A/N: My sincerest apologies if anyone thinks this chapter is… lacking… something. Most of this was written between midnight and five a.m. this morning with nothing keeping me awake but a good mug of extremely strong green tea.

I really wanted to reply to everyone's reviews directly in the authoress' note this chapter, but I'm rushing off to the city to visit with my sister now (so much busier this summer than I thought I'd be!), so I don't have the time; I'm really sorry about that, everyone. But let it be known that I honestly appreciate every single review I get from you people a great deal!! So please keep them coming!!

And I'm sorry this chapter has a crappy cut-off point; I wasn't finished writing out the entire chapter, but it was long enough to fill my self-set quota already, and I really wanted to get this chapter out to you guys on the date I'd said I would. So… please enjoy it, even if it is cut off at a really weird, random spot!

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I always hated waking up.

I almost wished I could just be stuck in a coma for a few months at a time sometimes, just so I could not have to wake up for a while. But then I realized that I'd still wake up in the end, anyways, so there was really no point in doing that.

I realized as my mind ever-so-slowly woke up that three things were different from usual, even with my eyes still closed:

One, there was sunlight filtering in from a window nearby, which could not be right, as I had the one and only bedroom without a window in our house.

Two, the mattress and pillow were much firmer than mine. Therefore, this supported the theory that I was not in my room at home.

And three, I was not holding the red velvet teddy bear—Shnookums, I'd named him, after my grandma's (on my dad's side) favorite nickname for me—that I'd gotten from my uncle (on my dad's side) for my eleventh birthday five years ago. Which really screamed, "You're not at home and you sure didn't plan on being here overnight," because I never, ever went anywhere without Shnookums when I knew I'd be staying there overnight.

I cautiously cracked one eye open, before quickly shutting it again.

Never mind. The sun's too bright. Maybe I'll give it another go when it's dark out.

I shifted position so I was curled up on my left side, facing away from the window. As I did so, I heard a sharp intake of breath from somewhere near the foot of my bed, and then footsteps approaching the side of the bed I was facing.

Whuh-oh.

I ever…so…cautiously… cracked one eye open to find an absolutely furious-looking Roxas towering over me. I quickly shut my eyes again. Maybe, with a little luck, he'd think I just shifted in my sleep? I really hoped so, because me and confrontation do not mix well at all. I mean, just look at what I did when I fought with my mom. I really do hate confrontation, because when I'm angry, I tend to say a lot of things I don't really mean to, and then I end up kicking myself afterwards.

Unfortunately, it didn't seem luck liked me very much. Maybe that's why I always lose at cards…

"I know you're awake. Sit up, Tor," Roxas said. I was kinda nervous, 'cuz he sounded pissed, and I'd never known him to get this mad before, so I wasn't sure what to expect. I slowly, hesitantly, gathered the starchy hospital sheets around my frame and raised myself to a sitting position. I studied Roxas' checkered wristband, not daring to look him in the eye. The only warning was the slight shift that happened beforehand.

All of a sudden, my right cheek exploded in pain and my head was snapped to the left, painfully. I was dumbfounded as I reached up to gently touch my trembling fingertips to my now throbbing cheek.

"Wha…?" I managed to mutter. Not exactly the most intelligent thing to say, I know, but I really couldn't whip up something better, as I was still shocked and astounded that Roxas, of all people, had actually hit me… and hard!

I looked back at Roxas, wide-eyed, only to notice that his hands were both clenched into fists at his sides, and he was… trembling?

That shocked me even more than the slap had.

I warily looked up at his face, and got an even bigger shock than the slap and his trembling combined.

Roxas was about to cry.

"You…" his voice broke, and he rubbed furiously at his eyes before continuing on to say, "you total bitch!" I was offended, to say the least, but then he hauled me off the bed and into a giant bear hug, and I kinda forgave him. A bit. I mean, it really was stupid and cruel of me to slit my wrist, even if it did make me feel better for a moment or two. I should've realized how much it would hurt all my friends and family. "Do you know how fricking worried we all were!? And why would you even do that to yourself?!"

Roxas' words really hit home. Why had I…

No, wait. I remember who introduced me to the cutter's lifestyle; the one who informed me that cutting can make you feel better, calmer, happier… Even if it hurt to remember it. I clamped my mouth shut, deciding I would treat that as a rhetorical question and just not answer.

