It's been a few days since the incident, and I haven't left my room. Going to school hurt, since the ice cream shop where Gerard got hit was right across the street. And staring at it 5 days a week for 6 hours was...painful. I didn't want to relive that night.

And it was even more traumatic when I remember that I watched it happen. I watched my uncle get hit by a car. And I felt guilt, regret, sadness, my mind was all over the place.

George has been pressuring me to talk to him and tell him how I feel. But I wasn't in the mood to talk to anyone. Not even my own father.

"Hey, Val, how you holding up?" George said, knocking on the door of my room. I sighed and said, "Horribly."

"I know. You didn't need that trauma on top of the trauma you already have. But you did the right thing. You saved his life, Valerie. You're 10 years old and you saved someone's life. And I am so incredibly proud of you." George said, hugging me. I swatted him away.

"No, I didn't save his life. I'm not a paramedic." I snapped. George sighed and said, "But you were thinking on your feet. Didn't you say you motioned for Gerard to move when you saw the van come?" I nodded then said, "Yeah, but he didn't see me. He was too wrapped up in his phone call."

George sighed and said, "But you called me immediately and told me to call 911. You didn't even say, 'Something happened,' you took charge and said, 'George, call 911.' You described the van. You explained what happened, and you didn't even seem that shaken up by it. Which I'm so proud of you for. I know you're hurting now, but think about what would've happened if you didn't call me and you didn't take charge like that."

"Gerard would've died." I said in a monotone. Then it hit me. I did save his life.

"I have to apologize to him." I said, getting up. George had offered to take me to the hospital to see Gerard, but I didn't want to go. I didn't even want to hear about how he was doing. It hurt too much.

"Why do you have to...apologize?" George said, grabbing my wrist.

"Because I'm the stupidest human being on the planet and if I had gone up to Gerard and tapped him on the shoulder or just screamed 'Watch out' this wouldn't have happened but I'm so used to being yelled at for interrupting people when they're on the phone that I did nothing and now Gerard's in the hospital and I don't know if he's gonna be okay and I'm too scared to find out because I know the answer isn't gonna be good!" I ranted, bursting into tears.

"You're not stupid, Valerie. Not at all. And you're right, it isn't nice to interrupt people, but when someone's in that situation, it might be a good idea. But, I know how you grew up. You were probably scared that Gerard was gonna yell at you, which he wouldn't have. He loves you to pieces. And um, do you want to know how he's doing?" George asked.

Moment of truth. I knew the answer wasn't gonna be good.

"He's in a coma, isn't he? Or he's on life support. Or he's on the brink of death and I can't even say goodbye and apologize for being such a moron." I said.

"No, no, Val, none of those are true. He's okay." George said. I couldn't believe it.

"George, he got hit by a minivan. How is he just miraculously okay?" I asked. George laughed, but I wasn't amused. At all.

"Okay, let me clarify. He's not totally okay, I mean, he's in the hospital. But nothing life-threatening, he's not seriously hurt, he's not paralyzed, nothing needs to be amputated, we're all good with the major stuff. But, he did break a couple of bones and they're keeping him in the hospital for observation and stuff, but other than that, he's okay." George assured me. But I wasn't totally reassured. Anything could go wrong in a matter of minutes. I should know.

"Valerie? Are you okay?" George asked, brushing my strawberry blonde hair out of my face. I shook my head.

"I know this is a lot for you to process right now, and I get it if you need time. But why are you so upset?" George asked.

"I-it's my bio parents. Um...I don't think I ever told you how they died..." I said.

"Only tell me if you feel comfortable." George said, and I sighed.

"Um...so...um...they...um..." I said, getting tangled with my words. I'm not even sure I have the story straight.

"Are you sure you want to tell me?" George asked, and I nodded.

"So...um...my mom got a pretty bad concussion when I was two. They made it out fine, but my mom was told that if she hit her head again, she would die. And um...she did. 6 months later, she died." I said.

"What happened to your dad?" George asked.

"Oh, um, I actually don't know. My auntie came up to me one day and said, 'Daddy's gone.' and I wasn't really fazed by it. I didn't totally grasp the concept of death back then. But that's not my point. Anything could happen. Gerard seems fine now, but I'm worried he's gonna die in a week or something." I said.

"That's not going to happen. Tell you what. Let's go to the hospital." George said. I nodded and grabbed my phone.

________

"Gerard!" I yelled once me and George walked into his hospital room. Gerard cracked a soft smile and whispered, "Valerie..."

"Hi. I'm sorry." I said, sitting down on his hospital bed. "I'm such a moron. If I had done something, this wouldn't have happened." Gerard took my hands and said, "You're not a moron, Via. I'm so grateful for what you did. Do you want to know what the doctors said to me when I woke up and explained what you did?"

"What?" I said softly.

"That I wouldn't have made it much longer if you didn't step up and call George when you did." Gerard said. "I don't think you're an idiot, Val. Quite the opposite, actually. You saved my life."

"That's what George said to me." I said.

"Exactly." Gerard said. "You should listen to him. Now, I'm getting out of here in 2 days, so we can have fun and make banana bread like we always do." I smiled. At least I got some hope back.

But I still felt guilty for not interrupting.

AN: I almost put Gerard in a coma. You're lucky I didn't. Hope you enjoyed! Catch ya later!