I stuffed the note in my pocket, making a run towards the staircase. I didn't even bother to lock the main door. Being robbed away would be so much better than having Rowan shoot a bullet through his head. I would just be robbed off my happiness instead; a burglar cleaning up the entire apartment seemed quite a trivial matter at the moment.

I was panting the minute I reached the underground parking, I searched the dim lot for the silver Rover but it wasn't visible. The security guard seemed to be snoring loudly, I poked him with my finger, "Did you see Rowan?"

He was a timid man, almost floating in his over-sized clothes like he'd rented some of a sumo wrestlers clothes. As soon as his eyes rose to mine, he stood up at once, "yes, he seemed in a hurry and asked me for the back gate access."

What the heck is going on?

"Thanks."

I left the building parking lot and made a beeline for the road, mentally calculating how much time I had between finding Rowan and kicking his butt into oblivion. If he was so persistent on dying then I'd rather do him a favour and kill him myself. I walked towards the busy road where I could find a cab. The street lights were the only life that remained on the streets, the roads were dead and the people had already drifted away in third world. A cab zoomed by who ignored my waving arm; a second one came to a halt right in front of me. I hopped in and told him to drive in the general direction Rowan would have driven in.

The cab driver turned to me, ninety- nine percent of his hair was white, and his gray eyes were a contrast "Is there a problem?"

"My boyfriend he.." I swallowed the bile that rose deep in my throat, "I'm not sure where he went."

"Men are complicated but if you do manage to figure out their source of the problem, you're good. Ask my wife; she'll tell you" He chuckled softly, "he'll come back if he loves you."

That was the killer question. Will Rowan make it back alive?

The large elm trees whipped with the force of the wind, swaying from one side to another---almost like dancing to a song, celebrating a victory for my loss. A slow old song drifted from the stereo.

"Take a right." My instinct told me that. "A little slow here."

The car cruised around slowly, my eyes travelling in every possible direction. I noticed a car parked further down the road, I squinted for a better vision. As the cab neared the clearing, the car became bigger and I noticed the glimmer of the silver Rover. "Stop near the car."

I scuffled in my pocket and found a crumbled note which I pushed into the cab driver's hands.

"No..No..No. keep it." he smiled at me warmly and instead reached to his dash board and handed a card into my shaky fingers, "It's not safe for a girl to be travelling alone at night. My daughter is the same age as you."

John Martin the card read, "Thank you, John."

"Call me anytime." I nodded as I hopped off the car.

I made a run towards the clearing like a bat out of hell and gasped as the bonnet of the car came into view. It didn't take me a second to recognize the familiar name plate. The metal had been heinously mangled into the breach of the tree. Pieces of glass covered the ground; my heart began thumping faster when I neared the side of the car. The car door had a large dent, I managed to jerk the door open and my head began spinning, overcoming with fear at the ghastly spectacle. The airbag had blown up from the dashboard, a coat of blood smeared across it and Rowan remained stranded between the catastrophe. The glass was missing from the windshield, the remaining half jagged like a spider web. Rowan's forehead rested on the wheel.

"Rowan..." my voice came out in a choked muffle, I pulled his heavy body off the wheel, the side of his head was caked in fresh blood, and a chunk of glass had sliced through his shoulder blade, tearing through his skin. I picked on it and pulled it out.

"Baby, I'm here. Wake up." I patted his cheek; blood covered my hands. I wiped my hands on my t-shirt, putting Rowan's arm around my shoulder and tried to drag him out of the car. Being in a state of unconsciousness had turned him heavier than usual.

I watched the cab driver from earlier making a run towards me, "I'll help you get him in the car."

Together we slumped Rowan inside the car; the man was kind enough to hand me a bottle of water. I sprinkled the droplets on Rowan's face but he didn't move. His eyes remained closed. He lied in the back seat with me in an obvious discomfort, his head cradled in my lap. I brushed his hair away from his forehead in soft strokes. I peeled away his shirt in haste, tore a smaller piece and wrapped it tight around his shoulder to stop the bleeding. I firmly pressed the other half to his forehead.

The only thing that hadn't pushed me into a whirlwind of tears was the fact that he was breathing but what if I'm too late? What if something happens to him before I reach the hospital?

I took Rowan's hands into mine and squeezed them, "You're going to live through this. I promise."

***

John helped me get Rowan admitted into the hospital, he asked me if there was anything else he could do but I told him I had everything under control and that he could be on his way. He took my word for it and left. So basically I was alone for the time being. The doctors questioned me how I had found him and eyed me dubiously, I couldn't blame them though. What with my current state of affairs and my obvious messed up condition. I was a worst case of out of whack. The doctors informed me that I had brought him right on time; if the treatment would have been delayed by another minute, Rowan's heart could have stopped beating eventually.

The doctors were rushing him from the E.R to the I.C.U. The door shut on my face so I had no option other than sneaking a peek from the little oval see through. Several masked people surrounded the hospital bed; Rowan's body marred a lot of scars. A bunch of wires connected from Rowan's body to the ventilator. The monitor screen on the top beeped with perfect sync with my heart rate. The masked doctor who'd spoken to me earlier attached two pad like things to Rowan's bare chest and withdrew shouting a loud, "Clear."

Rowan's body convulsed with the shocks. The Doc repeated the procedure, I backed away. I knew I would have a panic attack if I witnessed it any longer.

A body covered in white sheet reeled away on a stretcher. A young blond woman hugged a middle aged man, as she began weeping loudly.

My phone vibrated in my pockets so I made my way outside the I.C.U wing and settled into a plastic chair just close to the doors, "Dwight."

"Where are you? I let myself into Rowan's apartment since it was open and Rowan's car isn't in the parking lot."

