A/N: I don't own the song "You Lift Me Up" by Rachel Lampa, she owns it or the record company does or whatever. And I also don't own Lizzie McGuire, as I forgot to mention. Oh, and all the stuff about Rachel Lampa and her family, past, ect. I made up. I really don't know much about her other than she's pretty. =)

And Kate, this is not a G/L fic. It isn't a romance. They hugged because they're friends, they hug. If Gordo would have died, Miranda would have hugged Lizzie. I decided who got killed by a coin toss. I repeat: this is NOT a G/L fic.

GORDO

"You need to sleep at least 12 hours a day," the nurse told me as she took off some of my bandages. "All right?"

I nodded. "OK."

"And you can't lift anything heavy, work out, or do anything strenuous for a while. You'll have a checkup at a doctor's office in 3 weeks and he'll be able to tell you when you can. But be sure not to lift heavy things especially, you risk permanent injury if you do."

"K."

The last bandage was removed from my body. I wasn't hooked up to any machines anymore. I was going home.

I didn't feel too happy, though. I thought I'd be glad to go home, but now a week and a half after I found out Miranda was dead, it seemed like nothing could make me happy.

She helped me sit up. "Your parents brought some clothes here. I'll leave you to get changed, OK, Daniel?"

"David."

"Sorry." She walked out of the room and shut the door.

It hurt a little to get out of bed, so I did so slowly. I walked over to the plastic bag holding my clothes and quickly changed. It felt good to wear real clothes after that dumb papery stuff. I hated that.

I sighed and looked into the mirror. I expected to see the old Gordo, but instead I was shocked at the person looking back at me. He had scars on his head. He looked beaten. That wasn't me… was it?

I looked at my left arm, the one that flew into the window. It wasn't bloody, but still had scars and scratches. Would they heal, or would they be there forever? Each scratch, each scar a constant reminder of this hospital and my friend that died in it.

I reluctantly grabbed the plastic bag and left the room. The nurse was talking to my parents, then said, "Oh, there he is."

My parents smiled and quickly walked up to me. My mom hugged me. "How do you feel?" she asked.

"Alive," I answered. I wanted to say I felt good, because physically I did, but I couldn't say that knowing that Miranda was dead.

"Are you all right?"

"Yeah, mom. I'm fine. But…" I struggled out of her arms. "Can I say goodbye to Lizzie?"

She looked at my dad and he nodded. "Take your time," he said.

I looked to the nurse. She also nodded and led me down the hallway into Lizzie's room.

"How's she been doing?" I asked.

"She'll live," she replied. "I don't know how long she's going to have to spend in a hospital bed, but she'll live."

I walked over to her bed. "Hey, Lizzie," I said. Her eyes fluttered open.

"Gordo," she said. "You're… standing."

"I'm leaving," I explained. "My parents are here and they're ready to take me home. I just wanted to say goodbye."

"Don't leave me here alone," she said. "The nurse always calls me Elizabeth."

I smiled. "She calls me Daniel."

"I noticed."

I walked closer to her bed and hugged her again. "Do well, OK? I'll see you later."

"You will?"

"Of course. I don't know when because the nurse didn't tell me, but she said you're gonna live."

Lizzie nodded. "Then I'll see you later, I guess."

"And I'll come to visit tomorrow."

Lizzie smiled mischievously. "Watch the heart monitor."

I blinked. What?

"Watch the heart monitor," she repeated. I did. Suddenly, it beeped long and hard and the line was flat.

"Lizzie?!" I demanded.

She tried to laugh, but it came out like a strange laugh/cough type thing. "I bend the cord. It shows a flat reading for awhile. I scared them a couple times."

I laughed for the first time in what felt like a year. "You should have showed me that sooner, I could have done it."

She smiled. "I guess your parents are waiting for you."

"I'll be here tomorrow, I promise. If I have to walk 20 miles, I'll be here."

"Thanks."

I nodded and left. Lizzie seemed to be doing fine. I was glad.

~*~

I sighed and laid down on my bed. I was home, finally. My desk, my dresser, my plane models. I was home.

I turned my stereo on and put it on radio. I didn't know what CD to put in, so this way I compromised. But the song that was on didn't fit my gloomy mood at all. I listened to it anyway.

Blasting out of the speakers, came a beautiful voice filled with optimism and hope.

Climbin' on a cloud,

Dancing on a daydream.

I don't have a doubt

Just how good this life can be.

You lift me up.

Runnin' in the rain,

Singin' in the sunshine.

Tellin' all the world

Why I'm so in love with life.

You lift me up.

You lift me up.

I'm touchin' the blue sky.

You lift me up.

I'm on top of the world.

You lift me up.

I'm getting closer to Heaven

In every little thing I love.

You lift me up.

Headin' for the stars,

Ridin' on a moonbeam.

Takin' me so far.

Farther than I've ever been.

You lift me up.

You lift me up.

I'm touchin' the blue sky.

You lift me up.

I'm on top of the world.

You lift me up.

I'm getting closer to Heaven

In every little thing I love.

You lift me up.

I'm in love.

All I ever want,

All I ever need is right here.

Da da la, 'n' dee da, da da la uidu.

Da da la, 'n' dee da, da da la uidu.

Da da la, 'n' dee da, da da la uidu.

Da da la, 'n' dee da, da da la uidu.

Da da la, 'n' dee da, da da la uidu.

Da da la, 'n' dee da, da da la uidu.

I'm touchin' the blue sky.

I'm on top of the world.

I'm getting closer to Heaven

In every little thing I love!

You lift me up.

(Oooooooooh, yeeeeeeah!)

You lift me up.

I'm on top of the world.

You lift me up.

I'm getting closer to Heaven

In every little thing I love.

Eventually, the "You lift me up"s faded out into the background, and somehow I felt worse than I had before. How could anything be happy when Miranda was gone? How could anything be good when she wasn't around to experience it?

Climbin' on a cloud, dancing on a daydream. I don't have a doubt just how good this life can be. Those words echoed in my head. I don't have a doubt just how good this life can be.

How could she say that? How could she even pretend that life could be good? That life could treat you well? Was this girl unaware of all of the death going on in the world? This wasn't about Miranda anymore… tons of people die every minute. Life is not good. Life is one big Shakespeare tragedy play.

I got on my computer and connected to the internet. What did they say her name was? I was going to look her up. I betted that she'd never experienced death in her life.

"Now we continue with the Rachel Lampa hour," the voice on the radio said. Rachel Lampa.

I went to google.com and typed her name in. Plenty of sites came up. I scanned them, and one caught my eye.

Rachel Lampa, the Girl who Lived a Nightmare

Tons of Christians have heard of Rachel Lampa, but most don't know anything about her horrible past. Her dad was killed in…

"Killed in what?" I asked. I clicked on the link. The website that came up was huge. I scanned the side. It had 7 photo galleries, biography, 3 polls, 5 quizzes…

Biography. Was that what I wanted?

I clicked it.

A/N: I would continue, but this chapter is already pretty long since I included the lyrics to that song, so the article is gonna be in the next chap. And please remember, it's made up.