Chapter 1

Tires screeching, cars honking, sirens blaring. That's the last thing William remembers before everything went black.

The steady beeping of the heart rate monitor echos off the hospital walls. The private room with whitewash walls, smelling strongly of disinfectant. The hallway door slowly swung open and a young, male nurse with dirty blond hair strode into the room. He made his way over to the computer by the bedside and swiped his ID to access it, his shoes squeaking slightly against the polished floor. The nurse began typing something on the computer, pausing for a moment to check William's IV. The noise of fast typing continued until William began the shift around and let out a groan. His breathing started to pick up and he began to panic.

"Hey, hey, just relax," the nurse said in a thick Irish accent as he gently laid a hand on William's shoulder.

"Where am I? What happened?" William asked quietly, his voice horse.

"You're in the hospital," the nurse answered with a kind smile, "you were in a pretty nasty accident."

"What time is it? I can't miss work" William said as he looked around, in search of a clock.

"It's 8:00am on Wednesday March 25th" the nurse, who's name was James according to the ID that had been clipped back onto his breast pocket, responded as he glanced down at his watch.

"Oh shoot! I have to go! I'm gonna be late!" William cursed under his breath as he tried to make a move to get out of the hospital bed.

"Oh no ya don't," James said as he held William back, "you're not going anywhere."

"You've sustained quite a few injuries," James explained as he helped William to get settled again, "You have broken ribs that had punctured your right lung, a broken arm, a minor concussion, a sprained wrist and ankle, and a few cuts and scrapes here and there."

William looked down and noticed the cast that ran from his hand up to just passed his elbow on his left arm. Huh, He must have slammed it into the center console during the crash. His chest doesn't even hurt bad enough for him to have broken ribs. Although the painkillers probably help with that.

Suddenly the events come rushing back to him. He was speeding after a car with his siren going, when another car came out of nowhere on his right and the two cars collided. Williams' airbag had failed, he remembered his head slamming against the steering wheel and hearing faint shouting just before he fell unconscious. William took a shaky breath before speaking again.

"Was the other driver hurt?" He inquired.

"The other driver escaped with minimal injuries," James explained, "the impact was on the driver's side of your car so you got the worst of it."

William leant his head back against the pillow and sighed in relief. At least no one was seriously injured, he thought. Although he'll have to deal with the consequences for the car that he totalled, William internally groaned.

"The car should be the least of your worries, mate" James chuckled.

"Did I say that out loud…?" William asked.

"Yup" the young nurse replied, popping the 'p', "you know, you're probably the most selfless person I've met. You say that no one was seriously hurt, but here you are, recovering from a bunch of different injuries - which, not to scare you or anything, are gonna to hurt real bad once the painkillers wear off - but one of the first things you asked was if the other person involved was ok!"

Once James had finished his little spiel, William just sat there staring at him. He probably didn't realize what he'd said because he'd gone back to busying himself with different tasks around the room and dealing with various machines

"Umm…thanks, I guess," William said, slightly stunned. No one had ever said anything like that to him before.

"Oh and just so you know, they caught the guy you were chasing in the first place" James said absentmindedly.

"Wh- how did you know I was after someone?" He asked.

"Well, for one, the chase was on the news. Second, there's only been the one car accident in this area that fits this," James said, as he gestured between the screen that must have patient information on it, and William.

"Well aren't you quite the detective!" William joked.

James looked down at the floor sheepishly as his face went a deep red color in a matter of seconds.

"Um, I'm also a fan of yours," he said shyly, "I've followed all your cases so I guess I just notice some things subconsciously."

"Whoa…every case? I mean, that impressive," William breathed out, "I've had a lot of cases, that quite a bit to follow…"

"Yeah, but it's so interesting! You're, like, the best detective in the UK!" James said enthusiastically.

"This is doing wonders for my ego," William grinned, "but I'm not that great"

"Don't sell yourself short, mate" he responded, offering a small smile.