A/N: I don't think I have ever put this much effort into one chapter. Usually I can finish a chapter within a few hours - sometimes it takes a couple of days. This chapter basically took all week. Parts of this were inspired by the book Remember by Karen Kingsbury (how Ryan got his injuries, the scene with the nurse and Kelsi). I did a whole lot of research for this and tried to make things seem realistic, but I'll ask for some leeway as I'm definitely not a medical expert by any means. Just go with it. This chapter is a monster! I totally didn't mean for it to get this long and the bad news is that the conclusion of the flashback is in the next chapter - this one finishes in the flashback at a sort of cliffhanger, though it's broken up by Kelsi's novel of a letter. But there's good news: part of the next chapter is already written and I'm getting back to work on it after I post this one. My goal is to get the next chapter up tomorrow so it'll be a fast update. After that, I'm taking a mini break from this story to update one of my others (not sure which one yet, if you have a preference let me know). Hope you have your tissues handy! I actually had to stop writing at one point cause I was tearing up, if that tells you anything. I tried to inject some humor at the beginning to break up the sadness. Hope you all like this one - going back to work on the next. Let me know what you think and thanks for all the continued support!

*Sidenote - I forgot to say it in the chapter, but the George character that Kelsi mentions was one of Ryan's neighbors in his apartment building and also a friend to both Ryan and Kelsi. You haven't seen him before and probably won't again, just wanted to mention it in case you were wondering who the heck he was.

"So that's the plan," Troy was saying from his position on the floor with most of the kids around him playing. "We divide and conquer!"

"I'm having second thoughts about this, I think," Zeke spoke up. "I mean, if something is going on it's pretty obvious that the girls want to try and keep it a secret for some reason. Maybe we should just let it go and respect that. They can tell us when they're ready." Troy studied him for a moment and his eyes narrowed.

"You found out," he said simply. "You know!"

"Maybe." Zeke shrugged lightly. "Maybe not."

"You totally know," Troy shook his head, "and you're not going to tell the rest of us." He jerked a thumb at Chad, who was currently playing with trucks with Matthew and Jake. "Just like him. Unbelievable." He swept his gaze over to Jason. "I guess it's just the two of us and Ryan on this mission now."

"Can we at least change the name?" Jason spoke up, seemingly unconcerned with the fact that Zeke most likely knew what the big secret was now. "The one we have is pretty lame."

"Like I told Zeke," Troy began, trailing off to give Zeke a dirty look, "when he was on the team, if you can think of anything better be my guest."

"Anything would be better," Jason mumbled. "Did you put any thought into it at all?"

"Did I put any thought into it?" Troy repeated. "Why no, Jason, I didn't. And let's see, why didn't I? Oh wait, I know!" His voice turned sarcastic. "It's because I was busy coming up with the entire plan itself!"

"But wouldn't it have only been logical to think of a name while coming up with the rest?" Jason countered.

"Somehow I find the idea of you talking about logic to be ironic," Troy muttered in response.

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Ryan paused after reading the first part of the letter, noticing that the next part had some words that were slightly smeared. Proof to him that Kelsi had apparently been crying as she wrote it. That fact in and of itself was enough for him to want to go find his wife to make sure she was all right, but he stopped himself. He might as well just go on and finish the letter since he had already come so far. Besides it was extremely likely that he'd have an urge to go check on her after he finished anyway so it seemed better to wait for now. He found his place and picked up where he had left off.

I remember being crumbled up on the ground and crying, wondering what in the world I was going to do. I knew that no matter what happened that I still had to find you somehow. I was determined to find you, but at that point I wasn't sure if I'd be looking for you or your body. The thought was too much for me to take and so I stayed on the ground crying until George found me. He gave me the best news I could have heard at that moment: you had not been in the building when it collapsed. Of course, he followed that up with the news that he had seen you being rushed to the hospital beforehand. He needed to go get checked out himself but after seeing you get taken away in the ambulance, he decided to hang around and wait in case I showed up looking for you. Thank goodness for George. I remember being torn between being relieved that you got out of the building and terrified because I didn't know what had happened to you. George couldn't help me there – he had no idea either, but he figured it must have been pretty bad because the paramedics were in such a hurry. I got a ride to the hospital with George and it was there that I ran into another roadblock in my frenzied search for you. The emergency room was in complete chaos, what with the fire and all. It seemed like everyone in there was rushing in one direction or another and it was nearly impossible for me to find out anything. Imagine my surprise when I finally did find out what happened to you…

