A/N: Back again! First, to my reviewers - Stars May Fall, Aniable, Emmafan, Guest (x2), Moonprincess92, and JRB - you're all stars and I'm so thankful that you keep reviewing, it really lets me know I'm on the right track. To inasentimentalmood, I'm so glad you found my fic and chapter five is one of my personal faves so I'm glad you liked it too.

As I said, I've never really tried anything like this before so hopefully it reads well but it's a hard topic to write about. But I'll let the fic speak for itself though, I just hope you like it!

And where would you go running to?

Alex tries to slow himself down but ends up sliding down the last hallway before he reaches his destination. He doesn't want to seem panicked, but the hallways are barely populated at such an early hour and most of the people he passes seem to understand what he's going through. But how could they possibly understand?

He reaches the place he's been searching for, and he takes a deep breath (he hadn't been aware that he'd been holding it in) when he sees Emma in the middle of the hall. It's relief that floods through him because at least he's found the right place. Though, he's surely the last person to arrive.

He walks somewhat quickly towards her and she half looks up at the sound of his footsteps. It seems to take a second for her to recognize him standing there and then before he can even greet her, she's wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Hey," he says softly, securing his arms around her waist. Emma doesn't reply though, just takes rather deep breaths behind his back, tightening her grip with each one. He decides to tuck his head into her neck and just let her breathe.

"I'm so sorry, Alex," she manages after a minute or so. Her voice doesn't sound like her own and it scares him as much as everything else had that day already.

"Hey," he repeats, pulling back from her so he can look her in the eye. She lowers her arms so they're resting in his hands. "He's going to be fine, Em."

"You don't know that, Alex," she's shaking her head at him. In fact, she's shaking all over and Alex is getting more worried. He's never seen her like this; Emma didn't get scared, she was the voice of reason that kept everyone else calm while the storm took place. She never falls apart.

"No, but I know my brother. He'll pull through this." Alex begins to realize that if, for whatever reason, Emma can't be strong right now, he would have to be strong for the both of them. For all of them, really. Speaking of which…

"Is everyone else here?" he asks as Emma pulls him back into a hug. He runs his hand up and down her back as he waits for a response.

"I didn't want Dad to make the drive, and having him here might have tested everyone's patience. But I'm keeping him up to date. Izzy, the kids, and your parents are in the room around the corner," she gestures to what Alex now takes in as the emergency waiting room, the place he had spent so long trying to find.

"How are they?"

Emma takes in another deep breath and Alex feels her shift against his chest. "Your parents are pretty shell-shocked, but coping. Emma and Henry are confused but miraculously on their best behaviour. And Izzy," Emma shakes her head against him, "she's…doing her best."

"Understandably," and he pulls back again to look at her face. "What were you doing out here?"

On her part, Emma looks a bit embarrassed, though it hardly showed under her overall appearance of being distraught. She won't meet his eye when she says, "I just felt so helpless siting there. I didn't want my sister seeing me like that. She needs me right now."

Alex moves to brush her hair behind her ear, "Then take whatever time you need. I'm going to go check in with everyone so they know I made it…you know what I mean."

She nods and turns up the corners of her mouth ever so slightly. "I'll be back, okay?" he asks, and she replies with more nodding.

He walks the extra couple steps to reach the waiting area and tries to locate his family before they see him. But, for all their good behaviour, Henry practically leaps off the chair towards him and Emma shrieks out his name with a huge smile on her infant face. That's the great thing about kids, they bounce back.

"Well, hello," Alex says, picking his nephew off his leg and walking to where Isabella was sitting. Henry gives a quick "Hi!" but soon gets distracted pulling at the tassels on his uncle's jacket. Alex takes a seat next to his sister-in-law as Emma strains across her lap, trying to grab a fistful of his pant leg.

"Alex, thank you for coming," she says, focused more on brushing Emma's hair back with her fingers than meeting his eye.

"He's my brother. It's the least I could do," he responds, just as his niece manages her way onto his lap. "Speaking of which, do you need me to take them off your hands for a bit?"

Isabella looks up at him then, seeming to realize for the first time that he was a fully functioning adult her children loved who could give her just a moment's rest. She smiles at him and he smiles back but then she shakes her head.

