Hey, all, big stuff happening in this chapter. I think my hamster is pregnant again... Enjoy:

"Are you sure you don't want to get some rest?" Marshall put his hand on Sonny's shoulder. "It's been a long day…"

Sonny was shaking her head before he'd finished talking.

The scene in Chad Dylan Cooper's hospital room was a typical one. Sonny, a guilt-ridden picture of pity, with her hair pulled into a loose ponytail accompanied by an unidentifiable number of knots and mascara and the like smudged, and hastily rubbed away so she could appear calm, was sitting awkwardly so that her butt was balancing on the edge of an uncomfortable hospital chair and her upper body was leaning against the edge of Chad's bed. Tawni had fallen asleep in a much more comfortable chair in the corner, before Marshall – who had shuffled in excess, to prevent himself from falling asleep, from chair to standing, with regular intervals for coffee runs – had woken her up and announced they should head home.

Sonny, of course, had refused.

There had been a very hushed argument, which involved a lot of shushing and nervous glances at Chad, but Sonny had won. There was no doubt that Sonny wouldn't be moved, not without being sedated. So, Sonny confirmed with her mum that she would be staying with Chad indefinitely, and everybody agreed that this was the best option.

Marshall and Tawni did not, however, feel obligated to stay, so Sonny encouraged them to go home and sleep.

"I'm fine here." Sonny gave him a smile that was meant to verify that, but instead it just came across as a weak grimace. "I wouldn't sleep at home, anyway."

Marshall nodded, having learnt that arguing would be in vain, and led the droopy Tawni out. And so Sonny was alone.

Before she'd left for home, the nurse who had helped Sonny so much – Lucy – had suggested Sonny try talking to him. She said he might be able to hear her, and feel comforted, even so much as to come out of his coma.

Sonny sat up. She was so tired that even that was a chore, but she found that when faced with a situation like this, she could face any task. For Chad.

With weary, hesitant eyes, Sonny focused her gaze on the door for a few minutes, and decided that she was unlikely to be interrupted. So, she turned back to Chad. She was willing to try anything to help Chad, no matter how futile and ridiculously unlikely to work it was.

Her mouth popped open and closed several times before she built up the nerve – and strength – to speak.

"Chad?" Her voice croaked. "I…"

Her mind seemed to be the only thing working in her body and yet she could think of nothing to say; nothing that would inspire a comatose Chad Dylan Cooper to wake up and get the hell on the way to recovery.

"You have no hair." Sonny paused.

If anything, telling Chad about his looks would stir him into consciousness, but there was no change in his demeanour, so she tried something different.

"I don't know what I'll do if you… The studio won't be the same…" She laughed nervously to distract herself from all the awkward conversations this would lead to if he could in fact hear her.

His heart rate stayed the same, indicated with the regular beeps, and his breathing was still controlled by the machine. This would never work.

"Don't leave me in that studio on my own, Chad…" Sonny quickly stopped herself there, knowing any more of this would end in sobs.

After a while she started talking, slower and more to herself this time, "You know, you'd like it here." She began to fiddle with the edge of the blanket absentmindedly. "There are cute nurses to flirt with, receptionist that are willing to drool over you – though not without your hair, that fickle cow – and I'm sure you could haggle with the kitchen to provide you with meals suitable for a king… I'm even here. It's like you never left the studio, only it's a hospital."

Slowly, her shoulders slumped and she slid down so that she was leaning on the edge of the bed, her besheveled hair rubbing gently against Chad's arms.

When she spoke again, her voice was so soft that even if there were any other conscious being in the room, they wouldn't have heard her. "Please wake up."

Before she knew what had happened, Sonny was woken up by a knock on the door. She hadn't thought she could fall asleep. A young face popped her head around the edge of the door, concern etched across her eyebrows.

Sonny bolted upright, spinning to face Chad. "Is he okay? What's wrong?"

The two questions blurred together, and already Sonny was standing, her hand wavering over Chad's numerous wires and tubes, unsure what she could do to help if there were in fact something wrong.

"No, no…" The girl entered and closed the door behind her. "I just came to visit."

Sonny pulled her body round to face the girl, suspicion finally dawning on her. "And you are?"

