It was that stereotypical moment Nora had seen countless of times in movies and heard about, when she finally opened her eyes. The white walls were blinding, the beeping of machines was enough to give her a headache, and her body felt heavy. Too heavy.

Nora groaned slightly, ducking her chin and the explanation finally processed as she identified the mop of brown hair, resting on her legs. "Leo," she hissed, and expected, he snored in response, gaining a smirk as she shook her head in amusement. Now would be the perfect time to video his awful noise; she'd been trying to catch him for years, whilst he remained adamant he didn't make a sound. Of course, since they grew older the opportunities to catch one another asleep had become much harder but right now, this moment was most opportune.
She clearly wasn't in a place to locate her mobile however, and though in a previous life she would shaken her brother and insisted he look for it, Nora instead smiled and stretched her sore arm to comb through his dark curls, the ones they had both inherited from their father.

It was only upon seeing her hand, and the needle stabbed into her vein, did she remember that she was in hospital and the memories came flooding back. She'd been in an accident. A bad one by the looks of it, and when Nora touched her face, she hissed, acknowledging that it was tender. She also noticed her exposed left leg was kept raised and in a brace. It was likely broken and it ached to wiggle her toes; she didn't even want to think about recovery.

Thankfully, a nurse in blue scrubs, passed by in time for Nora to wave her attention, and she entered smiling warmly, clipboard in hand.
"Glad to see you're awake dear," Nurse Pierce noted, and Nora nodded, pressing a finger to lips in request that she quieten her voice, as she jerked her chin in Leo's direction. He was still asleep!

The nurse only nodded, moving closer to check her monitors and scribble the data on her paper, before she knelt so that they were at eye level. "Do you know where you are?" She asked, "or what happened?"

"Yes," Nora whispered, "I'm in the hospital, and I was in an accident...my friend, Ali, he was with me? Is he hurt?" The questions tumbled from her lips as she recalled her companion and when the nurse's eyes widened, horror sunk into Nora's stomach.

"He's not dead, is he!" She asked, jerking her right knee as she twisted to face the nurse. It was just enough force to wake Leo, who appeared dazed, but she didn't give him a moment as she demanded an answer. "Tell me!"

"He's alive," Nurse Pierce confirmed, and Nora sighed, placing a hand over her beating chest, as the machine beeped louder in accordance. "He's just resting,"

"What does that mean?" Nora begged, as Leo finally came to his senses, perching on her other side to wrap an arm around her in comfort. "Why is he not awake? How bad is he hurt?"

"He's fine hon," He expressed, communicating something to the nurse that implied she needed to leave before things became worse, "I was just with him,"

"You were sleeping on my lap, how could you know? What if something happened?" Her eyes became wet with tears as he gently squeezed her hand, forcing his green eyes to meet her brown. "It was my fault," She added with a sniffle, "I threw his hand sanitiser, and was watching him as he tried to get it...I shouldn't have-"

"Nora love, he's fine, you're fine," he assured her, "Actually, I ended up spending a good hour with him, whilst you were sleeping, he was chatting away,"

"Ali was...chatty?" She questioned, "Oh goodness, I've ruined him," Her cries hardened, as she soaked Leo's shirt with salty tears. "He's not chatty," She denied, covering her face with her hand as she wept. For some reason, it only invoked humour from her brother, but Nora was despaired, she didn't have the energy to show her annoyance. "He's the most un-chatty person, I have ever met,"

"Honey, I don't think that's a word," He silenced his argument when she gave him a dirty look, halting her sob long enough for her tears to dry. "Would it help if you saw him?" He suggested, and when she nodded, he pressed a kiss to her brow, before moving off the bed.

"Where are you going?"

"I'm giving Ali my phone so that you can FaceTime," He grinned, loosening the lid of the bottle of water before handing it to her, "now, calm yourself, just know that he's pretty banged up okay, but I swear he's fine,"

"Okay," she gulped, only just recognising how parched she was, before taking another sip as she watched Leo slip behind the curtain, giving her a moment to acknowledge everything that had happened. She'd truly been in an accident...and they'd survived? The nurse hadn't relayed her injuries, and just as she was about to move her blanket, a doctor arrived, her smile kind as she sought permission to enter.

"So I hear you remember everything?" She asked, and Nora nodded, following the pen torch with her eyes, as the doctor checked her vitals. "Nothing seems to be out of the ordinary," She added, "Your left leg is broken, your pelvis fractured, a clean cut to your hair line, and you're covered in bruises, but I have to say, it was a lucky escape,"

"We were on the bonnet," She recalled, "how...what about the person we hit?"

"Actually, someone had hit you," The doctor corrected. "He drove into you and your car became sandwiched. Thankfully the other drivers are relatively unharmed, just a bit of whiplash, but they are okay. It was only a 20 miles per hour road; your injuries are purely as they were because you both won't wearing your seatbelts properly,"

"O-oh," Nora replied dumbly, as a tablet began to vibrate on the table.

"Is it yours?" Doctor Riley asked and she nodded, taking a hold of the tablet, when she passed it over. "I'll leave you to it, and then I'm prescribing rest. You have a lot of morphine in your body but it won't last forever..."

"How bad is it going to be?" She asked and Dr Riley smiled sympathetically, tucking her greying hair behind her ear as she expressed the truth.

"If I could swear, the saying 'like a 'b' comes to mind," Nora could only nod, thanking the doctor for the small burst of humour as she slipped out of the room, leaving her to the ringing device in her hands. It was Leo's tablet, suggesting that he had been here for quite some time, but she ignored the thought as Ali came into view.

