Author's Note: Oh hey! Third update for today and only a few chapters left. So, recap. Grace is in hospital with pancreatic cancer and her dad's plan for taking over the world is coming to the climax. For this to work, I had to change "baby" to "princess" in the last chapter, because I forgot to do that before. Anyway, I thought I'd show you a bit of Grace's past, as well as the hospital scene.

Chapter Twenty

Folding my hands in my lap, I allowed Will to push me out of the hospital in my wheelchair. Christmas was next week, and I'd been let out just in time for it. But it meant that I would be over-mothered by Karla (as much as I wanted someone to love me like a daughter, this was too much), and it would be overcrowded. It made me think of what it would be like at my dad's, and my welcome home.

NO! It had been over a year and a half, and the urge to return to my father's side hadn't left me. It just got worse. I smiled up at Will as he opened the car door and turned to me. I watched his eyes widen, and he spun around, only to be hit directly in the face. I watched him fall to the ground, and I opened my mouth to scream for help when I felt a hand clap over my mouth.

A voice that I would never be able to forget whispered in my ear, "I told you we'd come back later." The voice was nasty, and I could hear the pleasure in her voice as she dug her nails into my face. Not far off I could see someone who was so welcome.

Guy! Please help me! I begged him, only to watch him be joined by one of my sisters. Surprisingly, it was the one that I didn't know much about, Symphony. He shook his head when they reached us, and Symphony leaned down to my level.

"Mom says hi." She smirked, then lifted her perfectly manicured hand to my cheek, in a gesture of false affection. Her nails scratched my face as she stroked my face, Allison letting go of me. I didn't know what her power was - was she going to kill me? I didn't know.

"Why?" I asked, faintness overcoming me the longer I was in contact with her.

"Because you were always the one she needed the most." Symphony hissed, digging her long nails in my face deliberately, trying to cause me as much pain as possible. The faintness changed to everything becoming black, and the last thing I saw was Will left lying on the floor, unconscious, and then someone kicking him in the side. "Sleep well, princess."

"Please don't make me go." I begged, hand clutching Will's.

"Princess, it's going to get rid of the cancer." His voice was soft, sad, but reassuring, reminding me of what I had forgotten. Of course this operation was going to work. They were going to take out my pancreas, and though I would have to take tablets for the rest of my life, I would be okay. I would be okay because Will had promised me, and he hadn't lied to me yet. He wouldn't lie to me. I didn't deserve him, he was too good for me. "I'm not too good for you." Will whispered, and at my confused expression, he explained, "Your shields are down, princess."

Hastily remedying this, I looked up, and my eyes met his. "I'm scared."

"You wouldn't be human if you weren't scared." I knew there was a chance that the operation would go wrong, that I would bleed out on the operating table. Better that then die of the cancer later, I kept trying to tell myself. "See you on the other side." He told me, holding my hand as the nurse injected some general anesthesia into my arm.

"I love you." I managed to say, before I started feeling drowsy. Vaguely I remembered that I hadn't actually told him that, and I registered the shock on his face before he spoke.

"I know. Love you too, Gracie." Then it all went black, those words echoing in my head.

"Did they get it?" Drowsily, I reached for Will, who smoothed back my hair instead and kissed my forehead.

"Yeah, they got all of it." He sounded tired, but fairly pleased, and I snuggled under the blanket a bit more. Hospitals aren't that bad, I decided, though I swore to myself that I would never say that to Will - or anyone, for that matter.

"I'm really hungry." I murmured, eyes already closing.

"Have some water." Feeling the cup pressed to my lips, I took a few sips, before I turned away. "You can sleep now, it's okay." Will whispered to me, still stroking my hair.

"Don't let me sleep too long, 'kay?" Mumbling, I yawned, before I returned to that endless black void.

"Remember that time when we put a frog in Trace's bed?" Will asked me, eyes gleaming.

Laughing, I replied, "How could I forget? Two ten-year-olds against the wrath of an adult? That was hilarious."

"He was eighteen!"

"Still an adult!" He joined in my laughter, and it was good to remember all the bad things that we had done so many years ago. Trace had chased us all over the house until eventually we separated and made our way outside to hide in the bushes. Sure, we'd both got in trouble with Karla and Saul, but it was definitely worth it.