Roxas withdrew from the hug, holding me at arm's length and giving me a stern look. It kind of made me nervous when he did that.

"Promise me you won't ever pull a stunt like that again. Okay, Tor?" he said in a low tone. I nodded vigorously in response.

It dawned on me then that I might be looking at myself in a different light than most other people seemed to be. I mean, I didn't really think a lot of people would miss me if I died, apart from Demyx, and possibly Elaeus, a little bit, but here Roxas was, showing (if not in a slightly painful way—my cheek still stung) that he cared whether I lived or died, even though I'd only really been friends with him for less than a week. So maybe, if Roxas could come to care for me in just that short period of time, maybe… others could care for me, too? I found myself wondering to what extent Zexion and Axel and Marluxia cared for me, if they did at all. I highly doubted Marluxia did, anyways. I hadn't even known him for half a day before I went and almost unwittingly killed myself. But I couldn't help but wonder… who all did care for me? It was definitely something to think about, but I was distracted from my thoughts as Roxas moved to exit the room. He paused in the doorway, turning back to offer me a grin.

"I'm gonna go get Demyx, Axel, and Zexion and tell them you're awake. They just left to grab some lunch. We've all been waiting for you to wake up," he stated.

My heart lurched a bit. Even Zexion had been waiting for me to wake up?

"I'll bring you back something to eat, okay?" Roxas gave me another grin and a quick wave before leaving, and I collapsed onto the bed again, going over what he'd said again in my mind.

Maybe… they really do care for me?

I glanced over to the right side of the table, where a small, square side table with multiple vases crowded on it resided. I just about had a heart attack when I saw all the flowers crowded on the one small table. There were plenty of carnations in most of the vases, but the one bouquet that stood out from the rest was the huge bouquet set in the very middle of the table. I had a hunch who it was from the moment I laid eyes on it. Sure enough, as I scooted over to read the card that went with the beautiful bouquet of forget-me-nots and daisies—my two favorite flowers—I read the name of the person it said it was from, and a smile tugged at my lips. Demyx really did know me well. I read the note on the card, and I could feel the tears pricking at the corners of my eyes by the time I finished.

'Dear Tor,' I read silently, 'Please, please, please get well soon. I love you too much for you to die. XOXO, Demyx.'

I set the card back down where it had been before, nestled in the beautiful bouquet of blue and white flowers, and put a hand over my mouth as the tears blurred my vision. I thought about the extremely tight-knit bond that Demyx and I shared, and the reason we had it. And I almost thanked our mother for abandoning us, because if she hadn't, I don't think Demyx and I would've been even half as close as we were now. I really did treasure that closeness more than anything, and I realized once again how stupid and cruel it was of me to have cut myself, because I realized at that moment that for every time I'd cut myself, I might as well have been cutting my family and friends, because I'd hurt them just as much as I'd hurt myself. I'd been spending my time with the blade when I could've been talking with them, getting my thoughts and feelings out in the open instead of cutting myself because I was dwelling on the negative thoughts and feelings that I was keeping bottled up inside.

I wiped my eyes, taking a tissue from the Kleenex box they'd somehow managed to cram onto the already crowded side table and blowing my nose, tossing the icky used tissue into the tiny garbage can placed conveniently beneath the table. I randomly picked a card from one of the smaller bouquets of carnations. This one had white carnations and baby's breath mixed together, and the card read, 'Just get well, dammit. From, Axel'.

I chuckled a bit. I could tell Axel wasn't really the type of guy to go writing mushy cards or talking about his feelings. I could tell he meant well, though, and the card made me laugh, even in the mood I was in. I decided Axel was a good guy, after all. I might just be able to be good friends with him in good time, now that we'd put our differences aside and decided to make a fresh start. If he was willing to make the effort to try and be my friend, then I knew I'd just have to go the extra mile to be a friend to him, too.

I was just about to look at the next card, which did not have a corresponding bouquet, when I heard footsteps thundering down the hospital hall and a woman's nasally voice yelling, "No running in the hospital, or I'll have you removed!" However, the footsteps did not slow, and they were coming down the hallway my room was down. I turned to face the doorway so I'd be able to see the hooligans making all the ruckus as they ran past my room. However, instead of getting a fleeting glimpse of people running past, I instead got a glimpse of Demyx and Axel racing into my room and straight at me before they both leapt onto the bed, and I was suddenly on the receiving end of a very painful three-way glompfest.

