sorry for the wait but there's just been a lot of drama in my life lately -sigh- all i can say is...i cannot wait until school is over with...

besides my drama filled life i hope you enjoy this chapter :) it was made special for all of you

Song for this Chapter- Need by Hana Pestle

Chapter 35

Light in the Dark

Paul's POV

It was dark. All that I knew was that it was dark and I couldn't see anything. Well I couldn't see anything except for a light ahead of me. I could only make out one single figure in that light. In my head I kept telling myself not to get my hopes up and think that it was who I thought it was. Screw that…

I walked forward, but every single step I took was another one the figure took as well. I stopped myself when I was sick of walking and realized that I wasn't getting any closer to the figure. Whoever it was stopped just as abruptly as I did and it began to piss me off when I couldn't even know if this was truly the one person I wanted it to be.

It took every ounce of strength that I had in me to call out her name, "Sammy?" it came out more like a question when I finally spit it out.

I waited for a while, my patience wearing thin the longer they stood there with their back turned towards me. I thought that all hope was lost when suddenly she turned around and faced me. I could no longer see anything but her perfect face. Everything else around me seemed to blur and Sammy was the only thing clear to me. I felt as if it were too good to be true, I couldn't be seeing her. This couldn't be her. She was in a coma. And yet there she stood looking perfectly fine.

But it all wasn't perfect. I could see the confusion on her face as she stared right through me.

Sammy's POV

I swore to myself that I wouldn't go crazy in this place. I made a fake pact with my head that I wouldn't go insane. But here I was, thinking that I actually knew where the voice was coming from this time. I kept my eyes on the darkness that seemed extremely far away from me now. All was silent now, but I could've sworn that I heard-

"Sammy?"

What the hell?!

I took a step back, tempted to keep heading away from the dark. Maybe if I stayed farther away from it, my mind would just go back to normal.

"Don't go. Please don't go."

I froze, not wanting to believe that the voice that had been so calming and soothing before was suddenly desperate and frantic. It scared me that he sounded so scared. I squinted to try and see someone, anyone from here, but I could only hear them. And it was clear to me that their beautiful voice was coming from that terrible place.

"You can't leave, Sammy," their voice cracked.

I felt a familiarity overcome me when they said my name. I wanted to cry just as much as them just because I couldn't place my finger on who he exactly was.

"You can't leave me."

I shook my head, feeling my eyes begin to water the longer I stood there staring blankly at the darkness. I took a couple more steps backwards until I finally convinced myself that I had to keep searching for her. Without giving it a second thought, I turned around and kept walking, no longer being able to hear the voice.

Paul's POV

My eyes fluttered open and as soon as they did I wished that they didn't. I furrowed my eyebrows and laid my head back down on the ground. I hoped that that nightmare would stay a nightmare. I hoped that since I fell asleep in wolf form things were ok with Sammy and everything I was dreaming about was fake. I don't think I've ever fallen asleep while I was a big huge wolf…

That's a first, I didn't notice that Jared was there until he said that.

Did you uh…see any of that? I slowly rose off of the ground and shook the mud and twigs out of my fur.

Jared was there in front of me less than a second later, thinking about nothing else but what the doctor must've told him. I tried to ignore all of his depressing thoughts, but failed miserably because mine weren't much better.

Does Kim know? I asked.

He didn't look at me when he answered, Yeah…she's not taking it too well. I looked over my shoulder in the direction of the hospital, They're doing the MRI in about an hour.

I nodded, wishing that I could've been there to hear that myself.

You needed the sleep.

I begrudgingly looked up at him, Hearing what's going to happen to her is a lot more important to me than sleep.

His gaze faltered away from me, Sorry.

I didn't really realize how much everything was affecting him until right about now. Since I haven't phased since…the accident I never really got to see how he was holding up. And let me tell you it was no better than how I was holding up.

A sudden thought slipped into his head and my head snapped up, Why is Kim postponing the wedding?

He cursed to himself before looking at me, shamefully; She wanted Sammy to be her maid of honor. And now that she could possibly be- I winced which caused him to stop himself from finishing that sentence, Kim doesn't want to plan anything with the way things are right now.

I honestly felt bad for the two of them. If it wasn't for my careless mistake, then they would be finishing their wedding plans right now and we would be helping them. They shouldn't have to postpone their wedding. Sammy shouldn't be on the brink of death. I shouldn't be standing here perfectly fine.

