The next afternoon, Niall and Harry were sitting in the studio trying to work on songs they were supposed to write for the new album.  Neither was being very productive.  They had other things on their minds.

Harry walked into the room Niall was in.  "Have you talked to Amanda today at all?"

"No."  Niall said setting his guitar aside.  "You talked to JJ?"

"No."  Harry said sitting down and sighing.  "I tried to call, but it keeps going to voicemail."

"Same."  Niall said.  "What are we going to do?"

Harry shrugged.  "I don't know.  Go back I guess.  Or get them to come to us.  It's been 24 hours, and it's the first time I haven't talked to her in that long since we got together."

"Same."  Niall said.  "Dating best friends is difficult.  More so than I ever imagined."

"Yeah, we seem to share each other's problems.  Doesn't go very well."  Harry pulled out his phone and tried to call Julie again.  "Ok, her phone has been going straight to voicemail all day.  That's odd.  Even if she was ignoring my calls, it should at least ring."

"Yeah, Amanda's not answering.  Guess I can try again too."  Niall dialed Amanda and waited.  "Yeah, no answer."

"Let's just go over there.  We aren't getting anything done anyway."  Harry said standing up.

"Yeah, guess you're right.  Faster we deal with this, better it will be for everyone."  Niall said getting up with him.  No matter what happens.  It would be better than this.  His phone started ringing and he looked at it.  "It's a number I don't recognize."  He looked at Harry and then answered because it was an LA area code.  "Hello?"  Niall heard an unfamiliar voice and then listened carefully.

Harry watched Niall, he watched Niall's face drop and him turn pale.  He walked up to him.  "Niall.  What's going on?"  Niall looked scared.  He put his hand under his elbow to help steady him.  He was waiting but he was going crazy.  What was wrong.

Niall felt sick.  He listened as the voice on the other end spoke gently to him.  When he hung up the call he couldn't move.  He shook his head when he heard Harry speaking.  "Oh, god."  He looked up at Harry.  How could he tell him?  He couldn't believe it himself.

"Niall.  What is wrong?"  Harry asked a little more firmly.  "Please tell me what the hell is happening."

"The girls."  Niall said.  "They were, that was one of the nurses at the hospital.  One of their friends calling.  There was a car accident earlier today.  The girls were in it.  It was pretty serious."

Harry stumbled backwards at Niall's words.  "Are they...."  He couldn't ask.

"They are in the hospital now, being treated.  She didn't know a lot of details.  All she said was it was bad.  The girls didn't give the hospital our numbers because of privacy, but they gave it to one of their friends for emergencies."  Niall sat down on the couch.  Almost like he couldn't stand anymore.

"Niall!"  Harry said.  "We have to go to the hospital!"

"I know.  I know."  Niall got to his feet.  He looked at Harry.  Harry looked like he felt.  Petrified.  Here he thought Amanda and Julie weren't answering calls or texts because they were still mad and didn't want to.  But that wasn't it.  It was a lot more serious than that.

Harry walked out of the room.  They had to explain how they needed to leave another writing session.  How could he explain he didn't even know what was happening?  It was bad?  How bad?  They were being treated now.  What did that mean?  Harry and Niall struggled through the explanation and were advised that they would be driven to the hospital.  They weren't going to be driving on their own.  Probably for the best anyway. Harry wasn't sure he could.  He couldn't figure out why they were standing here so long.  "What the fuck is going on?  Come on already!"  He was unnerved.  He wanted to know what was happening.

"Fucking hell."  Niall said.  "Can we go already? What's taking so long?!"

"We're trying to figure out details.  Figure out where to go, what's going on and prepare for your arrival.  Make sure security is in place."  Paul, their handler said.

"Who gives a fuck!"  Harry yelled at him.  "If you aren't going to take us,  I'm going anyway!"  He went to walk out the door.

