Austin's POV:

I ran to Leilani's limp body in the middle of the intersection. The heat of the flames was excruciating and I can't imagine the smoke would be good for my heart. I pulled my shirt over my face and tried to scoop Lani up gently but her body was too flimsy. Her body folded at my touch and her head nearly touched her toes as her back bent backwards as I lifted her. I heard the screams from several men behind me. I turned to listen to their yells but Lani's eyes flickered open and her once piercing green eyes were faded and blackening. She looked directly at me, her eyes filled with hope. She smiled for what I feared would be the last time.

"Aus-" she tried to finish my name but lost her breath.

"Lani, it's okay you don't need to say anything you'll be just fine," she tried to shake her head but her neck restrained her from doing so as I held her up.

"I need to say this," she coughed splattering blood onto my shirt. I stared at the beautiful girl who laid dying in my arms and I knew they pleaded her to say what she wanted to but her eyes drifted.

"Leilani!" I screamed as my heart broke. The yells of the men from behind me continued but this time I registered what they were saying.

"You need to put her down sir, her back is broken and you're only making it worse!" I turned to see men in green jumpsuits carrying a neck brace, a stretcher while a few other men hurried behind them with first aid kits and various medical supplies. I placed Lani's slack body on the rubble gently and squeezed on her hand as I waited for the men to wake her up again. They hurried over and lent down on the road next to her. They slipped her on the board and strapped her neck in the brace. They checked her pulse and whatever else they do. I watched every move they made intently hoping they could fix her.

"She's breathing but she's not exactly stable, we need to get her to the hospital I think the impact and the shattered bones have crushed an internal organ," they lifted her body on the board and carried it to the ambulance. I followed and tried to get in the back with her but the man who yelled at me to put her body down pushed me away from the entrance of the ambulance.

"Are you family?" he sternly asked. I hung my head low, I knew I wouldn't be able to go but I tried anyway.

"I'm her boyfriend," I mean I wasn't but she needed someone with her.

"Family only. Sorry sir, you'll just have to follow," they slammed the doors shut and put on the sirens speeding off. I ran back to the car. Tarni was sobbing violently on Alan's shoulder. I jumped back into the passenger seat next to Tino and slammed the door shut.

"Follow them!" I ordered and he did as I said. The engine purred and he hurried off behind them following the blue and red lights. The entire way I chewed my nail to the bone as Tarni ripped at the ends of her hair. Everyone else had their own nervous habit or twitch except for Mike he sat it silence the entire time and it pissed me off entirely but I'd deal with him later.

"What if she doesn't mak-" Tarni blurted before Alan cut her off.

"Don't say it," he choked shooting me an apologetic look. I heard The Offspring start to play on the radio, I knew they were one of Lani's favourites so I turned it up louder and sung along to the lyrics of 'Self Esteem' as did everyone else bar Mike, of fucking course.

Leilani's POV:

A burst of air entered my body and the feeling of being trapped underwater left my body. The pressure on my chest disappeared and I felt myself lift myself off the bed I was lying on. I looked around the stark white and insanely bright room but there was nothing.

"What are you looking for?" Cole? I spun around to confirm my fear of who was standing behind me.

"H-how are you here?" he laughed at me as if the answer to my question was so obvious. The look of pure evil spread across his face as he stepped further and although fear took hold of my body I didn't flinch.

"Don't you know where you are Leilani? The real question is why you are here," he lifted his hand and dragged the back of his palm down my jaw smoothly. This time I flinched at his touch. I shook my head to answer his question. The next sentence that spilled from his chapped lips crushed my now lifeless heart.

"You're just like me Lei, dead," he screwed up his nose as he laughed at what he'd just said.

"No, I can't be," I spun around to reveal the hospital room, that wasn't there a moment ago, that my lifeless, beat up body laid in. I had gashes, now stitched, all over my face, my left arm was in a cast and I had a neck brace on. Tubes were stuffed uncomfortably down my throat just like the needles that were shoved in my arms pumping liquid to keep me alive. It hit me, I was on life support in a coma in that room and everyone was just waiting for me to die.

"Believe me now?" he seethed. I whimpered and fell to the white floor. My tears dissolved just as if they weren't real when they hit the floor.

"Can I go back? Please say I can," Cole didn't answer he simply shrugged his shoulders. He didn't know. I tried to fight against this in between world I was in, I tried to go back. I crawled to the hospital bed across from me and laid myself over my lifeless body but it did nothing, I just vanished into the reflection of myself. I shut my eyes as I gave up and my thoughts ran to Austin, Tarni, Dad, Mum who I didn't visit while I had the chance and now I'd never see.

"Now you regret it don't you? Running that light? You have so many people to live for," Cole, surprisingly, empathised for me. I nodded as an imaginary tear streamed down my ghostly face, again it dissolved on the eerily perfect white tiles.

"How long have I been like that?" I didn't really want to know.

"Three days, the doctors are saying that you're brain dead and your chances of waking up are slim to none. Your Mum and Dad are there, so are your grandparents. None of the boys have played and they postponed the rest of the door indefinitely. Mike blames himself and no one is talking to Deeanne," I shook my head at his words. I've caused so much pain to everyone around me.

"How do you know all this?" I interrogated.

"I've been with you this whole time while you've slept in this room. It's sort of the in-between. We just wait until you either go back or give up," he shrugged his shoulders, "I've watched as everyone sits by your bed all day and all night waiting too," he described.

"Why you?!" I wailed.

"They chose me, it's sort of like counteracting the harm I bought to you by replacing it with good by directing you," he was so confusing.

