OK, for some reason, this chapter doesn't seem right to me. If you don't like it, or if you do, please review and let me know. If too many people hate it, I'll rewrite it. It not, it stays as is. And thank you IrishRavenX and maroli29 and Crystal for reviewing!!!

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Christian groaned and opened his eyes, only to close them again at the painful light. He laid back again and sighed. "Am I dead?" he asked himself aloud.

"Far from it, Christian." said a voice he now only heard in his dreams. He clenched his eyes shut and tried to clear his head. Then he slowly reopened his eyes. Standing over him, with a concerned look on her face, was Satine. He looked up at her with a bewildered, confused look.

"Now I know I'm dead." He rubbed his eyes and forehead for a moment, desperately trying to clear his head. He still thought he was seeing things. It was only when Satine put her hand on his forehead that he realized that, somehow, Satine was really there. "H...how? I thought you died," he said, still struggling to accept what he saw.

Satine shook her head sadly. "I did, to many people."

Christian blinked a few times, then lifted his hand to touch her face. She held his hand in hers and held it against her cheek. Christian could only stare at her with wide blue eyes that were rapidly filling with tears. "I...I can't believe it. I mean, I see you, and feel you. It just can't be you. How can it be you? You died. In my arms."

Satine brushed away a tear from her face. "It was the Duke's fault, Christian. He had the doctor put some new medicine in me the last time I saw the doctor. It made it so that the next time I had a coughing fit, it would send me in what they called 'suspended animation'. In other words, it put me into a coma. I woke up a month later in a hospital." She brushed a stray strand of hair out of his face. "I really thought I was dying, Christian. I really did."

Christian blinked once again, and turned away. When he turned back to her, the tears were running freely down his face. "Why didn't you let me know somehow? Nine years, Satine, and you never let me know that you were alive."

"I couldn't. The Duke would have killed you the second he set eyes on you. For a long time, I was trapped under his care. I couldn't get away. Finally I was able to escape from him. Marie here," Satine guestured to Marie, who was standing timidly behind her," took me in and took care of me." She lifted Christian up and engulfed him in a hug. For a moment, he merely sat there, but then he returned the gesture. "I'm so sorry, Christian. I wanted to let you know, I really did. I didn't want you to be in danger."

He pulled away and looked at her with a sad, but somehow, relieved look. "Do you know how many times I wished that you were still here with me?" Satine shook her head. "Everyday. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't get over you. Couldn't love another."

Satine looked at him, slightly confused. "But I saw you with a woman earlier today. You two looked pretty intimate."

"Francie? Please," he snorted. "I can't stand that woman. She has this high-pitched nasal voice that gets on your nerves. Then she also-" Christian stopped, realizing that he had gotten off of the point. "You thought I loved her?"

Satine nodded sadly. "Yes. Just the way you two seemed together, I thought there may be more to it." She paused for a moment. "Who is she?"

"The representative for the company that publishes my books."

Satine nodded again and opened her mouth to say something, but was interrupted by the sound of the front door opening and shutting. Footsteps pounded her way, while a small voice shouted, "Mom! Mom, where are you?"

Both Satine and Christian looked up as Ryan entered the room. The boy looked from his mother to Christian, both who had tears in their eyes. "Um...what's going on?"

Satine stood up and quickly wiped her eyes. "Ryan, this is Christian," she said, guesturing to the writer. "Christian, this is my son Ryan."

Ryan looked closer at Christian, then he smiled. "Oh! It's you." Then he frowned, seeing the bandage on his head and the bruise on his face. "What happened to you?"

Christian groaned as he sat up and swung his feet over the side of the bed he had been placed on. "Just a small slip." He looked from Ryan to Satine. "You didn't tell me you had a son."

"Oh! Yes, I do. Here he is!" she laughed nervously.

Ryan looked up at her as if she were crazy. "I didn't know you two knew each other."

"Yeah," Christian slowly stood up. "That was a long time ago, though." Satine looked up at him in surprise, but Christian seemed to avoid looking her in the eyes. He looked around for a moment before grabbing his coat from off a chair. He smiled at Ryan before stepping past mother and son. He had reached the front door when Satine rushed up to him and grasped his arm.

"Christian! Where are you going?"

"I'm going somewhere where I can think about all this."

"I don't understand."

"Think about it, Satine. For the last nine years, I thought you were dead. Now I find out, after being shot at by the way, that you are still alive. Do you think things can just go back to the way they were?"

Satine shook her head sadly. "No. They can't. Especially with Ryan." She looked into his eyes. "Won't you just stay until your head is better?"

He shook his head. "I can't stay here. I just can't."

"When can I see you again."

"You'll know where to find me." Christian smiled for the first time. "Just go back in time." He nodded to her, then nodded to Ryan, and stepped out of the door, into the pouring rain.

Satine shut the door after him, and turned to her son.

"I didn't know you knew him!" Ryan said.

"I did." She looked out the window at Christian's retreating form. But he has changed so much, she thought. All because he thought I had died.