Two days later, Cody, Maya, Bailey, Woody, and London leaned against the railing of the ship, standing as close as they could to where the gangway would be attached so they could get off of the ship as soon as possible.

The ship slowly pulled into port, and the gangway was attached to the boat. As soon as it was firmly attached, the group bolted down the long flight of stairs before anybody standing on the dock could make their way up.

However, when they reached the ground, Carey Martin was nowhere to be seen.

Cody immediately started to break down. "She-she... she's not coming!" he exclaimed as he regressed into sobs. He had made it two days, and now this happened.

"Honey, calm down," Bailey cajoled. "I'm sure she's around here somewhere."

Maya spoke up. "Yeah. Even though she said she'd be standing in front, it's completely possible she got tangled up in a crowd this big. We'll find her."

"I'll go look for her!" Woody said, and he started to run off in search of the sobbing boy's mother.

He tripped and fell flat on his face no more than ten feet from where the other four stood. He turned around and walked back toward the group. "On second thought, why don't we wait for her to show up?"

Cody broke down even more. "There's no time to wait!" he blurted out. "The more time we spend without finding Mom, the more time it'll take to get to Zack! I can't handle not being with him anymore!" he yelled as he grabbed Woody's shirt and violently shook him.

"I just... need... to see him," he cried, sinking down onto the dock as tears fell from his eyes. The others crowded around him as they attempted to console him.

Suddenly, a voice popped up behind them.

"Hi," it said sadly.

Everyone, including Cody, looked up. The dock was now largely empty.

As they turned around, they saw none other than Carey Martin.

"Mom!" Cody said, getting up and running to her.

"Oh... baby..." she said quietly as she hugged her younger son tightly. "I am so sorry I wasn't standing in front like I promised, or even somewhere conspicuous... how are you holding up, sweetie?"

"Okay... I guess," he said as he tried to squelch his sobs. "Well, as okay as I can be, knowing that Zack's—"

"I know," she said.

"Can we get going?" he asked, anxious to finally see his brother.

"Yeah, sure. Your dad's already there, and he told me Zack's been moved to the seventh floor of the children's hospital. If we go now, we can be there in three hours."

"Umm... excuse me," Bailey piped up, "can we come, too?"

Carey looked up, slightly surprised, and hesitated a little before speaking.

"Oh... you must be Bailey," Carey replied. "I recognize you from the pictures Cody sent me... and you are Woody, Cody's roommate, right?" Woody quickly nodded. "Hi, London," Carey spoke, "and thanks," she added.

"And who are you?" Carey asked the one person she hadn't identified.

"Uh, I'm Maya, Z—Zack's... girlfriend," Maya answered.

"Oh... so you're Maya. I've heard so much about you..." Carey said with a solemn smile, her sentence trailing off. She paused, then spoke to the four friends. "Well, I guess you guys can come, but I'm not sure you can all be in there at the same time, and the visiting hours are from 11 am to 8 pm. Cody, those visiting hours go for you, too."

"What? But I'm his brother!" Cody could feel tears welling up again.

"I know, sweetie, but it's hospital rules. Your dad and I will make sure you're in Zack's room no later than 11 on the dot and you don't have to leave until 8 on the nose. I'm sure you'd be in there with him 24/7 if you could," Carey said in an attempt to soothe Cody.

"Fine," he said, swallowing the lump in his throat. "Let's get going. The sooner we get there, the sooner we can see Zack." The group began to walk to the parking lot.

London cleared her throat. "Y'know, taking a car is slow. I could take us all on my private jet, and it would cut our travel time in half."

Carey opened her mouth to say that it really wasn't necessary, but she stopped when her son enveloped the girl in a tight hug.


An hour and a half later, Carey, Cody, and the gang could feel the nervous anticipation building as they drove into the Air Rights Garage. They were mere minutes from walking into the hospital and seeing Zack.

Carey pulled the car into a parking space and turned off the engine. Everyone awkwardly sat there for a couple seconds before getting out and heading to the skywalk that would take them into the York Street entrance of the hospital. A stifling silence was spread throughout the group. They slowly advanced down the skywalk, looking up at the large, sprawling building before them as they neared closer and closer to the hospital's doors. They finally arrived at the entrance and walked inside.

Once inside, they made their way through the maze of hallways within the medical center. As they walked, Bailey took in the sights and sounds. She had, like Cody, already gotten accepted to Yale and had sent the form confirming her enrollment at her earliest possible opportunity. She hadn't yet declared her major, but she knew where she wanted to end up.

She was going to be a pediatric surgeon.

However, as she walked through the passageways, especially as they neared the West Pavilion, where the Children's Hospital was located, she became more and more unsure of herself. On the one hand, she wanted so badly to be able to end the suffering many of these children were going through. On the other hand, she couldn't take how frail and vulnerable some of the children she'd caught a glimpse of had seemed. She could feel tears welling up, and by the time everyone had reached the elevators, a few were running down her face. She tried to wipe them away before anyone noticed, but after Carey pressed the button to call the elevator, Cody looked at her.

"Are you okay, Bailey?" he asked.

"Yeah... fine. Just... worried about Zack, I guess," she lied. Well, it wasn't completely a lie. She was worried about Zack, but that wasn't the only reason she was crying.

The elevator doors opened, saving Bailey from elaborating, and the group piled in. Carey pressed "7," and the elevator began its ascent. The small box was eerily silent, no one inside daring to speak a word as they neared their final destination. The elevator arrived at the chosen floor and was promptly emptied of its cargo.

The group briefly stood outside the elevator until Cody and Carey spotted Kurt in a place marked "Family Reflection Room." Kurt got up from his seat, and the family made their way toward each other.

"Hey," Carey said.

"Hey," Kurt replied. He shifted his gaze to Cody.

"Codester, how you doing?" Cody was tired of repeatedly answering that question, so all Kurt got in reply was a shrug.

"That good, huh?" he said, patting Cody on the back. "Well, we can go in to see Zack. I'm sure you want to do that." Cody nodded vigorously.

"Okay, let's do it, but umm... you guys will have to wait outside," Kurt said to the other teens. "They only want family in right now." Maya, Bailey, London, and Woody nodded solemnly in understanding and went into the Family Reflection Room to wait.

Carey, Cody, and Kurt walked into the PICU. Kurt talked with the nurse about Cody, and she quickly determined that Cody was allowed to visit. She led them over to Zack's room, and the family stood outside.

Cody was finally going to see his brother.

A/N: Truthfully… this story was ready to be posted a couple of days ago. The reason it wasn't was because I got really sick during the revision process, and, well, my writing/revising is no good when I'm that sick.

So, we're closer to seeing Zack than ever. How's that make you feel? …Yeah… I'm not gonna try to make any sort of small talk in this note. Just go review the danged thing.