The girl smiled nervously. "I came yesterday. With my… friend."

"Oh, right, er…"

"Abi."

Sonny nodded, committing the name o memory. She was always good with names, but it seemed the current predicament had thrown her off.

"So, you wanted…" Sonny motioned for Abi to sit down as she did so herself.

Abi produced a bouquet of flowers – which Chad would have loved were he awake – and placed them ceremonially on the bed side table on the opposite side of Chad to Sonny. As she did this, she slyly caught a glimpse at all of the monitors and machines Chad Dylan Cooper was hooked up to.

His Blood pressure and heart rate were normal, as was his breathing rate, but the brain wave monitor wasn't picking up a huge amount. The odd blip here and wiggle there, but otherwise a somewhat flat line. That wasn't a good sign.

Sonny shuffled so she could see both Chad and Abi at the same time.

They remained silent for a while, Abi opting for a shy approach to the unorthodox interview with Sonny Munroe.

Sonny seemed distant, but a thought brought her back to the room.

"Were there any reporters outside?" She hadn't moved much, but it was obvious she was tense about the answer to said question.

Abi shook her head, feeling apprehensive about saying anything more. Deniability was everything. If she said something about there not being any reporters around, or the news not being leaked, she couldn't later claim that she had always told the truth, and never given any indication that she was not a reporter herself.

Sonny let out an evidently relieved sigh. "I know it's inevitable, but I'm hoping his condition might progress a bit before the world knows."

Without realising it had happened, Sonny had connected with this girl. Few words had passed between them, but the pressure and distress that she was currently under meant that she would turn to anyone for a shoulder to cry on or a friendly face to talk to, or talk at, even. And so, Sonny decided this girl would be that person that she could rely on for moral support, if only for the few minutes she was in here. After all, she was a better option than the old man she had nearly jumped when she had gone to the toilet during Chad's surgery because he'd smiled at her.

"Do you know how it happened?" Sonny asked, hoping that Abi would look interested enough for her to let a load off on her.

Abi shook her head innocently. She was offering the information; it was too easy!

"A mail cart." Sonny looked back at Chad. "It was running out of control down a hall and… say no more. His right arm was shattered into four pieces, and they've pinned that to fix it straight, he had a deep cut from the cart's wheel in his chest, which they've sewn up, and he knocked his head against the floor which caused internal bleeding, so they drilled into his skull to relieve the pressure… by shaving his head…" It seemed that she found it hardest to say this part.

Still in awe and without thinking, Abi blurted out the first thing that came into her mind. "That must have been one heavy cart!"

Sonny let out a humourless laugh. "So he should have come out of a coma by now, but no such luck. We were told that if he wakes up by the end of today, then he should make a full recovery, but if not…"

She didn't finish this, and Abi didn't want to make her. Her nervous babbling was quite frightening, and Abi was starting to realise just how serious this was.

Suddenly, Sonny, seeming determined to change the subject, spoke up, "What time is it, do you know?"

Abi, still a little shocked at the extent of one Chad Dylan Cooper's injuries, looked at her watch and told Sonny it was nine-thirty.

Sonny nodded. She had slept for nine hours; or perhaps more, as she hadn't checked the time for a while before she nodded off. It was longer than she'd wanted, or needed, and guilt edged its way into her mind again. However, remembering all that she had decided, especially based on what Lucy had told her about Chad needing her, she forced it out with more words aimed at Abi.

"It's my fault." Saying it made it truer, in a way, but it meant that instead of the facts poisoning Sonny's mind, they were out in the open.

Saying it actually made her feel better.

"What do you mean?" Abi, though she was still shocked and feeling slightly dumbstruck by the whole situation, felt she had to pry for information; granted it didn't require much effort, as Sonny seemed more than willing to comply with her 'interview', but it was still her job.

"I cause the whole accident." Sonny shuffled as she spoke to face Abi more directly, getting into her blame game. "Josh, the mail boy, was getting depressed about his life and job and stuff-" she waved it off "-so I suggested a few changes.

"One: change his hair. He was into this whole afro thing, so I recommended he let it grow bigger, and bolder.