Paul, Jared nearly growled, you need to stop putting all the blame on yourself. It is not your fault.

I ignored what he said, I have to get back to the hospital.

He sighed unnecessarily loud, You're going to go back there looking like you just returned from the pits of hell?

I chuckled without humor. He was only partially wrong about that one. I hadn't returned from the pits of hell, I was still very much stuck in them.

Forget I said that. Just go home and change before you get near the hospital. Embry and Dana are with Sammy.

Are you going? I asked as I began to run in the direction of my house.

I was already there, an image of him next to Sammy's hospital bed fluttered through his head, I'm going home. I'll be back with Kim in time to hear what the results are.

Jared finally phased and I ran even faster as I got closer to my house and farther away from the hospital. I ignored the distance that was between me and my imprint for the moment and quickly phased back once I reached the woods that lined my backyard. I hopped in and out of the shower in less than ten minutes, only bothering to clean the mud out of my hair while I let the shower head clean the mud off of the rest of my body. I grabbed an old pair of khaki shorts and a white t-shirt before I flew down the stairs and headed out the door. I quickly tied the clothes around my ankle and carried a pair of shoes in my teeth before I phased and fled through the woods.

Once I reached the hospital and changed into the clothes I had brought with me I went straight to Sammy's room, my heart beating rapidly in my chest while I walked. I stopped in the doorway of her room once I saw Embry and Dana sitting next to Sammy's bed. I could practically smell the fear coming off of both of them. I bet Embry could smell it even more on me. I was honestly scared as hell. Not knowing if her brain was active or not was killing me. It was killing all of us by the looks of it.

Embry rubbed Dana's shoulder as she cried into his chest. At least things were getting better for one of us. I couldn't say anything for the rest of my brothers. Embry glanced at me and I nodded once at him before taking a single step into the room.

"She's going to be ok," Embry kissed the top of Dana's head.

Dana slowly started to recover and finally noticed that I was standing in the room. She seemed to tense up when she saw me.

"Paul," she shakily said.

I tried to put a smile on my face to reinforce Embry's earlier statement, but I could even feel my lips quivering with how much I was forcing it.

The two of them stood up and headed over towards me and when Dana was finally in range, she wrapped her arms around my torso and sobbed softly against me. I looked at Embry wearily.

"Stay strong," she whispered to me.

I leaned down closer to her, "I will."

Minutes later, I found myself alone in the room with her. It seemed as if I had been away for an extremely long time because the hole in my chest wouldn't heal right away. I walked up to the bed and ran my fingers up her leg to her thigh and kept going until they were finally set on her cheeks.

"I love you, you know," I said to her, "I've loved you my whole life, Sammy," My fingers lightly grazed over her soft lips and I brought my face closer to hers, resting my forehead against her left temple, "Don't leave me yet," I kissed her once on the cheek and breathed in her sweet scent, never wanting to forget it.

I had stayed with her until the doctors came in and told me they were going to take her in for her MRI. With one more kiss on her cheek and a light squeeze of her hand I let them take her away from me. As soon as she was out of my sight I felt a huge weight begin to tie me down. I sat in the waiting room alone, feeling positive one moment and then negative the next.

Suddenly, Sammy's father walked into the waiting room which made the weight on my shoulders push down on me even harder. I tried to keep my eyes off of him so that he wouldn't notice me and wouldn't try to kill me this time. I heard his footsteps getting closer and I silently cussed to myself, wishing that he would leave me alone. As if the tension in the room wasn't already bad, he had to sit in the seat right next to me. I fixated on my feet and tried to pass off the sideways glances he would give me every now and then as nothing.

"I still can't believe this happened," he said. I didn't look at him, I just listened, "Never in a million years would I have believed that something like this, something so life threatening could happen to my daughter. After what happened with her mother I didn't think that I'd be sitting here waiting to figure out if Sammy's brain is still working."

I felt extremely guilty at that point, "Mr. Hobson-,"

"You were supposed to protect her, Paul," his voice became sharp and fierce, "You were her best friend and then you just threw it all away. If you could've seen with your own eyes how much you hurt her-,"

"I'm sorry," I had to say it before I no longer had the chance to. I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye.

