visit him or not. Victoria has been a part of his life for years and I happen to like her. As for you, I've never met or heard of you before so I think it'll be better if you stop seeing my son.' Served the bitch right; but she unfortunately still came to visit after that incident.

Everyone I knew came to visit, everyone but Ashley and Jessie. Guess Ashley really, really hated him. Even when I seen her she barely said anything about him and showed not a bit of pity for him; and I guess Jessie does what Ashley does.

I hated how I never got to be alone with him, but now it was the two of us.

I wiped my cheeks and took a gulp of air to steady my voice.

"So Christmas is nearing and I have absolutely no idea what to get you, it's like you literally have everything. That's if you would even accept it though, because you're kinda pissed off at me." I stroked his hand lightly.

"Maybe I could get you the new Fifa. Oh wait you probably already have it."

"I know what to get Ashley, she's easy I'll just-"

"Vi-vic..."

"-get her." I paused and looked at him. Did he just say my name or attempt to?

He shifted slightly and I felt his fingers slightly hold mine; his eyes were still closed.

"Di-did you just call my name?" I asked. I was shocked, this was just too good to be true; it was like a beautiful dream.

His eyes opened slightly but it quickly shut.

"No please don't close your eyes again. For gods sake just keep them open and come back to me!" I yelled.

"Hmm." He groaned. "I a-a-m tr-tri..."

I was bursting with happiness, he was speaking; or at least attempting to.

I pressed the nurses button and they came almost instantly.

"What's the matter?" The same plumpish nurse who's name was Grace walked in. I knew her because she was here everyday.

"He's waking up! He's actually waking up!" I yelled with joy.

"Calm down honey, what exactly makes you think he's waking up?" She raised a brow. How stupid is she? Can't she see he's waking up?

"Look woman I'm not stupid, I heard him speak! He's coming back to me! I know it!"

She looked at me with pity. "I understand that you want him to come back but he seems the same. Sometimes your mind can mess around and make you hear or feel things."

I shook my head at her in anger. "It's not my fucking mind! He's waking up! He call-"

"Vic...tor...ia." He mumbled.

"See! He's calling my name!"

"Oh my god! He's really waking up. I'll get the doctor." She said and sprinted out the room.

I squeezed his hand. "You're actually coming back! After three months I'll have you back!" I said ecstatically.

The doctor rushed in the room and walked to Gerald. "Looks like you're finally waking up." He muttered.

He turned his gaze to me. "I'm going to have to ask you to leave until I'm done examining him." He said sternly.

"But..."

"But nothing. I'll be done soon and you can see him once I'm done, alright?" He raised his brows at me.

I nodded and walked out the room.

I was nervously pacing up and down in the passage, people probably thought I was insane but I didn't care; Gerald was coming back.

After what felt like a century the doctor finally walked out.

He beamed at me. "You can go and see him now; he's fully awake and he's stable. In fact he's healing very fast, he'll probably be able to leave in a matter of three to five days."

I let out a huge breath of relief. He was fine, he was actually fine.

"Thank you doc!"

I darted to the room and I seen him drinking water. His was sitting upright and his eyes were open; they were fully open!

Before I comprehended what I was doing I ran to him and threw my arms around him. I held him tightly because I was scared if I let go I would wake up and this will all be a dream. Tears were streaming down, I didn't know if they were due to relief or happiness.

I felt his arms hold me but it quickly dropped. I pulled away from him and placed a quick kiss on his lips.

"You're awake, you're finally awake." I whispered.

"I'm awake and wet." I frowned at his response. He pointed down and I noticed that I had spilled his glass of water all over his torso.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry." I grabbed a tissue from the box and frantically wiped the water off him but it didn't dry up.

He gently grabbed my arm and stopped me. "It's just water so it's alright." He said nonchalantly.

"Do you want another glass?" I asked him, feeling bad that I spilled his glass when he's probably really thirsty.

He shook his head. "No I'm fine. That was like my 4th glass."

"Do you remember what happened?"

He nodded. "Yeah I remember everything. How is my car?"

I chuckled at him. Of course he asks about his car. "It's fine, your dad sent it for repairs; it should be done shortly since it's been three months."

He sighed. "Victoria, what are you doing here?"

I raised a brow. "What do you mean what I'm doing here?"

"Why are you here? I mean we're on bad terms; I swore you and hurt your feelings. So why are you here? I thought you'd be throwing a party while I was pretty much dead." He said bitterly.

I felt anger fill me up. Did he really just ask me that?

"Really?! You're really asking me that?! I've been here since the day you fucking crashed! Everyday I came here and spent my whole day and night with you, waiting for you to wake up; but you think I'd be celebrating?! Celebrating that someone I deeply care about is lying unconscious?! Then you're crazy, because I was worried sick; worried that you wouldn't wake up." I said angrily.

Guilt flashed in his eyes but he quickly covered it up.

