I looked at the white roses sitting on my passenger's seat and smiled. I knew I seemed like a douche smiling at nothing, but I couldn't control my emotions when I knew I was taking my princess out for the first time.

Everything with Isabelle happened so fast that I was still having a hard time believing that I was going to ask her to be mine tonight at our date.

I saw the time and realised that I was early, but I shook the thought away because I was sure Isabelle wouldn't mind me just staring at her while she got ready.

Smiling like an idiot and humming to the song playing to my radio, I noticed my phone vibrating sitting on the dashboard.

I leaned up to see who it was and when I saw that it was Caleb, my friend from Finland I narrowed my eyes and went back to driving no matter how good of a friend he was, I didn't want to pull over and waste my time talking to him.

I turned my car to the right and what I didn't notice was a Toyota truck coming at full speed towards my direction. I tried turning my car to the other side to stop the collision but it was too late now.

The truck rammed with full force on my side of the door. My body jerked to the dashboard, my forehead colliding with the window. Steam rose from the back, the smell too intense for words. I tried to take off my seat belt to get out of the car before it exploded but my body was stuck and it felt as if I was losing consciousness.

I shook my head to see clearly. That when I noticed the blood pouring out of my noggin, making it even harder for me to stay awake.

I held onto the headboard of my seat and tried to get up. I was severely injured but somehow I knew I was going to be just fine if I succeeded on getting out of the car on time.

But that thought soon faded away when I saw a motorbike coming towards out direction from the other side and before I was able to make out its distance, I heard a loud bang and then everything went black.

**********************

I snuggled further into the pillow as I kept on ignoring whoever it was calling me at seven in the morning. I had half an hour left to sleep some more, just go away already for Christ's sake.

The phone rung for the third time and I opened my eyes with a frown as I thought about last night and how he bailed on me.

Maybe it was him calling to apologise. Well guess what, he wasn't going to make it up for it if he decides to wake me up when I was dreaming about La La Land.

I looked at the caller ID and frowned. Alex was calling me at seven in the morning? When did this guy start to wake up so early?

"Hello?"

"Isabelle?"

The second he said my name, I knew something was wrong. I could feel it. And I hated that the first thing my mind thought was him. I knew it was something about Mr. Rhodes.

"Yes?" I manage to choke out.

"Ace.....Ace met an accident last night," he said. "He's in a critical condition, Belle."

He didn't even have to complete his sentence and I was already making my way towards the bathroom with tears in my eyes.

"I'm coming over," I stated.

"Wait," he said and stopped for a moment, "I'll pick you up."

"No you stay with him. Just text me the details."

With that I cut the call and hurried to change my clothes as my tears kept pouring out of my eyes and my hands kept shaking.

I couldn't lose another important person.

Not again.

*******************

I made my way towards the ICU and saw Alex standing right outside, he was on call with someone.

I hurried towards him and as soon as he saw me, he cut the call and walked in my direction as tears once again filled my eyes and he hugged me to his chest, kissing my hair and resting his head atop mine.

"How's he?" I sobbed into his chest and he sighed.

After an eternity of painful silence, he said,"Not good."

"What did the doctors say?" I asked and kept my face hidden in the hollow of his neck to hide my tear stained face.

He gently let go of me and nodded towards the chairs, "Have a seat."

I sat down and so did he as I waited for him to start talking.

He contemplated over it for a few moments before sighing, "The doctors say that he has gotten severe injuries to his head. I've hired the best neurosurgeon in the country and as soon as he's here, they're starting a surgery but the doctors here say that there's a high possibility he might not make it out of it."

The moment those words left his mouth, it was like someone had punched me in the gut. My heart ached and my body wouldn't stop shaking.

I didn't want to lose him. I couldn't lose him. I knew it would damage me forever and this damage was going to be beyond repair.

*******************

When the doctors came out of the theater after the surgery, my legs kept shaking by I still somehow stood up from my chair along with Alex as we waited for the doctors to give us the details of the surgery.

"How did it go?" Alex asked as soon as the doctor was close enough to hear.

"We cannot say anything at the moment. But there's a possibilty he might fall into a severe case of coma. But like I said, it's too early to assume anything," the doctor kept talking to Alex but I wasn't paying attention anymore.

I knew the doctors always lied to you. They told me papa was going to be fine too, but look how that turned out to be.

"Can I see him?" the words left my mouth before I knew what I was saying.

The doctor looked at me with a pitiful gaze and with a slight hesitation in his voice he said, "You can. But not right at this moment. You're going to have to wait for a while."

I nodded my head and slumped down on the chair as I rubbed my temples and tried to think positively.

"It's gonna be okay," I felt Alex hugging me from and I closed my eyes and nodded my head.

After a while, two men, one of whom I recognised from a party I attended long ago with Mr. Rhodes making their way towards us with the expression of worry written on their faces.

"Alex," the younger one breathed out and Alex looked up and stood up from his chair as he hugged him and the older one sat beside me and sighed deeply.

"How's he?" he asked and I realised that he was talking to me since Alex was busy conversing with the other guy.

"The doctors say it's too early to say anything," I said and yet again I felt tears brimming up in my eyes but I took a deep breath and swallowed them back.

He held his head in his hands and cursed under his breath.

"We came as soon we we could. I had to put Emily to sleep before coming because she would have wanted to come too and considering she's pregnant...I don't think that would have been a great idea," the other guy said and took a seat on the oppsite side as Alex sat down beside him.

"Belle, this is Noah, Ace's...um old friend and that's his dad William," Alex introduced me to and I gave a small smile as Noah returned the gesture with a warm smile and nodded his head.

"Have you guys eaten anything?" William asked after a moment of silence and Alex and I didn't say anything because I didn't think I could get anything past my throat with everything that was going on and my guess was that Alex felt the same way.

"Jesus, you kids are going to starve yourself to death," William mumbled to himself and stood up before walking away.

Alex stood up himself and followed him, "Hold up, Will."

Noah looked at me and gave a sympathetic smile before standing up and taking a seat beside me.

"So..you're his girlfriend?" he asked.

"It's....complicated," I said and looked down in embarrassment.

"Don't worry Isabelle, he's a tough guy. He'll make it through this," he said it with so much confidence that I somehow believed his words.

"Wait, how do you know my name?" I didn't remember Alex saying my actual name in front of them.

Noah chuckled a little before running a hand through his hair, "Ace might have mentioned you a couple of times."

A blush crept up on my cheeks and I fidgeted with my fingers trying not to feel so giddy about the fact that he would mention me in front of his friends.

****************

❤