So in other words, I was pretty much on the bottom of a slightly friendlier version of a dogpile.

Somehow, I seem to remember something like this happening very recently. Only there's slightly less weight this time, because Roxas isn't in on it this time.

"Tor!" Demyx cried, hugging me so tight I almost couldn't breathe. "Did you see the flowers? Did you read my card? Are you going to live?" he fired off, not leaving time between questions for me to answer. I felt Axel withdraw from the glompfest and recline beside me on the just-barely-roomy-enough hospital bed.

I smiled at Demyx. "Yes, the flowers are beautiful, thank you very much. Yes, and it made me cry, you whelp. And I'm proud to say that I'm still alive and feeling downright peachy, even, so yes, I assume that I'm going to live," I said, vaguely aware of the fact that both my left wrist and right palm had been securely bandaged.

Demyx smiled warmly. I felt a little tug at my heartstrings. Yes; this was the brother that was unspeakably dear to me. It did my heart good to see that from his eyes and his smile, he seemed to be truly happy at that moment. I kissed my wonderful brother on the top of his head, then poked him in the side, which never failed to make him squeak. I heard Axel snicker when he did, but I ignored him. There was a somewhat pressing matter I had to address, after all, and it was pressing painfully on my ribcage.

"Erm…Demyx… you know I love you and all, but that doesn't change the fact that you're too heavy to lie on top of me without causing me a great deal of physical discomfort," I said.

Demyx blinked.

I grimaced. "In other words… please get off. You're squishing me."

Three…

Two…

One.

"…Oh," Demyx said, an enlightened look crossing his face. "OH." He grinned, flipping over onto Axel to knock the wind out of him before actually standing up off the bed and going to join Zexion and Roxas, who had both parked their rears in two of the four seats lined up against the wall facing the foot of the bed. And, being the total spaz I am, I totally didn't realize there was a mystery food item wrapped in tin foil flying towards my face until it'd already made impact.

I guess when you don't have ninja-like reflexes, everybody gets this irresistible urge to laugh at how slow you are. That kinda made me miffed. I wonder how they'd like to have someone smack them in the face with their food when they least expect it. I was kind of tempted to throw it right back at Roxas to smack him in the face with it, but… I was so hungry. Hmm… get revenge, or satisfy my hunger. I really wasn't sure what I wanted more, but then my stomach gave this weird, whiny growl, so I gave in and just ate my food (which I found to be a tasty, completely normal chicken burger). An ever-so-slightly awkward silence settled over the room as I ate. It was kind of amusing, actually. Demyx coughed into his hand before speaking.

"Well, uhh… I think I'll go get dad. He'll probably discharge you now that you're feeling better," he said, quickly scooting out of the room. I briefly wondered if dad was going to make me talk to a shrink because of this incident. However, knowing him, he'd probably just have filed my injury as an accident or something so no one would think that one of his "darling children" was messed up in the head. He always tried to make everyone think that he, Demyx, and I were the perfect family, even though we had no mother to speak of and he was always at work. And I bet he'll be pushing that idea onto people even more after he and Ámarie get married. I couldn't help but wonder what Ámarie and Zexion would think about that.

I shifted on the still not-very-roomy bed. Axel's elbow was digging into my side, and it wasn't exactly what I'd call comfortable.

"Aaaaxeeeeel," I whined, "there's not enough room on this bed for two people," I subtly hinted. I was much more comfortable when it was just me on the bed. Unfortunately, Axel didn't seem to want to comply with my indirectly-spoken wish.

"Well, then get off," he said, smirking a bit. "I'm way too comfortable to move."

My eye twitched a bit.

"Okay, that's it. No more nice Tor!" I said, and promptly sat on Axel's stomach, pleased with the "oof!" I received in return. Just at that moment, however, Demyx and dad walked in.

And let me tell you—it's really awkward when your dad walks into the room and you're sitting on some guy he doesn't even know.

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A/N: There's a reason why purple is one of my favorite colors—it means reviews!