My anger quickly subsided but I moved away from him and stood up. All the happiness from earlier had drained away and was replaced with hurt.

"I guess I should leave since you think I'm a bitch who doesn't care about you." I turned on my heel and made my way out.

"No wait." He called after me but I ignored him, grabbed my cardigan and walked forward.

"Goddammit Victoria, if you don't get back here I am going to pull out these tube thingy and I don't know about you but I think that it might screw some things up."

I stopped in my tracks. I was standing right in front of the door and was about to open it but I stopped and turned to look at him.

"Why? Why do you want me to stay? I thought I was too much of a bitch for you." I said with a humourless laugh.

"I told you to get back here, not stop in front of the door." He smirked at me.

Talk about fucking bipolar, one minute he's all serious and the next he's smirking?

When I didn't move he moved and looked to be about to pull it off.

"Fine I'm coming!" I said, feeling defeated.

I walked to where I was sitting and crossed my arms over my chest.

"You have to sit down too."

I rolled my eyes but sat down anyway, my arms still tightly crossed.

He lifted his hand towards my face then quickly dropped it. I felt a little pang in my chest but I brushed it away.

"I- I shouldn't have said that, I was wrong to think that about you." He said sincerely.

I wanted to be mad at him but I couldn't, I just melted when I looked at his face.

I smiled at him. "So I can leave now?" I joked.

"Nope, not until I say so."

I laughed lightly. That was my Gerald, the one I've always known, the one I was yearning to see. I grabbed his hand, which was rough as always, and lightly kissed his knuckles.

"You had me worried sick, I thought I was going to lose you." I whispered.

"You didn't lose me I'm still here, Victoria." He joined our palms together and intertwined our fingers. My hands tingled at his familiar touch.

"Good because if you did I would've murdered you." I playfully scolded.

He chuckled. "How are you going to kill a dead man?"

I shrugged. "As if I know."

He laughed at me and I couldn't stop the wide grin that took over my face. After three whole months I finally get to hear him laugh again, see him smile again.

He tucked a piece of hair behind my hair and stared at me with an emotion evident in his eyes; an emotion I didn't wanna fathom.

"God I missed you so much." He whispered. I honestly didn't know how he could've possibly missed me since he was unconscious.

"How cou-" before I could complete my sentence he crashed his lips on mine.

He took me off guard but I kissed him back passionately. His lips were a little rough and chapped but his kiss was still perfect.

We broke apart and I was a little breathless; we both were.

"Wow." I breathed, feeling a little giddy.

He grinned at me and kissed my forehead.

"Now tell me what I've missed in these three months, and maybe I can help you with your Christmas present problem." He said and and pulled me closer.

I furrowed my brows. "How did you hear that? Could you hear everything else I said?"

He shook his head. "Just the stuff you said today, it's like my mind was awake but not my body until I finally got the energy to speak a few words which I bet you didn't even hear."

"I heard you say my name but that was all. Do you hear everything I said today?"

"Well I'm not sure if it was everything but I heard a bit."  He shrugged. "Anyway tell me what happened, I missed three months of life." 

I rested my head on his shoulder and he pulled me closer towards him.

"You actually didn't miss much..." I started.

****

After we were speaking for pretty much the whole afternoon the door creaked open revealing Mr. Iver. He looked shocked.

"Hey dad." Gerald grinned.

"You're awake, you're actually awake!" His dad said excitedly.

I felt bad for not letting him know that Gerald was awake. It just slipped my mind, I was so happy that he was awake that I didn't think about anyone or anything else.

"Oh my god, Mr. Iver, I'm so sorry. I completely forgot to tell you that he was awake." I apologised.

"Well I'll give you two some space." I got of and walked out, gently closing the door on my way out.

I was still bursting with happiness over Gerald's recovery, it was probably the best thing that's happened to me in a long time.

I grabbed my phone and dialled Nate's number, ready to share the good news with him.

Ring! Ring! Ring!

After the fourth ring he picked up.

"Hey sunshine, what's up?" He greeted.

"Guess what?!" I happily said.

"Well your tone sounds really happy so I'm guessing Gerald has regained consciousness?"

"Yes!" I said shrilly. "And the doctor said that he's recovering really well which means he can leave the hospital in under a week."

"That's good, at least you can start eating more and put on some pounds; you've lost way too much weight in these past three months."

Nate was right, I've barely been eating since Gerald's accident, which led to unnecessary weight loss. I've lost a good few pounds and I was just too skinny, I hated my current body shape.

"Thankfully Christmas is coming so I can stuff my face with turkey and pudding."

He laughed. "Yeah and I'm going to make sure you eat a whole turkey all by yourself."

"Are you insane? That's way too much food. I can't eat that much." I chuckled.

"Anyway I'll speak to you later." I told him.

"Alright. Bye."

"Bye." I smiled and ended the call.

_____