One of the most powerful books I've ever read was Burned by Ellen Hopkins. It was one of those rare books where you fall in love with the characters immediately and feel everything they feel. I fell in love with Pattyn and Ethan and found it really hard to put this book down. I cried when Pattyn was turned away by her family. I cried, sobbed in fact, when Ethan died at the end along with their unborn child. I was so moved by the story that I sent an email to Ellen Hopkins telling her so. I still have the bookplates she sent me. Then when I finished the book, I wanted to know what happened next. When I asked Ellen that question, she told me she'd left if up to the reader to figure out. I decided one night that I would write my own ending. One that I felt Pattyn and Ethan should have had. So, in a sense, here, I rewrite the path of the story. This picks up right where the final part of the book lets off, except in my story Ethan and the baby don't die. I haven't finished this yet, but I hope to once inspiration hits. Still figuring out the end. If anyone reads this, thank you and reviews are great!

"No," she screamed. "He can't be dead!"

"Pattyn, listen to me," the nurse said. "You need to calm down."

She was sobbing and calling his name as if he would come save her any second. "Ethan! Ethan! No, no, no!"

"Honey, calm down."

"He's not dead!"

"Shhh," the woman said in a soothing voice. In a tone she'd never heard used in her house. "I'm just going to give you a little something for the pain."

Pattyn began to quiet, but she kept repeating, "No, no, no," as if the more she denied it the more it wouldn't be true.

The nurse returned and sat on the edge of the bed. "I need to tell you something else, Hon. It's about your baby."

Pattyn knew before she said anything. She shook her head that was already cloudy with whatever she'd just been given. "No!"

"I'm sorry."

"No! Ethan," she screamed futilely. "Ethan!"

"Pattyn," she heard clearly Ethan's voice.

"Ethan!"

"Wake up, Pattyn. Wake up."

She opened her eyes and sat straight up. For a moment, she just worked to catch her breath. Then she took in her surroundings. She was in a dark room and there was a window right across from the bed where she was sitting. She couldn't tell the time, but she'd guess it was after midnight. Suddenly she felt so alone and empty that she curled up into a ball and wrapped her arms around her knees.

"Pattyn," she heard from behind her and felt the gentle touch of Ethan's hands on her shoulders. "It was just a dream."

She shook her head and buried her head in the bed linens. "It was too real," she whispered.

He wrapped his arms around her and she leaned against him. She began to cry again and he whispered, "It's okay." He pulled her back down onto the bed and cradled her against him. Gently he stroked her hair and let her cry. "Do you want to tell me about it?"

"You died," she whispered between her crying.

"I'm right here."

"Did we really get ambushed," she asked.

"Yes," he whispered into the dark, quiet room. "We almost collided with a guardrail on that icy patch of road. Do you remember?"

Pattyn tried, but she kept seeing the truck skidding, the police behind them, her telling him to drive faster. "Oh my God," she gasped. "I could have killed us."

Ethan buried his head in the curve of her shoulder and whispered, "I'm not dead."

"God, you could be."

"I'm not."

"The baby," she almost yelled.

"Is fine. We're all fine."

Ethan lovingly placed a hand on her belly and she started to cry again. This was all she wanted. If she could get away from the ugliness of her life with her family, maybe she could have a small piece of happiness. Just a little. Maybe

For several long minutes, the only sound she could hear was her own sobbing and Ethan's occasional whispers of love.