Stefan's plan was to take Aimee straight home, but fate had other plans...

They were about halfway to Aimee's house when a truck hit the motorcycle at an intersection as it attempted a left turn. The bike hit its side and Aimee tumbled onto the grass island that separated the roads. Stefan screamed in pain as his leg caught under the scrambler. Aimee's right arm was injured when she hit the ground with a thud, and the pain surged through her entire body, on impact. As she heard Stefan's screams, she was determined to stand up. She needed to help him, but all she could do was groan in agony.

To their fortune, a paramedic had viewed the incident from his van, and as Aimee limped towards Stefan, she saw the paramedic removing the bike that had pinned him down, and then carrying him onto a stretcher. Another paramedic came up to Aimee and asked her if she was able to walk. She shook her head and the paramedic held her left arm around her neck to assist her. They slowly walked towards the van, and Aimee sat on the stretcher at the back of the van, next to Stefan's. The paramedics shut the van's rear doors and drove to the hospital. When Aimee heard the sirens buzzing, she glanced at her arm. She could not believe this had happened. If she had listened to Molly, none of this would have occurred. Aimee realised that it was because of her that she and Stefan were being rushed to a hospital. The ambulance van arrived at the hospital at 14:29. More paramedics spilled from the hospital's front doors and rushed to carry Stefan from the van. Aimee regained her mobility, and she had never felt so appreciative of it. The paramedics rushed Stefan to the Emergency Room; his leg was badly injured and bleeding profusely.

"We need to get him to the E.R, now!" shouted the female paramedic from before. "He's gonna lose a lot of blood and soon!"

Another paramedic analysed Aimee, and asked her for their names, and she gave a straight reply. The paramedic introduced herself as Selena and asked Aimee how she was doing as they rushed beside Stefan.

"Other than the throbbing in my right arm, I think I'm okay," remarked Aimee.

In actuality, she could not move her arm without sending a flood of pain to nearly all of the rest of her body.

"A cast should do, maybe an X-ray," stated Selena, convincingly.

"Thank you, but it's not as urgent as fixing Stefan's leg," she glanced at him moaning in pain.

"We'll get on that immediately," elucidated Selena, "a little cleaning and stitches, no problem."

Aimee was not convinced. They turned into the E.R and got Stefan onto a bed. The paramedics left with Aimee, and after cleaning Stefan's wound Selena called for a surgeon to advance with the stitching. Soon, a surgeon walked through the door, wearing his latex gloves, he gestured Selena out of the room and neared Stefan's bed.

"Shall we begin, Mr Summers," he addressed him.

Meanwhile, in the next ward, two nurses were waiting with Aimee. The first nurse sanitised her arm while the second grabbed an arm cast for her. Aimee sat patiently, waiting quietly on the hospital bed. The nurses were kind; they said that the two of them were very strong. The second nurse fitted Aimee's cast onto her arm and she was ready to go, with no major damage. She just needed some time to rest and fully recover. Stefan was also beginning to feel much better, after he had his wound stitched up and cast. The surgeon told him that he would need the aid of crutches for at least five days, but nothing was broken, and then he left the ward. Aimee asked for permission to check in with Stefan, and with authorisation, she ambled into the room and he was sitting on the hospital bed.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" she asked as she sat in the chair beside the bed.

"Better," Stefan beamed. "How about you?"

"Great, that is if you're not mad at me," said Aimee.

"Why would I be mad at you?" he wondered.

"Your bike is ruined, and I heard you have to rely on crutches for a few days," she peeked at the crutches next to the bed. "And it's because of me..."

"No, don't feel bad, I offered you a ride home. I was going too fast, it was my fault." he assured her.

Aimee smiled a little, but it soon faded. She still felt remorse over what had happened.

"If only I had listened to Molly and waited for Clifford," she whispered under her breath. She stared at the ceiling in a daydream, but Stefan never took his eyes off her.

"What are you thinking about?" he smiled.

Aimee shook her head vigorously. "Nothing," she said.

"Look, I didn't lie when I said I would explain everything that happened on Saturday," he justified. "Buckley told me not to say anything. Not yet anyway."

"Not yet?" Aimee repeated, confused.

"I think he will explain himself, in time, but not now," he said. "Do you... forgive me?" he stuttered.

