A/N sorry for the long wait. all two days of it.lol. i was participating in a relay for life type of thing and was so exhausted i couldn't make it to the computer. thank you all for your WONDERFUL reviews. They are what is keeping this story going. A couple of you made me blush *you know who you are!* so anyways, we are finally getting into the meat of the story, i hope i can keep you all as happy as your reviews are making me!

Getting used to seeing Lizzie in the shape that she was in was something that everyone was having a hard time getting used to. She had tubes going in and out and her face was pale and her eyes were still the shade of a newly plucked plum. The first time they all walked into the room they couldn't control themselves. Everyone in the room had tears flowing down their cheeks, including Matt.

But, life does move on and eventually everyone got used to seeing Lizzie in her incapacitated position. It bothered Gordo how the nurses arranged her body. Always laying straight up and down like a mummy in a coffin. Gordo didnt want Lizzie to look like anything that belonged in a coffin, so often when no one else was in the room he would reposition her body into a much more comfortable one. Almost a fetal position. At first this quite confused the nurses seeing that Lizzie was as comatose as they come, but one of the nurses, Sara, saw Gordo doing it one day, she concluded that it was one of the sweetest things she'd ever seen, and decided to keep it to herself. Whenever anyone would mention it she would smile to herself and pretend that she was clueless.

Everyone had their own way of visiting Lizzie. Miranda enjoyed coming in and gossiping about typical school events. Talking nonchalantly about the people she liked and what despicable action Parker had performed that week. Kate was no longer the resident mean girl. After Lizzie's accident something within her had changed, and noone was too disapointed with the outcome. But, it was high school and someone had to fill her shoes, that person, unfortunately, was Parker. When the Parker and boy stories were through with Miranda would paint Lizzie's nails or do her makeup. Miranda, being Lizzie's best friend, knew that she would want to look her best no matter what.

When Jo visited Lizzie she mostly cleaned up around the room, and held Lizzie's hand. Sam came with her at first but after a couple of weeks he visited less and less, claiming to be too tired, or too depressed to visit his ailing daughter. Sam, like Kate, had changed in the weeks since Lizzie's accident. He talked seldom, and sometimes Jo heard him crying in the night. It was inevitable that their relationship was deteriorating. It couldn't have been a worse time. Jo had always been slightly co-dependant, and this was the time when she needed her husband the most. At night when she'd reach over to hold him, or kiss him, he would pull away. This left Jo feeling lonelier than ever, instead of losing one of her loved ones, it was as if she had lost two. Sometimes the nice Dr., or Kelin, as she now called him, would keep her company on her visits. About a month after the incident Kelin asked Jo out for some coffee. She accepted.

Matt didn't visit Lizzie as often as he should have. He knew it. But he had always had a hard time dealing with emotions and serious situations. Even when he did visit his sister he often brought silly movies like airplane or young frankenstein to watch with her. He would sit next to her, laughing hysterically. This bothered him to no end. He shouldn't be laughing as his sister lay next to him so close to death. Sometimes as he sat laughing, his chest heaving tears would stream down his cheeks, in passing people probably thought it was a companion to his laugh, they however, were wrong. As he got further and further away from Lizzie he grew closer and closer to Melina. She was so easy to get along with, he didn't have a problem being serious, or emotional with her. She was the only one who knew of Matt's secret agony.

Gordo visited Lizzie more often than her own mother...at first. The first couple of weeks after the accident Gordo would go to Lizzie, in room 456, everyday after his classes. He was taking summer enrollment classes at a local community college. He would sit next to her and do his homework, telling her all of the secrets of his life, as if nothing had ever changed. He told her of all the wonderful changes, like Kate's attitude adjustment, and he and Miranda's acceptance to Berkley, which was only a mere 6 miles from where she lay. He also told her how much everyone, especially himself, missed her. And sometimes when he was sure noone could hear, he would tell her how beautiful she was, and how, even laying in this bed she could take his breath away. He never told her of the bad, of the dilapidated state of her parent's marriage, or how Parker had become slightly evil, or how Matt had only visited her 3 times since her arrival. He owed her more than that. He wanted to tell her nothing but good. That was all that she deserved, the good.

When college began Gordo and Miranda begun spending alot of time together. They had 4 classes together, so they spent many nights a week studying together, as homework piled up, Gordo had less and less time to be with Lizzie, but he always made sure to go at least twice a week.

Miranda had grown into a beautiful young woman. She now wore her hair long, often in a messy little bun that Gordo adored, and, upon entering college, she had picked out a new pair of black rimmed glasses, and had taken to wearing scarves. She was your typical college art student. Her and Gordo were always seen together. They traded the Digital Bean for Starbucks, and McDonald's for Panera Bread. One night they went about 20 miles out to a little farm town. They drove up to a deserted spot and layed on the roof of Gordo's car and looked up a the stars. Gordo told her of his aspirations to be a great director, she told him that she hated her mothers asparagus. They just barely beat the sunrise home the next morning. After that a whole new door of communication had opened. If they weren't together, they were staying up late talking on the phone. On September 19th, about 3 months after the accident, Gordo kissed her. It was a good kiss, a great kiss really, but it would have been much better if he wasn't wishing it was Lizzie in Miranda's place.

As for Lizzie, Lizzie lay on the same hospital bed. Dreaming, and thinking, of nothing. She lay in a state of innocence, naivety to what was going on around her. Her golden blonde hair was dimming to a mousy dish water blonder, and her skin grew paler every day. Her friends visits decreased, but always was Gordo, sitting by her bed every Monday, and every Wednesday, a faithful friend, who missed her dearly.