Paul grabbed him.  "Trust me, Harry.  I understand, but it will be easier if we get it all straight now.  Make sure there are no issues getting you in and no issues while you're there.  Last thing you want is trouble with paps or fans."  He took Harry and Niall back and made them sit in the chairs in the waiting room.  "I promise we will get you there as soon as we can.  Trust me."  He said nodding at them both and going back to figuring out logistics.

"Fuck this shit!"  Harry said.  "I can't handle this!  I just want to go to the fucking hospital to see what the hell is going on!"

"I know."  Niall said.  Emotion clouding his voice.  "I know exactly what you're feeling."  He had a sinking feeling.  It was the worst feeling ever.  He looked up at the tv when the news lady mentioned a morning accident that closed down a portion of the freeway for hours this morning.  He covered his mouth when he saw the chaos.  He saw so many vehicles, so much carnage.  It had to be the accident that the girls had been in.

Harry looked up when Niall gasped and saw the wreckage on the tv.  Jesus Christ.  His heart dropped.  There was such a massive accident.  Smashed cars were everywhere.  The announcer was stating that it had started from a tractor-trailer jackknifing across the lanes of the 405, and the vehicles behind it had nowhere to go.  They were talking about fatalities and the critically injured.  When he recognized the car that the girls drove, he stood up.  "We have to go, NOW!"  He looked at Paul.  "No waiting.  We have to go!"

"Ok, let's go.  We've got most of it, by the time we get there, we should be good."  Paul said.  Even he knew at this point, it was important to get Harry and Niall there.

Niall walked silently out to the SUV with Harry.  There were no words that could be spoken right now.  He was sitting there with tears in his eyes, and when he looked at Harry, his eyes looked the same.  Neither wanted to address the possibilities, but he knew they were both thinking the same horrible thoughts.  So, neither were willing to mention them.  He couldn't bring himself to say anything.  Positive or negative.

Harry sat back and closed his eyes.  All he could think about was the last time he'd seen Julie.  How they were fighting.  How he hadn't told her he loved her.  What if he didn't get to do that again?  What if the last time he walked out is the last chance he got at that?  He slammed his fist into the headrest of the seat in front of him.  "Fuck!!  I wish they would have told us more!!"

"I know, Harry."  Niall said.  "She said she just didn't have details, but since she had an opportunity that she wanted to call.  She said they were slammed with everyone from the accident.  She didn't know the details.  She said that the hospital called their parents because they were the emergency numbers and that they didn't want to give anyone our numbers.  Amanda trusted her to unlock her phone in case of an emergency, so she was able to call just so we'd know."

"Ok, I get it.  But I don't like it."  Harry said.  How much longer could it take to get to the damn hospital?  He didn't remember it being that far away.  He looked at his watch.  Time seemed to be standing still.  They hadn't even been in the car very long.  He just wanted to get there.  "Could you turn that off?!"  Harry asked the driver.  Maybe a little abruptly.  There was news on the radio talking about the accident, about how bad it was.  He didn't want to hear it anymore.

"Harry.  What are we going to do?"  Niall asked.  He was moving around in his seat.  He couldn't get comfortable.  He didn't know what to think, what to do.

"Find out what is going on, I guess.  What else can we do?"  Harry sat up and looked out the window.  He could now see the hospital.  They pulled up to a door in the back of the hospital.  They weren't going to be taken into the main entrance.  This all took too long though.  He just wanted to get in there to see what had happened to Julie.  They were met by a security member of the hospital who took both of them and Paul in.  He didn't have any information,  Harry figured, but he had to ask.  He would ask anyone he saw.  They walked through a maze of corridors and into an elevator, up six floors and to a small waiting room.  "Why are we here?!  Can't someone take me to her?"  He cried out.

A nurse came and sat Harry and Niall down.  Even though Niall asked her, she said she couldn't tell them anything just yet.  Just that he needed give it some time, and a doctor would be down to speak with them.  "Give it time?  We haven't heard anything at all, from anyone!"  Niall said standing up and starting to pace.

