Laura scoots her chair close to Katie as she can see she is about to get up with tears in her eyes, "Eric saw Julia? Did he...did h...Did he tell you if she was hurt bad?"

Katie begins crying, "He said her head was bleeding and he couldn't get her to breathe. It was my fault she was out driving. She had lunch with me, she picked out a new doctor for him, I told her to come meet me, I made her do it."

Laura takes both of Katie's hands, "The car was broken, it would have been broken if she used it tomorrow or whenever the next time she used it would have been. Julia is going to be ok, she is young and strong. Right?"

Katie weaps into Laura's shirt, "She's going to be alright."

Three hours later the emergency room surgeon comes out with blood on his scrubs. Family members of Miss Armstrong?" Hank and Laura stand up. "Well, she's stable. I am afraid that is the best news I can give you. The swelling in her brain is an enormous concern, so we have her in a medically induced coma. I am feeling optimistic we can wake her up successfully after we get the swelling to go down. Her body took a horrible beating. She will need months of physical therapy when she wakes up. Also your daughter had an IUD displaced in her. The bleeding is under control' but we need to have it removed and make sure the lining of her uterus isn't damaged and she won't lose the ability to have children. I am sorry I don't have better news for you but this next week is going to be extremely challenging. I will keep you updated if her condition worsens."

Katie looks heartbroken and lets go of Laura's hands and stands up, "I think I better go tell Eric what's going on."

Laura smiles sweetly, "If you wouldn't mind I would like to tell him. He needs to know someone is grateful for what he did today."

Laura comes in Eric's room and can see his butt peeking out his hospital gown and fresh stitches on his upper thigh. She can see his body convulsing and can hear him crying uncontrollably." Laura warms her hands and gently places them on his back and gives him a gentle kiss on his cheek, "Thank you for saving, my baby, Eric. I talked to the police they told me if you hadn't been there she would have drowned. "

Eric rolls over wincing in pain, "So she's ok? Is she awake?"

"Eric, no, she's still hurt. They need to keep her in a coma to give her time to heal. You have given us hope and Julia a real chance to get better. I am so grateful for that. Eric, I need for you to understand something. Something was VERY wrong with Julia's car and there was no way to stop the accident, ok? Your mom is very upset and needs reassurance from you it is not her fault Julia met her for lunch and it is certainly not your fault either. Ok, Eric? Julia needs you to focus on her when she wakes up, not your misplaced guilt over not being able to predict the future."