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Kelsi was in shock. She had come across another one of Ryan's neighbors in the hospital who had actually been able to tell her what had happened to Ryan. There was an elderly couple, the Marshall's, that lived a few floors up from Ryan and every now and then their adorable five-year old granddaughter, Susie, would come to visit them. Kelsi had met the couple on several occasions along with little Susie. Apparently almost everyone had gotten out of the building, but somehow Susie had managed to head back in without anyone noticing to find her favorite doll. The Marshall's had been frantic when she had gone missing and before anyone knew what was happening, Ryan was running back into the building to find her. He had been able to find her and by then the fire had been raging. The smoke had been pretty thick, so Ryan had decided that they should get as close to the floor as possible. He had evidently been sort of crawling along holding onto the child, whose face he kept cradled against his chest in an attempt to protect her from the smoke as best he could. Debris had started to fall and something had hit him on the head. He had been unconscious by the time the firefighters found them, draped over Susie as a sort of human shield. His actions had without question done a good job in protecting the child, though she had still inhaled a fair amount of smoke. She had been admitted to the hospital as well and was currently undergoing breathing treatments to help her lungs though her prognosis was pretty good. She would most likely survive.

The jury was still out on Ryan, who in addition to the blow to the head had inhaled a dangerous amount of smoke. The general consensus among the residents of his apartment building was that Ryan was a hero. All of the people who were able and who knew Kelsi had made a point of telling her that they were praying for him and keeping him in their thoughts. Kelsi appreciated their concern, but the news had hit her hard all the same. She had hoped that after hearing what happened to him that some of her fear might decrease, but it had done the opposite. Ryan had been perfectly safe and then had voluntarily put himself back into danger. His life was hanging in the balance and for the life of her she could not get anyone from the hospital to tell her how he was doing. She had spent the last couple of hours in a sort of trance, the shock of the news still lingering with her. She vaguely remembered calling Derby and Vance, who were vacationing in Europe at the time. Derby had just about been inconsolable and Vance hadn't been much better, though he was doing what he always did in times of crises and being the strong one. He had done his best to assure Kelsi that everything would work out and now he and Derby were on their way to New York, though it would be a while until they got there. Meanwhile, Zeke and Sharpay were on their way from Washington, D.C. - where they had been on a vacation of sorts - and would probably be arriving at the hospital soon. Kelsi had alternated between pacing around the emergency room in a numb stupor and sitting on one of the chairs crying. She was just getting up to pace again when she heard someone call her name. She looked up to find Zeke and Sharpay, recently married, hurrying towards her.

"How is he?" were the first words out of Sharpay's mouth and Kelsi could tell that she had been crying.

"I don't know," Kelsi admitted, her voice teary. "No one will tell me anything!"

"Are you serious?" Zeke asked. "You've been here for over two hours!"

"I'm not family," she sniffled.

"Like hell you're not," Zeke growled. "You're his girlfriend! Doesn't that count for anything?"

"Apparently not," she sighed.

"That's messed up," he muttered. "Hold on a second." Kelsi and Sharpay watched as he stalked off towards the admittance desk.

"We got here as fast as we could," Sharpay said after a moment. "How are you holding up?" The question made Kelsi's tears fall faster as it occurred to her that as worried as Sharpay was about her brother, she was still concerned for her friend.

"He promised me he'd be careful," Kelsi whispered. The memory of his promise had been running through her mind, almost as if it were on some sort of instant replay, for the past several minutes. "I saw him this morning...I woke up all freaked out and worried that something would happen to him and I made him promise to be careful." She sniffled again. "And he promised! He looked me in the eye and told me he'd be okay. He was safe, Sharpay. He made it out of the building and was safe! But he went back in..." She swiped a hand at her cheeks to wipe away some of the tears. "How is that being careful?" she demanded, suddenly furious over the situation. "How!?"

