And here is the final chapter, finally. I just finished it while listening to my dad throw up, isn't that magical? Seems I can write under the pressure of listening to the most annoying things ever. Good for me, and here's your last chapter. It's very sad and you're all going to hate me, probably. But review and let me know. I tried, I tried. Enjoy.


Chapter 3: With These Words


When Hazel had called Paige, she'd been confused. For the past five minutes, she'd been trying to figure out what her best friend was trying to say.

"Marco called me as soon as he heard, since he lives with Ellie and all. But he said her boyfriend Jesse showed up covered in blood. I told Marco, I knew Ellie had bad taste in men, so violent and unclean. But anyway, he rushed the two of them and your brother, who's looking a little scrawny these days, down to the hospital. When they got down there, Marco called me and I got here as soon as I could. But I was so shocked to see her." Paige finally had enough.

"Okay, Hazel, I think I get it. So who's at the hospital?" She asked, slightly worried, but rather bored all the same.

"It's Alex." And that's when she dropped the phone. Her heart felt as if it had stopped and the room started to spin. Alex.

"Paige! PAIGE? Are you still there?" After a minute, Paige grabbed the phone.

"Which hospital is she at?"

"The only one in Toronto, duh!"

"I'll be there in two hours."

"Doesn't it take three hours to drive?"

"Only if you're going the speed limit!" With that, Paige hung up her phone and ran out of her dorm to her car.

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For the time being, it seemed that luck was on Paige's side. She did make it to Toronto's only hospital in less than two hours and wasn't stopped once. She rushed into the emergency room to find Marco and Dylan waiting for her.

"Where is she?"

"Surgery." Marco replied, his eyes cast to the ground.

"Is she okay?"
"If she was okay, would she be in surgery right now?" Paige shot her brother a glare before turning back to Marco.

"Is she going to make it?"

"It doesn't look good." It was in those four words that Paige felt herself lose it. She collapsed into Dylan's arms, crying hysterically. Jay, Amy, J.T., Hazel, Jesse, and Ellie choose that moment to walk into the room.

"Paige…" Hazel said as she hugged Paige, followed by Ellie. Even Amy stepped up and patted Paige on the back. Through her tears, Paige looked up.

"What happened to her?" She asked, trying to choke her tears back, but failing. J.T. took Paige's hands in his own.

"I'm so sorry, Paige. It's all my fault. I asked Alex to help me fight these guys from Lakehurst, but she wouldn't let me fight. Now thanks to me, Towerz is dead, Sean is getting patched up right now, and Alex was shot and might die. I'm so sorry." J.T. felt tears pouring down his face, but didn't care. The shocked look on Paige's face had pretty much killed him inside.

"She… fought with someone and got… shot?" Paige asked; her voice barely above a whisper. J.T. nodded and Paige threw herself into him.

"I should hate you right now, J.T.!" She sobbed out and all he could do was hold her in his arms.
"Excuse me; I'm looking for the family of Alexandra Nunez?" Jay stood up.
"Nobody has been able to contact her family, but I'm pretty much the next closest thing." The doctor nodded and motioned for Jay to follow him. They disappeared into another room for a few minutes, before Jay came back out. Everyone ran up to him, asking him questions on Alex's condition. Finally, he held up his hand.

"The doctor said the surgery went fine to repair her major organs, but it's not enough. The bullet hit part of her liver and they can't save her. The doctor said she's got about another hour to live." Paige blacked out.

When she awoke, she found herself starring at an unnaturally white ceiling.

'Am I in the hospital?' She thought to herself as her eyes adjusted to the new light. She realized she was indeed in the hospital, but not in a private room. Instead, she was lying down on one of the stiff hospital couches in the waiting room.

'What the…'

"Paige!" Marco said as he noticed her blonde head starring around the room.

"Marco?" She asked as she turned her attention to the direction she heard his voice. He got up from his seat and kneeled down next to her.

"How are you feeling?" He asked softly as she ran her fingers through her hair.

"Not too bad." As soon as the words left her mouth, her calm and confused exterior turned to one of panic and fear.

"Wait, Marco… how's Alex?" She asked quickly, her voice cracking when she looked Marco in the eyes. His eyes were red, puffy, and watery. She noticed the sleek shine of dried tears on his face and remembered the news Jay gave them before she passed out.

"The doctor said she's got about another hour to live." Marco shook his head.

"She's still with us, if that's what you mean, but she hasn't said a word since she woke up. The doctor doesn't think there is anything wrong with her vocal cords or any damage to her brain, but she still refuses to speak." Paige nodded and let the information sink in.

"Where is everyone?"

"They're in her room saying their last words to her."

"MARCO!"

"We don't expect a miracle, Paige. We've accepted her fate and intend to be there for her. Now come on, you still need to see her." Paige said nothing as Marco helped her up and led her down the hallway to room 314. When she walked through Alex's door, she felt words climbing up her throat and rushing out her mouth like vomit.

