Jade.

"How's it feel, Vega?" I asked, resting on the chest of drawers at the far side of the room. "Enjoy your stomach being pumped?"

She groaned, trying to block me out. "Go away, Jade."

"You got yourself into a real mess last night," I carried on anyway, moving closer to the bed.

"I wasn't out to get alcohol poisoning as you're accusing."

I held my hands up. "I never said you were."

"Good, have they told my parents?"

"They have to, you're still seventeen."

She sighed, covering her eyes. "Why couldn't you just be my guardian?"

"Oh Vega, you must be kidding. I'm technically still a patient."

"I think I better duck and take cover; my dad is going to kill me for drinking."

I smiled slightly. "I suppose that's the disadvantage of having a cop for a dad."

"I guess the only good news is I was never pregnant…"

"I guess so, you're too young."

She frowned at me. "You're a hypocrite."

"I – Never mind."

"The police think Cat's dead, don't they?" Tori said bluntly, nursing her heavy head.

I took a deep breath. "They're trying to find evidence."

"Evidence she's dead or evidence she's alive?"

"I don't know, Vega."

She looked directly at me. "You blame yourself too much."

"How can I not blame myself? If I hadn't pulled over to argue with Beck..."

"Things would be different."

A silence replaced the words we should have been saying. Vega lay there, occasionally groaning and shifting to be more comfortable. I just tried forcing the band off of my wrist to combat the awkward silence.

"You should have run when I did," she finally said.

It took a moment for her words to take effect, then something in my brain triggered like a gun.

"How could I run when it was my best friend?" I shouted unexpectedly.

"It would have saved you a lot of pain."

I shook my head. "I love Cat, she's like family."

She rolled her eyes. I hoped this was the remnants of alcohol because if it wasn't, I would have a big problem with her soon. "She would have been stuck in the same place as she is now, Jade."

"What has gotten into you, Tori?"

"We don't control what happens to us, my parents are separating, and Trina isn't around anymore. No matter what I could have done, it will have never changed anything."

I stared at her. This wasn't Tori, the girl that everybody loved, this was a monster.

"You know, it would probably be better if Cat was dead. You wouldn't have to live with the emotional trauma, which would suit you, Miss I-don't-care!" she carried on, laughing in parts.

"Are you being serious, Vega?"

She closed her eyes, resting her head back on the pillow. "I want you to leave."

"What? Just like you left us? Oh, no that would be because it wouldn't have changed anything?" I spat at her, turning to the door. "You know what? Only speak to me once you've got out of whatever cloud this is."

…

"Babe, you should have been easier on her."

"She was being cruel about Cat, she had it coming."

He glanced at me from the side, filling in another form for me. "Tori is ill."

"She's going to have more than alcohol poisoning if she carries on," I muttered under my breath.

"Calm down, Jade," he chuckled, kissing the side of my head. "She's having a tough time."

I glared at him indirectly. "And we aren't?"

"You know what I mean," he sighed, throwing the form on the side of the bed. "We have everything we need, right here."

My hand found itself on the emerging bump. "You know, we find out the moment he's born."

"Find out what?"

"They said we could do a DNA test as soon as he was born."

Beck smiled. "What will we do if he is mine?"

"I don't know, you want to go to college and I want to get into script writing full time, so…"

"So what?"

"If you wanted…"

He looked at me. "You're being serious?"

I shrugged. "If you wanted to go to college, we could fund it somehow. I still get some money, we could get an apartment and we could manage that way. But it's about what you want."

"But what if it's theirs? The surrogacy couple?"

"I have to hand them their child, it's only fair. But if he is ours, we're keeping him, right?" I looked at him for some sort of indication he was on the same page as me.

"I've always liked the name Landon," he smirked, taking my hand.

I shook my head. "It sounds like you're trying to say 'London' in an overly British accent."

"How about this, if he is ours, we let Cat name him or her?"

I nodded, she'd like that. It would make something seem normal for her. "She can name him whatever the outcome, the parents owe me that much."

…

Cat.

"It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Miss Valentine."

He took my hand and shook it lightly.

I pulled it back, looking across at Elliot who was surrounded by machines and doctors. "Will he be okay?"

"The bullet only grazed him, he's going to be fine for later on."

"Surely he should be in a real hospital?" I asked, unable to tear my eyes away.

Mr Jenkins laughed. "He has the best care I can offer."

"And why do you need him better for later?"

"Well, you and Elliot are going on a little trip," he smiled, offering me a seat. "I noticed how close you've become so I thought I'd be kind."

I didn't look at him, I couldn't. His smile was cold, like his eyes. They were like gravestones, grey and chilling.

"Now, Miss Valentine, you must know about the surrogacy arrangement my wife and I have with Miss West, yes?"

"What?"

His face was pleasantly shocked. "Oh, Miss West was doing a wonderful job of the privacy aspect. Well, I'll explain as she is unable to. My wife approached her in the doctors, assuming her younger brother was her child. They began talking in the waiting area and they reached an agreement which solved both of their issues."

"What issues?"

"My wife cannot have her own children; this upset her for a long time so Miss West agreed to be the surrogate for us. Miss West spoke about how money was tight because of her mother; my wife offered her a large sum of money to create a better life for herself and her brother."

I shook my head in disbelief. "She would have told me."

"We asked for a great amount of privacy on the matter, I don't believe she told anybody," he said, a hint of pride in his voice.

"How did Hal and his grandsons get dragged into this?" I questioned, noticing James at the side of his brother's bed.

Mr Jenkins signed a document then looked up at me. "Hal happens to be a very old relation of mine."

"You're not going to admit to Dayna then?" James shouted over at us.

I finally looked around the place I had been brought to. The room was almost entirely white. A desk and a hospital bed, they were the main features.

"Miss Valentine doesn't need to know."

"She needs to know the rest of what you're using Jade for!" he yelled back.

Elliot glared at Mr Jenkins.

"Fine," the great Toby Jenkins sighed from boredom. "Dayna will benefit from the baby as she will receive a stem cell transplant which will hopefully save her life."

"Tell her the rest of it then," Elliot said, gathering his things. "Are you okay, Cat?"

I nodded, scared of what was about to come.

"There's no time, Elliot. You and Miss Valentine have a private jet to catch."

Sorry for the delay! I am really sorry. My life is a little…messy at the minute.

So yeah, new chapter, what do you think?

I'M PUTTING A POLL UP FOR THE BABY NAME; YOU CAN CHOOSE A GIRL'S AND A BOY'S NAME.

If you think of any you like, send them me on a review?

I love you all.

Love always,

Chasing Midnight.