Harry clenched his fists.  Why were they making them wait?  Why couldn't anyone tell him a fucking thing about his girlfriend?  This was getting on his last nerve.  He wanted to use his name for something.  He never wanted to do that.  But if he could get any answers because of who he was, now would be the time.  He started pacing with Niall.  By the way this was going,there would be paths worn in the carpet from both of them.  They seemed to wait forever.  "Jesus Christ!! Can someone PLEASE tell me what's going on with my fucking girlfriend?!"  He turned to see a nurse walking into the room.  "I'm sorry."  He said.

"It's ok. I understand. Please have a seat." She said gesturing towards the chair.

Neither sat. Harry just looked at her. "If it's ok, we'll just stand. Could you please tell us what's going on?"

"I'm technically not supposed to be here." She said looking at them. "I'm Sara. I'm the one who called you. I know Amanda and Julie well. I'm not supposed to tell you anything because of privacy since you're not family. And I don't know much really. We've been so busy since the accident. I didn't even know they were here until I called you because we've had all hands-on deck." She took a deep breath. "Sorry, I'm rambling. All I know is that it's not good. I'm so sorry. Amanda's in surgery, and Julie is with our trauma team. There are so many people here. I can promise they have the best doctors though. I'm waiting for word from Amanda and Julie's families. Once they find out you're both here, I'm hoping they will give permission for our doctors to tell you more. As soon as I find out what's going on for sure, I will come give you something. I'm really sorry."

"It's ok." Niall said. It wasn't ok, but he couldn't take his frustration out on her. She looked miserable also, and if she was friends with the girls, he wouldn't do that to her. He looked at Harry's face. His jaw was clenched. Niall wanted to say something more, but also didn't want to say anything he would regret. "Anything you can tell us when you find out would be great, please." He nodded at her as she walked out the door. He sat down in the chair and put his head in his hands.

Harry sank into a chair next to Niall. They still knew nothing, except that maybe the girls were still alive. He put his head in his hands and broke down. Harry hadn't cried yet, but he couldn't help it now. What was happening? The last time he'd seen her, 24 hours ago, he'd left without saying he loved her. The last thing she would remember from him is him walking out the door without thinking of her feelings. "Niall, what have we done?"

"I don't know." Niall wiped the tears from his eyes. "I should've just stayed. I should have just told her I loved her. I should have just got off my pedestal and listened." He started crying harder. This was the worst feeling in the world. They knew nothing. He looked at Harry who was sitting with his face in his hands again. What had they done? All over something that wasn't even real. All over feelings and decisions that were never made, nor that needed to be made.

Harry and Niall sat in the waiting room with Paul and a couple other security team members. It felt really lonely. They could have used someone to comfort them. They could have used the girls' loving presence right then. No answers had been given yet. After a couple of hours, the nightly news came on. The leading story was the accident. They didn't want to watch, but when they heard, 'LA Memorial nurses' heroes on the road', they looked up. It was helicopter footage which must have been not long after the accident. The road was filled with damaged cars. It was so devastating. No wonder the hospital was full. There were so many people involved. The news anchors were talking, but the boys froze. On screen, they could see Julie and Amanda. They were crawling through the wreckage. Every so often they would stop and reach into cars and help people out, or they would assess people on the ground. It was like at the concert when they jumped rows of chairs to help the girl who passed out, only times a million.

Niall watched both girls. When the camera showed Amanda trying to help people, he could tell she was hurt. She could barely make herself move. She seemed to be having a hard time with one of her arms. She was bleeding. But she was still helping others. When she got up to walk she held her right arm and she had a pretty pronounced limp. Yet she was still rushing to help others. So unselfish. Why would he assume she was being selfish about this possible pregnancy? That wasn't her. She was the most unselfish person he knew. He felt like an idiot. What was he doing?

