Part 4: Interrogation.

Leah entered the emergency ward, headed towards Room 415. The nurses and candy stripers were lounging about, doing their menial, everyday tasks. Attendants in OR scrubs were scattered through the ward. Nothing was too chaotic; the biggest thing to hit County General over the last week was the car accident.

Hesitantly, Leah inched further forward to David's room, afraid of what she might see on the other side.

She finally took a step into David's room, seeing the profusion of medical equipment surrounding David's bed and attached to David's body. He looked peaceful; his hair well kempt and his face, not tired. He was dreaming again, Leah could tell -- his eyes were moving under his eyelids. Yet he didn't know he was dreaming.

"Oh, look at you," said Leah. "You must be so tired."

David breathed slowly, steadily. The beeping and whirring of all the machines around him provided a chorus of constancy in the room, eerily relaxing and strangely comforting.

She held David's hand. "What happened out there, David? You don't deserve this, you know?"

As if awaiting a response, she looked at David's face, half-expecting him to wake up from his coma.

"When will you wake up?"

-----

Two days had passed in County General, and David moved from "guarded" to "stable" condition. Relief somewhat settled downstairs at "the camp," what the nurses and clerks affectionately called the five people in the corner.

Everyone had seen David and Nate at least once -- Joseph, in particular, saw both at least twice a day -- and had realized that for the moment, everything was going to be all right. Nate would only be in the hospital for a few more days for observations, but as for David, nobody knew.

Gabriel and Evelyn were still not talking to each other, and everyday, the tension mounted and mounted. Gabriel was getting fed up; Evelyn was already mad.

Then they got on each other's throats.

"Why the hell didn't you tell me you were coming?" shouted Evelyn, startling everyone suddenly. "I had to find out from Leah that you were coming!"

Gabriel's eyes grew wide. "Because I knew you were gonna pull something like this!"

"You are a piece of work, Gabriel," replied Evelyn. "Why didn't you think I needed to know that our best friends were in an accident?"

"Of course I thought you had to know!"

"But why didn't you tell me anything?!"

Gabriel hesitated for a second, unsure whether or not he should tell her what he knew.

Evelyn looked at him, confused. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because you're cheating on me with Nate."

Leah and Mike looked at each other, almost telepathically telling each other to head upstairs and get out of the scene. They left, Joseph in tow, knowing that whatever was going to happen would get around to them when the situation wasn't too awkward anymore.

Evelyn's attitude changed immediately. She grew flustered, her face grew flushed, and her speech became almost incomprehensible.

"Wh-what are you talking about?" she managed to eke out.

"I know, Evelyn. I've known for a few days now."

"Gabriel..."

"You're killing me, Evelyn. You're killing me." He looked at her, intent on not losing his gaze.

"How did you find out?"

-----

A police officer -- young, in his mid-twenties, and a little too self-confident -- entered Room 417, equipped with a notepad and a mechanical pencil. Nate knew immediately what was about to happen.

"Mr. Nathaniel Furth?" asked the policeman.

"Yes, officer, what can I do for you?" replied Nate.

"Hi, I'm Officer Rogan. I'd like to ask you a few questions about the accident, if you don't mind."

"No, no, not at all."

Expecting the worst, Nate endured no less than forty-five minutes of intense questioning by Officer Rogan, fervently taking notes and notating what seemed like every other word. There were questions about the weather, the traffic, what "exactly" happened, Nate's recollections of the incident and the consequences of the accident.

Halfway through the process, Leah, Mike, and Joseph were about to enter Nate's room, when they saw the man clad in black grilling Nate about nitty-gritty details about the incident. They veered towards David's room instead, deciding to keep David company for the evening.

Finally, the end seemed to be in sight.

"Oh. One last question."

"All right," said Nate, exasperated and exhilarated at the last sentence. "Shoot."

"You do know you're responsible for the accident, right?"

Nate looked at him with a puzzled stare. "What?"

"I assume you've heard the truck driver's dead?"

-----

Leah, Mike, and Joseph sat aroud David's bed, all of them somewhat relieved that it was quiet and that David's status was better.

"So, Joe," began Leah, "why do you come visit these two kids everyday?"

"I worry too much," he answered. "I never get to hang out with them enough in the first place, so I figured I'd hang out with them now even though David can't even hear me."

"You never know," said Mike. "He could just be pretending."

"Yeah, that sounds like something he would do," replied Joseph.

"How have things been? I haven't really had the chance to catch up with you yet," Leah said.

"They're good. Could always be better, though," said Joseph.

"How much better?" asked Mike.

"A lot. I'm screwed. The department's 'downsizing' --" Joseph made quote marks in the air -- "and I'm up for review. Basically, I'm getting fired, and I don't know what I'm doing after this. Plus, now that I'm getting fired, I'm not gonna have enough money to pay for my apartment. My mom hates me, my dad hates me, my sister hates me. Everybody fucking hates me."

"I don't hate you," said Leah.

"I sometimes hate you," said Mike, smiling.

Joseph chuckled. "I hate you sometimes, too."

"Well, shit, all right, I hate both of you," Leah said. The three of them laughed, and for the first time in months, genuinely enjoyed each other's company, vigilant of their other friend, who was dreaming of the same thing.