The Accident...

The sound of the telephone ringing scared Sarah out of her wits and she felt Jareth jump beside her in the bed. It rang two more times before she reached over to the table beside her bed and picked up the receiver.

"He-Hello?" She said sleepily into the phone. "Hi Cheryl." Sarah suddenly sat up quickly in the bed and gasped and Jareth was wide awake. Something was wrong he could sense it from the silence.

"What! Oh God, is he all right? Yeah....yeah...I'm getting dressed right now and I'll be there as quick as I can." She slammed the phone down quickly and threw the covers off of her. They landed on Jareth who tossed them out of his way.

"Sarah, what's wrong?" She didn't see the concern laced in his eyes, didn't even acknowledge his presence as she rushed about.

She didn't reply but ran to her closet tossing jeans onto the floor and then rushed to her bureau to find a sweater. She didn't bother rushing to the bathroom to change. She reached for the jeans and started pulling them up beneath the skirt of her nightgown.

"Close your eyes." She told him. He nodded and decided to turn away from her completely, standing and facing the opposite side of the room. She quickly put on a bra and pulled the sweater up over her head.

"Sarah, what's wrong?" He asked again.

"Ok you can turn around now." She tossed her nightgown on the bed and quickly pulled socks on to her feet. Jareth was at her side and he could see her shaking as she tried to pull her shoes on over the socks. She was having trouble getting them on her feet and Jareth reached for her.

"Sarah..."

"Get dressed and hurry up." She ordered and she pulled away from him rushing down the stairs. He stood bewildered for a moment. He heard her open the door to the garage and start up the car. He sighed heavily and disappeared from the room.

He reappeared inside the car in the garage, fully clothed. Sarah wasn't startled by his sudden appearance in the least and she slammed her door shut. She shifted the car into reverse, not bothering to let it warm up squealed out of the garage nearly hitting the garage door that was still opening. She pulled out into the street and slammed her foot on the gas leaving tire marks in the road and a cloud of smoke behind her. Jareth gripped the armrest tightly.

"Sarah!" She was driving like a mad woman, swerving around corners so tightly that Jareth went slamming into the door more then once. He quickly donned his seatbelt. "What is wrong with you? Are you trying to get us killed!"

"I have to hurry up and get there." Was all she said. She was still shaking. He could see her hands shaking as they gripped the steering wheel so tightly that her knuckles turned white.

"Where? What is going on?" He raised his voice a little higher then he meant to as she went swerving around another corner.

"My brother got rushed to the hospital ok!! He got hit by some asshole drunk driver who decided to go out driving early this morning! My brother went to get some donuts 5 minutes down the street from his apartment and he got hit! His car is totaled and ...and I have no idea if he's going to...live." She choked out her words and hastily wiped the tears that started pouring down her face with the sleeve of her shirt. Jareth paled as the words sank into his mind.

Sarah took the next corner a little slower. "Cheryl said he went into emergency surgery. He has internal bleeding and they need to stop it. She and my daughter are at the hospital. She sounded a mess on the phone." She was suddenly a little more composed and Jareth realized that she was repressing her emotions, pushing them aside so she could deal with things.

A few minutes later they were at the hospital downtown and Sarah quickly pulled into a parking space. She and Jareth rushed from the car and into the lobby. Cheryl was there pacing back and forth and Aryanna was sitting in a chair crying softly.

"Cheryl!" Just looking at Cheryl and her daughter made Sarah realize that things were not good. The tall redhead rushed at Sarah throwing her arms around her. She began to sob. "Sssshh." Sarah whispered. Ary saw Jareth and rushed into his arms. He picked her up and she buried her face into his neck crying.  "Sshh. It's all right." He whispered softly. He stood rocking her as she clutched him so tightly that he winced. He ran one gloved hand over her back to try and settle her. She was frightened and trembling like a scared animal.

Cheryl pulled away from Sarah trying to compose herself.

"What's the news?" Sarah asked softly. She was afraid of the response.

