Pam had never felt more alive.

She was kissing him back and she felt herself giving in to him. She could get lost in his lips, the feel of her hands in his hair. All she ever dreamed of lay within Jim's arms - a whole world created just for her. It felt so right. But as she pulled back to look into Jim's eyes, to tell him how she really felt, she caught a glimpse of something shiny in the dim light. Her engagement ring - the symbol of the promise she had made to another man. She forced herself to back away and she blurted out those same stupid words she had said to him earlier. "I can't, Jim. I can't." and she turned and ran away as fast as she could. But Jim didn't follow her, much as she may have wished he would.

She went and hid like a coward behind the parking lot until she saw Angela come out of the building. Pam begged her for a ride home and Angela grudgingly agreed, impatiently looking over Pam's shoulder the whole time for some strange reason. Fortunately for Pam, Angela wasn't in the mood for talking and she was left to her own thoughts which were swirling around in her head.

Jim is in love with me. Jim kissed me.

Deep down inside, Pam knew she had been hoping that one day Jim would do these things but never really believing that he would. It was just a beautiful daydream that made Pam happy. Truth be told, Pam spent a lot of time having this particular daydream. Why did this all have to be so complicated? Why did she agree to the June 10th date when it was pretty clear to Pam that by the time of the Booze Cruise, she was less and less interested in marrying Roy?

As Angela dropped her off, Pam came to a decision. She couldn't marry Roy with these kind of doubts hanging over her. She owed it to him to be absolutely sure that he was the one. She owed it to herself to make sure that she was happy. She hadn't been focused on her own happiness in a long time but even though his actions complicated her life, Pam was grateful to Jim for opening her eyes.

The TV was tuned to some sporting event and Roy was dozing in his recliner. Pam picked up the remote and clicked off the TV which, as usual, woke Roy from his nap. He looked at her, rubbing his eyes, and smiled.

"Hey, Pammy! Did you win big?"

"Roy - we have to talk." And so it began.

Later that night, Pam was in her car driving to her parents house. She'd decided to take the next day off work, spend the weekend with her parents and think about what to do next. She was a little nervous but judging by Roy's lackluster reaction to her decision, she had probably just avoided making the biggest mistake of her life. It was a bit exciting to not have a plan. To have options again. To feel alive.

She was just reaching the outskirts of Scranton when her cell phone rang. The caller ID read "Jim - cell". She wasn't really sure if she knew what to say to him right now but she answered it anyway.

"Hey," she said.

"Oh my god! Pam?" Definitely not Jim. Definitely female.

"Who the hell is this?" Pam was annoyed and for some reason, jealous.

"Pam - it's Kelly!"

"Kelly, what the hell are you doing calling from Jim's phone?"

"Oh my god, Pam. It's awful. You're never going to believe what..."

"Jesus, Kelly! Will you tell me what's going on?"

"Pam. I'm so sorry! There was an accident!"

Pam felt a wave of nausea rising up in her gut.

"Is it Jim? Is he okay, Kelly? Tell me!"

"Pam...oh god. It's bad. It's really bad." Kelly was babbling. "Ryan was giving Jim a ride home and I left the parking lot right behind them in my car and we got onto the highway together and this drunk driver just came plowing down the ramp into them and..."

Pam was panicking now. "Are they okay?"

"Ryan was talking when the paramedics got there. They think he has minor injuries and maybe a concussion. But Pam..."

"Tell me!"

"Jim - he, uh, he wasn't conscious when they took him away and they think he has a lot of internal injuries. They gave me his cell and I found your number... But they just don't know...."

"Where did they take him?"

"Scranton Memorial."

"I'll meet you there." Pam slammed on the brakes and turned around to get to the hospital as fast as she could. She was more scared than she had ever been in her whole life. Thanks to Jim she was feeling more alive tonight than she had in years and now he...

Nope. No time to think like that.

He was going to be fine. He was going to wake up when she got to the hospital and they were going to talk and she was going to tell him that she thought she was in love with him too. Oh god, she choked on her sobs, what if he wasn't okay? Life is so cruel sometimes. Why hadn't she grabbed onto Jim when she had the chance? Why had she been so scared of loving her best friend? A man who had always put her feelings above his own. He was so special to her. And now he might never know...and then nothing could stop her tears.

She pulled up outside the hospital emergency room and jumped out of the car. She ran in the door where Kelly was waiting just inside.

