Disclaimer: I don't own any thing from/ related to PotC.

Claimer: I own everyone/ everything that isn't PotC.

. Reviewers .

x) Orlando's Hot Chick - Hey, I understand with holidays and all... It' totally fine. But this is the LAST CHAPTER!!! WOO!!! Not last post, mind you. Still an epilogue to add hopefully later tonight. It's a short one page in my notebook as apposed to the usual six pages per chapter. Well, I must thank you sincerely for all the reviews and advice you've given me throughout the duration of this story, and I really can't say when a third is due out, but I will be writing more PotC, so check in with me starting in January sometime! THANK YOU!!!!

x) Kenny - Ah, my dear Kenny. I hope to actually type up the epilogue right after I post this, and it should only be an hour if that. I'm slow right now since I was up all last night putting music on my new green ipod nano, lol. I love it! But most importantly, I have to thank you for sticking with the story when you could, and I hope to have a third one out someday. College is coming though, so it might not be for a while. I still have a part for you in the thrid, so you will be the first to know when I'm ready to post! Thank you for all your patronage and reviews and for reading! THANKS!!!! DOTS!!!! ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... LoL...

Thanks everyone!

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Chapter Twenty-One

. Ronie's PoV .

Will, Jack, Val, and I were sitting in this big waiting room lobby. It was so nice; you would've thought you were in a hotel instead of a hotel.

It was quiet except for Will flipping through the TV channels. Val and Jack were looking at magazines, and I was just worried about Brandon and when I'd get to see him.

"Ooo! Family Fued!" I heard Will say. He sat down the remote and leaned forward in his chair.

I just remained bored.

"I wonder how much longer we'll have to wait…" Val said.

"I'm about to go bust some people in the face if it's not soon," I said, repositioning myself in my chair. "They have five minutes…"

I was silent for about two of those minutes until someone came through the doors. The four of us looked up in total shock. No – way.

Julie.

I stood up, and my eyed flared, but Will reminded me that I was in a hospital. Normally I would argue, but I didn't. And she was three feet away from me, too. Damn.

"What do you want?" I asked with gritted teeth.

She leaned away a bit and pulled her coat around herself tighter. She gave me this little look of disgust, but then I noticed it looked like she had been having it rough lately.

Good. She deserves it.

"I wanted to see if Brandon and the others were all right," she said, looking at the floor and blew her nose. "I saw what happened on the news, and I felt bad, so I came down."

"Back off, princess," I said. "We don't need your pity."

"Who said I was giving it to you?" she asked smartly.

I lunged forward, but Val grabbed my arm. Julie gave me another look before she continued on.

"Calm down, skater chic," she said. "I have no intentions of battling you for Brandon. You two were obviously made for each other," she said with a nasty glance in my direction.

"That's right," I said. "And don't you forget it."

Just then, the nurse came out and cleared her throat. Val let go of me, and we listened to the nurse.

"The four of you may see Mr. Edwards and Mr. Emberton now," she said. "May I help you, miss?"

"I'm with them," Julie said quickly. "Julie Klydehare. I'm Brandon's ex-fiancé."

The nurse nodded as she prepared to lead us to Brandon and Clay's room.

"Right this way," she said, starting up a particularly long hallway.

Val walked between me and Julie, which was probably good since I wanted to beat her face in. I tried to calm down for when I saw Brandon, but with her evil presence, impossible. Then we turned into the room. Brandon and Clay looked happy… but then they saw Julie.

"Julie!" Brandon said as we surrounded their beds. "What are you doing here?"

"Will you being staying for lunch, Miss Klydehare?" the nurse interrupted.

"Um, no," Julie said. "I just wanted to see how they were doing and tell them that they owe me big because I just talked my dad out of suing the bejesus out of them."

"How did you do that?" Brandon asked.

"Why did you do that?" Clay asked. "You could've been rich or at least sent us to jail for a while."

We all glared over at Clay.

"Well you have to admit that it's a good question," Clay muttered.

"It is," Julie said. "The fact is that I just like having people in my debt. I've got plenty of money, and what use are you to me behind bars?"

"We aren't your damn servants, and we owe you shit," I said angrily. "Now get out. We don't want you here."

Then the nurse moved in and said, "Sorry, miss. You'll have to leave. You are obviously upsetting the patients."