"It's not," Sharpay said softly, tears flowing down her face faster as well.

"It's not," Kelsi agreed. "Not at all! And he promised me..." Her voice broke. "He's never broken a promise before...why'd he have to do it now?" Sharpay didn't have an answer for that one.

"Girls." They both looked up at the sound of Zeke's voice, noting that he had a doctor in tow.

"I'm Dr. Ashton," the doctor said, holding his hand out to first Sharpay and then Kelsi. "I have some news about the patient, but first I have to extend my apologies to Ms. Nielsen. Mr. Baylor explained the situation to me, how you're actually the patient's fiancée and not his girlfriend. I know you've been worried and under a terrible strain...it's no wonder you said you were his girlfriend, especially since it's a new engagement." Kelsi fought to keep her jaw from dropping as Sharpay shot her husband an approving look. "You'll be kept informed from here on out, I assure you. Please accept my and the hospital's apology."

"How's my brother?" Sharpay asked.

"Your brother is currently in the ICU receiving treatment. He inhaled a lot of smoke in the fire and we have him hooked up to a ventilator that is breathing for him. We have some medication mixed in with the clean air which will hopefully work together to clean out all of the smoke and chemicals he inhaled in the fire. Now, usually lung damage caused by fire can be hard to treat, but the good news is that the firefighters got to him pretty quickly. Odds are pretty good that it was not the smoke that caused him to lose consciousness. Right now his blood oxygen level is in the high eighties and we're working to get it higher, which is what the ventilator is helping with. The next couple of hours will be very critical," the doctor began.

"Oh God," Kelsi whispered, feeling herself sway under the weight of the news. Zeke stepped between her and Sharpay, putting an arm around both of them to support them.

"What about his head?" Zeke asked. "We were told something hit him?"

"Yes," the doctor confirmed. "Ryan was hit by a piece of the ceiling which is what we think made him lose consciousness. Right now in addition to the damage done to his lungs, he is suffering from a severe concussion which has caused some swelling in his brain. We're hoping that he might regain consciousness if we can get his blood oxygen levels up to where they should be, but there's a very good chance that he won't." The doctor went on to explain that Ryan was in a coma and could stay in one for several weeks, assuming he survived the night. The doctor also told them that Ryan had suffered a number of burns, though he wasn't too worried about those. Kelsi gripped onto Zeke like she would a lifeline, only half listening to the doctor as he dropped what seemed to be one bomb after another on them.

"C-can we see him?" Sharpay asked finally and Kelsi could tell that she too was struggling with the news.

"Yes, though right now only two of you can be in there at once. One of you can stay with him as long as you want to, though I'll ask that the second person only stay in there for ten minutes at a time. At least until his condition improves – then we can modify the restrictions a little bit." Dr. Ashton paused. "I want you all to know that we are doing everything we can to help him."

"Thank you," Sharpay whispered. The doctor told them what room Ryan was in and then hurried on his way to check on another patient.

"Okay ladies," Zeke said, keeping his voice calm. "You two go ahead and see him. I'll stay out here." He looked at Kelsi and Sharpay in turn. "He's going to make it, I know he is."

"I hope you're right," Kelsi managed. She looked over at Sharpay, suddenly feeling more nervous at the thought of finally seeing Ryan. "You ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be," Sharpay said quietly. The two of them pulled away from Zeke and slowly made their way to Ryan's room, nearly running into a nurse on her way out.

"Oh excuse me ladies," the nurse apologized, coming to a stop before they all crashed. "Are you both here to see Ryan Evans?"

"Yes," Sharpay said softly, clearing her throat. "I'm his sister...and this is his girl-...I mean his fiancée," Sharpay corrected, remembering what Zeke had told the doctor.

"Don't look so scared," the nurse said gently. "He might be in a coma, but he's still in there somewhere. A lot of times visits from loved ones can be a huge help to patients. Just try to talk to him like you normally would," she advised. Sharpay gave her a polite nod and stepped into Ryan's room, with Kelsi right behind her.

"Oh God," Kelsi whispered. Ryan was hooked up to a number of machines, including the ventilator which was making his chest rise and fall mechanically. His head was wrapped in bandages, along with most of his left arm. He looked so still and lifeless that it was all Kelsi could do to not run out of the room.