"No, it's fine. They're pretty subdued so long as you're not around," she realizes the implications of her words, "That's not what I meant!" Alex smiles again and shakes his head to say its fine. "Anyway, I'm trying to organize a sitter for them right now so you really don't have to worry about them."

"I'm not so worried about them," he looks her in the eyes pointedly but Izzy just moves to grab her daughter off of his lap. "Is there anything else I can do?"

Izzy pats down her daughter's hair for the umpteenth time before looking up at him again. "Find my sister. Please."

Alex did his best to convey confusion, "She just left to pick up everyone some water. I saw her when I came in, I was just wondering if maybe coffee and food were also in order?" It's a smooth lie and Alex is surprised with himself, but the words feel like what everybody needs to hear right then.

"Oh," Izzy says, as Alex drops Henry back onto the floor so he can return to sitting next to his mother. He had grown tired of Alex quicker than usual which may be yet another cause for worry. "No, I think water should be fine. Check with your parents though."

Alex looks over at the corner where his parents are looking out the windows of the waiting room. He figures they're still on edge from getting the call this morning, otherwise there would be no reason for them not to be with Isabella just then. Even still, he approaches them cautiously.

"Mom," he says, their backs still turned to him. However, they both turn at the sound of his voice and his mother makes a noise somewhat like the caw of a bird before pulling him into a bone crushing hug. He hugs her back just as tightly and looks up into the worried eyes of his father. Everything else about the man was calm, but Alex knows he's always been bad about hiding the truth in his eyes. And in that moment he can see what he's seen already three different times: the fear that John wouldn't wake up.

"How was traffic? You weren't stuck anywhere too long? I figured you and Emma would drive down together but she showed up without you and we weren't entirely certain what had become of you, Alex," his mother rattles off once she's let go of him and has now opted for holding his face in her hands.

"Traffic was fine, I just needed to get gas and the like. Emma wanted to be here as soon as possible for Izzy's sake. And, suffice it to say, we don't do everything together, Mom," he says, lightly pulling her hands off of his face. Alex was only waiting for her to make a comment about his morning scruff despite the circumstances.

"Alexander," his father reproached, in that tone of voice that doesn't quite sound like scolding but is in fact exactly what it is. Alex apologizes and says that he's only worried about John.

"We all are, but it doesn't give you any more right than the rest of us to be on edge," his father continues. "Your mother just wants to ensure you're safe, which you usually are when you're with Emma." Alex isn't sure where all these attachments to his friend are coming from but he understands the sentiment so he nods.

In truth, Alex hadn't needed to get gas or any other such trivialities. But when he had gotten off of the phone with Izzy, and subsequently a rather more hysterical Emma, he had just needed time to be on his own. Emma was right when she said he couldn't be certain his brother would be okay, so he needed to take his time to convince himself that John would be.

"Emma and I are doing a quick run for water and whatever else you may need. Mom, coffee, tea, anything?" Both his parents shake their heads but thank him anyway. Alex's father moves to sit on the couch next to his grandson while his mother grabs one of his hands lightly.

"I don't think she's handling this as well as she seems, so keep an eye on her, alright?" she says, and for a minute, Alex thinks she means Isabella. But then it clicks in his head and he nods, though he's not really sure what he could do on the whole Emma front. Her sister was the one who usually got Emma's head back on straight, but it wasn't as though he could ask for her help now.

So after double checking to make sure he knew what everybody wanted (which was nothing, though he planned to pick up something for little Henry and Emma), he left the waiting area "in search" of Emma.

He finds her in perhaps the most curious position he's ever found her in: sitting on the hospital floor with her head leaning against the wall. She reacts immediately when she recognizes his face in her limited range of vision, and it worries him more that she doesn't seem that embarrassed or awkward. Instead, she stands back on her feet and starts walking as though expecting him to follow. Which, he does.

"Where are we going?" he feels inclined to ask, shuffling beside her.

She turns to look at him briefly but continues walking. Then, she leans against his side and he moves his hand to the small of her back. They keep walking, seamlessly.

"I thought you knew? I thought you left with a purpose in mind?"

"So you just assumed my purpose was in this direction?"

Emma shrugs and Alex stops walking abruptly.

"Emma," he starts, but the rest of the words get lost because he doesn't know what to do. He has no idea what to say, she's the one who always fixes this kind of thing, he has no practice in it.

