Highway to Hell (Angel) PG rated for Violence.

[Dr Angel Fraser]

"You've proven to me time and time again that you can't change." Angel said, trying to keep herself from shouting. "You're better off with out me in your life, and I'm better off without you in mine." She sighed, watching the road.

Angel felt the car lurch, starting to move on it's own. "Jackson... What's going on?" She said, her heart starting to race as she felt the car drifting sideways. All the skidding and sliding caused her head to spin, and the last thing she remembered was someone screaming before the car wrapped itself against a tree and the world went black.

Angel woke to find herself back home in her bed, all warm and curled up in her comforter. She could hear Shadow purring next to her which made her smile. Turning over, she saw Wilson laying next to her. Funny, she thought to herself, I don't remember going home with Wilson last night... He left early, and now he's in Maryland.... Wilson's face slowly turned into Jackson's. But Jackson's face was bloody, his eyes lifeless...

With a small groan, she roused herself from a hazy sleep. Looking around, she say sunlight and trees. There was also broken glass. Her head was throbbing, she could feel something trickling down her forehead. She wheezed, her chest feeling tight as she tried to breathe. She went to move her legs,so she could shift and a sharp jolt of pain zinged through her left leg. Memories of the night before came crashing back, Jackson kidnapping her, the car skidding out of control... "Oh god, Jackson!" She whimpered, turning around as she gritted her teeth against the pain. She looked over to see Jackson just laying there, steering wheel shoved hard against his chest. He was bleeding, and she wasn't sure of all his injuries. He seemed pinned pretty badly. "Jackson... Jackson?" She said, her voice a little louder this time as she reached over to him. She searched for a pulse, finding only a weak one. "Common Jackson, you can't die on me."

[Jackson]

When awareness came back to Jackson, it was by degrees. Everything was dark, hazy. He could hear Angel calling to him. She sounded so far away. He tried to find her, to reach out to her. "Angel?" he slurred, sleepily. He was cold. So cold. Then the pain hit, woke him up.

Jackson took a sharp breath, but winced, the tightness in his chest hurt, a stabbing pain that told him he had broken ribs. The seat belt hadn't stopped him from hitting the steering column; indeed, his left arm hurt and wouldn't move right, like it was dislocated. He couldn't believe how much pain he was in-- didn't want to feel it at all. He had always hated it when he got a papercut. He was a self-admitted wimp when it came to pain. He just wanted the pain to stop, ohgodohgodohgod make it stop, makeitstop! He gritted his teeth, riding the waves of nauseating pain.

Finally, he opened his eyes, "oh," he grunted as shafts of sunlight pierced his eyes. This was definitely worse than a hang over. "Are you injured, Angel?" He limply pushed himself off the steering column to flop back against the seat, hissing at the pain in his chest. He cursed under his breath, wiping at what he thought was sweat trickling down his face, but saw that it wasn't when he pulled his hand back to see red.

[Dr Angel Fraser]

"Oh thank god Jackson..." Angel sighed in relief, glad that he was conscious. She leaned over and winced, unbuckling her seat belt. She looked down to see that her left foot was trapped within the folds of the car. "Just hold still, ok? I don't know what kind of injuries you have and I don't want you making them worse." She said, trying to keep her voice calm and neutral.

"You always kept a first aid kit in the glove compartment, right?" She inquired, hoping it was still the same. She tried to open the glove compartment, but nothing happened. Growling with frustration, she smacked it with her fist, pain jarring her wrist. The compartment flopped open and she reached in. Withdrawing the small container she looked through it, ignoring her pain. "Damnit, why don't first aid kits come with morphine?" She growled. She looked back over at Jackson. "I need my cell phone, where did you put it?" She said, wiping away what was steadily trickling down her forehead. Looking at her hand, she realized she was bleeding from her head as well. The world began to dance, spin before her eyes. "Oh god..."

[Jackson]

Jackson hated to see Angel in pain. Every time he had hit her in the past when he was drunk had always jolted him sober. He had always apologized for acting out on his anger, for taking out his frustration on her. She never deserved that, ever. He knew that he had never treated her right and he had paid that price. With every day that passed by that he didn't have Angel in his life, he was paying for his stupidity with the shallow edges of pain that made tiny nicks and gouges in his heart. With every breath he took, he felt the loss of the good woman that was Angel in his life keenly.

The bitter tang of blood in his mouth had nothing on the bitterness he felt when Angel had finally walked out on him forever. "First aid kit... yeah." He felt slow. Stupid. Like he couldn't get the words to sit right on his tongue before he sent them out into the world. Her cellphone? That what must be causing that sharp pain against his hip. "My pocket," he muttered. "My... my pocket..."

[Dr Angel Fraser]

Reaching over, Angel managed to pull out the cell phone from his pocket. "Jackson, look at me..." She said slowly, her head still spinning. Carefully lifting one eyelid, she looked at his pupils. "I think you have a concussion, and I think I do to." She stated, her hands reaching for his pulse again. It was still slow and spotty, and she knew she had to call an ambulance soon. She continued to look down his body, most of it pinned and crushed from the impact. At best, he'd be in a wheel chair the rest of his life.

Fumbling with the cell phone, she let out a small laugh of victory when it turned on and had a signal. Dialing 9-1-1, she forced herself to stay awake. "Hello? I need an ambulance..." She said, looking around trying to remember where she was. "My friend and I have been in an accident, please, he needs help." She pleaded, as the operator told her to keep her cell phone on so they could use the GPS in it to find her. "Please, he's really hurt, I think he has some broken ribs, concussion, lacerations, and most of his body is pinned in the car." She explained. "I need you to take us to Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital, I'm a doctor there." She coughed, her lungs seizing on her. She closed the phone and rested her head against the back of her seat. She had never been in this much pain before.