"Oh my god, Pam!"

"What's going on? What did they tell you?"

"They won't tell me anything because I'm not family."

Pam pushed her aside and ran up to the nurse. "How is Jim Halpert? Is he going to be okay?"

"Are you family, ma'am?"

Pam didn't hesitate for a second. "Yes, I'm his fiancee."

"Follow me then," and the nurse brought her into a room. Pam glanced back at Kelly over her shoulder and winked at her. In spite of everything, Pam had felt happy saying that she was Jim's fiancee.

That feeling soon passed when she saw Jim.

There seemed to be fresh and dried blood covering almost all of him. His face was covered in small cuts and deeper gashes. There was a breathing tube down his throat and a splint on his leg. There seemed to be an endless number of monitors beeping and he had a tangle of IV tubes hanging next to him.

A doctor was writing on his chart and he looked up abruptly at Pam. "Are you his wife?"

"Fiancee," Pam managed to get out. She thought she might crumple to the ground at any moment. Jim looked so pale and fragile lying there.

Then the doctor was talking and Pam turned her attention away from Jim for a second so she could concentrate on what he was telling her.

"... suffered serious head trauma. He was nonresponsive when we brought him in and his breathing was erratic. As you can see he's got a breathing tube, his left leg is broken in several places and will probably require extensive surgery but until the swelling goes down, we won't know for sure. There is some swelling of his brain and depending on how that proceeds, we may have to drill into the skull and install a shunt to relieve the pressure."

"Oh my god." Pam said quietly.

"Ma'am. I don't know about you, but if it were my fiancee, I'd think about praying."

"Can I talk to him?"

"He hasn't responded to any stimuli so far but if you want to, go ahead. I'll be back in a little while and we'll move him to intensive care."

Pam moved as near to the bed as she could get without knocking over any medical equipment. She reached out and took his hand which was covered in dried blood. She held it in both her hands and kissed it then reached out to gently touch his forehead, pushing his unruly hair out of his eyes.

"Jim?" she said, willing herself not to cry. "Jim, I'm so sorry about what happened tonight. About earlier, I mean. I never should have run away from you. You told me you loved me and I got scared. But there's no reason for me to be scared because I love you too. I went home and I told Roy I couldn't marry him and I left. I left. And I love you so much. I just need you to wake up so I can tell you, okay? You can't leave me, you just can't..." and then she was sobbing uncontrollably.

"Who are you?" Pam turned around to see a middle aged couple enter the room. At the same time she recognized them from a picture on Jim's desk, they recognized her from a different picture at Jim's house.

"You're Jim's parents!" She said wiping her eyes and reaching out her hand. "I'm..."

"You're Pam," said Jim's mother smiling and taking her hand. "I'm sorry we couldn't meet under better circumstances, dear. Please call me Kathy and this is Jim's dad Paul."

"Nice to meet you, sweetheart," Paul said. Pam could tell he had been crying. He was tall, like Jim, and they had the same eyes which suddenly made her very sad. She couldn't help but to give him a hug.

"I'm so sorry," she whispered.

"How is he?" Kathy asked as she went towards her son.

"It's really...it's bad," Pam said, fresh tears spilling from her eyes. She relayed all the information the doctor had just given her.

"And how are you, Pam?" Jim's mom looked at her with genuine concern.

"I'm a little overwhelmed. I mean, we were just, uh, talking a couple of hours ago and now..." Pam gestured helplessly towards Jim.

Pam was surprised and touched when Kathy came over to give her a big hug. "It's okay, Pam. He's going to be fine. He's always been strong and he'll get through this."

"I know. He has to." Pam said.

I have so much to tell him so he just has to get through this.

"I'm going to go get a cup of tea or something so you and Mr. Halpert can have some time alone with Jim. Would you like anything?"

"No, Pam, but thank you. And please, please call us Kathy and Paul. Jim has spoken of you for so long I feel like we already know you."

"Oh, that's so sweet!" Pam felt her heart lift for a brief moment. Jim talked about me to his parents? "I'll be back soon."

Pam went out through the swinging doors. Glancing down the hall she saw Kelly slumped over on a chair but she just couldn't deal with her at the moment. Quickly she ducked into the elevator and pressed the button for the floor where the coffee shop was located. When the elevator doors opened there was a sign pointing to the left for the coffee shop. Another sign pointed to the right for the hospital chapel. Without even thinking, Pam found herself heading to the right.