"What?" she asks when he doesn't continue. She moves out of the touch of his hand and faces him with her arms crossed.

"It's just me," Alex finally says. "You can be real around me."

Emma turns on her heel and continues walking, running her hand through her hair dismissively. "So where are we going?"

Alex sighs but follows after her anyways. His friend needs him right now, whether she knows it or not.

"The cafeteria. I told everyone you were picking up water," she raises an eyebrow at this. He shrugs in response and almost thinks she'll protest to his lie when suddenly she's smiling. Briefly and not too wide, but enough to make him breathe a bit easier.

As they walk, Emma fills him in on what they know about John. She begins with "Not much," and then tells him about the surgery and the possible problems that could arise in his heart and subsequently his brain. They wouldn't know how serious the damage was until he wakes up, which Emma assured him was a load of "Bullshit."

The word would seem foreign coming from her if it wasn't so feeble. There's no malice in it, and once she's said it, she's back to leaning against his shoulder, as if letting out such accusations was like letting out all her anger and then she had nothing left. Alex wraps his arm back around her, not sure what else needed to be said.

When they get to the hospital cafeteria, Emma trails behind him as he picks up a tray and begins walking through the numerous stations. He grabs the water first (five bottles piled on top of a tray looks a bit strange) and then starts looking around for other items to pick up. He's looking over the section with fruits when he senses Emma approach from beside him.

"What else were you asked to get?" she questions, as he picks up a container of 'fresh' tangerine slices.

"Nothing, but I don't think Henry and Emma are as numb as the rest of us that they won't start getting hungry soon," he says, replacing the tangerines and picking up a granny smith apple.

"Izzy always packs them food, no matter where they're off to. It's a mom thing," Emma reports, picking up a red apple herself and turning it over in her hands.

"Oh," Alex concedes, returning the apple to the counter and turning to face her full-on. "Well then, did you want anything?"

She returns her apple next to his, "No."

He laughs. "I definitely saw you eying that chocolate bar not five minutes ago."

"Did not!" Emma contradicts, pulling her brows together.

"Did to!" he responds, grinning at her. They stare at each other like that for a minute before they both laugh, feeling young again on a day that had already made them both feel so old.

"Okay, maybe I would like one," she concedes, rolling her eyes when his smile grows. He gestures to the rows with a face that said Pick away and receives a sharp poke in the shoulder.

Alex pays for the contents of his tray (the cashier doesn't even raise an eyebrow at the five bottles of water and a chocolate bar), and he and Emma take a seat at one of the tables by the window. Emma rips open the bar and begins breaking off pieces one at a time, staring out the window at nothing. Alex nurses his water and wonders if he should have gotten something to eat for himself.

Unexpectedly, after finishing the bar, Emma moves from her seat across Knightley to the one next to him. She leans against his shoulder again and begins picking at the lid of one of the water bottles he assumes she has now claimed as her own. The constant contact is getting him a bit on edge; he and Emma weren't known for their touchy-ness. When they were mocking each other, sure, or when they were drunk, most definitely, but never just normally. Alex knows the circumstances aren't normal – thankfully, his brother didn't get into car accidents on a day-to-day basis – but he wasn't sure that could well and truly explain all of it. But, no matter how awkward it may make him feel, he felt himself leaning into every touch – at the very least hoping they could somehow pass their strength between each other through the contact.

Suddenly, Emma's sitting very straight and staring ahead of her, "Can we go outside? Please."

Alex checks to see if she saw someone or if this really was just one of Emma's elaborate shifts of focus. Not recognizing anyone, he shrugs and mutters an off-handed, "Sure," before she is grabbing his wrist and pulling him through two of the big glass doors marked 'EXIT'.

It was still partially dark out. John had been rushed in at six this morning and Alex had arrived just after 7:30. There wasn't much to see either, aside from the usual morning traffic. But Emma ignored this and moved towards a ledge jutting out by the stairs they had just climbed down. She sits down on it, dangling her feet about two feet off the ground, holding her water bottle (unopened) against her leg. He watches her stare at the moving cars for a second or two before joining her on the ledge.

"You know I love John, right?" she says, suddenly, eyes not moving from the road.