"He's still in surgery. It's too early to know. God Sarah, if you saw his car...you wouldn't even recognize it. The police officer said that the idiot must have hit him at a high speed and Toby went flying off the road and into a tree. The driver's side curled around the tree as if it was made out a plastic or something..." She nervously chewed on her fingernails.

Sarah let out a whimper as an image of Toby's firebird wrapped around a tree flashed into her mind. Jareth was by her side in an instant. Ary was still curled up against him as he cradled her in one arm. He moved to embrace Sarah but a doctor was approaching.  "Cheryl Metrop?"

"Yes?"

"Are you Mr. William's sister?" He asked Sarah. She nodded and bit her lip. "He's out of surgery and in the recovery room right now." He let out a sigh. "I have to be honest with you both. His injuries were extensive. He suffered a serious blow to the head that rendered him unconscious and he had internal bleeding in his abdomen."

Tears stung Sarah's eyes as if someone had poked her with sharp pins. She couldn't lose Toby. He was all she had left of her family. Her father and step mother were dead, the victims of a car accident. She couldn't lose her brother the same way. And her mother? She hadn't heard from her since Ary's birth. She didn't qualify as family anymore.

"If it's any comfort to you, I've read the preliminary police report and I have to say that after reading it, this young man is lucky to be alive. He should by all accounts be dead, but he's still hanging on."

"When can we see him?" Sarah asked fighting to keep her voice steady.

"He's in recovery right now and in about 45 minutes he'll be moved to a room. A nurse will visit you to tell you the room number."

"Thank you doctor." He nodded and turned to walk back the way he came.

"Oh god..." Cheryl sobbed.

Sarah reached for one of Cheryl's hands and gripped it tightly in her own. "He's still alive Cheryl. We have to have faith. Toby is a strong kid, he'll pull through this."

Cheryl bit her lower lip and nodded. "I...I'm going to call my mom." Sarah nodded and watched the young woman walk away toward a pay phone on the other side of the lobby. She turned back to Jareth who had taken a seat in one of the blue cushioned chairs with Ary still in his arms. He was soothing her with soft words.

Less then 10 minutes later Cheryl's mom showed up and Cheryl rushed at her pulling her mother into a tight embrace. She tried to soothe her daughter's fears and stayed a short while to get the news of what had happened.

"Sarah, do you want me to look after Aryanna for you? The hospital is no place for a little girl. I'll bring her out for breakfast and then she could play with my neighbor's children. She got along with them very well last time she stayed with me."

"Mrs. Metrop I don't want her to be a burden."

"She's not a burden dear. Please. Let me do this for you." Sarah nodded, grateful for the offer. Sarah walked to Jareth who still sat in a chair with the little girl cradled in one arm, her face buried in the long strands of his blond hair. She looked as if she was hiding from the world.

"Ary sweetie. Hon, I need you to be a big girl." Ary pulled her face from Jareth's neck and regarded her mother. Sarah reached out to push back her long dark hair. "Can you be a big girl for mommy?" She nodded without a sound. "Mrs. Metrop is going to take care of you for a little while, all right? She's going to take you out for breakfast and you can play with Kimberly and Jacob, the kids who live next door. Would you like that?"

She looked hesitant for a moment and looked at Jareth. "Go on and have a good time." Jareth told her.

"Can we go to McDonald's for breakfast?" Ary asked.

"We can go anywhere you would like." Cheryl's mom told her.

"Go on." Jareth told her as he placed her down in front of him. "We'll see you later."

"Ok..." she said softly.

"That's my big girl." Sarah kissed her forehead. Cheryl's mom took her hand and Sarah nodded her thanks.

"Keep me updated please." She then hugged her daughter before leaving the hospital with Aryanna in tow.

Sarah sighed wishing she was young enough to not need to worry so. She felt a hand gently run along the top of her shoulder. Jareth gently squeezed her and she closed her eyes. She refused to cry.

"Miss Metrop, Miss Williams?" Sarah and Cheryl looked up to see a nurse. "Mr. Williams has been moved to Room 195 D. It's on the second level. You won't be able to see him for a short while as the nurses change his bandages but you'll be able to sit outside the room."