"Yeah, and don't let her come back," I said, still staring her down. Julie gave a similar glare back.

"Fine," she said, turning to go. "But you'll be hearing from me. In fact, sooner than you think."

"Oh really?" Jack asked, suddenly cutting in. "Well, luv, we'll be waitin' with big smiles and ears wide open."

Julie now glared at him, but all Jack did was wave to her in his laid back and drunken way as she left the room.

"Was it just me, or did she just look particularly evil?" I asked.

"Oh god…" Brandon said, throwing his head back into the pillow. "Now she's gonna sue me out the ass…"

"Then we can sue her for damages to your ass!" Clay said.

"Hey… you know, that might work," Brandon laughed.

"Excuse me," a younger nurse said from behind us, "but we've brought lunch up now."

"Aw, gross," Val, said. "You actually intend on feeding them that?"

This nurse sighed loudly and rolled her eyes before saying, "What is it with everyone hating the hospital food?"

"You mean you actually like it?" I asked skeptically.

"Me?" she laughed. "No, oh no! I go out for my meals. There's this great little place on the corner of Vine and Pinicia…"

"Listen, I'll be back with pizza," I said.

"Oh! Wait!" the nurse said. "Please let me buy you lunch from Garfield's. On the house, and I'll guarentee you'll love it."

"Why are you doing this for us?" Val asked.

"Well, it's my brother's restaurant and his second year in business," she said. "I know you'll love it. You seem like nice people who can appreciate Italian food."

"Alright," Brandon said. "Sounds good."

"Okay," the nurse said, beaming. "I'm Amelia, by the way. I'm gonna go punch out and then I'll need two of you to come if you don't mind."

"Sure, we'll go," Val said, nudging me in the side. I rolled my eyes. I'm not in the mood for this.

"Great," this Amelia girl said. "I'll punch out, grab my keys, and we can go. Be right back."

She smiled and left the room. I was a bit afraid of her since she reminds me of Val slightly, but eh, she's okay.

I guess…

. Brandon's PoV .

"Wow. That Amelia girl was pretty cool…" I said once she was gone.

"I guess," Ronie said. "She's a nice nurse."

"Nice?" clay asked with this goo-goo face. "She's beautiful."

I looked up at the others biting my lip. I was smiling, though, and I could see amusement on everyone else's faces.

"You like her, Clay?" I asked.

"Like her!" he asked as if I were crazy. "BJ, you and I just may be having a double wedding."

"Oh really?" Ronie said with a small huff of laughter.

"Yeah…" Clay said dreamily. "Those long blonde curls, the gorgeous blue eyes, that irresistible smile… I'm in love."

"Wow," Val said. "To say so much so fast she must mean something to you."

"The world…" he said, still staring out into space.

"I bet…" Jack mumbled before Val could properly elbow him.

"Well, here I am!" Amelia said, popping into the doorway of our room clasping her hands together. "Are we ready to go?"

"Tally ho!" Val laughed, walking up to her.

Amelia laughed with her as Ronie walked up next to them with a hint of a smile on her face.

"Okay," Amelia said. "Mr. Sparrow, Mr. Turner, keep those two company and alert a nurse if that gentleman there wakes up," she said, pointing at Norrington.

"Will do, ma'am," Will said.

"All right," she said. "We'll be back in fifteen minutes tops. Don't die while we're gone," she joked.

"Of course not," Clay said, staring hopelessly at her.

I noticed Amelia flush a bit as she broke eye contact with him and tucked some curls behind her ear. "Um, right," she said quietly. "See you soon, then."

She walked away with her eyes to the floor until out of sight. Then Jack, Will, and I looked over at Clay who was still fixed on the doorway.

"Oh man…" he said. "She is something else."

"Here we go…" I muttered.

. Val's PoV .

. In the car .

"So, Mia, how long have you been a nurse," Ronie asked.

"Mia?" Amelia laughed. "I haven't been called that in ages."

"Ronie;s got her own little nicknames for everyone," I explained. "Even herself."

"Really?"

"Yes, I hate the name Veronica," Ronie said. "And it's easier to call her Val than Valerie anyways. We've been Ronie and Val since fifth grade."

"I see," Amelia laughed. "Well, I've been a nurse for five whole months," she said. "I'm only fresh out of school at twenty-four."

"You're not much older than us," I said. "Only by a year."

