Part 2: Driving.

"Did you see that report on t.v.? They went ahead and had Gaile Peters cover the story. You know, breaking news kinda shit. I had to down two shots of tequila before I could force myself to believe it, you know? And then you called me."

"Yeah, well, Nate had listed me under emergency contacts, apparently."

"How are they doing, do you know?"

Silence took over Leah. She herself didn't know the answer to Joseph's question.

"I'm hoping for the best."

They went downstairs, through the dimly-lit hallways of Joseph's apartment building, past the neighbor who always had loud sex, down two flights, to where the light never stopped flickering.

As soon as he hit fresh air, Joseph lit up a cigarette. He took a long first drag, thinking that Leah's definition of best wasn't exactly in the traditional sense.

They got in Leah's car, a sickly sweet yellow Volkswagen Beetle, replete with the sunflower in the flower holder. It had begun to wilt; its petals were slowly falling off one by one.

-----

After an agonizing twenty minutes of silence, Mike decided to turn on the radio, fiddling with the receiver until he reached a station that was playing music that seemed to ease the tension and fade into the background.

Gabriel, usually extroverted and talkative, was not himself. He was physically disturbed and shaken over the fact that David was -- no, might be dead.

"I'm going to kill Nate when he wakes up," said Gabriel.

Mike kept his eyes on the road. "No, you won't. Don't say that."

"How could he do this to me?"

Mike wanted to say "He didn't," but couldn't bring himself to. Instead, he turned the volume up on the FM stereo, fiddled with the receiver one more time, and near-blasted country music. Gabriel tried to hide his discomfort by pretending to sleep.

-----

"... and the Interstate now clearing up after an accident involving two men trying to avoid a truck. More on this when we get back."

Joseph turned the radio off, both he and Leah obviously disturbed by the news report.

"Were they drunk?" asked Joseph.

"No," replied Leah, sighing. "We had just finished the treatment for the script, and they were headed back to their apartment. As far as I know, Nate was sober. And David doesn't drive."

Joseph nodded.

"Man, I hope David's all right," said Leah, after a deep breath.

-----

Evelyn and Gabriel were on tough times. Gabriel knew that Evelyn was cheating on him with Nate, but he never thought that karma would actually get Nate in an accident. He actually felt kind of guilty -- in college, he and Nate were best friends, and Evelyn was Nate's fiancee. For some reason or another, Evelyn called the wedding off, but remained good friends with Nate.

Gabriel, as soon as the engagement was broken off, began to woo Evelyn into his world. They eventually got married, but Evelyn was never too passionate about the relationship as she ever was with Nate. Gabriel knew this and was never afraid to use it against her in arguments and petty fights.

He found out that Evelyn was cheating on him no more than a few days before the night of the accident. He tried to act as if everything was normal, but at almost every spare moment he had, he cursed Nate under his breath and vowed to get rid of Evelyn as soon as he had secured another job, or at least a transfer, at another location.

Gabriel didn't tell Evelyn that he was headed to the hospital, nor was she watching the t.v. nor listening to the radio. She heard from Leah that Nate and David had been in an accident, and was outraged at Gabriel's silence and immaturity.

She grabbed the keys to her Toyota and headed for County General.