Alex looks confused for a moment before understanding something for the first time that morning. So he replies, "Of course I do. He does too, and so does Izzy."

Emma nods but keeps looking ahead of herself. The silence stretches between them like taffy.

"She can't lose him, Alex. She just…can't."

"I know, but – "

"No, because no matter what I've said about him, I never thought he wasn't good for her," she's crushing the water bottle between her hands but she doesn't seem to notice. Alex places one of his hands over hers.

"Emma, no one thinks that. Everyone knows you just want what's best for Izzy. And that's not to lose John, especially not like this," she finally looks at him and it makes him continue talking. "John is the strongest person I know and he'll pull through this. He isn't leaving her, he never would."

"Yeah, but it's not always their choice, is it, Alex?" she says, and even if the words come out harshly, her expression is anything but. There are tears pooling in her eyes and he knows it is taking everything in her life-coach tool box to keep herself from crying. He also knows that he's now stuck between a rock and a hard place because nothing he could say would make this okay. Nothing he could say would change the fact that Emma had lost her mother unfairly and he might lose his brother just the same. Alex doesn't know what to do, but when his body acts instinctively and he feels his hand slip into hers, he knows it's the right thing to do.

Emma squeezes his hand tightly and presses her face into his shoulder. A part of him wishes she would cry, maybe then she would feel better. But Emma was never a crier, or at least, not where anyone could see her. Anyone including him. The time she had cried about James Elton had startled him by its rawness, but even those tears were hurried and wiped away quickly and forgotten. So now he just sits there once again, this time holding her hand, squeezing her back occasionally when he thought she needed it.

Eventually, he whispers into her hair that the rest of their family would be waiting on their water. It's not entirely true, probably, but Alex knows that too much catharsis could deviate Emma from the bigger picture. Sometimes, he really hates being the one to have to bring her back down.

On the walk back, there's no more contact between them. They aren't speaking, just shuffling forward to whatever news lay ahead of them. Alex didn't think he would miss Emma's touch until it was gone, and suddenly he felt very unprotected, like he had been zapped of his strength. But he watches her out of the corner of his eye; she's preparing herself, putting back up her well-crafted defences. She couldn't be the Emma he'd just seen around her sister, she needed to be enough to hold them both up when Izzy couldn't. Moments like these were few and far between, but Alex had to recognize their common traits in times like this. They both always seemed to be looking out for the people they loved.

When they return back to the waiting room, Alex is again greeted by an easily excitable Henry, while Emma is pulled into a quick hug by his mother. In surveying the rest of the family, Alex notices that Isabella is on her phone while Emma sleeps against her side. Alex's dad is back at the window, but he turns to wave to his son and smile at Emma. Alex eventually lifts Henry into the air, just to bring his spirits back up a bit, and his mother rejoins Isabella on the couch. Emma stays standing beside Alex as he drops their nephew back to the floor gently.

"Did you manage to pick up the water?" his mother questions, once seated. Emma nods and presents her with a bottle from her purse. She catches Knightley's eye before walking over to hand his father one too. Naturally, even in times of crisis, the man is friendly to her, while Alex is certain he's still miffed about his own comments from this morning.

"They haven't been back around to tell us anything and I can't figure out if that's good or bad," his mother admits, making room for him on the couch. But Alex doesn't really want to sit right now.

"I'm sure it's neither," he says, watching Emma chat with his father. "They'll tell us when they know anything definitive."

"You sound just like them. Are you certain you're in the right profession, dear?"

Alex grins at his mother, his eyes still straying to his business partner. "I'm sure."

Emma starts walking back to him, her spirits looking somewhat brightened (whether actually or artificially, it was hard to say). She's about to say something to him when her sister lets out a groan of annoyance.

"What's wrong?" Emma asks immediately, beating everyone else to the punch.

Izzy looks up and seems to realize she had actually vocalized her disappointment. She shakes her head, "Oh, it's nothing. I've just finally gotten in touch with the babysitter and she's able to look after the kids but isn't able to pick them up. I don't really want to have to leave in case…" she lets the thought hang in the air and shakes her head again.

"I'll drive them over," her sister offers, already searching through her bag for her car keys.

"Oh no, Emma. That's not necessary. They're my children."