"Maybe less," she said. "I just turned twenty-four two weeks ago."

"Oh, well, Happy Belated Birthday then!" I said, patting her on the shoulder from the backseat.

"Thanks," Amelia said. "So, are you visiting? Usually we don't get a big bunch like you unless they're tourists."

"Well, it's complicated," I said. "Everything's about to become very different for us all."

"And that would be an understatement," Ronie said. "My wedding, her kid, probably some moving…"

"Wow," Amelia said. "That is a lot. You don't look it yet, I must say, Valeria. You hide it well. How far along are you?"

"Less than a month," I replied.

"Are one of the men with you-?"

"Yes," I said. "That would be Jack." I smiled.

"You make an interesting couple," Amelia said with a smile. "Lucky, too. My last boyfriend and I were together two years before we came to a messy ending. He cheated on me."

"Sorry to hear that," I said quietly. "We know the feeling."

"Yes, and it's an awful one, isn't it?"

"Very," Ronie said.

"Well, it's done and over with, so let's move on, eh? Hey! There's my brother's shop there. Best family restaurant in the city…"

. Brandon's PoV .

. 11:30 PM .

Lunch with Amelia was great that day. The seven of us piled around mine and Clay's beds eating out of those styrofoam food boxes and having a few laughs. The whole time, Clay was still admiring Amelia, and she was still flushing when she saw him staring at her.

Sorry, but it's just too obvious.

Amelia got off work at six but stayed for dinner with us (which was pizza). She promised to come back tomorrow to visit before her shift started at three, and she also said she'd treat us to lunch again.

Then they made Val, Jack, and Will leave at eight since those were the end of visiting hours, but they allowed Ronie to stay the night. And even if they didn't let her stay, she'd be here. Haha…

Norrington hasn't moved yet, and clay's sleeping. Ronie fell asleep in the chair next to me with her head on my shoulder, and now my entire arm's numb as South Park comes on.

Two minutes in, I felt Ronie stir. She sat up blinking a lot and asked, "What time is it?"

"Eleven-thirty," I said. "South Park just came on. I best someone kills Kenny in this episode."

Ronie laughed a bit as she stretched.

"Don't they always?" she asked.

"Yeah, I guess so," I said with a smile. "Why don't you try to get some more rest?"

"Why don't you?" she fired back.

"I'm not tired," I laughed.

"Neither am I."

"Okay then… why don't you kiss my instead?"

"Because once I start, I just might not be able to stop," she said, batting her eyelashes. "And I can guarantee you that that wouldn't be good for you leg."

I could only laugh. The things she says…

"Ronie, chill," I said. "We'll save it for the honeymoon."

"Where are we going? It better be somewhere good…"

"Oh, I've got a real treat," I said, smiling. "A nice dark place… just the two of us… lots of partying and privacy…"

"Really?" she asked hopefully. "Where?"

"My bedroom."

Ronie sat up and hit me, but I just laughed.

"You sick-o," she said. "I wanna go somewhere other than that. Something in addition to that…"

"Your bedroom?"

She gave me another look, and I flinched, waiting for her to hit me again, but she didn't. She just laid her head on my numb shoulder again.

"Well, we have a whole month," Ronie said. "One month til you heal from your stupidity."

"Grr… I don't think I can wait that long," I groaned.

"Well, you're just going to have to, I guess," Ronie said, shutting her eyes and repositioning herself on my shoulder.

I looked around a moment before something struck me.

"You know, Ronie, I'm sorry," I said, "but I can't marry you."

She sat bolt upright staring at me in disbelief. Her mouth was open and everything.

"What?" she asked.

"I can't marry you," I repeated.

"Any why the hell not?"

"I didn't propose."

Ronie got quiet a minute before she said, "I thought it was just understood."

"Yeah, but I wanna make it official," I said, pulling out my lucky class ring that I had in my tux pocket hanging on my headboard. I held it up, showing it to her, and she giggled.

"You're gonna propose to me in a hospital with your class ring?" she asked with a short huff.

"Yep," I said, taking her hand.

"This is so stupid," she said with a big smile. I smiled, too, and then I met her gaze.l

"Veronica Mae Stoneshep, will you marry me?" I asked quietly.

"Duh," she said as I put the ring on her finger. "Just know that you will pay for using my full name in your proposal."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Please review if you laughed…