Harry watched Julie when the camera panned over to her. Amanda was hurt. He could tell and when he looked at Niall, he could tell how much he was hurting. When he watched Julie, he felt just like Niall looked. She was obviously hurt. She was bleeding from her head. It was hard to tell exactly where but seemed to be over her left eye. Her clothes were torn, and she seemed to be struggling to move around. She still would climb halfway into cars and help people out. Pulling people from smoking or burning vehicles. It was amazing and extremely scary. But she was active. Why was she with trauma now? What changed? He looked at Niall when the news cut to what must have been after the chaos died down. They showed people at the ambulances. That's when he saw it. Julie had been walking towards the ambulances when she grabbed her head and fell to her knees. She looked at her hands full of blood, and then he saw paramedics arrive at her side and he couldn't see anymore. They panned to another ambulance, and they were loading Amanda in on a stretcher. The news had cut back to the anchors who had then mentioned the nurses who helped were being treated, but there were no updates.

Niall looked at Harry who just stared back at him. There were no words. Their girlfriends saved the lives of so many, but they sacrificed themselves to do so. They were hurt, obviously, but it never stopped them, which could have just made their injuries worse. "We're idiots." Niall said standing up. "Just idiots." He started pacing. "They are the most unselfish people I know. Look what they did! And we questioned them, over something stupid. We didn't listen, and we just assumed what we wanted!"

"I know." Harry said quietly. He'd never really seen Niall angry before. He was always so calm, so accepting. He was more of the hot head when it got that far. But he felt if Niall needed it, maybe he should try to stay calm. "I don't know what we were thinking. I don't even know how it all started. It just seems so stupid right now. What if that's the last thing we said to each other? What if we left without saying 'I love you', and it's the last time we see them?"

"Don't think like that!" Niall said stopping and staring down at Harry. Harry had tears falling onto his cheeks. "I mean, they were helping others! They saved lives! They have to be ok!"

"Yeah, but I saw her fall. I saw the paramedics rush to her. She looked scared." Harry said emotion clouding his voice. "She looked so scared, and I wasn't with her! If we weren't fighting. If we could have gotten over ourselves, maybe they would've come to meet us this morning instead of heading out on the 405. Maybe this wouldn't have happened."

Paul walked over to them. "You cannot be blaming yourselves for this. Niall, Harry. It was an accident. There's nothing you could have done to prevent it."

Harry stood up. "Yes! If we weren't such jackasses the past couple of days then things could have been different! Maybe they wouldn't have been out on the road so early! Maybe they would have been with us instead!"

"He's right." Niall said. "They were out awfully early. If we would have been with them, they wouldn't have been out. I don't know where they were going, but I bet it had something to do with us. I bet they were trying to get a distraction from the issues with us. Just like they did in Paris." He sat back down in the chair.

"There's no way you guys could have known this was going to happen. Stop being so hard on yourselves." Paul said. "I'm going to send someone to get you guys some food and drinks. I figured I couldn't get you to leave for anything." He sighed and went and spoke to a team member who went for food. He looked back at the boys. He couldn't even imagine what they were going through.

Harry looked at his phone when it rang. It was his mom. It was really late in the U.K. Or rather, it would have been really early in the morning. Why would she be calling him? He looked over at Niall when his phone rang almost at the same time. When Niall said "mum", Harry knew Paul must have told their families. How was he going to tell her? How was he going to hold it together? "Mum?" He answered. When she asked how he was and what was happening, he lost it. He couldn't stop the tears. He tried to explain everything to her, but it took some time. "Mum, what am I going to do? What if I lose her?" His mum didn't have any answers for him. But she always managed to be what he needed. She was his everything. Talking to her didn't fix anything, but he didn't feel as alone. He promised he would keep her updated and sat back when they hung up.

Niall spoke to his mum. He explained everything that had happened. He told her how proud he was that Amanda had helped all those people while she could. He broke down when he explained that he didn't know what was going on and wasn't even sure if Amanda was ok. His mum comforted him the best she could, and he always needed his mum, but even she couldn't make him feel any better about the situation. Comfort and love, but he still couldn't shake the horrible feeling. After he hung up, he glanced at Harry, and just then, the nurse, Sara, who had spoken to them earlier came back in. He stood up with Harry.