"What are you two laughing about?" A voice at the door asked, and when we looked up, who else could it be but Trace himself? By his side was Diamond who was getting huge, and Willow - who was about a year old.

"The frog." Mischievously, I looked up at him from under my eyelashes, watching him groan and then laugh.

"You had to do that on my birthday, didn't you?" Trace grinned, taking a seat next to my bed, pulling Willow on his lap while Diamond took her space next to him.

"The frog?" Diamond questioned, her eyes lighting up. We spent the next five, maybe ten minutes explaining it to her, and when we finished a dainty smile slid on her face.

"When's the baby due?" I asked as I hadn't actually got around to asking her yet.

"January." She beamed, rubbing her belly. "Two months to go. We're thinking Sierra if it's a girl, or Isaiah if it's a boy."

Stumbling through the bushes, I had no idea where I was. One moment I had been in the garden, playing with my teddy, and now I was in a forest somewhere. I knew that my 'gift' had meant that I could get to places, but I couldn't control it. I had to keep it hidden. I just had to, because mommy told me to. Hearing rustling near me, I turned, scared. Who knew what lived in this forest? It could eat me!

"Ready or not, here I come!" A voice shouted, and I shrank back into a bush, trying to conceal myself. Heavy footsteps came towards me, and the voice that accompanied them was loud and arrogant. "Vick, I know that's you" He sounded triumphant, and the leaves that hid me were pushed aside. The boy's face fell when he saw me - obviously he had been expecting someone else. He was about twelve, and big for his age. He terrified me. "You're not Vick, who are you?"

Hiding behind my mess of blonde hair, I spoke shyly, "Grace."

"Where's your mom and dad?" He asked, squatting to my level. But before I could reply, another voice interrupted me.

"Trace, you're really bad at this game." The newcomer complained. He looked a lot like the first boy - Trace - but had light highlights in his hair.

"Shuddup Uriel." Trace was clearly annoyed, which made me shrink back into the bush.

"Who's she?" The second boy asked, intrigued by me. "She looks like she's Will's age."

"Says her name is Grace."

"Pretty name. For a girl."

"Trace, Uriel! Where are you?" Another boy. Another big boy.

"Come on, we'd better take her to mom." Uriel said, offering a hand out to me. I was nervous as I took it, but he was nice and didn't look like he was going to hurt me. But I had thought that about Taiko, and I'd been wrong then. He smiled at me, instantly making me relax. This one kept chattering to me, making me feel better the more he kept talking. Yet another person joined us as we made some sort of procession towards a house that suddenly appeared. It had to have been Victor, and his surly expression made me anxious around him. It was my fault. It was always my fault.

When we reached the house, I began to lag behind, but Uriel tugged me on while the other two raced ahead. "MOOOOMMMM! WE FOUND A LITTLE KID IN THE FOREST!" The older boy yelled, faster than his younger brother and was the first one to the woman on the back porch. She looked up and her eyes met mine, causing me to shy behind Uriel.

"Who's this, honey?" She said, some sort of accent in her voice. The woman came closer, and picked me up. From my angle I could see that Uriel was pretty happy that his mom had asked him instead of Trace.

"I found her." Speaking of, the older boy was sulking by the steps, glaring at Uriel.

"She said her name's Grace." Uriel ignored his brother, instead speaking directly to her.

"Where's your mommy, Grace?" She cooed, turning and heading on to the porch where another boy played. I was getting dizzy with the amount of people around. Inside a baby started crying, and the three older boys ran inside. Sighing, the woman placed me down on the porch, promising that she would be back soon. Taking a seat next to the other boy, I looked enviously at the building blocks he was playing with.

"You look funny." He said, and I glanced up at him, fear in my eyes. "Your hair's all in bunchies."

"My mommy did them for me." I spoke defensively, before pulling at them. "They make my head hurt."

"Why don't you take them out?" His wide eyes won me over, and I hesitantly pulled them out, knowing that my mom would get mad. My frizzy hair went everywhere, making him laugh. "I'm Will."

"Grace." I smiled at him, and Will offered me a block. Hearing footsteps, I looked around, before looking at Will again. "I've gotta go." I managed to say before everything blurred, and I was in my own garden.

Had I just been making it up? I wondered, only to feel my hair blowing around my face, and saw the scratches on my hands. Maybe not then.