For a few seconds Ford seemed to ignore him, and stared fixedly into the sky like a rabbit trying to get run over by a car. Then suddenly he squatted down beside Arthur.

"Simply Just Being doesn't own Digimon or the Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy," he said urgently.

"Fine," said Arthur, "Now let's respond to the reviews."

"She thanks her readers," said Ford. "They're all so loyal and smarter than her because they can spell. So she'll respond to them. Now. Then we'll go to Chapter 10 before Mr. Prosser knocks Arthur's house down and the Earth gets destroyed."

Poor Davis. I can see all the anguish in him. Sad story so far. Keep it up.

Oh, my ever-loyal DQ, how I do love bringing out the anguish in this sad little story... (Laughs maniacally)

The story is getting so much better!update-ya

Better? So what was it before? That's a nice compliment... Well L THINK it's a compliment... (Pushes yuffie off the end of the universe)

great chap! please update soon! it really a good story

Thank you! I absolutely LOVED doing the flashback...

Hiya! Good chappy! Oh, and about the lyrics in my story, Akira Bane, my evil sister, wrote them. Oh, poor Davis. I feel sorry for him! Is Sarah really going to die!

lol... Evil sister... I've got one of those... And it depends how she takes to her new heart. The chances are VERY slim, but she might recover...

How sad (sobing) Poor Davis and cary whats up with her I though she liked Tk but the way she is acting in this story...Im probably getting the wrong I dea well please hurry with the next chapter and try to make it longer.

Kari DOES like T.K. ... Though T.K.'s more of a supportive, best friend, might-someday-become-boyfriend type person... And yet, Davis' depth has captured her heart and knotted it into mangled little knotted things. She's just overcome by the fact that she never sensed or saw this in him... And T.K. and Kari are now dating so that should clear a few things up. She cares for Davis - but only as a HIGHLY concerned friend, though at one point she thought it was more. (Are you confused? Because i'm confused and so is she!) Let's just say she likes T.K., OK? GOOD! And about the length... I'm pretty sure that this chapter is longer than the last one. But i don't know. Let me just tell you that i'm trying to do that.

There was a terrible ghastly silence.

There was a terrible ghastly noise.

There was a terrible ghastly silence.

Simply Just Being wiped her forehead in relief and began Chapter 10.

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&&Chapter 10: Torn Apart And Inside Out&&

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&&At School, Thursday&&

The lunch bell had just finished ringing as the Digidestined group sat down at their table. Suffice to say, Davis and Sarah (though technically, Sarah wasn't a Digidestined) weren't with them – none of them had seen so much as a glimpse of them all day.

It was a one of those mild days; a few grayish clouds stood out against the colorless sky, hiding the bright sun every few moments. A few far-off buildings were hidden by misty fog, and the air was a bit brisk… No wind whatsoever. All in all, the weather wasn't all that great, but it wasn't bad either.

Kari Kamiya took a good look at the faces of the friends around her – T.K. Takaishi and Cody Hida seemed too wrapped up in their own world to notice anything around them, and Yolei Inoue was staring wide-eyed into space. Cody gave her a small nudge, bringing the bespectacled girl back to reality with an unpleasant jolt.

She readjusted her glasses and was about to take a bite from her sandwich, but dropped it down at the last second. Her mind was in a mental debate; Yolei just couldn't eat at the moment. "He isn't really sick, is he?"

The moment she had blurted the words out, she instantly regretted how blunt it sounded. You're an idiot, Yolei! She silently berated herself; Cody and T.K. are sitting right beside you… What the hell do you think you're doing?

Cody nearly choked on his food, though T.K. was still rambling on about his new skateboard. Clearing his throat, the younger boy gave a side-glance to Yolei.

"I don't know… but can we talk about this later, please? I'd like to eat my lunch in peace." Kari replied steadily, praying to God that she sounded normal. The purple-haired girl nodded with a frustrated sigh. With one last look at the neglected sandwich, she grabbed her lunchbox and went to throw the rest of her food out.