"You're such a jerk, Ryan," Sharpay said suddenly, causing Kelsi to shift her focus over to her. "Making us worry about you like this." The blonde made her way to Ryan's left side and rested her hand on his. "When you wake up, you totally owe us all an apology. You," her voice broke and for several seconds she said nothing. Kelsi could see her shoulders shaking as she cried. "You better wake up soon. We all need you, little brother. We...we love you so much," she said softly. She turned towards Kelsi. "Well come over here already. You're the one he really wants to hear from."

"I...I don't..." Kelsi started; her voice barely audible over the sound of the machines. She shook her head as fresh tears poured down her face.

"You see what you've done?" Sharpay directed the question to her brother. "Your own girlfriend is terrified to get close to you." She stepped away from him and held a hand out to Kelsi, her eyes pleading with her. "Please Kelsi," she said, her voice strained, "he needs you." Kelsi managed a nod and slowly made her way over to Ryan's right side.

"Hi Ryan," she whispered. She reached for his hand, mindful not to disturb the IV that was in his arm, and tried not to think about how strange it felt. "You're a hero, you know that? You saved that little girl's life...and now you have to save your own. We need you to fight, okay? You have to come back to us...you...you have to."

"She's right, Ryan," Sharpay jumped in. "You need to fight as hard as you can to get back to us." She carefully squeezed his hand. Sharpay kept talking to him, but Kelsi tuned her out as she kept her eyes trained on Ryan's face as if willing him to give them some sort of indication that he was going to be okay. She found herself getting lost in memories of him and was jolted back to the present when she heard Sharpay say her name. "It looks like my ten minutes are up," Sharpay said softly, shifting her gaze to Kelsi. "I'll go back to the waiting room to wait for our parents...you stay here with him."

"Are...are you sure? You can stay if you want to," Kelsi said, oddly nervous at the thought of being left along with Ryan in his current state.

"You're the person he needs the most," Sharpay said simply. "I'm sure of it." She leaned in closer to Ryan and kissed his forehead gently. "I'll be back later, Ry. I...I love you." She gave Kelsi a small smile on her way out of the room and Kelsi took a deep breath, taking one step closer to the hospital bed to be as close to her boyfriend as possible.

"Well I guess it's just you and me for now," she whispered. She glanced over at the ventilator and winced. "You should see all the things you're hooked up to right now, Ryan. There's the IV and the ventilator which is helping clean out your lungs...and a few other things too. I don't know what any of those are for," she admitted. "The doctor said that they're doing everything they can to save you...now you just have to do your part. You...you..." she trailed off and soon found herself going in a new direction. "What in the world were you thinking running back into that building?" The question was laced with pain. "That's what the firefighters are for, you know? You were supposed to be careful today, remember? What happened to that?" She shook her head. "You better wake up soon because as far as I'm concerned you owe me a big apology. You broke your promise...you knew how worried I was about you this morning...you looked me in the eye and you promised me you'd be careful. Dammit Ryan." She lightly rubbed her thumb against his hand as her voice broke. "I have never been angrier at," she sniffled as her tone softened, "or more proud of you in my entire life."

Kelsi paused again, wiping away some of her tears with her free hand. "I'm really hoping that you'll keep the other promise you made to me," she said finally. "Remember? You promised me that I wouldn't lose you. I can forgive you for breaking the other one because you saved that little girl's life, but if you break this one..." She held her free hand up to her mouth for several seconds. "Oh Ryan...I miss you already," she said softly. "You have to come back to me...you have to. I need you. Please baby." She squeezed his hand. "I love you...I love you so, so much...more than you could even imagine. Come back to me...fight for me. I...I keep getting hung up on all the promises you made to me today and, well, now I want to make one to you." She leaned in closer to him as a new resolve worked its way throughout her body. "I'm going to stay with you. No matter what happens, I'm not going to leave you. I'm right here, baby, I'm not going anywhere." She gently placed a shaking hand against his cheek, hating how strange it felt. "I promise."