"It is necessary. It's my duty as a sister, and I don't mind," Emma slips her key ring onto her finger and moves to grab her niece off of her sister's lap. Isabella bites her lip for another second before finally nodding.

"Okay, but take my car so you don't have to move the car seats and such," she passes her the keys as Emma adjusts the sleeping infant on her hip.

"I'll go with you," Alex offers, finally finding his voice as he helps Henry hop down off the couch. It was a difficult thing to offer because he didn't think either Woodhouse sister should be alone right now, but at least his parents would be there to comfort Izzy. It made sense then that he go with Emma.

"No, I'll be fine. You need to stay here in case we get any more information on your brother," she smiles up at him, and he can finally tell that it's real, that she really appreciates his offer. It's about the only reason he lets her go.

"Just be safe and come back soon, alright?" he says, as Izzy hands her sister the address of the babysitter and turns to go tell Alex's parents what's going on.

Then, completely unexpectedly, Emma leans forward and kisses his cheek. "I'll be right back, promise." And with a small smile and two children attached to her in one way or another, she was gone. Alex was left standing there, bewildered, not sure what other surprises the day had in store for him.

It's another half an hour before anything changes. Alex tries to distract himself by managing some work information on his smartphone, but soon realizes that it isn't worth it when he starts using a calculator to determine basic sums. He can't focus so he spent a lot of time staring into space. Izzy sits beside him, holding her water bottle in her hands like one of the children she had just let leave. His parents are back at the window, whispering quietly from time to time with words Alex can't make out. That's how the doctor finds them when she rounds the corner of the waiting room.

"Isabella Knightley?" she asks, rousing Izzy out of whatever daze she was in. She nods to confirm her identity and the doctor almost smiles. Alex gets up to face her, which resulted in a raised brow from the doctor.

"Alex Knightley, John's my brother," he confirms, not really sure if this was the moment for hand-shaking or not. The business man in him was a bit too ingrained sometimes.

"Right. Is there anyone else with you?" the doctor asks, shifting her eyes between both of them.

"My parents, one moment," Alex walks over and tells them that there might be new information on John. When they're all crowding around the doctor, Izzy still seated, she takes a deep breath and begins speaking.

"The surgery was a complete success," there was a collective deep breath from everyone but Alex's father, who continued looking at the woman skeptically. "He has two broken ribs, a fracture on his left leg, a sprained wrist, and some severe whiplash so he'll be out of commission for a bit. But there are no serious problems to report regarding his heart, lungs or brain."

"Is he awake then?" Alex asks, because he's not sure if anyone else is willing to.

The doctor shakes her head, "He woke up a bit earlier once the drugs had worn off, but we've put him back under with some morphine. It'll help his body to heal faster and rest is truly the best medicine. He should be back up in a few hours time."

Alex nods and takes back his seat next to Izzy as his mother expresses her gratitude to the doctor through her overwhelming tears. His brother's wife, however, is only taking slow deep breaths, as though she's not quite ready to believe it yet.

"When can we go and see him, exactly?" his father asks as Alex puts a comforting hand on Isabella's shoulder. They both raise their heads up to the doctor again to hear her response.

"You're free to visit him now. But, as I said, he won't be awake for some time."

That was enough for Izzy. She started crying with a happy smile on her face and thanked the doctor even more ardently than his mother had. Alex keeps his hand on her shoulder, sharing in her happiness and gratefulness.

John's doctor, Dr. Allen, offers to show them to his room and get them settled. Isabella practically bounces onto her feet and nods profusely that they should do this immediately, while Alex's parents are right behind her. Isabella turns back to Alex when she notices that he hadn't followed her to his feet.

"I'll wait here for Emma so she knows what's going on," he offers, smiling up at his family in their contentedness. The three of them nod and Dr. Allen explains how to get to John's room from the waiting area. He's not sure he'll be able to find it, but he could cross that bridge when he came to it.

So Alex was left alone, but at least his was joined by the comfort that John was going to be fine. A little worse for wear, but fine.

He isn't sure how much time passes before Emma returns, but he sees her immediately searching the waiting area for their family. She seems very put off by the fact that she can't find anybody, so before she has a chance to imagine the worst, Alex pushes himself off the wall he's leaning against and moves to meet her in the middle of the now practically empty waiting area.