"Two: I showed him a new game to make his day more interesting. Basically, it was riding down empty halls, but he was happy. Simple things…

"Anyway, put one and two together and you get three: Josh riding down the hall and his long hair blocks his view of approaching Chad…"

Abi just stared at her, quickly closing her drooping chin before Sonny took offence and considered it to be horror at what she was saying. The thing was, this was all too easy. Sonny was giving away her story, and it was a really good one. Sonny had a blame complex, where she was the one causing all of the trouble, and Chad was badly hurt. Readers would buy several copies each.

So why didn't Abi feel over the moon?

"That's not your fault." Abi snapped her mouth closed and remained perfectly motionless.

What was she doing?

Sonny seemed equally stunned. "Pardon?"

"It was an accident. The whole thing." Abi couldn't help but shoot her mouth off. "You were just helping. And Josh didn't mean to do it, either."

Sonny smiled, obviously still disagreeing, but smiled all the same. "That means a lot to me. You don't even know."

Abi smiled kindly – a genuine kindness, not the false kindness she used to get something.

They were peaceful for a while, staring around the room, particularly at Chad.

Abi was curious. "Why are you telling me these things?"

Sonny pulled a face that suggested she wasn't entirely sure herself, but after a moments thought realisation hit her. "I kinda… I need to let it go, and the best way to do that is to tell someone. I guess, by the way you told off your friend yesterday I had you pegged for a nice person. Someone you can trust, you know. So… thanks. For letting me clear my head."

Oh, great, that made her feel good. "Your welcome, I guess."

It was ten-fifteen. Abi had left (feeling particularly awful as Sonny said she was a really great friend, and that it was Becks' loss) and now Sonny was sitting beside Chad's bed, silent and alone once more.

When the nurse entered, it made her jump slightly. Though the nurses came regularly – about every quarter of an hour – Sonny got used to the only sounds being beeps and whirring, so her being surprised every fifteen minutes was expectable.

But it wasn't fifteen minutes this time.

Sonny became anxious instantly. "Is everything alright?"

It had seemed like nothing had changed with Chad, but maybe she'd missed something. Something new. Something wrong.

The doctor chuckled. "Everything's fine. I just wanted to check in."

Sonny sighed. Then it dawned on her that the nurse looked familiar.

"Do I know you?" She asked as he checked Chad's stats and temperature.

He nodded. "I was talking to, um… Portlyn… yesterday…"

"Oh." Sonny decided to ignore him.

But he had other plans. "Listen, Sonny, I just want to reassure you. The likelihood of anything going wrong and her not making a full recovery are really slim. She will probably be absolutely fine."

Sonny snapped. "I can't believe this!"

He looked confused.

She jumped up and started towards him. "You only 'checked in' to see if Portlyn was here, didn't you?"

He shook his head, but looked a bit perturbed.

"You wanna know how I could tell?" She had backed him to the doorway. "Chad is a he!"

Before he could argue, she slammed the door in his face and rushed back to her seat, leaning once again on Chad's good arm, tears of anger brimming in the corners of her eyes.

She pushed her forehead into the crease of his arm, letting the tears flow for once.

"Sonny?"

She jerked her head upright so fast she may have given herself whiplash.

Chad's gorgeous blue eyes.

"What…?" He started moving his head.

Sonny jumped up and pressed the call button.

Chad groaned and reached up to touch his head, but Sonny stopped him. "Don't move. Wait for the doctors."

She could hear there shoes rushing down the hall. Finally she could be happy.

Chad coughed and shook his head, a moan building up in his throat. His heart rate began to race.

"Calm down, Chad…"

He started wheezing.

"Chad!"

The heart rate monitor beeped like crazy before he flat-lined, producing a long, endless beep.

Sonny screamed as the doctors and nurses ran full-pelt into the room, pulling and pushing her out of the way.

"CHAD!"

Ooh, cliffy. I don't do ones this big too often, so don't yell at me. What do you think will happen? Will the daring hero of our story survive?... Need i ask?

See ya all, cause this is my last chap in two weeks. I'm going on holiday... NOT REALLY!! Had ya going, though, didn't i. Please review, they make me smile, feel happy, and sometimes not even kill my main characters... hint hint...