A/N: Sorry, it took longer than I thought to update. But hope you guys like this one! R&R:)

-Jacki :D

Chapter Four: But no one would listen because no one else cared

Casey ran out of her room, going as fast as she could on crutches. She could not see Derek; but she had heard him. George was wrong she could hear him! She hurried to the top of the stairs and stood there.

"Mom! George!" she cried, loudly, her voice trembling from both fear and excitement.

"Casey, what are you doing?" Derek's voice whispered in her ear.

She turned towards the sound of the voice, "I'll make them believe you're alive." Then she turned back to the stairs.

George and Nora hurriedly ran up the stairs; they looked scared. Nora looked up at her daughter, "What's wrong Casey?"

Casey wiped her eyes and tried to look as serious as possible, "Nothing's wrong. I have something to tell you about Derek. He's alive!" She smiled and looked from one parent to the other.

Nora and George looked at each other, sadly, then looked back up at Casey; was that pity it their eyes?

"Casey, Derek is not alive. The car crash killed him. You were lucky to survive, yourself." Nora spoke as if she were talking to Marti.

Casey shook her head violently, "Then explain how I can hear him!"

Nora's eyes widened, and after a moment of stunned silence, she regained her composure, "Casey, you can't hear Derek. You can't hear someone that's not alive."

"But I can! I can hear him!" Casey began to grow worried; convincing people was going to be harder than she thought.

"Well, Casey, can you see Derek anywhere?" George asked; he was pretending to be sincere, but Casey could tell that he was just humoring her.

"Well, no, but I can hear him! You have to believe me! He needs our help!"

George and Nora were beginning to get aggravated with Casey's claims now, "Casey. If you can't see him, that means he's not alive. You're hearing what you want to hear." Nora said with voice that clearly showed that her patience was being tested.

Casey sighed in aggravation, "You think I WANT to hear Derek's voice? You think I want to HEAR him and NOT see him? It's horrible! I'd much rather know he was alive! But I can't see him. But I now he's here and he needs my help, whether or not you two choose to believe it! I am going to help him with or without your help!" She knew there was no point in trying to have a dramatic exit; the crutches delayed any drama that could come from her leaving.

Nora and George just stared after her, dumbfounded, as she hobbled away. Casey was grumbling under her breath; how could her parents not believe her? How could they say that she wanted this? Who in their right mind would want to hear their boyfriend's voice but not be able to see or touch him? To now he was alive, but not be able to be with him. It was torture. She entered her room and closed the door forcefully behind her.

"Casey, you should have known they wouldn't believe you." Derek's voice said from behind her, reminding her of all the times he would sneak into her room just to rub things in her face to get her aggravated.

Casey slowly turned around, "Derek, I'm worried, what if no one believes me? I won't be able to get anyone's help. And then I won't be able to bring you back!"

"Casey, calm down! We can do this. We've just got to find the right people." Casey smiled despite herself; she could just see Derek's face, that relaxed, calm look, at this point he would have his hands on her shoulders trying to get her to relax.

"I know. It's just; you don't know what it's been like, having to live without you here. I miss you. And now all I can do is hear you. I can't see you. I can't hold your hand, hug you, and kiss you. I can't even bump your shoulder! It's just so hard!"

Derek sighed, "I know Case, and it's hard on me, too. I can see you, but I can't touch you, no matter what I do."

Casey looked to the area where she thought his voice was coming from, "I love you."

"I love you too. We can do this, Casey. We can. You'll be back in my arms sooner than you know it!"

She looked doubtful, "You really think so?"

"No. I know so!"

Casey chuckled, "I'm going to look online to see if anyone else has had anything like this happen to anyone else." She made her slow, crippled way over to her computer and propped the crutches up on the desk to the side. Then she slowly sat down on the chair and instantly began typing away.

Two hours flew by and she had read all about ghost 'sightings' and hallucinations, but nothing about hearing someone who has died and is stuck in an invisible state. She was on the verge of giving up, until she saw one little site.

'Are you hearing someone you thought was dead? Do you know that they are stuck, but you can't see them or touch them? Click here!'

Normally, Casey wouldn't have clicked on something like that, but, desperate times called for desperate measures. She clicked on it and was instantly taken to a site with a lot of links and a lot of text. She began reading and her eyes grew wide.

"Casey! Casey what does it say?" Derek's voice cried from the direction of her bed.

"It, it says that there's this man who specializes in this kind of stuff. His name is Dr. Vramini and he says that he will help anyone with this problem for free, because he knows how it feels and that he doesn't want anyone else to suffer like he did."

"Well, come on then, let's go!" Derek cried.

"One problem, Derek, I can't drive."

"Why not? You're right leg is fine."

"I can't bend my left one, though, genius." Casey laughed, "Hmm… maybe we could catch a bus."

"Is it far from here?"

"No, not at all. It's like five minutes away." Casey stood up and grabbed her crutches. She hurried over to the stairs, "GEORGE!"

George hurried up the stairs, "Yes, Casey?"

"I need help down the stairs, please."

George nodded and lifted her up into his arms. He slowly and carefully made his way down the stairs.

"I could have done that! If I wasn't invisible!"

Casey smiled as she leaned against the stair well while George ran up and grabbed her crutches, "George, tell Mom I went to the library, I'll be back in a few hours. I'm taking the bus."

George nodded, "Please be careful."

Casey made her way over to the door and left the house, "To the bus stop!" Casey smiled as she heard Derek's voice right beside her.

"If this works, I'll get to see that cute face of yours soon!" she smiled and he knew he was blushing, just like he always had when she complimented him.

"Casey, you have no idea how much I want to kiss you right now."

"Oh, I think I have an idea…" her face fell, as she thought about how much she really did want to kiss him, or even just touch his hand.

"What do you think this guy is going to be able to do to help us, Case?"

"I have no idea. I just hope it's fast. Then everyone will believe me."

"I believed you."

Casey laughed as the bus stop came into view, "You only believed me because you were the one I was talking about."

She heard his laugh, oh how she missed that laugh, "I would have believed you anyway."

She laughed again and stopped walking at the bus stop, "Sure you would, Derek, sure."

"I would! I have a lot of trust in you Casey. You could tell me pigs were flying in the sky and I would run to the window to see them!"

Casey laughed out loud, "Derek, that is why I love you, you make me laugh. Even if the things you say are absolutely not true!"

He made an offended sound, "It is so true!"

Casey laughed, "Alright, Derek." She looked down the road, "There's the bus!"

Casey inched closer to the street and waiting patiently as the bus pulled to a stop. The door opened and she tried to struggle and get up onto the stairs until the bus driver finally took pity on her and helped her up. He helped her down the aisle and into a seat. Then he handed her the crutches. As he walked back to the wheel, she heard Derek grumble.

"Again, I could have done that for you."

Casey giggled and shook her head and smiled, "We should be there soon. And then you can. Believe me, I'd much rather you do it, then a bus driver who I don't know."

"Oh, I wait. I wait." Derek sounded impatient, and Casey laughed.

The bus stopped and the bus driver helped Casey off when she told him she needed to get off. She stood on her crutches in front of a small building with a purple door and the words: Dr. Vramini written in gold letters on it.

"Come on, Case, let's go." He whispered in her ear.

She nodded and stood up straight. What was there to lose?