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I hated the way you looked in that hospital bed. I hated watching the strange way your chest moved with that machine breathing for you. I hated the way you felt when I touched you. I hated being afraid to come close to you in the first place. I had to keep reminding myself that you were still alive, even if just barely at that point. My memories of that time are so vivid...too vivid, if you ask me. Every now and then I'll find myself thinking about the way you looked and it never fails to scare the life out of me. Ignore the fact that it's been years and you have long since made a complete recovery, it still scares me. I remember being alone with you for the first time in that hospital room and the determination I felt when I told you that I was staying with you. As terrible as it was to see you that way, the thought of you being all alone in that hospital room scared me more. I decided then and there that I would do anything I could to help you. To let you know on some level that you were not alone. To do whatever I could do to let you know how much I loved you.

That brings me to your next song: Make You Feel My Love. That song is originally by Bob Dylan, though a whole bunch of people have done covers of it...I'm partial to Adele's version myself. This song is quite possibly one of the best love songs ever written and pretty much describes my determination to stay with you perfectly. "When the evening shadows and the stars appear and there is no one there to dry your tears. I could hold you for a million years to make you feel my love...I'd go hungry, I'd go black and blue. I'd go crawling down the avenue. No there's nothing that I wouldn't do to make you feel my love." See baby, I didn't know if you knew I was with you or not. I didn't know if you could hear me or not but that didn't matter because there was always the chance that you could. And if you could, than I wanted to do anything possible to make you feel my love for you. I was willing to do whatever it took. If it meant sitting by your bedside and holding your hand, I was going to do it. If it meant talking to you and sleeping in the uncomfortable hospital chair next to your bed, I was going to do it. I believed that if you could feel my love for you than it might give you more of a reason to fight. I knew that if the situation was reversed, you would do the exact same thing – which actually brings me to you next song, believe it or not.

I Learned How to Love from You by Trace Adkins. This is a song about someone who has lost the person that they love somehow. There were times after the fire when I was so convinced that I was going to lose you – this song would have been true either way. Of course, in our case the song would be in the present tense at some of the parts but that's besides the point. The point is that I did learn how to love from you. Not to discredit my family because as you know, I come from a very loving family. I learned a lot about love from them, but you were the one who really taught me what loving someone else meant. It's like the song says: "You found something hiding I did not know what missing. An unlit fire down in my soul. Now my heart knows that I learned how to love from you. You loved like there never was a risk. Shared your heart with every tender kiss. Now I know how much I have to give 'cause I learned how to love from you." I knew exactly what to do after the fire because I knew it was exactly what you would have done. That's just the way you love, Ryan. I knew I could give you what you needed because you had already given me the same thing so many times before. You gave me the strength to love you the way I needed to. That's something that I think helped me help you after the fire and it's something that's going to help me forever. Someday we're going to have the family that we want and I can't help but think how lucky our kids are going to be. Because they're going to have a daddy that loves so much and so easily and who taught their mommy how to love like that too. I think our kids, whenever we have them, are going to be some of the most loved children in the world. They'll have you to thank for that – I'll just be following your example.

I kind of got away from the story for a second here, but that's okay because they both explain what caused me to make that decision to stay with you. I couldn't give you medication or medical treatments, but I could give you my love. I believed that it would help you – at least that was my hope and the first nurse you had even said that sometimes visits from loved ones help the most. The theory proved to be correct. I found that out when the nurse came back to check on you. It was then that we got our second miracle of the night. The first one was the fact that you had not been in the building when it collapsed. This one was just as important...

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Kelsi wasn't sure how many minutes had passed after Sharpay left the hospital room, but now the nurse had come back to see how Ryan was doing. Kelsi eased back from him slightly as she glanced over at the nurse. "Do...do you need me to leave?" she asked, knowing that if she had to leave that she would be right back in the room as soon as the nurse was finished.

"No, that's all right," the nurse smiled at her. "I'm just checking the monitors for now. You're fine." She stepped over towards the ventilator and let out a gasp, causing Kelsi to jump in surprise.

"Is something wrong?" Kelsi asked, hearing the panic in her voice at the thought.