"Emma," he says, capturing her attention. Her eyes flash with a bit of relief before she's looking around again, as if everyone else was simply hiding from her.

"Hi," he continues, bringing her attention back to him. "Everything's fine. We're all fine. John's fine."

His friend blinks, looking up at him like she doesn't believe him. She walks back into the hallway as if she'll find answers there and, of course, he follows her.

"Emma, I'm serious. The doctor came by not too long ago, John's going to be fine."

She looks up at him then; he had closed the distance between them so he was standing directly in front of her, in case she needed comforting like her sister had. "Are you sure?"

Alex chuckles, "Of course I'm sure, why would I lie about – " But then Emma's hands are on his face and she's kissing him and all his words suddenly become far less important than he had thought. The kiss is as surprising as anything else that had happened that day but he isn't willing to let himself be caught completely off-guard again. So he moves to hold her waist and keep her from straining in her heels almost like he's an autopilot. His mouth works itself over hers and he marvels at the taste of her lips, one of the few things about her that had remained a mystery to him until now. And he wants to make this moment as memorable as possible, to capture as much of her as he can before this ends, but then she's pulling back from him and he has to focus on not sighing in disappointment.

"Sorry, I just really needed to do that," Emma says, taking a deep breath and looking up at him. He twitches his mouth to the side a bit before determining the best reply to that.

"I'm happy to receive your glad my brother-in-law isn't dead kisses whenever you want to give them out," he replies, moving his hands from her waist to his pockets.

She smiles a bit but shakes her head, "That's not why I did it, Alex."

"Emma, don't."

"Alex, I wanted to do that –"

"Because you were excited about a great turn of events, I know," he says, shrugging it off. Whatever Emma might think, dire situation kisses were the same as drunk kisses; they didn't mean anything because they were simply a reflex.

"And I needed to do that," she continues, pointedly making eye contact with him. "Alex, I'm not kissing you because John's okay. I'm kissing you because," she licks her lips and shrugs. "Because I was tired of waiting to. And because now I know that you can't always wait forever."

He looks at her, confused. "Why were you waiting?"

Emma breaks eye contact and shrugs. "I don't know, a lot of reasons. But," she reaches out to grab one of his hands. "None of those reasons matter if…."

Slowly, Alex takes her other hand in his and sighs, "If…?"

She bites her lip and looks back up at him. Then, pushing against their interlocked hands, she leans forward and kisses him again. It's light and cautious like the first one, until Alex drops one of her hands to cup her face and deepen the kiss slightly just before pulling back.

"We're still going to talk about this again when you have a clearer head, okay?" he warns, because he does believe her but he also wants her to be certain. He won't hold her solely accountable for what's happened on such a crazy day. Emma just nods in response and closes the distance between them yet again.

When the pair of them finally break apart, they use the next few minutes to find John's room. They arrive just as his parents are preparing to leave.

"The doctor says he won't be awake until much later tonight, and I would rather be well rested when he does wakes up. In case he needs help with anything," his mother explains, as his father says goodbye to Isabella. She's sitting in a chair directly beside John's bed holding his hand tightly, her eyes never straying from his sleeping face.

"I'll let you know if anything changes and when he wakes up," Alex says, watching Emma hug her sister from behind before taking a seat in the chairs against the wall.

His parents finish their goodbyes and Alex approaches Isabella.

"Did you need anything to eat or anything at all?"

Izzy smiles but doesn't turn to look at him, "You and my sister are quite the pair. As I already told her, I'm fine. But thank you, Alex."

Alex chuckles a bit and moves to join Emma on the chairs behind Isabella.

"I hear we're quite the pair," he jokes, whispering directly into her ear. Emma laughs quietly and turns to kiss him lightly on the lips before leaning against his shoulder. The contact no longer bothered him and he moves to wrap his arm around her shoulders, leaning his head against hers.

They spend hours in John's room, first just watching some television without sound, which was a little eerie. Then, Alex watches Emma play a game on her phone that had her guessing a bunch of pop culture references. He was not much help in that area. So he challenges her to his own game of naming all the countries of the world, which Emma says is unfair because he already has the upper hand on that one. It might have been a normal Saturday between them if they weren't arguing in hushed tones, or breaking the flow of each other's arguments with kisses instead of poking and whacking. Izzy didn't turn around once though, which was nice since they hadn't planned how to tell anyone what was going on between them yet. Which remained nothing official until they had a serious conversation.

