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Of all the things Hayden Pegg could've said to me, that was probably the thing that I was least expecting.

He could have said he was leaving the industry to join a puppet theatre and I would've been less floored.

"Umm, my dad drove us here, but I don't have a license. I'm only sixteen."

He smiled a little bit. "But I do. All I need is keys."

I recovered from my shock, and realized how ridiculous this whole situation was. "And why on earth would I give you my car?"

He looked at me as if he was looking straight into my soul. "I need to get somewhere right now. I came by limo. If I ask anyone else here, the paparazzi will make a big deal about me leaving with them. You're not famous. They won't know who you are. You're my only option, little Ms. Bing"

He finished his mini speech, and his loom turned desperate. "Please."

I hesitated, not sure what to do.

"If you do this, I'll pay you. I'll get you tickets to any concert you want. I'll give you cash. Whatever you want. Just give me this ride."

I'd never seen someone who looked so desperate. He looked like an innocent puppy.

"How long will this take?"

He grinned, a real genuine smile. Not one of his signature smirks. "Forty minutes tops. It sounds like a long time, but the awards will go on for at least another hour and a half."

"And what am I supposed to tell my family and Max? How am I even going to get the keys?"

Hayden shrugged. "Beats me."

I rolled my eyes. What a helpful guy.

"Wait here. I'll be back with the keys in five."

°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

I walked back to my table, acting as if nothing was wrong. My dad was sitting at the table, tapping his fingers to the beat of the song.

"Hey Dad, I'm not feeling great. I'm gonna go sit outside for a little bit. Get some fresh air."

He looked at me, worried. "Do you want to go home? We can leave right now if you want to."

"No," I said hurriedly. "I mean, I'll be fine once I freshen up a bit. Don't worry about me."

He nodded. "Whatever you say, Jewel Bear."

When he turned back to the direction of the stage, I ducked under the table. Thank God for my dad's purse.

He would claim it was a satchel, and it was a very manly thing, but no matter what he called it, it was a purse.

Still, it was definitely coming in handy now. I don't know what I would have done if my dad's car keys had been in his pocket. I reached for the front pocket where I knew he kept them, and then walked out of the room, as if I hadn't done anything wrong.

When I got to the hallway where I had left Hayden, I tossed him the keys.

"Let's get this show on the road, Pegg."

In return he tossed me back sunglasses, which caused me to raise an eyebrow at him.

"You don't want to risk people recognizing you," he explained.

He put on a hat, and with that we walked outside.

I could tell something was wrong with him. In my opinion, something was always wrong with him since he thought he was better than Max Bing, but right now it was more than that.

He looked as if he had just witnessed a murder, and his hands were shaking.

We got into the car, and he turned to me abruptly. "Thanks. I know you didn't want to do this, and you're probably regretting it right now."

I thought for a moment. Was I regretting this? I was missing the TSAs, which obviously wasn't something I was thrilled about, but I was also having a once in a lifetime experience. I mean, how many people can say that they snuck out of an award show with their enemy, who happens to be one of the biggest names in Hollywood.

"Where are we going?" I finally asked. We had been driving for about three minutes in silence, and for all I knew, he was taking me to some dungeon where he hides his prisoners.

"The hospital," he responded shortly.

I didn't know what to say. What could make a guy like him leave an award show to go to a hospital? Who was there that he so desperately needed to see?

Now I was slightly regretting choosing to come. I wasn't exactly fond of hospitals.

I didn't say anything, and neither did he. We drove for another four or five minutes until we reached the hospital, and he pulled into a parking spot.

I wasn't sure if I was supposed to come. I was planning on just waiting in the car for him. The only reason I had come and not just given him the keys was to make sure I got the car back. It was none of my business what he was doing here.

Apparently Hayden disagreed. "You coming, short stuff?"

I nodded, and got out of the car, leaking next to him. I had forgotten that he didn't even know my name. Then again, why would he? It wasn't like we were friends, and after tonight, we would probably never see each other again.

We walked through the long hallways of the hospital, to the room that Hayden was looking for.

He had clearly been there before, because he had approached the front desk and just said he was visiting, and the woman nodded, without asking who he was or if he needed to know what room to go to.

Finally, Hayden stopped in front of a room.

"I'll wait outside," I said.

"No. I need someone with me so that I won't lose it."

That wasn't the response I was expecting, but I wasn't in a position to argue. It was an unspoken rule. You always do what people want when you're in the hospital.

As I walked in, I had to cover my mouth to stop me from gasping. We were in a room with three little girls, all bald, and one of them was hooked up to more machines than I could count, and was breathing heavily.

The memories were flooding my brain. I almost passed out.

A woman in her mid forties got up out of her seat, and pulled Hayden into a hug. "Hayde, you made it. Thank you."

"Course, Mama. Why wouldn't I be here?"

The woman who was apparently Mrs. Pegg still looked worried. "But the awards-"

"Don't matter as much," Hayden said, finishing his mother's sentence. "How is she?"

I had never felt more uncomfortable in my life. I hadn't realized what I had gotten myself into when I agreed to give him a lift.

Hayden's mother forced a smile. "Better than she was when I called you. She's gonna make it through the night, but they dont know how much longer."

Hayden closed his eyes tightly, as if that would make all of this not real, and everything would be okay if he just kept his brown eyes shut.

For the first time, Hayden's mother noticed me. "Who's this, Hayden? Do you have a new girlfriend?"

Hayden laughed. "No mama, this is just my ride. Her name's, um... She's..."

It seems to have just dawned on him that he didn't know my name.

"I'm Julia," I said. "And I'm sorry for intruding."

Hayden's mother smiled. "I'm Jackie, nice to meet you. And no problem, Any friend of my son's is a friend of mine. Even if he wasn't chivalrous enough to ask their name," she said, glaring pointedly at her son when she said the last sentence.

I almost told her that we weren't friends, and that I wasn't even a fan of his, but the children's department of the hospital didn't feel like the right place for that.

Hayden went to sit on the bed with the girl with the machines, and started talking quietly to her.

It was hard to tell how old she was, since she was so frail right now, but if I had to guess, I would say around eleven or twelve. She had the same big brown eyes that Hayden had, but unlike his, which always looked like he was saying something sarcastic and funny, hers looked happy, yet broken.

I didn't know someone could have both emotions at the same time, but looking around I noticed that the other girls in the room had the same look in their eyes. I had a feeling that this wasn't the room of people who were going to recover.

As Hayden spoke to the girl who I assumed was his sister, I spoke to his mother. It took approximately three seconds for her to start telling me about what a cute baby Hayden had been. By the end of the conversation, I had learned all of Hayden's allergies, and seen four bath pictures from when he was a baby.

"Okay, Mama," a voice said from behind me. "I'm really sorry, but we need to head back. The awards are still going on."

I turned around."If you wanna stay here longer, that's fine. Don't ru-"

"It's fine," Hayden said sadly. "I need to get back too. Eventually, someone is going to notice that I'm missing."

I nodded, and grabbed my purse. "Nice meeting you, Jackie. I hope, um, I hope everything is okay."

I panicked. I knew that wasn't what you said to someone whose family member is sick, but I couldn't leave without saying anything.

She looked at me sadly. "It's not. But hopefully one day it will be."

With that, Hayden out a hand on my shoulder, letting me know that it was time to go.

The walk to the car was silent, but it wasn't like the silence on the way here. That had been the uncomfortable silence of two people who had nothing to say to each other.

This was the silence of people who had too much to say, that they couldn't get it out. This was the comfortable kind of silence where you just don't need words to say what you're both thinking.