He looked set back by my apology. The words of hatred that he was going to throw at me seemed to get stuck in his throat because I said something he wasn't expecting me to say. He sighed and slumped back in his seat, putting his face in his hands, "This isn't your fault. I shouldn't be screaming at you. I should be screaming at the ones responsible."

My jaw clenched. If only he knew that the ones responsible were already taken care of. If only he knew that everything we told him was a big fat lie, "I'm sorry for what I did to her. I wish I could take it all back."

"I know you do," he said, sounding a lot more understanding than I thought he would, "At least now I know Billy's been telling me the truth this whole time."

Now it was my turn to choke on my words.

"I know you imprinted on my daughter. I know everything, known for years. Probably before you even knew."

I felt numb. How the hell did he know?

And as if he could read my mind he answered my question, "My father was a shape shifter. I posses the genetic trait, but I never became one."

I had to stop myself from falling out of the chair I was sitting in. But didn't that mean? I mean Leah…"So…Sammy-,"

"It hasn't happened yet, I doubt it ever will."

I felt a bit of relief in that, but couldn't fully shake it off, "So, you've known all along? You've known about imprinting and vampires all along?" I whispered so that only he could hear.

He nodded, "Don't think I didn't hate you any less just because you imprinted on my daughter after all. You still broke her heart and I can't say I forgive you for that."

"I understand," what I don't understand is how I didn't know that Sammy's father knew about all of this…

It had gone silent after that. I couldn't really come up with anything else to say. I was focusing more on trying to clear my head a little than on striking up another conversation with her father. If I did I bet it'd just be as revealing and awkward as the last one.

"Billy told me what really happened to Sammy since I assume you think that I don't know about that either."

What a great way to start it off, "I'm sorry. If I wasn't so stupid, then this never would've happened to her."

"I wouldn't take it that far, Paul," he sighed, "Bad things happen to good people. A situation like this can only be the fault of those who are the cause of the bad things," he paused for a long moment, "You aren't the cause of this."

My eyebrows pressed together, "I just can't shake the guilt off of my conscience. I was right there next to her when they took her. I should've been able to stop them."

"But you couldn't," My mouth clamped shut. How could I make him understand how terrible I felt? How much I hated myself for what happened to her? What could I say to him? He patted me on the shoulder and said, "You know, you're the best thing that's ever happened to my daughter and yet you're the worst at the same time. I can't say I don't appreciate how much you've helped my daughter throughout the years because I'd be lying if I did. You have always been there for her. Even when she moved back you were there. You protected her when I couldn't. You hurt her, but you made up for it. And all I can say now is I'm glad you two have each other. And I'll be glad to call you my son-in-law some day when she recovers."

I felt good and bad about his last words. Good because he was letting me know that he approves of me marrying his daughter. Bad because it was all a reminder of how much I would lose if Sammy didn't make it.

I finally saw the doctor begin to make his way into the waiting room where practically the whole pack and their imprints were seated. When he saw all of us in there he stopped abruptly and scanned each one of our faces until he finally set his eyes on Mr. Hobson who was still sitting next to me. He called her father into the next room so they could talk. I felt my muscles tense because I knew that all of us would be able to hear despite the dry wall that separated us from the one person who held Sammy's fate in his hands.

"Mr. Hobson we have the results of your daughter's MRI," he spoke in an uneasy voice.

My hands clenched around the arms of the chair I was sitting on.

"And? Is she ok?"

The doctor paused. And that one moment of silence was all I needed to hear to know. I felt my eyelids slowly begin to close as my world literally shattered to pieces.

"I'm sorry to be the one to tell you this Mr. Hobson, but your daughter's brain doesn't appear to be active any longer."

I didn't feel anything. I could only hear the two of their voices coming from the next room.

"Is…is there anything you can do for her? Anything that…that could help her…recover?"

"There isn't much that can be done. I can only recommend you to take her off of life support."

"Oh God," I heard her father as he broke down.

I didn't understand why I wasn't shaking yet. Usually hearing things like this would cause me to be on the verge of phasing. But everything else I've heard before couldn't possibly compare to what I was hearing now. I didn't bother to open my eyes and see everyone else around me, what their faces looked like was already etched into my brain. I tried to breathe, but it seemed as if my body had shut down on me. And I knew exactly why.