"Who?" he didn't answer

"Wake up Leilani, they all need you. Just look and you'll see," I turned back to face the hospital room and I saw Austin, visibly thinner with black rings under his blackened eyes. My Mum was chewing her nails as my Dad paced back and forth across the room. All the Pierce The Veil guys huddled in the corner of the room except Mike. Alan and Tarni cuddled on a small chair asleep as Tino and Phil tried to comfort a distraught Austin.

"I wanted to tell Austin I loved him before I died," I sniffed,

"You still can. All you have to do is wake up," he reassured me.

"How?!" I couldn't help but feel like he was lying.

"Think of home, love, things that make you happy. Close your eyes and push for it. Clear your mind of everything else," his voice slowly drifted further away and became noticeably quieter as visions replaced the blackness from behind my eyelids. So this was life flashing before my eyes. I saw many Christmas days and birthdays fly by, my parents divorce, Rhys, many times I had spent with Tarni even good days I'd had with Dee on the inside and finally the first time I made love to Austin, which was possibly one of the happiest days of my life. This time when the pressure lifted from my chest it actually happened and my eyes flew open.

I fluttered my eyes behind my eyelashes. I couldn't turn my neck the stupid brace was refraining me. But from what I could see in my line of vision no one had noticed I was awake. I focused my eyes in the darkness as the blur from sleeping endlessly faded. I coughed awkwardly and tried to shuffle myself from my uncomfortable position to make my presence obvious but no one in the confined, muggy room seemed to notice.

"Well," I spoke up huskily, "Thanks for the welcome back party guys," I joked sarcastically at their lack of enthusiasm that I had awoken. Suddenly all eyes were on me and Alan and Tarni emerged from their slumber. Austin jumped from his chair and grabbed onto the rails of the bed beside me. I felt a hand grip tightly on my other hand and I averted my eyes to see my Dad, tears streaming down his face.

"I love you Dad," I cried, "So much," I coughed out.

"I love you too Bub, so much more than to the moon and back," it was something he'd always said and it brought a smile to my frowning face.

"Tino! Get the doctor! She's awake, she's finally awake," Austin pushed hair carefully out of my face and looked at me with loving eyes as he watched me in disbelief. My smile faded at the realisation of the pain I'd caused everyone.

"I'm sorry everyone," I wept.

"Don't be baby. God nothing matters as long as you're here with me, with us" Austin climbed gently on the bed as he squeezed firmly on my tiny, broken hand.

"Ouch, broken arm," he pulled away hastily and mouthed sorry. I couldn't help but stare in awe and lose myself in his now lively eyes. He turned back and jumped off the bed. I watched as he grabbed for a bag and rummaged through it. He pulled something out but I couldn't see what. He sat back on the bed next to me and drew circles on my arm without a cast.

"Leilani," I put my arm up to stop him from saying another word.

"Austin," he hummed in response, "I believe I had something to tell you," I reminisced back to when I failed to tell him how I really felt.

"I thought you'd never get to say it," he breathed.

"I love you Austin," as the words left my mouth a weight fell off my shoulders that'd I'd been carrying around since the day he had first told me he had loved me.

"I love you too," he exhaled deeply as if his life depended on that moment, "I lied when I said I didn't mean it, I thought you wanted to be with Mike and I didn't want to make things harder for you," I shook my head and he breathed a sigh of relief. He pulled out from behind him what he pulled out of his bag. It was the ring. He didn't say anything he just held it there and waited for me to allow him to slide it on. I nodded gently and he lifted it from the velvet box sliding it on my frail finger. A coo of "Awh's" filled the room as the doctor entered the room.

"Good to see you've awoken Miss. Bennett, we were starting to think you weren't going to," he said in a firm tone. "You've broken the C8 vertebrae in your spine meaning you're lucky enough to walk again one day. You'll be able to participate in everyday activities but you'll need help with more difficult tasks. Now you will also find it difficult when it comes to grasping objects with your hands because the C8 vertebrae controls the hands movements but you will slowly overcome that. You'll also be able to drive again but I'm not sure you'll be wanting to do so any time soon," what I thought was him finishing his lecture was just him taking a breath, "You'll be confined to a wheel chair for at least six to ten weeks and you'll need to attend physiotherapy when you get home from tour. You also had a very high blood alcohol level which we presume is what lead to the accident but Michelle, your parole officer, has dealt with that and there will be no further investigation into the matter. I'm going to get a nurse to do a vitals check and you'll be out of here in about an hour," I nodded as he left the room.

"Thank god," I breathed a sigh of satisfaction that this wasn't sending me back to jail, "I have the best parole officer in the world," I beamed.

"That doesn't mean you can do stupid things like this all the time Leilani Isabelle Dean. I'm so disappointed in you," Mum put on her stern Mum voice but hugged me regardless. "Don't scare me to death like that again you hear me?"

"I'll try Mum," she pulled away and as if on cue the nurse entered the room asking for everyone else to leave as she did a thorough check up.

"You're all set to go, I'll go get you a wheel chair now and then you can sign yourself out," she smiled before leaving me in the cold, green, empty room by myself with my thought.

"You're a fighter Leilani, you'll be out of that chair quicker than six weeks," I whispered to myself.

"You've got high hopes," the nurse smiled at my determination.

"I can do it," I felt adrenaline pump through my body at the excitement of being able to walk again.

"It's most unlikely," she told me as she lifted me into my new chair and wheeled me out to the front lobby of the hospital. I hated this chair already.

"You watch me," I smiled back up at her as I signed the release forms.

Notes

So Lani was super lucky!! And just a heads up guys I'm going to jump a couple of weeks ahead to the last week of tour, so about two-three weeks, in the next chapter to speed up the story as it's coming to an end so brace yourselves! I love you all and thank you for reading! Enjoy!