"Sorry it's been so long. Both Amanda and Julie's parents are trying to get here as quickly as possible. I thought you would like to know that." Sara said to them.

"Yes, of course." Niall said. "Do you have anything else on Amanda? Or JJ?"

"Not much. But we did get permission from their families to keep you guys updated, so as soon as there is any news, one of the doctors will be able to give you details. I'm really very sorry." Sara said trying to smile at them but then turned to walk away.

"Niall, we should help get their families here." Harry said. He needed to do something. He needed to feel like he was helping.

"Of course. Yes, that's a great idea." He got up. "Sara?" When she turned around, he asked her to contact the girls' parents, so that they could get them to LA as soon as possible. They spent the next hour or so getting flights set for Amanda's and Julie's parents. They all still had long flights, so it would still take them a long time to get to LA. They sat back down when they saw a doctor walk into the room. They both jumped back up out of their seats.

"Hello, I'm Dr. Miller." The doctor said shaking both of their hands. "Which of you is here for Amanda?"

"I am." Niall said. He looked up at Harry who stepped back. "What's wrong? What's going on?"

"Amanda is in recovery now. When she came in, she had a compound break in her arm and lots of cuts and bruises, along with a badly sprained ankle. She had lost quite a bit of blood, and we had to get her into surgery to close some of her wounds and to fix her broken arm. She's stable, but still serious. She should be going to her room soon. We anticipate her waking from anesthesia anytime now. Even though she's gotten through surgery, things will be tough for the next 24 hours or so." He said to Niall. "We're hopeful, but we still have to be cautious."

Niall nodded when the doctor was finished speaking. It sounded so serious still, but she was alive. That gave him hope. Hope is what he needed. "Will I be able to see her?"

"Yes, once she's back to her room, a nurse will come get you and take you to her. Shouldn't be long now." He shook Niall's hand again.

"Doctor?" Harry said stepping forward. "What about Julie? Do you know anything about her?"

"I'm sorry. I was in surgery with Amanda. I will see if I can find anyone to come update you." He nodded at Harry and Niall and then left. The nurse was already advising him of his next surgery.

Harry clapped Niall on the back. "Sounds promising."

"Yeah, I guess." Niall said. "Still serious though. I wish they would be able to tell you something about JJ."

"Yeah, me too." Harry said.

About an hour later, a nurse came back for Niall. She was going to take him to Amanda's room. But before he could leave, he saw another doctor come in, and he figured it was for JJ so he asked if he could wait a minute. He needed to make sure Harry was ok.

"Hi, I'm Dr. Thompson. Are you here for Julie?" He asked Harry.

"Yes, I am." Harry said. He almost felt the color run from his face. He couldn't even bring himself to ask how she was.

"I'm sorry it took so long for me to come talk to you. I haven't left her since she came in. Please sit." He said leading Harry to the chairs.

Harry went with him and sat. He really didn't want to sit, but he had a sinking feeling. "Doctor? Is she ok?"

"Things are a bit complicated. She hit her head in the accident. The swelling took time to form, but by the time she got here, it was pretty severe. We sutured the large cut on her forehead and stitched a couple of other cuts she had; however, the swelling wasn't slowing down. With her previous head injuries, this one became severe pretty quickly. We've had to induce a temporary coma to manage the swelling. The next 72 hours will tell us a lot. She's going to be monitored in the ICU until we can figure out the best course of action." He put his hand on Harry's shoulder. "She's in the best hands. We love her here. There is no one who will take better care of her than we will. We've put her in the same room with Amanda. Even though that's not typically how it works, we know the two of them would want it that way." He stood. "I have some other patients to see. But as soon as we know anything else, we will let you know.

Harry looked at Niall when Niall came up to hug him. They took a few minutes standing there. Getting the tears out now before they went and saw the girls. They wanted to be strong for them. But Julie was in a coma. How was he going to deal with that? When they both got themselves mostly under control, they started to follow the nurse to the ICU to see their girls.

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