I wanted to write more, but my brain's in a fog. Combination of a huge term paper, finals rearing their ugly heads and a tad of writers block. For those of you who are still reading, sorry this took so long, and I appreciate the comments so very much. It was those that made me haul this out and finish this part of it.

Another half-hour passed with no news. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Daria and Trent heard footsteps and looked up to see a tall, graying man in a white coat standing at the entrance of the small waiting room.

"Are you here about Ms. Lane?" the doctor asked, looking at them. Daria found this a very stupid question, being that they were the only people in the room, but she held her tongue. Being a smart ass wasn't important right now.

"I'm her brother," Trent said, sitting upright. The doctor smiled and sat down in a chair opposite them. Daria put her hand on Trent's shoulder and felt him put his hand over hers, holding it tightly. This was it; the moment of truth.

"Well, Mr. Lane, your sister, despite multiple broken bones, a few mild concussions and a small amount of internal bleeding, seems to be pulling though very nicely. We're going to keep her here, probably for about a week, just until all the dangerous problems are under control.

"You mean... She'll be alright?" Trent's haggard face broke into the warmest smile Daria had ever seen on him. He turned to Daria, wrapping his arms around her to hug her again. "She's gonna be alright," he repeated to himself again over Daria's shoulder. Daria just laughed in relief.

After a moment, the doctor cleared his throat, bringing the two back to earth. "She should be waking up soon. If you want, you can go see her now."

Trent nodded, standing up. Daria followed and the doctor looked at her. "Are you her sister?" he asked.

"Um… no I'm her friend," Daria said, her heart already sinking. She knew where this was going.

"I'm sorry, but only family can go into intensive care rooms."

"Oh," Daria said frowning. "Well I'll just wait..." but Trent stopped her and looked at the doctor.

"Daria's as close as a sister to Jane as anyone can get. She needs to come."

The doctor nodded. "I understand… but if anyone asks you, you are her sister," He said to Daria with a smile. "Please follow me; I'll take you to her."

As they walked out of the waiting room, Daria looked up at Trent and whispered, "Thanks." Trent just flashed a small smile.

The doctor was talking about Jane. "Apparently when the paramedics got to the scene she was still semi conscious and making jokes about her brother's car. She's a strong girl. That's always a deciding factor in cases like this." He stopped and opened a door, looking in. "Looks like she stirring. Go on in... But you probably shouldn't stay too long. About 15, maybe 20, minutes at most, then you can come back tomorrow."

"I would have figured you'd be the one with your feet, urm… foot up, while we were out there worrying." Daria said to her friend, who was lying in the hospital bed with her cast covered leg propped up. She noted that many of the major injuries seemed to be on her left side, including some cuts, most notably one large on her left cheek, that had been stitched up.

"Well you know me, amiga. Always lying about." Jane said, with a tired, pained smile. She hadn't been out of the anesthesia long and was still somewhat groggy.

Trent went to his sister's side and leaned over to kiss her forehead. "Hey Janey." Jane smiled up at him.

"How ya doing, bro?" Jane asked, moving her good arm to help her sit up, but not making much progress. "You don't look so good." She looked over at Daria. "Neither do you, as a matter of fact."

"You're one to talk," Daria said dryly, sitting in one of the chairs next to the bed.

"Hey, I went though a lot to get this look. What's your excuse?" Jane retorted in a friendly way. The lighthearted banter was doing them all good, assuring all three that Jane really was going to be ok.

Halfway home from the hospital, Daria realized she was in for it when she eventually went home. In the rush after Trent's call, she had left no indication of where she was going, taken the car and left. Her father had still been asleep, something that had been happening a lot since he had started the vacation for his stress that the doctors recommended. Her mother was long gone to work, but by now they would have realized that both the car and the eldest daughter were missing.

Thinking about the chaos that would ensue as soon as she contacted her family, Daria sighed to herself. Hearing this, the normally oblivious Trent looked up.

"What is it?" he asked as they pulled up in front of his house.

Daria looked over at him and turned off the car. "Are we going back to the hospital tomorrow?"

"Yeah," Trent said, and then added, "Well at least I am. But seeing as I don't have a car..." He trailed off. "I guess I could ask Max to borrow the Tank."

Daria sighed again. "I need to come in and borrow your phone," she said as they got out of the car. "Maybe I can convince my mother that this is a situation in which it would be alright to let me borrow the car for awhile. Dad's going to be at home working on his pesto and gumbo recipes for the next week or so." She paused for a moment, reflecting on what she had just said and what it meant. "Actually, do you think I could just sleep over here? I could stay in Jane's room, or if the paint fumes are too heavy I could stay in Penny's room like before or something. Then we could go back to the hospital whenever we want."

"I don't mind," Trent said opening the front door and leading the way into the house. "But isn't your mom kind of… well, uptight?"

Daria grimaced. "Yeah."

"Hello?" The voice on the other end of the phone was steeped in a slightly frantic undertone. Daria grimaced, wishing she had called home earlier to avoid this.

"It's me." She said, and moved the phone away from her ear a little as her mother's voice involuntary raised a few notches.

"Daria, thank God! What were you thinking taking the car and not leaving a note! You could have been dead on the road for all we knew..."

Daria broke in to her mother's rant, knowing she would go on forever if she wasn't stopped soon. "You're talking to the wrong person. Jane's in the hospital."

There was a pause from the other end. "My god, Daria, is she okay? Are you?"

"She was in Trent's car," Daria reassured her. "And the doctor said she should be alright. Trent called me this morning, so I took the car and we went to the hospital. Now I'm calling to ask if I can keep the car for awhile because I'm staying here tonight. I'll probably come by in a little while to get some extra clothes and stuff. See you then." She hung up before he mother could start again, partly because she knew Helen would ask about Trent and he had just walked into the room.

I know it's not the best read, but just think, the next scene will be Daria dealing with dear Helen. I know you all want to see that, so hold your stones. I will get more up A.S.A.P. I promise. Just think, only one more week, till I'm pretty much free for the summer. Then I can write to your hearts content.

Peace.

Out.

Kai