EMMA

"Doctor, what's his status?", Emma asked, as a doctor came out of the operation room.

The doctor looked at her sadly, "He was in the area of maximum impact. His heart beat is slowing down constantly. I cannot say anything for sure right now", and with that, he went into some other room.

Emma's heart sank. Matt's heart rate, maximum impact, that car...

Emma sat down, put her head in her hands and tried to stop her mind from replaying the incident in her head. But it was no use. Every time she closed her eyes, she would see those bright headlights and Matt lying unconscious in the car, his beautiful face covered in blood.

And it was because of her.

If she hadn't called him at that moment, Matt would be completely alright, celebrating the full ride to Duke.

Oh, God, if he got some permanent damage, would Duke rescind the scholarship?

Matt wouldn't be able to go to his dream college because of Emma.

A single hot tear somehow managed to slide down Emma's tear-dried eyes. She had done this to Matt. It was all her fault that he was on the verge of dying.

So as soon as Will came to the hospital, Emma got up and left.

She was bad luck. She couldn't be around Matt. Otherwise bad things would keep happening to him. And Matt didn't deserve that.

PENNY

Penny ran into the hospital, asked for Matt and ran to the operation theatre, where she found Will sitting in a chair nearby, his head down, tears from his eyes dripping onto the floor.

She sat down next to him.

"What happened?", Penny asked, " I rushed as soon as I got your text."

Will looked up, "H-he got hit by a car in front of the café. Emma got him here in her car."

Penny sat back, shocked, "Do you know who did this?"

"Emma said she memorised the car number", Will replied.

"Where is she, by the way?", Penny asked.

"She left five minutes after I came", he said, "I don't know why."

"Weird", said Penny, "she must have to be somewhere."

"Doctors said his heart rate is slowing down. They said they are going to use cardio-version to restart his heart beat", Will said, another tear rolling down his cheek.

Penny could feel her eyes burn too. Matt could die. No, but he won't. Matt was a strong guy and he had too much to lose. He would come back, Penny was sure of it.

And then Hannah burst into the corridor and ran towards them. Matt's mother followed her, holding Erica and David's hand. The twins, Quinn and Derek, both twelve years old, followed their mother, holding each other's hands.

Hannah gripped Penny's shoulder, "Where is he? What happened?", she said, tears shining in her hands.

"He is in the operation theatre right now", Penny said.

"What did the doctors say?", Mrs. Lewis asked.

Penny went over and whispered in her ear, "His heart rate is slowing down. They are planning to restart it with a shock. Please don't tell this to them. They cannot say for sure, whether he will live or not."

Penny regretted saying all that, when Mrs. Lewis let go of her children's hands and burst into crying.

Erica tugged at her mother's sleeve, "It's okay, Mommy. Matty will be just fine. He will come home tomorrow to make pancakes. He will never miss Pancake Thursday."

Listening to that, Penny felt hollow inside. How could she tell the little child that Matt's chances of survival were slim. How could she tell Erica that Matt might never make pancakes again. Tears threatened to spill, but she steeled herself. She had to be strong for them.

Hannah, however, was unable to do that. She ran down the corridor and into the bathroom, her hand on her mouth.

"W-why did she run away?", Quinn asked, fiddling with her long blonde hair.

"She doesn't want to cry in front of us, Q", Derek said, putting his hand around her shoulder.

"Derek, Quinn, honey, why don't you go along with Will to get us some coffee?", said Mrs. Lewis, furiously brushing away her tears.

Will put his hands in his pockets and walked with Derek and Quinn to the coffee machine.

"Derek, is a...practical young man", said Mrs. Lewis, wiping another tear.

"I see that", Penny said, trying for a smile.

David took hold of Penny's wrist, and she looked down to see him looking at her with big green eyes, "Matty is just sick right? Then why did Hannah run away?"

"Oh...um H-Hannah thought she would get sick too", lied Penny.

"Does that mean we all will get sick too?", asked David.

"No. Hannah is j-just a s-scaredy cat", Penny said.

"Mommy don't cry. See, Penny just said Matty is sick. If we make him eat apples, he will become alright again", said Erica.

Mrs. Lewis started crying again, and Penny sat down next to her and took her hand.

"Mrs. Lewis, please don't cry. How will the children stay strong if the mother breaks down?", Penny said, "We just have to believe that Matt will fight through."

Mrs. Lewis nodded and wiped her tears with a handkerchief as Derek, Quinn and Will returned, holding cups of coffee in each hand. Penny locked eyes with Will, asking a silent question. He nodded slightly.

"If you'll excuse me", said Penny, and walked to the reception and out into the balcony.

And she let all the tears fall out. She cried, and cried, till she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned around to see Kyle standing behind her, his expression grim. And she wrapped her arms around his waist. He pulled her closer as he wrapped his arms around her shoulder, his chin resting on her head. He stroked her hair, as she continued to cry in his arms.

Finally, when her eyes started aching from crying, she looked at Kyle, "Why aren't you crying?"

"You were strong for them. Someone has to be strong for you too", said Kyle, "Come on, now. Matt's family needs us more."