"Dwight, I'm in the hospital." A dull ache settled inside my body. I gave him the details about everything else.

"Okay. Just hold on for a few minutes."

***

The atmosphere in the hospital was making me sick, I'd run numerous times to the restroom feeling nauseous but I could only produce dry heaves. I turned the faucet, running the cool water on my hands, a trail of red blood disappeared into the sink. Rowan's blood. I splashed some water onto my face, and then dried it off with paper towels. The minute I stepped out of the restroom, my eyes zeroed on Dwight who emerged through the door, immaculate as ever, he walked briskly towards me.

"Are you alright?" Dwight asked me anxiously, taking in my dishevelled appearance.

The tears streamed down again, I couldn't hold in any longer---- I didn't give a rat's ass about who was paying attention to us. Dwight pulled me close, wrapping his arms around me. I squeezed my arms around his, clinging on his crisp shirt tightly. He stroked my back and murmured, "I'm sorry." I felt better, protected and someone to rely on. The fact that I had someone else to share my sorrow with was soothing.

He pulled me apart and sat me on the chair, "Just sit here for a minute, I'll go talk to the doc."

"Don't go."

He smiled nervously, "I'll be back in no time. Just a minute."

Like he'd promised he returned a minute later with a cup which he handed to me, I shook my head, "You look like someone who's walked right out of the morgue. You need to drink this."

I smiled nervously, accepting the cup and taking a sip. Dwight perched on the empty seat beside me. I laced my fingers through his. He looked at our interlocked fingers sceptically and turned to face me, "Dad and mom are on their way, they should be here any minute. I told them to pick up Minnie from Cary's."

I nodded, "what did the doctors say?"

"I'm not gonna lie to you Alana, but his condition is still critical. He's lost a lot of blood."

"Is there anything I can do?" I asked him.

"Yeah, you can donate an organ or two maybe." when Dwight noticed I hadn't recollected the joke, he patted on my head, "Haven't you already done enough? Besides, everything is being taken care of. You don't need to worry."

A minute of awkward silence later I said, "I want to go see Rowan."

He shook his head, "I'm sorry, Alana, but they only permit family at the moment."

"I have to see him, Dwight. Please."

"Tomorrow you'll see Rowan. I promise." He brushed a tear before it grazed my cheek, "I just want to thank you for everything, Alana, for looking out for him. You did something that I don't think Drew could have managed to do. It takes some balls to fight for the things you love and that's what makes you a very brave woman. Rowan is a lucky bastard and I'm gonna make sure he becomes aware of that."

"You're just being modest, Dwight." My throat was stinging, these stupid tears didn't stop pouring, "I swore I'd protect him but look what've done. I have driven him over the edge, forced him to commit suicide. How could I live with myself knowing the fact? I failed you Dwight, you and Claire."

He squeezed both my hands in his, "You make us proud. I will forever remain in your debt for saving my brother's life. I've already lost one, I couldn't lose Rowan too."

Dwight's eyes travelled away from me, I spun around in the direction he was looking in and saw the Master's family materialize from the long passageway. Mrs Masters's eyes were swollen from all the crying, she looked older somehow, the glow that I'd seen the last time had vanished. She grabbed for my hands and cupped my face with the other, "Thank you."

Mr Masters gave me a small nod as he transferred the sleeping Minnie into Dwight's arms and barged through the doors into the I.C.U wing. Mrs Master's followed suit after giving my hand a tight squeeze assuring me that she'd be back.

"Alana, I'll drop you back to the dorms." Dwight offered.

"What? I'm not leaving, I need to stay back."

Was he mutated by alien forces? How can I even think of leaving Rowan?

Dwight shook his head in annoyance, "we're gonna be here. You don't need to pull an all- nighter with us. You're just gonna wake up half dead tomorrow morning. So I suggest you take some rest tonight and be back tomorrow. I'll make some arrangements for the visitation."

Dwight's tone had reached a higher pitch since the child in his arms made some moment. Minnie's head blobbed up from Dwight's shoulder, she began scanning her surroundings in obvious confusion, rubbed her eyes with her tiny hands, "Daddy."

We could have a problem here.

Her exploration paused at me, "Alana, wed iz daddy?"

"Daddy's gonna be back in some time, he is just downstairs."

Her lower lip quickened, snot forming in her nose, "I wan daddy."

"Come let's go buy ice-cream." Dwight tried.

"I wan daddy." She repeated bursting into loud sobs.

"Okay, here. I'll call him." I did a fake imitation of punching in Rowan's number, "Hello, yes. Rowan? Just don't bring that Barbie doll house, yes, Minnie can't stop crying."

Minnie stopped crying, "She is becoming a bad girl."

"I'm not cying, Alana, see?"

"Oh she stopped crying, yeah, Okay. Come fast now, we are waiting. See ya."

"Daddy binging the houze?"

"Ofcourse." Gary Masters walked back to us, taking Minnie back in his arms.

"Dad, you're Rover is toast." Dwight informed apologetically, "I checked it on my way."

"The Rover doesn't matter, just as long as Rowan is fine." Mr Masters continued, "I doubt the insurance company can fix it anyway."

"Right." Dwight turned to me, "Come on, I'll take you back to the dorms." Before I could protest he said, "I will come and pick you up first thing in the morning."

"No, don't worry. I will get a ride with Chez in the morning."

Dwight smiled in response as he led me outside the hospital and inside the parking lot. We trotted around the parking lot and I heard the car unlock somewhere. He halted right in front of a slick black bmw sedan.

"Nice ride." I complimented.

He grinned at me, "Thanks."

The rich scent of leather engulfed me. The minute my butt hit the soft seat, I dozed off into a domain of happy dreams.

****

A/N: Hey guys, I hope you liked this chapter, as usual, please vote and comment if you enjoyed.