"Hey," He greeted hoarsely, "how are you?" His body was covered by the thin, itchy sheets, but his left arm was exposed and wrapped in a pink cast, that had already been sighed. It was no doubt Leo's work, and when Nora neared the screen to her face, her true thoughts emerged.

"Oh my goodness," She grimaced.

"I know," Ali nodded, mirroring her expression.

"Holy shit," She added in a whisper, and his eyes narrowed at her use of language, "I look like hell!" She complained, and Leo's familiar laugh streamed through the speaker, as she registered her own appearance; caressing her tender cheek with her finger tips. And she really did. Both of her eyes were blackened with bruises, and her lips were split, explaining why it had hurt to spread them. Her red hair was bound, exposing the purple blemishes along her jaw, and continued below her hospital gown. Had she not been on video, she would have checked more thoroughly, but when Ali coughed, her attention was once more returned.

"So, what's the damage?"

"Surprisingly not as bad as they expected," He revealed, "There was a lot of glass, because I broke through the windshield just before you, and my left arm is broken. I have a couple of broken ribs too, some internal bleeding that they were concerned about but in the end they just gave me an IV and transfusion, and my shoulder is dislocated..." She winced as he continued, and his shoulders lowered, as he rested the phone on his stomach. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," She smiled, though it was clear to everyone listening that she was lying, "I'm just really sorry," she added with a sigh, "You were supposed to be home by now, and..."

"And nothing, accidents happen. It's not like you could have controlled it, we were just messing around, but it was someone else who had hit us,"

" I know but...oh my god, Billy!" Her voice rose once more, as she recalled the cat that had started this entire trip in the first place. "Oh my goodness, he's not dead is he?" Her heart began to beat frantically, as once more she panicked. She couldn't have killed Billy. She'd only just gained forgiveness for selling him in the first place. What was she going to do? It wasn't even Ali's cat, it was Lena's, and Nora had grown quite fond of the daughter, despite the one shared phone call. She could potentially lose a friend she'd never had, and she wouldn't blame Lena. Who want to be friends with a cat murderer?

"Nora," Ali called her attention and when she met his gaze, she realised he had called her several times. "Billy is fine" He insisted, flipping the camera to showcase the sleeping cat, on the sofa.

"But...but how?"

"He was in his very well padded carrier that was strapped to the seat. It knocked into the back of my seat, but being so bulky, couldn't fall, it was a lucky escape,"

"He's really fine?" She asked, wiping her eyes; Nora hadn't cried this much since she'd lost the restaurant, she really was losing her mind.

"Completely and utterly fine, he's even had X-rays, and all it showed was a small bump to the head. It benefitted him more than anything, I got lots of cuddles when I woke up."

She did laugh at that, and though he shared her humour, her sigh ended the hilarity as she lowered her gaze. "Can't you at least blame me?" She begged and his eyebrows raised, as a smirk formed on his lips. She'd really broken him too; he'd never offered that look before and her tears arose once more, "Please,"

There seemed to be a conversation on the other side of the line, and when Ali turned to her, he finally nodded, fuelling her to then ask for the forgiveness, she sought.
"I'm really sorry,"

"I forgive you,' He vowed and she nodded, with a small sniffle. "Now, you need to get some rest, and I need to hang up or else you'll wake up my sister,"

"She's here?"

"Leo brought her, and she's completely fine, bust half asleep when I last messaged," Ali grinned, and her heart swelled with love as she nodded and hung up the phone.

By the time her brother returned, Nora had snuggled into her sheets, leaving just enough room for him to join her. "You gave me such a fright," He stated, adjusting the blanket slightly so that he was partially covered. "But I'm glad you're okay,"

"I love you," She murmured, resting her head on his chest, "and you were right," she added, choosing to confess her thoughts, despite hownrandome they were. "We should be thinking about the next step and I was wrong. I can't continue to be alone, I just can't afford it and I'm...not as ready for it as I thought I was," she confessed. "I'd like to move in with you if that's okay? And if the offer still stands? I don't want to live on top of a halal restaurant any more, I don't want to always smell of fried chicken! I want to get back on my feet,"
And she truly did.

"You're not high are you?" Was his response as he gently raised her chin, so that she met his gaze. It was a clear yes.

"Maybe a little," she confessed and he chuckled, kissing her brow with smiling lips.

"Oh well," he grinned, "you can't take it back and it's just as well, Mr Bilal dumped all your things at mine anyway,"

"He did what!" She exclaimed, losing all sense of amusement as she attempted to configure a thought.

"That's what you get for muting him," he chastised, as she released a dark chuckle of acceptance, that ended with a sigh.

"The only thing is Leo, I want you to know it's temporary." She confessed. "I can't live my life forever mooching off you and Jeanie. This is just so that I can get back to you old self...I am accepting help and that's a big thing for me,"

"I know" he murmured. "And I do understand,"

"That's great," she grinned, "so I'll get a job and pay monthly rent, ooh and maybe help you with the baby! I'll be the abet aunt, we can-"

"Let's get you all healed and ready for home first, hmm?" He interrupted, tightening his embrace, as she nodded, rubbing her chin on his chest. "Starting off with some sleep, you do not want to be awake when that morphine fades."

Nora could concede to that, and she rested her head on his beating heart, seeking his warmth as sleep found her easily, and her thoughts became thin whisps that disappeared into the darkest depths in her mind.

At this moment, she was alive, safe and well. Tomorrow's problems could wait another day.
"Hey Leo," she called and he hummed his response, as she concentrated on his peaceful expression. "Can you get me some hot chocolate?"

Leo's eyes opened, as he narrowed his brows, clearly annoyed to be stirred by her request. "On you Nora, only you," He sighed, and she grinned sweetly, kissing his cheek gently just before he slipped out of her bed once more.