"No, I just...I can't believe it!" the nurse exclaimed. "When I left his blood oxygen level was at eighty-seven." She let out a disbelieving huff. "Now it's not even been twenty minutes and it's jumped all the way to ninety-eight!" She shook her head in amazement, beaming at Kelsi. "I've never seen a jump that high in so short a time! Especially coming from a fire victim. This is a really good sign! It means that his lungs are healing." She stepped around the bed and behind Kelsi to fiddle with Ryan's IV. "You see? Sometimes visits from loved ones are just what the patient needs the most."

"You think I'm the reason it jumped?" Kelsi asked.

"Absolutely," the nurse nodded, giving her a friendly pat on the shoulder. "When he got here his blood oxygen level was in the low eighties, which is pretty bad. In the hours he was receiving treatment without you being in here, we were able to bring it up to the high eighties but it was happening very slowly. In cases like this, the slower things happen, the worse it is. That's why the first couple of hours are so important – we have to get the blood oxygen level up as fast as possible in order for the patient to survive. Now, it most likely would have continued to increase, but there is no way that the medication could suddenly do so much in such a short amount of time." She made her way back to the foot of the bed. "I can't tell you how, but somehow he knows that you're here and it's helping him."

"So...so he'll be okay?" Kelsi asked, watching as the nurse's face fell.

"Well...it looks like his lungs will be, but...well there's still his head..." she trailed off and Kelsi could tell that she felt bad for having to put a damper on the moment. "I'm sorry..."

"It's okay," Kelsi said softly.

"This really is a very good thing," the nurse reminded her. "It means that he's turned a corner in the right direction. And who's to say that it's not a sign of other things to come."

"Thank you," Kelsi gave her a small smile before returning her focus to Ryan, barely registering the nurse leaving the room. "Okay, mister," she began, "it seems like you have a lot of work to do to get better. But you heard the nurse, right? Your lungs are healing. Now you just have to worry about your head, okay?" She leaned in close to him again and lightly kissed his forehead. "You're going to get better, I just know you will. I'll be with you every step of the way. You don't have to go through this alone, I promise." She settled herself in the chair by his bed and found herself stifling a yawn. The events of the day suddenly seemed to be taking its toll on her and she scooted her chair down the bed slightly so that she could carefully rest her head on it near his knees. Not the most comfortable position in the world, but for the moment it would have to do. She angled her face towards his and switched hands so she was now holding his right hand with her left as best she could. She then slowly let her eyes close, falling into a light and painful sleep.

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Derby and Vance finally arrived at the hospital and Kelsi took her first break since vowing to camp out in Ryan's hospital room, opting to let his parents be alone with him. Vance had come back out after ten minutes and Derby had stayed in for an extra ten before surprising Kelsi by coming back out. It seemed as if the Evans family as a whole agreed that Kelsi was who Ryan needed the most. And so for the rest of the night and well into the next day Kelsi remained camped out by Ryan's bed while Derby, Vance, Sharpay and Zeke had fallen into a pattern of visitation. One of them would come in for ten minutes and then leave. There'd be a ten minute break and then one of the others would come in for the next ten minutes. It had been a long and restless night for all of them and as they all soon found out, it was the first of many. Ryan's blood oxygen level had quickly reached normal after the first big jump that had happened after Kelsi had been visiting with him. The doctors and nurses had been fiddling with the ventilator throughout the night and the following morning, apparently trying it at different intervals of air and different pressure levels. Each modification they made was a step closer to seeing if Ryan would be able to breathe on his own. It was in the early evening of the day after the fire when they received what Kelsi called their third miracle: Ryan was now breathing on his own. He was still very much in a coma, though the doctors had said that the level of the coma had changed, whatever that meant. There had been a lot of technical talk that Kelsi hadn't understood, but it had been decided that Ryan would be moved out of the ICU and into a private room. That was when the real waiting began.