"Thank you." Sarah managed softly. The nurse nodded and was gone. "Might as well go sit up there."

The trio walked to an elevator and rode it up to the second level. They found the room easily. The blinds had been drawn shut and they couldn't see into the room and Jareth could see that this bothered Sarah. She was tired of waiting. She wanted to see her brother. There were only two chairs and Cheryl took a seat in one of them. Jareth begged Sarah to sit in the other but she retorted to pacing in front of the room. Jareth took a seat with a sigh.

He watched Sarah pace back and forth in front of him. She had yet to break down except for the few tears that had escaped during the car ride to the hospital. Back and forth and forth and back she walked. Jareth watched her for five minutes and finally when she least expected it he reached for her hand and pulled her into his lap.

"Jareth!"

"You're wearing yourself out. Sit and take a rest." She tried to rise but he held her firmly against him. She ceased her struggling but made no movement to take comfort from him.

And so the three of them sat and waited...and waited...and waited. It was nearly 2 o’clock when the door of the room finally opened. Sarah was standing in an instant. Jareth and Cheryl rose quickly to their feet.

"You can see him now. He's still unconscious, but sometimes if you talk to them, they hear you and wake up."

Sarah nodded and entered the room. When her eyes fell on Toby they filled with tears but they didn't fall. Cheryl began to cry the moment she saw him and Sarah quickly embraced her. Jareth stood silently in the doorway. They stayed within the room for hours siting by the bed and talking to Toby. Begging him to keep fighting, to awaken, that they both needed them. Jareth listened quietly and waited. When he and Sarah were a lone he had something he needed to tell her.

No one even thought about food and soon dinner had come and gone, just as breakfast and lunch had. Soon the hospital's visiting hours were over and they were forced to leave.

"Cheryl do you want to stay with me?" Sarah asked her.

"Thank you, but I think I'm going to stay with my mom. Oh she called by the way and she said that Ary is sleeping so she figured she could just sleep over. Maybe even stay over for a few days. She said she would drop her off at school and pick her up in the afternoon."

"No, she doesn't have to do that."

"She insists. You know my mom Sarah. What she says, goes." Sarah nodded and hugged Cheryl.

"Please tell her thank you that I will make this up to her. I'll bring over some clothes in the morning. I'm taking the next few days off until Toby gets better." She sounded as if she had every confidence that her brother would live. "Get some rest, hey kiddo?" Cheryl nodded and reached for her car keys in her purse. The women gave each other one last hug before they went their separate ways.

Sarah didn't say a single word to Jareth in the car and he was extremely worried about her. She was bottling her emotions up inside of her and that wasn't good for her. They drove back to the house and she went directly to the kitchen to fill up the coffee maker to start a fresh pot. As she brought the filled pot of water to dump into the coffee maker her trembling hands lost a grip on it and it went crashing to the floor. The water spilled everywhere as the glass coffee pot shattered sending glass in all directions.

"Shit!" She cried out. She dropped quickly to the floor to begin cleaning it up and cut her hand on a jagged piece of glass. The blood dripped from her hand and diluted in the water already on the floor.

"Leave it.. I'll clean it." Jareth told her softly.

"No... it's... it's all right. It's only a small cut." She reached for the glass and Jareth intercepted her, taking her hands into his. He pulled her to her feet and into his arms, which he wrapped tightly around her. She resisted at first. He stroked her hair, her face. He could see that she was fighting so hard to keep her emotions in check. The Sarah he knew from long ago had not disappeared.

He continued to try and soothe her and finally the tears came, like a raging deluge. She clutched Jareth to her as if she was fearful that he would vanish, as if she might lose him. She buried her face into his neck, ugly sobs emanating from her. He smoothed her hair with one hand, let the other roam over her back. He held her in the dark kitchen, whispering soft words into her hair. His precious Sarah. She had suffered far worse then he had over the last twenty years and her suffering was far from over it seemed....