Sammy's life was taken away from her and I can't find it in me to cope with the fact that she's gone. Her body had given up on her and mine was starting to as well.

I felt something warm on either of my shoulders, "Paul," was all I heard them say. I kept seeing her in my head and didn't pay attention to whoever was trying to talk to me. I saw what we could've been and what would never happen for the both of us now. I saw what our kids could've looked like, what she would've looked like with a kid on either of her hips. I saw how beautiful she would've looked walking down the aisle towards me. I saw everything I didn't need to see, everything that would haunt me for the rest of my days.

And they would only be my days. Not ours. Not hers. Just mine.

They told me that I had to come and see her again. Sam said I had to do it or else I'd regret it for the rest of my life. After two hours of me protesting, I finally built up enough courage to actually do it. I walked into the room, watching as the machine pumped oxygen into her lungs. I looked at everything except for her.

There's no simple way to prepare to say goodbye to your soul mate for the last time. I didn't google what things I should and shouldn't say to her before it was time for us to go our separate ways. Even if I did say anything to her, I knew this time she wouldn't be able to hear me or understand me. She was already gone.

I felt the knife begin to turn inside of me. How could she give up on me?

When the question posed itself I felt betrayal start to overpower everything else I was feeling. I pushed it all aside when I realized that she didn't betray me. She tried to fight, but she had lost. She was the unlucky one.

I shuffled closer to the bed where she was lying and looked directly at her closed eyelids. They would never open again, I'd never be able to see her brown eyes again. She'd never speak again. I wouldn't be able to hear her laugh again.

I fell into the chair as soon as I reached it. I rested my elbows on the bed and buried my face in my hands. An overwhelming amount of salt water began to make its way down both of my cheeks. I took all of my anger, hate, love, and pain and let it out in the form of tears. I couldn't care less about how much of a wimp I was being or how weak I seemed. Sammy was taken away from me. My soul mate was taken away and now I have nothing left.

"You can't be doing this to me, not now when things were finally going good for us," I mumbled, "Please, Sammy, don't do this. I know I've hurt you, but you can't do this to me. You can't leave me," I said, desperately trying to come up with anything that would make her come back to me, "I'm sorry for what I've done to you. I wish I could take it all back. I wonder every single day how different things would be if I didn't let you go three years ago," I grabbed her hand and rested my forehead on top of it, "I'm sorry, Sammy," I whispered, "I'm sorry I ever did it. I've tried everything I could to show you how sorry I am," the tears kept adding to the flood, "I love you, Sammy. I always have. Even in the moments when you thought I didn't, I did. You just can't do this to me. You…can't," I felt completely defeated then, my mind was no longer functioning correctly. It was like I was slipping away right along with her.

Sammy's POV

I couldn't control the tears as they came out in gallons. I rolled myself up into a ball and cried softly to myself as I took in every word the voice was saying to me. Even though I was so far away from the darkness, I could hear it as clear as ever. It broke my heart to hear it.

"Please," they spit out, their voice sounding weak, "I don't want to let go of you yet."

And as they spoke, they became more and more familiar to me. It began to feel like strings were pulling on me, begging me to move. I tried to stay where I was as best as I could.

"I need you. We all need you. Kim wants you to be her maid of honor and Jacob wants to apologize for what he did."

Kim…Jacob.

"And you have to be here to see Sam and Emily's baby. You can't do this now."

I sat up and wiped my face dry, going over all of the names in my head, "Sam and Emily," I repeated to myself.

"I want to see you walk down the aisle towards me, Sammy. I want to have a family with you. So, please…please don't do this."

I stood up completely and looked towards the darkness where I could barely see a small bit of light. A single word formed on my lips, "Paul," I said as I stared out in front of me.

"I love you, Sammy."

I looked over my shoulder and thought about my mother and how badly I had wanted to find her, but then I looked back at the darkness and felt myself being tugged forward again. I felt as if I wasn't finished with something, like Paul needed me more and my mom was letting me go. I began to cry all over again as I walked, keeping my eyes on the little light that shined desperately ahead.

sooo..... well i hope you guys haven't given up hope on this story because there is more to come

i really don't know what to say except i kinda cried while writing Paul's POV i know i'm lame but yes i cried XD

hope you loved it enough to review :)

~KK