A/N: Chapter 14. Well i was going to update 2 days ago... but i forgot. And for that I apologise. Ok, so here is the next installment and its particularly interesting. I'm feeling so christmassy at the moment, I may have to write a christmas chapter!! Ok, enjoy!!

Vanessa made it through the afternoon's rehearsal, but only just. She nearly missed a scene because she was throwing up, and she almost fell over during one of the dances because her vision was so blurry that she couldn't see where she was going. She stumbled back to her dressing room after the rehearsal finished, changed out of her costume, pulled on her sweat pants, and then the room began to spin. She held onto the bench, but the spinning didn't stop. Then everything went black.

Zac finished changing and went to stage for notes. Vanessa wasn't there, but everyone else was.

'Ashley, could you please go find Vanessa and tell her she's late for notes.' Kenny said, clearly exasperated. Ashley stood up and ran down the corridor to Vanessa's dressing room. She knocked on the door and got no answer.

'Nessa?' she called as she opened the door. She saw Vanessa lying on the floor and gasped. She hesitated for a moment, not sure if she should go get Zac but then common sense got the better of her. She raced back to the stage.

'Zac! Nessa's… you have to get down there.' She panted. Zac jumped up and ran down the corridor.

'Ashley? What is going on?' Kenny asked.

'Vanessa's sick.' Ashley said, before running back down the corridor after Zac. Zac skidded to a stop outside Vanessa's dressing room and went in.

'Shit. Nessa? Nessa can you hear me?' he asked frantically, cradling her head in his lap. Vanessa stirred slightly and mumbled something indistinct, but didn't open her eyes. Ashley handed Vanessa's jacket to Zac.

'Put that around her, the others will be here in a minute, Kenny included.' She said sensibly. Zac did so.

'Nessa, please wake up. Baby, can you hear me? Ash, what happened?' Zac asked. Ashley hesitated. 'Ash…' Zac said warningly. 'This is not the time for you to be keeping secrets.'

'I thought everyone had forgotten about that!' Ashley's eyes were wide.

'Ash, now is not the time. Just tell me what's wrong with Nessa!'

'Ok, ok. She's had a migraine for three days. She's been throwing up, feeling dizzy, vision was blurry, all that stuff. She needs to rest, Zac, she's been working too hard on nowhere near enough sleep.' Ashley spilled.

'Why didn't she say anything? I would have given her time off.' Kenny said from the doorway.

'She didn't want to let anybody down.'

'She wouldn't have… you know what, never mind. Zac, take her back to the hotel. Ashley, notes. On stage. Now.' Kenny turned and went back to the stage. Ashley gave Zac one quick panicked look, and followed Kenny. Zac picked up Vanessa and looked around wildly. How was he supposed to carry her and their bags? Emily materialized at his side, holding his bag.

'I've got the bags, you just take her.' she said, smiling reassuringly. Zac smiled gratefully. When they reached the street, Emily hailed a cab and Zac placed Vanessa gently into it and climbed in after her. Emily climbed into the front seat and gave the cab driver the address of the hotel. When they reached the hotel, they all went in; Zac unlocked the door to their room and put Vanessa down on the bed. He took the bags from Emily with a smile.

'Thank you.' He said gratefully.

'No problem. Now, I have to get back, but I'll see you later, ok?' she turned and ran down the hall without waiting for an answer. Zac closed the door and turned back to Vanessa, lying scarily still on the bed. He flicked the light off, knowing that when Vanessa woke up, migraine still intact, she wasn't going to enjoy having the lights on.

'Come on, Nessa baby, I need you to come back to me. I need you to wake up.' He whispered, brushing her hair off her forehead. He ran to the bathroom and wet a washcloth, holding it to Vanessa forehead as he whispered to her to wake up. Nearly 20 minutes later, her eyes fluttered and she woke up.

'Zac?' she groaned.

'I'm here baby. How are you feeling?' Zac breathed a sigh of relief.

'Horrible.' Vanessa said tearfully.

'Its ok, you can rest until Monday. We don't have to go to the theatre tomorrow.' Zac said soothingly. Vanessa sat up frantically.

'How did we get back here? Did I miss notes?' she asked in a panic.

'Its ok, calm down. You collapsed in your dressing room. Kenny told me to bring you back here. Its ok, he's not mad. He just wants you to rest and get better for opening night.'

'Ok.' Vanessa lay back down. 'How long was I out?'

'Nearly an hour. Here, take this, its asprin. It'll help put you to sleep.' Zac said, handing Vanessa a pill and a glass of water. Vanessa took the pill. 'Good girl. I'm going to stay here, ok? If you need anything, I won't be any further away than the bathroom.'

'You don't have to stay. I'm just going to go to sleep. You can go hang out with the others.'

'Its ok, we're all exhausted, they're probably going to go sleep too. I'll stay here. I think I might try to get some sleep too.' Zac kissed Vanessa gently. 'Go to sleep, sweetheart. I'll be right here.'

'Ok. Good night Zachary. I love you.' Vanessa was beginning to sound drowsy already.

'Goodnight Vanessa Anne.' He watched her sleep for a while before he heard whispers outside the door. He opened it to find Ashley and Lucas outside. Monique and Corbin were coming up the corridor.

'How is she?' Lucas asked.

'She's ok. She's sleeping. She'll probably be out for most of tomorrow too. She's really not well.'

'I can't believe she was that sick and we didn't notice.' Corbin said. Zac looked at the floor.

'I feel so guilty. I knew she was sick, but she told me she was feeling better. I should have known she was lying.'

'How could you have known she was lying? Don't blame yourself.' Ashley interjected sympathetically.