Something's definitely going on here… And it doesn't look good. Cody chose his approach carefully, "Kari? Are you OK?"

T.K. stopped in mid-sentence, smiling over at his girlfriend. "Of course she's OK! Why wouldn't she be?" He interjected, pulling the girl into a kiss. It was a brief, but adorable gesture. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough to pull her out of her misery.

"No, T.K., I'm not… Listen, there's something I have to tell you."

The blonde's smile faded immediately, concern showing in his blue eyes. Kari opened her mouth to say something, but paused for a moment. She had to choose her words wisely or they wouldn't understand… But what was she supposed to say? That she'd been worried half to death last night? That she felt like an utter failure as a friend because she never even understood half of the things going through Davis Motomiya's head?

"I'm really…" She stuttered, voice shaking slightly, "I'm really worried about Davis." She sat there with bated breath, waiting for their reactions. She was met with total confusion.

"What about him?" Cody inquired lightly, glancing at his Rolex watch to avoid eye contact with her. Direct eye contact, he felt, would be bad in this situation. She would definitely feel pressured and wouldn't speak as openly.

"June had a panic attack last night because he just… disappeared. He was missing for three and a half hours and… when we found him… I'd never seen anyone so shattered in my whole life…" Tears welled in her bright, brown eyes, and her lower lip trembled. Cody and T.K. were gaping at her in complete shock.

"He just… left?" T.K. gasped in disbelief, "But Davis would never… I mean, I don't think he would ever do anything like that…" It was obvious that he didn't know what to think. Then again, who in his position would?

"What happened?" Cody whispered in a hoarse voice, stunned at what he had just heard.

"She's dying… She's dying and I know that it's tearing him apart…" Kari explained through muffled sobs, her whole body now trembling. T.K. held her in his arms, desperately trying to calm her down. Kari leaned in against him, head aching.

"Kari… What do you mean, dying?"

"C-Cody… Sarah's heart is f-failing…"

&&At The Hospital, Room 245&&

He sat there, glaring at the beeping medical monitor. Sarah's operation had been completed just a few hours before – the question was how she would take to her new heart. If all went well, the girl might be on her way to a slow but steady recovery. If not…

He winced slightly, cursing his shoulder under his breath. Cursing Sean. Cursing the rest of his so-called friends. Davis checked his watch, barely having need for the actual time. It was just something to do, something to distract him.

How did I ever get into this situation? Wasn't it just yesterday that I was playing Monopoly in my old house with the rest of the Black Jackets?

A knock at the door broke through his thoughts, throwing him out of his daze in a startling way. Must be a nurse, or June… Maybe even her parents or… Kari? He didn't even bother to wipe his tears away; they'd all seen him cry like this, time and time again.

I guess you could say that he was slightly shocked when T.K., Yolei, Cody, Kari and June appeared from behind the white door. He stared silently at them all, not knowing what to say to any of them. For once, his brain seemed completely jammed, a gleaming yellow "out of order" sign tacked firmly at the front.

Kari looked like she was about to cry, June resting a firm hand on her shoulder. She was watching the window with a hard look in her eyes, unable to look at her brother for fear of breaking into tears. T.K. was staring at him in a stunned silence, unable to tear his gaze from the tear-stained, reddened face of the boy before him. Cody was scanning the pale figure of the girl on the Hospital bed.

Yolei was the first to speak up, thoroughly uneasy in the long silence. "How is she?"

"Bad to worse. They don't know what's going to happen yet… but she hasn't woken up, and I know that's a bad sign." He muttered to himself, staring at the colorful flowers he had placed beside her bed.

"Davis, you can't face this alone. You and I both know that. We all know that… and that's exactly why we're here; we won't let you face this alone."