It was around six that both Woodhouse sisters seemed to be running on fumes. Izzy fell asleep with her head against John's pillow, his hand still clutched in hers. Emma kept nodding off on the chair, but seemed to be having trouble getting comfortable. So Alex took off his sweater and folded it under her head on one of the chair's armrests. And then he was left alone with his thoughts, a silent television, and the beeping of his brother's many machines.

Alex sends another text to his parents to confirm that John was much the same, and responds to one from Emma's father regarding his brother's condition. He twists a lock of Emma's hair between his fingers while leaning his head back against the wall and watching the clock tick away the seconds.

"At least it's a Saturday," he mutters to himself, for no other reason than to remind himself that he probably wouldn't have been up to much anyway.

"Yes, I planned it that way," a croaking voice responds. Alex looks up immediately, thinking he must have dreamed it. But there was John, eyes still closed and looking somewhat in pain, but he had a smile on his face all the same. Alex jumps off the chair he's sitting in and rushes to his brother's side.

"He speaks," Alex jokes back, feeling the last of any of his fears dissipate completely.

John smiles wider and opens his eyes. But instead of facing Alex, the first thing he sees is Isabella face pressed against his pillow. He's so lost for a minute that he doesn't respond to Alex's comment.

"She's so beautiful," he says, quietly, smiling as he moves his free hand to push her hair behind her ear. "How did she handle it?"

"As well as could be expected," Alex says, "I don't think she was ready to lose you." And by the look on his brother's face, he was completely and utterly unprepared to leave her either.

"Alex, is there a nurse button or something?" John asks, closing his eyes again to the pain.

"Yeah, of course," he points to it and presses it once he realizes how much pain John appeared to be in. When the nurse arrived, he increased the morphine drip and checked his vitals. He was gone before Knightley could even ask him anything. John mutters something about seeing him tomorrow, and Alex smiles knowing that his brother was going to be more than fine.

He lightly shakes Emma's shoulder to wake her up. She blinks the sleep out of her eyes and rises off the armrest.

"What's going on, is John awake?" the two questions are mumbled out together through a yawn.

"No, I think he'll be out for most of the night. I think we should go."

"Go? But you just said he wasn't awake?"

Alex nods and sits back in the chair next to her. "He isn't but he will be eventually and I think he'll be happier to see Isabella than the rest of us. Besides, someone should really pick up Henry and Emma."

Emma tilts her head to his logic but eventually nods. She passes him back his sweater and grabs her purse before the pair of them exit the hospital. In the outdoor parking lot, Emma changes the parking ticket in her own car before walking Knightley to his.

"Are you going to come watch them with me?" she asks when she finds his car at the edge of the lot.

"I don't quite see the point in driving all the way home only to return in the morning."

Emma shoves him with her shoulder, a smile playing on her lips, "That's a very nice way of saying you want to spend time with me."

And instead of laughing like she probably expects him to, Alex stops walking, turns, and captures Emma's face in both his hands. He kisses her hard in the middle of the barely lit parking lot, drinking in all the longing he'd felt for so long. But it's more than that; it's the realization that sometimes he shouldn't question things. No one could ever make him understand why he was the one to find the poison ivy the first time his family went camping. Or why Monica Forester had agreed to go to prom with him after rejecting three other guys. Nothing would ever justify why Emma's mom passed away when she was still so young, or why his own parents had considered separation when he was still in his teens. There wasn't anything that could explain why John survived an accident that could have killed any other driver. Or why Emma chose to kiss him when she did. The point was not always the why or the how or any other question he could ask of the universe. Sometimes, it was merely the fact that it happened and it made him feel something. That's all he should focus on.

When he pulls back, Emma's stands blinking – stunned. She meets his eyes and he almost wants to kiss her again but thinks better of it. Instead, he says, "I don't want to think things through. I just want you." To which Emma smiles slowly, and he has to guess that that's all she wants too.

I think we could all do with a little more John Knightley in our lives, though I apologize for putting him through this! But after the Izzy story-line, I wanted to examine more family dynamics, which is difficult when so many things remain unclear. Hope I wasn't too far off the mark though? Let me know what you think!