'I know her better than anyone else in the world. I should have easily been able to tell that she was sick, even though she said she felt fine. I just can't believe she didn't say anything because she didn't want to let anyone down. She should know better than that.' Zac was beginning to sound a little stressed. Ashley shot a warning look at the others. They made excuses to leave and went back to their own rooms.

'Zac, you can't beat yourself up about this. It is in no way your fault. And of course you believed her when she said she was fine. You trust her unconditionally, so there was no way you would ever suspect she was lying to you. It is not your fault. She just wanted to be strong for the sake of the show.'

'I was so worried about her, Ash. What if she had something really serious and she didn't tell anyone. She could have died. What if something had happened while she was on stage and she fell off the stage? Or if she fell down the stairs or something. So many horrible things could have happened.'

'But they didn't. She'll be ok, she just needs to rest. You have to calm down, for her sake. She needs you to look after her.'

'I know, I'm sorry. I'm going to go back in there. I think I need some sleep too. I'll see you tomorrow. And thanks.'

'It's ok. I'll see you tomorrow. Sleep well.' Ashley smiled and went back to her room. Zac opened the door and went back inside, undressing and climbing into bed next to Vanessa and wrapping his arms around her.

The next morning, Zac woke up to an empty bed.

'Nessa?' he called, holding his breath for a response. She came out of the bathroom and smiled at him, holding one hand to her head.

'I'm here. Good morning.'

'How are you feeling?'

'Still not good. I'm going to stay in bed today, I think.'

'Good idea. Have you taken some more asprin?'

'No, I'll take some now. How are you feeling? I'm sorry I gave you such a scare yesterday.'

'It's ok. I just wish you'd told me you were sick. I would have looked after you more.'

'I just didn't want to let anybody down. Least of all, you.'

'Baby, you have never let me down. Not once in the entire time I've known you. And I'm pretty sure you never will. Promise me you'll tell me next time you're sick.'

'I will, I promise. I'm sorry. I love you.'

'I love you too. Now go on and take that asprin and get back into bed. I want to get you better.' Zac smiled. When Vanessa climbed back into bed, Zac pulled her close. Her head dropped onto his shoulder and she leaned into him, her legs tangled with his and her arm draped across him.

'More comfortable than any pillow.' She said softly. Zac chuckled.

'Thanks.' A few minutes later, they were both asleep. 2 hours later, Zac woke up. He climbed slowly out of bed so as not to disturb Vanessa. He dressed quietly and left the room to find the others and let them know how Vanessa was. He knocked on Ashley's door and she opened it with wide eyes.

'How is she?'

'She's ok. She's sleeping right now.'

'Good. Is she feeling even a little better?'

'I think she is. She still feels horrible though. She's going to stay in bed all day. I better get back; I promised I'd stay with her. I just thought you might want to know how she is.'

'Yeah I did want to know. Thanks. Go and be with her. I'll come by your room later and see her.'

'Ok. Have a good day, Ash.' Zac went back into his room. Once again, the bed was empty.

'Nessa?'

'In the bathroom.' She replied weakly. She was sitting against the shower, holding her head.

'What happened?' Zac asked, rushing over to her.

'I was throwing up and I got dizzy and fell and then I couldn't get back up.' Vanessa replied.

'I'm sorry, I shouldn't have left you.' Zac said, helping her up and kissing her forehead gently.

'It's ok. Don't worry about it.' Vanessa replied with a small smile. Zac breathed a sigh of relief. She was ok. He put her back to bed and climbed in next to her.

'Go back to sleep, it'll help.' He whispered. For the rest of the day, she slept, on and off, taking asprin every few hours when she woke up. Zac watched TV, keeping one eye on Vanessa the entire time. At about 5pm, Ashley knocked on the door.

'How is she now?'

'I don't really know. She wakes up every few hours, takes some more asprin and then goes back to sleep. I'm hoping she's feeling better.'

'Ok. Well, let me know if you need anything.'

'I will. Thanks.' Zac smiled gratefully as Ashley turned and went down the corridor to Lucas's room.

'How's Nessa?' Lucas asked when Ashley entered the room.

'I don't know. Zac said she's been asleep practically all day, only waking up to take some asprin and then going back to sleep.'

'Ok. She'll be ok, you know. You don't have to worry about her. Zac's looking after her.'

'I know. I can't help but worry about her. She's my best friend. And something Zac said last night…'

'What'd he say?' Lucas asked, putting his arm around Ashley and pulling her close.

'He said what if she had something really serious and hadn't told anyone. There would have been no way to know if it was serious or not. It might still be serious, and we don't know it. What if she's really sick?' Ashley began to cry.

'She'll be ok, Ash.' Lucas said sympathetically. 'I really doubt that she's seriously ill. But if she's still sick tomorrow, maybe you should suggest she sees a doctor.'

'I think I will. Thank you for understanding. I know I'm probably overreacting, but I just want her to be ok.'

'I know you do. It's ok. If it's necessary, we'll get her to a doctor tomorrow. But for right now, you need to relax.' Lucas began to gently massage Ashley's shoulders. She relaxed under the feeling of his hands and the tears stopped.

'Thank you.' She whispered.

'It's my job.' Lucas replied softly.

Do you think she's seriously ill? Next chapter, you'll find out. Oh, and did you like the way I subtly slotted Ashley's secret in there? I'd forgotten about it, until "Love is a malicious bitch" reminded me, so I've found a way to put it back in. I think next chapter you should find out what it is. So, I'm hoping that after this chapter, I should hit 200 reveiws!! Wooooooo!!!! So you better review... or else.

Em xx