"Alex, I love you." Eight pairs of eyes turned to look at Paige, but a single pair remained glued to the ceiling.

"Paige…" Hazel started, but fell silent as Dylan began to direct her out of the room.

"Did I just…?" Paige asked herself as her friends began exiting the room. Marco patted her on the shoulder and gave her a small push forward before leaving the room. Taking a deep breath, Paige took a seat next to Alex and took the girl's hand.

"Listen Alex, I know you heard me. I know you can hear me now! Marco told me everyone has been saying their good-byes, but that's not what I'm going to do now." She paused, taking another deep breath, and then continued.

"Would you please just look at me now?" At Paige's request, Alex's turned her gaze away from the ceiling tiles and faced her. Paige shuddered under her intense stare, but she could feel her heart pounding violently against her ribcage.

"Thank you." She whispered and tightened her grip on Alex's hand a bit, letting her know she was grateful.

"Alex, I'm not saying good-bye. I'm not in denial about you dying, but I love you too much to let your… death tear us apart. What you did was stupid, but it clearly saved J.T. and all his friend's lives. I'll never forget how amazing you are! I can truly say that I love you with all my heart." Paige could feel Alex's hand squeeze back as she starred deep into her eyes. Suddenly, Alex's body gave a jerk and she started coughing.

"Oh my god… Alex!" Paige reached for a glass of water next to Alex's bed, but she was stopped when a firm hand grabbed her wrist. Paige looked back at Alex who continued coughing and realized Alex was trying to speak.

"I... l-love… you… t-too…" She managed to get out as she continued coughing. Paige took Alex's hand off her wrist and grabbed the glass of water. Slowly, she helped Alex take a drink and Alex's coughing fit began to die down. Paige sat down and took Alex's hand again, but it was cold. She ran her fingers over the icy digits while looking up at Alex. Her eyes began to droop and her face looked paler than it did earlier. Alex turned to Paige again.

"Never… goodbye…" With those words, Alex smiled and closed her eyes. When Alex's hand fell limp, she was too shocked to move. Alex had just passed on.

"No Alex, never goodbye." She whispered to the corpse as a nurse ran into the room. The monitor that had flat lined fell on the deaf ears of Paige who leaned over and placed a small kiss on Alex's lips. She was jerked back and rushed out of them room as more nurses and a doctor piled into the room.

"Paige?" She turned around to see Jay standing in front of the group.

"Yeah?" He twisted his hat in his hands nervously.

"Is she okay?"

"No Jay. She just died." Having attended Degrassi Community High School, Paige had seen many things in her young life, but nothing would haunt her for the rest of her life as badly when she saw Jay Hogart break down crying.

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Jay, Amy, Sean, Jessie, Ellie, and J.T. were seated together at one of the many tables inside the Dot. They sat in silence with no food or drink ordered. A few moments later, Hazel burst into the Dot sobbing loudly, followed by Dylan and Marco. Ellie stood up and wrapped her arms around Hazel, guiding her to a seat at the table. Dylan and Marco took a seat near J.T. and Jay.

"I just can't believe it." Hazel cried out as she continued to sob into Ellie, who began to pat her light on the back.

"It's horrible, I know, but there's nothing we can do about it." Sean said as he ran his fingers through his hair.

"You could try being a bit sensitive, Sean." Ellie spat at him and continued to try and comfort Hazel.

"Sean's right though, we can't stop death from happening." Jessie said.

"Why are we even arguing? We're here to celebrate life, not mourn over a lost one." Marco said as he gripped his boyfriend's hand, tears spilling from his own eyes. Jay sighed.

"Del Rossi's right, we should be celebrating the fact that two lovers get to be together again after a year apart." Everyone turned to look at him, even Hazel stopped crying for a moment to look up at him.
"Since when did you go soft?" Sean asked.

"I'm not going soft, I'm just happy that the girl who I considered my sister is finally reunited with the girl she loved." Everything became silent as Spinner came up with nine drinks on a tray.
"This one is on the house, guys." He said as he sat all the drinks down and walked off, wiping a few tears out of his eyes. Dylan picked up his glass.

"To Paige." He said as hot tears burned to fall freely.

"No, to Paige and Alex." Jay said as he glass joined Dylan's in the air.

"To Paige and Alex." Everyone said and tapped their glasses together.


The End


Yes, it's the end. No, there will be no angel Paige and Alex, no secret child, no continuation. Someone PMed me asking already, NO! So review, tell me what you think. Flame me if you must for killing them both off. Yes, they were all at the Dot after Paige died. If you didn't catch it, it's been a year since Alex died. So yeah, that's it. Review/ Flame me, do whatever you want. Until next time, this is Jeck signing out!

I always wanted to type that!