Davis closed his bleary eyes, nodding slowly, a solemn grimace lining his face. "I know. But… I just…"

"But nothing. Sure, you've been a jerk now and then, but we're still going to help you." She cut him off as she readjusted her glasses. Kari stared at the purple-haired girl in annoyance.

"Yolei!"

"Hey, it's true! I'm only stating the facts!"

"She's right, Kari. I have been a jerk…" Davis intervened in a quiet voice, shutting the two of them up immediately.

"But you had a good reason, Davis. Why didn't you ever tell us before?" Kari battled back, breathing heavily.

He sat down on one of the chairs and held his knees to his chest. After a moment, he whispered out, "Did any of you really need to know?" His voice was so soft that she'd almost completely missed his agonizing question.

Yolei and Kari stared at him, horrified at what the boy was saying. Cody finally looked up from Sarah's weak outline on the other side of the room.

"T.K., I think you should talk to him. Alone." The small boy murmured, giving a quick nod to the still-gaping blonde. June, Kari and Yolei exchanged glances of agreement, heading quickly for the door to leave the two boys alone. None of them voiced it, but they were all very eager to get out of the room – and away from what had used to be the liveliest of the Digidestined team. Away from the alarmingly still girl in the corner.

Once outside, the girls collapsed into heavy gasping, June huddling quietly against the white wall. The orange-y scent of Lysol hovered around the hall, doing very little to calm them.

"Cody…" Yolei's voice strained in a low tone, "what are the chances that she's gonna walk out of there OK?"

June and Kari turned to face the younger boy, half wanting to hear his answer but half afraid of what he would say. Kari took an anxious breath and held it.

"Minute."

&&Inside room 245&&

T.K. was staring at Davis with a bewildered expression. The brunette still sat there, hugging his knees to his chest, gazing silently over at the bed.

Who is this kid? I've never seen Davis act so… lost. What the hell happened to him?

The blonde boy shook the thoughts away, taking refuge in the other chair by the window. "Why are you doing this to yourself? She's going to be OK…"

Davis met his gaze, his brown eyes showing more anguish than he'd ever seen before. To be honest, the sight scared T.K. more than anything else he had seen or heard that day. "I don't think she is, Takaishi."

"You were never one to give up on people, Davis…" His voice shook, and he struggled to swallow against the lump in his throat. "Why are you doing this now?"

"I was never one to have that much hope in the first place. What am I gonna do if she doesn't make it? How am I supposed to just forget about her?"

Don't say that… Please, Davis, don't say that… Stop talking like that… Stop shaking like that… You're scaring me…

"If anyone can get through this, you can. All those times in the digital world… We'd all given up hope… But you wouldn't let it go. You'd fight to the end. You need to fight to the end, Davis. You can't give up…"

The brunette shook his head sadly, leaving his seat to stand by the window. T.K. followed him in silence, all the time in the world seeming to stop at that moment.

"You know something T.K.? Sometimes it just gets to be too much. It's too much for me." Davis winced, unconsciously pulling a hand to his shoulder.

"What's wrong with your shoulder?" He got no answer.

"Davis?" The blonde repeated, scared by his friend's pale face.

Davis gave a strangled gasp of pain, falling to his knees. Everything was a red haze in his mind, flashes of the past darting before him in terrible jolts. He felt as if he was being torn apart and turned inside out, everything in him screaming in total agony.

He thought he was going to explode, the nerves in his shoulder sending searing pain through his chest and down his arm. He couldn't breathe, couldn't think, couldn't hear T.K. calling out to him as he crashed forwards into the ground, and couldn't drag the mental image of a blood-stained gun from his mind's eye…

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(sniff) god-speed, Mo. We all love you.

A big green flying saucer passes through the sky above you, and spray-painted on the bottom are the words, "to be continued". The Betelgeuse trading scouts must know something that we don't.

OK THEN! GO FLOOD THE REVIEW BOXES WHILE I GO READ THE ULTIMATE HICKHIKER'S GUIDE!

Sincerely,

Simply Just Being (Ford Thunderbird)