Rosenthal closed the door behind him. I sighed deeply and allowed myself to cry. I carefully took Joey's Hand and stroked it with my thumb. Meredith asked the right question earlier. Why Joey? Joey deserved all the good in the world. I didn't want any compensation for pain and suffering and I was sure that Joey didn't want any either. What I wanted, what we all wanted, was for Joey to get back on his feet. Joey loved fooling around with all of us, he missed that and many other things. I was convinced of that. Did he somehow notice that we were there? Probably not. A question that comes on the list. The list of questions I want to ask Joey when he wakes up. If he wakes up again. Damn it no Lauren! Don't even start thinking like that! He will wake up, soon. He just needs time.

"I'll visit you again tomorrow," I said aloud to him, then I kissed his forehead. It felt nice. I smiled sadly at him and really left. Everyone was waiting in front of the door. It was now eight thirty. Rosenthal put an arm around me and we left. In front of us, Brian had an arm around Meredith, as Rosenthal did with me, and Jaime was walking beside them. And again, a place in our ranks was unoccupied.

"What are you thinking?" Asked Rosenthal after some time.

"What if he... well... what if he dies?" I trailed off.

"No, Lo. That's as unlikely as... oh, I don't know. But please do me a favor and don't think about it anymore. You would do yourself a favor too"

I nodded. He was right, it was unlikely.

"Thanks, Bri. I just needed to hear that. It's just... I'm scared of losing him. Is that selfish?"

"No, Lo, not at all. We are all scared. And now try not to think about it anymore"

We walked the rest of the way in silence. We had decided we all wanted to go to Holden. He had the largest apartment of all of us and we didn't want to spend the night alone. I was grateful for that.

"Do we have to let Joey's parents know?" Jaime asked at some point.

Oh shit! Of course, we didn't have to, but we would anyway. If we didn't let them know until the next day or even later, they'd rip our heads off.

"Are you already on vacation? Does anyone know?" I asked. Everyone shook their heads.

"Should we just try to call them?"

"We have to" Brolden didn't sound keen.

I sighed. It wasn't going to be easy.

"Does anyone have their number?" Meredith asked.

"Yeah, me. Joey gave it to me for emergencies" I replied.

I dialed the number. Why did I have to do this? Well, I could ask one of the others to do it. But no, I can do it!

It rang. It rang. It rang. It rang. It rang.

"Hello, Richter", Joey's mother said.

"Hello, Mrs Richter. It's Lauren. Lopez."

"Oh, good to hear you, Lauren. But how often should I tell you to call me Denise"

"Yes, of course, Denise. Sorry"

"Doesn't matter. So, is there any reason you're calling?" Then, before I could answer, she called into the apartment, probably to Joey's father, "It's Lauren!"

The others looked at me questioningly, but I didn't give them any explanations. I had to prepare myself mentally for what I had to say to her right away.

"So, Denise," I started seriously. I heard Denise on the other end of the line get serious too. "Joey had an accident. We thought you should know about it. He is in the hospital, still unconscious. I'm sorry"

Denise had gone very quiet and said nothing for a while.

"Denise?" I asked.

"And... and do you know anything else? How did this happen? What happened anyway?"

I briefly told her the whole story. "I'm sorry that your vacation is going to be so sad now"

"What are you talking about? We can't possibly go on vacation now. We will come to you as soon as possible"

"Yes of course. To be honest, I would have been a little surprised"

"Maybe we'll be with you tomorrow evening. We'll look for flights right away"

"Yes, do that. We'll keep you posted"

"Thank you. And good night"

"Good night," then I hung up.

"Well done. What are they doing now?" Brolden asked. They hadn't heard what Denise had said, of course.

"They will be here as soon as possible, maybe they will be here by tomorrow evening"

"Good. Come on let's try to get some sleep"

We all spread across the living room. Brian had two couches, both of which had room for two. On one of them, Brolden and Meredith lay cuddled together. Meredith had her head on Brian's chest and Brian had his arms around her and pulled her close to make sure she didn't fall off. Both of them fell asleep almost immediately and now Mere's head was pacing up and down because of Brian's regular calm breathing.

On the other couch, Jaime and Rosenthal lay cuddled together, too, but in a different way than the other two. More like friends, while Brian and Meredith... wait what? Brian and Meredith liked each other?! Yes, of course, but that way?

I was too tired to think about it any longer. I had got hold of a very cozy and warm blanket and an equally comfortable pillow and made myself comfortable on the carpet. But I couldn't sleep. I had too many thoughts in my head. Would the people at the hospital call us as soon as Joey woke up? Or would they wait until the next day? I would love to cuddle up to Joey now, just like Meredith did. The thought made my heart beat faster. Why? We'd done this so many times when we had all had a sleepover. Well yeah, I had a crush on him, I admitted that some time ago, but that will pass again. But could I really like him that way? Wait!? No, this could not be. I didn't like him that way. We are best friends. I don't have such strong feelings for him, no.

Or maybe, yes?

Oh no. I already have enough worries. I don't have a head right now to clarify my feelings about Joey. That had to wait for later.

"Lo?" Rosenthal asked from the darkness.

"Hm"

"Can't you sleep?"

I shook my head, then realized that he couldn't see me. "No"

"What can I do for you?"

"Can you come down to me?"

I heard the blanket rustle, then footsteps. Brian lay down next to me and I let him under the covers and snuggled up against him. We lay there for a while, neither he nor I fell asleep.

"You like him, don't you? Joey?"

I swallowed. I had just considered this possibility myself and Brian was already asking me that. Had everyone else figured this out long before I did?

"Of course, I like him. We are best friends," I replied.

"That's not what I mean. Do you like him in the sense of: Do you have feelings for him?"

I stared into the darkness. "I don't know. I just asked myself that too. I've had this crush on him for a while, but I always thought it would go away again. So I cannot confirm it, but I cannot deny it either. I have to think about it, then maybe I can give you an answer"

We were silent for quite a while. There was nothing to be heard except the regular breathing of Brian, Meredith and Jaime.

"And you? Do you have feelings for him?" I asked for fun.

Even though it was dark, I could tell he was looking at me in disbelief. Then we both laughed, albeit softly.

"For a moment I thought you were serious," he laughed.

"I was," I replied but we continued laughing. After some time, we felt silent again.

"You know, Brian, you're a great friend. I just wanted to say that" Then I snuggled up against him again and we both fell asleep soon.