One day became another one and another one until first one week had passed and then two. Ryan's condition had remained exactly the same and they were all increasingly aware of the fact that the longer he stayed in the coma, the less likely it was that he would come out of it. The other Wildcats had all been out to visit and had stayed as long as they were able to. Kelsi had continued her near constant vigil by Ryan's bedside, unless the hospital staff needed them all to clear out in order to do a procedure of one sort or another. The only other times she was not by his side was when one of the others insisted that she go to get something to eat or take a break to use one of the showers available for patients families. Now they were in the middle of the third week. Derby and Vance had made the difficult decision to check into a nearby hotel, mainly only using it for a few hours each night to sleep. Zeke and Sharpay had come to the same decision a couple of days afterwards, leaving Kelsi as the only one among the group to stay at the hospital twenty-four seven. A fact that had the rest of the group beginning to worry about her in addition to worrying about Ryan and so when everyone had been kicked out of the room for yet another procedure, Zeke decided it was time to have a chat with her.

"Kelsi…we have to talk."

"Guys, I already know what you're going to say," she started. "You're going to tell me that you think it's time for me to either go back to my apartment for a while or check into the hotel with the rest of you." She looked at each of them in turn. "Well as far as I'm concerned, you can save your breath. I'm not going anywhere."

"It's been two and a half weeks, Kelsi," he said gently. "You can't keep going on like this. You have to take care of yourself."

"I'm fine," she argued.

"You're worn out and exhausted," he countered. "You need sleep."

"I get sleep," she shot back.

"Not the kind you need. You've been sleeping in a hospital recliner for heaven's sake. That can't be comfortable," he shook his head.

"It works," she muttered.

"Ryan would hate you doing all this," Zeke pointed out.

"Yeah? Well I hate the fact that he went back into that building," she snapped, jabbing a finger at the hospital room that had become her temporary home. "If he has a problem with it, let him wake up and tell me himself."

"Kelsi," Zeke said softly. "It might take a while for him to wake up..." he trailed off at the look on her face.

"I'm aware of that, Zeke. I don't care," she said defiantly. "Let me ask you something. All of you. Would you leave? If that was your life in there would you leave?" She focused her gaze on Zeke. "If it was Sharpay?" She raised an eyebrow. "Would you leave?"

"No," he whispered.

"What was that?" she asked, hating the way her voice shook.

"No," he repeated, louder this time. "No, I wouldn't leave."

"Sharpay, what about you?" Kelsi shifted her focus over to her. "If it was Zeke, would you leave him?" Sharpay sighed and glanced over at her husband, giving him a small smile.

"Of course not," she said finally. Satisfied, Kelsi focused on Derby.

"If it was Vance?" Derby shook her head in response. "Vance? What if is was Derby?"

"I wouldn't leave," he admitted.

"See? If none of you would leave your spouse, how can you ask me to leave Ryan?" she asked. "I know we're not married, but why does that matter? I love him just as much as all of you love your respective spouses, so why should it matter?" She shook her head and looked back at Zeke. "If you want me to go home to sleep or check into a hotel, you're going to have to do it by force. And if you managed to do it, I would find a way back. I promised him I wouldn't leave him and I won't. I don't care if it takes weeks for him to wake up. I'm not leaving him."

"There's something else to consider," Vance spoke up. "We don't know how damaged his brain is. There's," he paused and Kelsi could tell he was getting choked up, "there's a chance that if he...when he wakes up that he might not be the same person. Have you thought about that, Kelsi?" His tone was gentle and it was obvious to Kelsi that this was something he had been worried about.

"I have," she said softly.

"He might not remember any of us," Vance continued. "I...I hate saying that but it's the truth. He might end up needing special care for the rest of his life for all we know..." he paused again. "Then again, he might wake up and be exactly the same person...I pray every day that that might be the case, but...but we have to look at all sides. If...if he's not the same person...if he's not the same person you fell in love with Kelsi...well...I don't think any of us would blame you if you decided you couldn't handle it."

"Vance." She stepped closer to him. "If he does wake up and if he's not the same person, would you still love him?"

"That's my boy," Vance said simply. "I'll love him regardless." Kelsi nodded.

"I love your son," she started, looking from him to Derby and back again. "I'll love him if he's the same person he's always been and I'll love him if he's not. I'm not leaving...no matter what happens." She shook her head again, tears in her eyes as she did so. "If he doesn't remember me...if he needs to be taken care of for the rest of his life...I'm not leaving him."

"Thank you," Derby said, with a small sob as she stepped forward and wrapped Kelsi in a hug. "Thank you for loving my son so much."