"Of course I do, we're friends!" she smiled. "I could never stay mad at a friend."

Stefan was happy to have moved passed that. Just then, the nurse called Aimee out of the room to let her know that she was allowed to make a call to a family member and/or friend. Aimee thanked her and said goodbye to Stefan.

The nurse walked her to the phone booth in the hospital foyer. The first person she called was Coach Kirkwood to let him know what had happened, that she was alright, and that it should not affect her goalie ability, because he had to ask. He was relieved to hear that she was not injured, and told her that she could talk to him at any time. She truly appreciated his support, but had to hang up. She called Molly and Cliff, but neither of them answered their phones - again. So she dialled Emma's number, and to her relief, she answered, and Aimee told her everything.

"OMG, are you okay?!" she queried frantically. "Do you need a lift home or anything?"

Before Aimee could comment, Emma called out to her parents, while she sat on her bed, and told them what had happened to Aimee and Stefan. She begged her parents to fetch Aimee and take her home, and if she could spend the night over. Jake and Kari were stunned. They immediately agreed to taking Aimee home, but not to any sleepovers.

"You can't sleep over," sighed Emma, with her phone at her ear again. "But we are on our way, okay?"

"Thanks, Emma,"

"Of course, see you in a bit!" and she hung up.

Aimee was glad to have the Lincolns drive her home, and with a wide smile on her face, she put the phone away in the booth and turned back towards Stefan's ward. On her way there, she saw him walking over to her on his crutches, and soon they stood face-to-face in the hallway.

"Stefan, what are you doing out of bed?" she asked. "You shouldn't be walking around like this with your injury."

Stefan smiled at her, and replied without regarding her question, "So, you're going home with the Lincolns?" he queried.

"Yeah."

"They're good people," he noted. "You should hang onto them."

She agreed. Stefan clarified that the nurse allowed him to make a phone call as well, but he admitted that he was not sure who to call. His mother and father would both be too busy to take him home. Aimee felt the need to ask the Lincolns if they could drive him, but Stefan was not even sure where they could drop him off. It was too much to ask. Aside from the institute - which was off limits to the "outside world" - he stayed at a beach house near Redondo Beach, but had no way of getting inside. Aimee wondered why he schooled so far away from home, but it did not matter in that moment. She would let him sleep at her house, but she knew that Clifford and Molly would shower her with questions about the situation. Stefan assured her that he would stay at the hospital for the night and be perfectly fine. A nurse walked by and informed Aimee that the Lincolns were waiting for her outside, and the nurse walked on. Aimee bid Stefan farewell, but before she could leave, Stefan dropped his left crutch. Aimee quickly asked if he was okay, and he confidently said yes as he took her right hand with his left, and without hesitation, he kissed her lips. She was in a trance. Her eyes were wide open throughout. She could not believe he was such a great kisser! His lips were like clouds, and he did not do that awkward tongue thing. The kiss lasted no more than three seconds, but to Aimee it felt eternal, in a good way. She was blushing and so was Stefan. He caressed her lips with his thumb, but suddenly pulled back.

"I'm sorry, please slap me," he pleaded, irrationally guilt-stricken.

Aimee found it cute of him to beseech a slap for his actions, but she did not mind being kissed at all. They had known each other for only three days and still they felt the same way about each other.

"I'm not going to slap you," she said for the second time.

"Please, it was inappropriate for me to -" began Stefan.

"Ms Griffiths, the Lincolns are still waiting for you," the hospital secretary interrupted.

She was holding Aimee's school bag. The secretary returned it to her and stood aside. Aimee would not want to keep them waiting any longer, so she picked up Stefan's crutch and handed it to him.

"It was perfect," she whispered in his ear. "Goodbye."

She laced her arms through her backpack's straps as the secretary escorted her outside. Stefan waited for her to leave before going anywhere. She noticed him, as she looked back over her shoulder, grinning like a little kid.

The Lincolns parked on the road right outside the hospital door. Aimee thanked the secretary and rushed towards Emma, who was waving frantically in the back seat. Emma opened the car door and scooted over to make space for Aimee. She climbed into the car, where the two of them sat and rattled on about the incident that night as Mr Lincoln drove her home.