Ally's POV

I opened my eyes to an unfamiliar ceiling. My throat felt awfully sore as if I had just swallowed a big rock. I had this weird taste in my mouth that I couldn't seem to get rid of. I wetted my lips, trying to make sense of this.

What happened?

"You're awake!" someone said.

"What?" It hurt to talk, and I tried hardest not to flinch when I felt horrible pain come to my neck. "Who are you? How...How long have I been asleep? W-Where am I?" I sat up a little. God, even sitting up it felt hard to breathe. The back of my head hurt, too, and I had a headache.

"You're in the hospital," the nurse said. She didn't smile but she looked amused.

"W...Why am I...How long have I been asleep?"

"About four hours. You had a concussion, Ms Dawson."

Ms. Dawson. That's new. "Oh, Ally will do fine." At least I remembered my own name for starters. "Can you tell me just one thing? I...how exactly did I get here?"

"Oh, Mr. Moon called the ambulance. And they brought you here," she said simply. I was sure there was a lot more to the story than this nurse was letting on, but I was sure Austin would tell me…

Austin!

It was all coming back to me.

"Austin," I whispered. "Austin! Is he here? Can I see him?" I asked quickly. I don't know why but sudden panic came over me.

"I don't think that's such a good idea Ms Dawson…"

It felt hard to breathe, even worse than when I first woke up. "Please!" I begged. "He...He...He needs to know...I need to see him!" I hitched for breath but every time I talked my throat felt worse.

"You can only see family," she said sternly. "Your father-"

"I don't want to see him! I want Austin!" I screamed. God, what was wrong with me? As bad as it sounded I didn't want to see Dad. I didn't want to face him or anyone else.

The nurse attempted to touch my shoulder in comfort but I swatted it away. "Don't touch me!" I yelled.

"Ally, please keep your voice down," she pleaded. "People are trying to sleep and your condition is only going to get worse if you don't-"

I didn't listen to the rest. "What...What's happening? I...I can't breathe," I whispered meekly.

"Just try to breathe normally and count to ten," my nurse said calmly, putting her arm around me and I finally relaxed.

Austin's POV

I waited.

Lester and I waited in the waiting room for hours, just sitting there. My hand was now in a bandage that one of the nurses gave me, along 28th otment. He didn't talk to me. He spent a lot of time sitting there, face in his hands, muttering words.

I couldn't imagine.

First he lost Laura, then Edna, and it could have been Ally.

He finally woke up from the daze he had been in. When I called the ambulance Lester came home. When I explained what happened to the police I saw a flicker in Lester's eyes that I had never seen before. It was as if he had discovered the secret of life, and maybe finding out that Edna was dead and that I killed her was the wrong thing for the right reasons. He finally opened his eyes today. Although I still had the restraining order I know that for long I wouldn't.

"You were so brave," Lester murmured.

I almost smiled. "Thanks."

"No I...I mean it," he said in a rush. "How did you…" he trailed off. "Having that courage is amazing."

I shrugged and he smiled a little. "Sorry about your wife," I said quietly after a few minutes. I thought it was the least I could do.

"Don't worry about it."

"I just had to do something!" I continued. "I couldn't just sit there and wait. She...She would have killed Ally. You know that, right?

He nodded slowly, looking like he was going to cry. "You know you're going to have to go to court, don't you?"

I sighed. "I know."

"I...I'll be there too. And your mom's a lawyer, eh?"

"Yessir."

"Then I guess you'll be okay. It was out of defense."

"And love," I added, almost forgetting who I was talking to. I looked down at my shoes awkwardly.

He smiled at me. "It's okay. As long as you treat her well."

"Of course." I mean, I did kill Edna for her. I would do anything for her, and maybe now she would finally believe it.

Lester stood up before I could say anything else. "I'm going outside. I need to think some things over. You okay?"

I nodded curtly and I watched him walk away.

Ally's POV

I must have dozed off again because I opened my eyes and it was dark outside. I yawned, pain coming to my neck immediately.

I was going to stretch but I felt a hand on mine.

Austin Moon was sitting there, his hand in mine. He kissed it. "Cold hands," he murmured.

I smiled. "Hey…"

Then he looked up and smiled.. "You're awake! How...How are you doing?"

"Okay." My eyes darted and they met his other hand, that was covered up in a bandage. "Are you okay?" I asked hastily as I held out my other hand, and he winced away.

"I'm fine." He looked exhausted. "Listen I can't be here that long. I snuck in here."

"Austin…"

"Just listen. I have something to tell you." He took a breath. "Edna is dead."

Giovannaisamaze: Er...I'm sorry? I didn't mean to sound like I gave you guys "false hope" and I never promised the next chapter would be up. I said HOPEFULLY. I'm not trying to be rude but it's hard sometimes because I tend to get low on myself for the stupidest reasons. Like I've had this in my docs for the last few days and I didn't want to post it because I just didn't like it. It's also really hard to manage my time because I have kinda bitten off more than I can chew as far as story writing. Plus I lied when I said this would be longer and now I feel crappy :( Just please don't rude it's hard being a writer and I'm not perfect.