Lara sat stunned on Victoria's bed. She stared blankly at Brian. "Oh my God . . ." Came out in a whisper.
Brian nodded. "I know," he said as he wrapped his arms around her.
Alison's face paled as she met A.J.'s eyes. She started to cry. A.J. sat beside her and pulled her close. "It's no one's fault," He told her quietly.
"But if we had gone with them -" Alison started.
"Then both little girls would be dead," Kevin told her. He had his arm around Victoria's shoulder. Her face was unmoving, stuck in a bleak expression.
Cora swallowed and wrapped her arms around Nick's neck. "I just can't believe it . . ." She murmured.
Victoria cleared her throat. "Have you told Denise yet?"
Kevin nodded. "I called her from the hospital as soon as Howie told us."
Victoria looked up at him. "He wouldn't tell you anything before you got to the hospital?" Kevin shook his head no. Victoria sighed.
"What time do we have to get up in the morning?" Cora asked, turning to the others.
"9:00 a.m.," Brian replied. "There's no show tomorrow, just some interviews. We'll be in L.A. three days. We've got shows the last two nights."
Cora nodded and looked away. "Howie's staying here then?" Alison assumed.
"We're not sure . . . we think so, maybe," Kevin told her. A.J. and Kevin exchanged a glance.
At 8:15 the next morning, A.J. walked into the small curtain area where Howie was sitting beside Grace. She was still asleep, heavily sedated. Howie was seated in a chair beside the bed. He was still holding her hand, slumped over with his face pressed into the mattress.
A.J. sighed, knowing that he would have to wake his friend, although he really didn't want to. After a few moments of debating, A.J. tapped Howie on the shoulder. His friend jumped.
"What?!?" Howie started anxiously.
"Chill, chill - it's just me," A.J. told him calmly.
Howie turned to glance at his friend. "Oh hey. You just startled me," he explained.
A.J. pulled up a plastic hospital chair and sat beside him. "How you doing?" A.J. asked softly.
"I'm okay," Howie murmured. "I can't speak for Grace though!"
"But she'll be okay?" A.J. continued.
"Yeah," Howie nodded. "They say that if she recovers quickly, she could be out of here in a little more than a week. Three weeks if her injuries are worse than they thought, but it will take a long time for her to heal emotionally . . ."
"I think this has taken an emotional toll on the both of you," A.J. told him.
Howie merely nodded. A.J. was about to open his mouth when the curtain was pulled open.
"How's she doing?" A young, female doctor asked.
"No real change," Howie responded. "She's not as pale."
The doctor quickly checked Grace's vitals and watched her patient for a few minutes. "We should be able to move her up to a room sometime this afternoon," She informed him.
Howie nodded. "That's great."
"I'll be back to check on her a little later," The doctor told him. "Try and get some sleep." With that, she closed the curtain to leave the guys to their conversation.
A.J. opened his mouth again. "We're leaving at nine. It's alright if you miss the interviews, you've just got a bit of a cold. You'll have to be there for the concerts though, and try to make it for the Jay Leno show tonight."
"I'll be there," Howie glanced at him. "I've just got to talk to Grace."
"I understand," A.J. replied. He glanced at his watch. "I've got to be off now. I'll talk to you soon, okay?"
Howie nodded.
Before leaving, A.J. put a hand on his friend's shoulder. "It'll be okay." He told him, then he left.
Grace's eyes blinked. She opened them slowly to see that she was in a small hospital room.
"Hey," Howie smiled warmly. It was almost dinner time and Grace was finally waking up.
"Hey," Grace whispered.
"How ya doing?" Howie asked.
Grace's face broke into a small smile. "How do you think?" She croaked softly. Her face suddenly filled with pain as the memories flooded back to her. "How is the little girl?"
Howie was silent. He looked down at his hands.
"Howie?" Grace could barely raise her voice above an insistent whisper. "How is the little girl?"
His face told her everything she needed to know as he looked up at her, his eyes filled with tears. "I'm so sorry Grace." He squeezed her hand.
Grace swallowed and looked away. She unsuccessfully tried to blink the tears from her eyes. They came anyway, rolling down her face.
Grace tried to raise her right arm. "Owe!" She groaned.
"Here let me," Howie told her. He gently wiped the tears from her face with his thumb. His hand continued to stroke her face. "Do you want me to call the doctor?"
Grace bit her lip. "In a minute . . ."
They stayed like this for a while. After a bit, Howie got the doctor, who told Grace that she was very lucky to be alive and that though they may have lost the three-year-old, she had saved the five- year-old's life, at great risk to her own. Grace could not blame herself. She had done everything right and there was nothing anyone could have done to save her. The doctor went on to say that because Grace was very healthy, she would hopefully make a quick recovery.
Later that evening, Howie left to appear with the guys on The Tonight Show.
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