She looked down at her cell phone, wondering why she was holding it. Memories of calling an ambulance suddenly gone. As were the memories of the accident. Looking around, Angel let out a whispered "What happened?" Flipping it open again, she dialed another number she had committed to memory. As it dialed the number, she glanced over at Jackson. He wasn't doing so well, and she should probably call an ambulance instead of House. The line was busy, so she hung up and tried someone else. Cuddy's line began to ring, much to her delight. She had to report to her boss why she wasn't in, it was a professional courtesy.

[Dr. Lisa Cuddy]

Sighing heavily, she put down the report again, the one she'd been trying to read for the past five minutes but had gotten nowhere. As she picked up the phone, she glanced sideways at the timesheet a nurse had brought to her office just before House had barged in on her. Angel hadn't signed in this morning. It had better be her on the phone...

"Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital, Lisa Cuddy's office," she intoned professionally. "Lisa Cuddy speaking." If it was Angel, she'd better have a damn good reason for missing work.

[Jackson]

Jackson had watched Angel calling on the phone. Watched her with his keen focus, because if he looked at himself, he was sure that he'd know why he couldn't feel his legs. He didn't want to know. So, he kept his eyes on Angel and saw her momentary confusion. It tugged at his heartstrings. He reached out a shaky arm, trying to reassure her, "it was an accident. We were in an accident. I'm sorry. It's my fault. But you're going to be okay."

She had to be okay. He didn't care about himself, just so long as she was okay. Just so long as it wasn't his fault what killed her. He prayed to a God he wasn't sure he believed in. Please, God, he prayed, if I don't make it, make sure she does. The radio was still playing, oddly enough, the clock flashing twelve AM off and on. He could hear the strains of Tuesday's Gone, by Lynyrd Skynyrd. Painful memories, tempered with the burn of alcohol down his throat.

A chuckle escaped his throat. Yeah, he'd keep his promise all right. He'd never drink again. He knew he wouldn't survive this; he'd die, dead sober. He couldn't stop the laughter at that. God, it was stupid, it wasn't even ironic. It was just him, it could only happen to him. The only way he could keep his promises was if he were dead. He didn't want to be dead, but here he was, laughing in the face of his death. "Oh, God," he muttered, "it hurts so bad that I wish I were dead." That got him off laughing again.

[Dr Angel Fraser]

Angel heard Cuddy's voice on the other end of the line, not remembering why she had phoned Cuddy in the first place. She heard Jackson speak, telling her about the accident. Memories came flashing back in pieces and she looked over at Jackson. "Cuddy..." Angel started, trying to collect her thoughts. "Accident.. car wrapped around tree..." Angel said, trying to get out her thoughts, but they only came in short bursts. "I think I called an ambulance, but I don't remember now..." Her head began to spin. Her hand trembled and she dropped the cell phone.

Holding her head in her hands to make the world stop spinning, she looked over at Jackson. "No, Jackson, you're going to live. Nothing's going to happen to you." She said, taking hold of his hand. "You're not going to die, I'm not going to let you." She stated, dead sure in her assumptions. "Just stay with me, I'm sure an ambulance will be here soon..." She looked around. "I did call an ambulance right? Where's the cell phone?" She blinked a few times, her eyelids feeling heavy. God how she wanted to sleep right now.

[Dr. Lisa Cuddy]

"Angel?" Cuddy's voice trembled. She sounded hurt. "Doctor Fraser? Are you still there?" This was not good. An accident? How could this have happened? "Don't worry, Angel...stay where you are. The ambulance is on its way..." Cuddy hoped it was, at any rate. Hearing no response, Lisa hung up the phone and decided in an instant what she had to do.

One, make sure Angel had called an ambulance. It sounded like Angel had sustained a head injury; it would definitely explain the memory loss she'd mentioned. Anything more than that, she couldn't say. Two...inform the ER. Resolutely, she stood from her chair and left the office. But her feet were not taking her to the emergency room. The elevator was taking her to the fourth floor.

[Jackson]

Jackson stopped laughing abruptly at Angel's increasing signs of disorientation. "Hey, babe, look at me, babe. That's it, focus on me, honey. Don't worry, you did call an ambulance. You did great, darling."

He reached for the cell phone where Angel had dropped it. His right arm was about the only thing that wasn't injured, except for some soreness in his thumb. Both of them, like they had been hit, forced back in just one area, which they had, he realized. He had been holding on to the steering wheel at the time of impact. He probably had fractures. Which would suck, if he survived this.

At any rate, his hand only protested a little as he picked up the phone. He held it to his ear, but heard only the drone of the dial tone. Whoever was this Cuddy person whom Angel had called, the other person had hung up. He wasn't sure if this was a bad thing. He looked at the power bar on the cell phone. Not a lot of juice left, maybe an hour.

"I'm sorry, babe," Jackson leaned his head back against the headrest. "I did this. I'm sorry. Please, stay awake for me, Angel, please."

[Dr Angel Fraser]

"I did?" Angel coughed, looking over at him. She was seeing double now, which wasn't a good thing. She heard him ramble about it being his fault and that he was sorry. Tears burned her eyes, and she blinked a few times to keep them at bay.

"It's not your fault Jackson. You didn't know that was going to happen, the conditions of the roads..." Her temples began to throb. "Jackson, I want you to know," She gulped, tears starting to streak her face. "I loved you, always did, always will, even when you were drunk." She sobbed, leaning over and ignoring the pain and the fact that she couldn't move her left foot. "Please, don't die on me." She whispered, running a hand down his face. She could hear sirens off in the distance, and she knew they would be alright. "Hear that? They're coming..." She added, resting her forehead on his shoulder. "They're coming..." She mumbled, her eyes closing and the world going black.