WILL

"Please Hannah, be strong", said Will, stroking Hannah's hair as she sobbed into his shoulder.

"Hannah, don't cry. Matty's gonna be just fine", said Erica, with a lot of confidence.

"Come on, Hannah. Be strong for your sister", Will said.

Hannah pulled away and nodded. She ran a hand through her golden brown hair and wiped her tears, then smiled at Erica, "Yes, Eri, he's gonna be just fine", she looked at David, "let's all close our eyes and say a small prayer that Matty gets well in time for Pancake Thursday."

David nodded, "Yes, because you make terrible pancakes."

Will laughed weakly and Hannah poked David in the stomach, making the little guy giggle.

"Where is Emma?", Erica asked.

"I like Emma", said David, putting a finger in his mouth, his cheeks red, "she's pretty."

Will smiled, "She was here before, but she had some work. So she left."

"Aw", said David, looking so disappointed that Will took his phone out to call Emma and let David talk to her, but then he saw Shane and Kevin walking towards them, and ran over to meet them. 

Shane patted Will on the back, "Kyle filled us in. You want us to do anything?"

Erica walked over to him, "Can you get candy for me? Mommy gives me very little", she said, in a loud whisper,

Shane smiled, "Sure, shorty. Anything for my favourite girl. Which one do you want?"

"I want Snickers. It is Matt's favourite", Erica said.

Shane's smile disappeared and he looked at Will, his eyes full of pain. Will understood how Shane was feeling. These kids were terrified, but they were trying to be strong for their mother. Matt couldn't leave his siblings who loved him so much. So Will nodded at Shane and Shane's smiled reappeared.

"And what does Little D.Lewis want here?", he asked David.

"I want M and M's. Lots of M and M's", David said, looking at Shane and Kevin pleadingly.

Kevin smiled, "Why don't you both come with us? I saw a vending machine right after we came onto this floor."

"Sure!", they both said, and followed Shane and Kevin.

As Shane and Kevin left, Penny and Kyle came from the other side. Kyle went and gave Mrs. Lewis a hug, and Penny sat down next to Hannah, who put her head on Penny's shoulder.

A few moments later, the door flew open and a stream of doctors came out.

One of them walked over to Will, "His limbs and ribs are perfectly fine. No fractures of any sort. But his heart and lungs are in a fragile state. It is a good thing though, that you brought him in in minimum time. But we still cannot be sure whether...", the doctor trailed off.

Will pushed the door open and walked into the room to see Matt lying in a snow white bed, wearing a blue hospital robe. There were various tubes attached to his wrists, and an oxygen mask covered his mouth. His face had an angelic expression, and he looked like he was sleeping, rather than he had an accident.

And that expression scared Will to death.

Will couldn't see Matt like this. No, Matt should be up, partying and getting drunk, then throwing up in a flowerpot. He should not be lying on a hospital bed with an oxygen mask on his mouth. He loved the annoying Matt more, who was always enthusiastic and did not think before he spoke. Silent Matt was a bit tough to be around.

A machine showing his heart rate was beeping softly in a corner. Ans Will's heart sank when he noticed that Matt's heart rate was very slow.

"You can't leave me now, you asshole", Will whispered, taking one of Matt's hands as he sat down next to his bed, "Wake up. You need to go practice. Duke just took you in, you can't be sloppy, can you?"

No answer. The only sound was the beeping of the machine.

The door opened a few moments later and Mrs. Lewis entered along with Derek and Q. She looked at Matt's limp body, put a hand on her mouth and went away, her sobs still echoing in Will's head.

Penny sat down next to Matt opposite to Will and took his other hand, and rubbed her hand against it.

"Wake up, idiot. We have a State Championship to win. I don't want to play with Lee as the point guard. Wake up!", she said.

"Hey Matt, come on man, wake up. You need to take me to that baseball game, don't you remember?", said Derek, putting a hand on Matt's shoulder.

Quinn just closed her eyes and pinched herself. Then when she opened her eyes and looked at Matt again, she started crying into Derek's shoulder, "So this is real. This is not a nightmare, Derek."

"No, it's not Q. But we need to fight this and have faith", said Derek, with finality in his tone.

Q nodded and wiped her tears, "You see Matt. I will make this place so pretty that Hannah's bedroom will be jealous."

Penny laughed slightly, "I'll help you with that."

The door opened again and Shane and Kevin walked in, one holding Erica's hands and the other holding David's hand.

Erica walked to the bed and shook Matt's hand, "Wake up, Matty, it's time to go home. We have to watch Peppa Pig", then she looked at Penny, "why isn't Matty waking up?"

"He's um, really tired. So he'll sleep longer than usual", lied Penny, looking sadly at the small girl.

"But Matty sleeps a lot. So will he sleep forever then?", Erica asked.

Penny shook her head vigorously, "N-No, no, he'll wake up soon. You'll see."

Are you guys crying? Please tell me you are.

Okay that sounds bad. Its just that I've worked a little extra hard on this chapter...

Please don't think I'm a psychopath :)