Whoo-hoo! I got Microsoft Word back! Yay!

Hotashell99- Aw, you're so flattering! *blushes* Thanks for the sweet email AND the sweet review! *warm smile* I feel all happy and loved now! ^_^ I'll try and update soon JUST FOR YOU! ^_^

Nebula- Ooh, cool! 24? Coolness yo. ^_~ Hehehehe, and I meant the laughing in the most affectionate of ways. Lol...Sometimes I root for the underdogs, and sometimes for the main characters. It really depends on the mood. ^_~ I'm relieved you think I picked the right four to stay, and that I made their thoughts realistic. YES! I can still be spontaneous and unpredictable! *does happy dance* I SURPRISED YOU! ^_^ I can hardly believe this story has reached 44 also. o.O It just keeps going and going and going...Lol...Have fun working on your fics, chica! ^_~

Banksiesbabe99- I'm SO glad to hear it! That review in itself was a real compliment, and I ALWAYS love reading reviews from you! Thanks so much for sticking with me and keeping me encouraged for such a long time! I always appreciate you! ^_~

Allie- Lol...No shame for laziness. ^_^ Yeah, I'm in French 1, for I am impaired that way. ^_~ Oh well. *smiles* I'm really glad I didn't offend you! ^_^ Yes, Julie's worry for Charlie is uber cute...Lol...And it is odd for me to write Adam as a likeable guy too. Lol. But Fulton's cool! I'm sorry you dislike Adam with such a passion. Lol...I have weirdness concerning Adam. It's a kinda-like/hate relationship. Lol. Sometimes I don't mind him, and other times he gets on my nerves because I remember the neglect Charlie goes through because of him. ^_~ Lol...Don't worry, Charlie will be fixed...Eventually. But it may be awhile. I have to draw things out, and we still have awhile to go. ^_~ Thanks for the great review! It cheered me up!

Collii- I'm glad to know that you're enjoying it! I aim to please. ^_~

Snorts- I'm glad you liked the chapter, but I'm even gladder that I managed to help you in some way. It means a lot that this story has helped you personally, and it makes me feel glad I decided to continue with it. I hope you like this update! ^_~

Angel Spirit- I'm glad you found comfort in Julie, Adam, and Fulton staying, as well as the Halls' appearance again. ^_^ And yes, I know Charlie's dad DOES need to die. ^_^ Maybe we can have a large, heavy object fall on his head...*conspires* Hehehe...maybe another time. *shrugs* ^.~ I'm glad you liked the update!

Hockey_Luvva- Heehee...Yeah, I tend to be evil and anticlimactic. ^_^ I have to keep you guys on your toes! ^_~ "Ronnie and Julie" is a modern day Romeo and Juliet with Josh playing 'Ronnie,' who is obviously the equivalent of 'Romeo.' He's a hockey player, she's a figure skater, their parents are rivals for becoming the mayor, blah blah blah. It's awesome, and I love it! Lol...^_~ It's a cute movie. Anyway, I'm glad you know how I feel regarding my notebook! It just isn't the same! I'm glad you care...*sniff sniff* And you don't know how big of a compliment it was for me when you said I didn't go over-the-top with the angst...That meant a lot to me, because I don't want to over-do it. That all meant a lot to me, and served to make me smile. ^_^ ...Ehehehe...So I indirectly got ya in trouble? Heehee...Sorry about that. ^_~ *giggles* You seriously said 'more interesting than you'? *giggles again* Way to go! I feel honored that my story is more interesting than your teacher! ^_~ Hehehe. Gosh, I'm just getting you into all kinds of trouble, aren't I? *winks* Yep, I'm the infamous *cough* writer of "One Way Ticket," and it has been feeling massive neglect lately...It's been gathering dust, and I feel bad. I'll try to get around to working on it; I've just been getting REALLY into this one, and I've been focusing everything on it. Only occasionally can I multi- task. ^_~ And yeah, things aren't always great for us MD lovers. But that's why we have places like Fanfiction.net to relish our fandom for all it's worth, watching the movies lovingly even if our friends make fun of us and our little darlings! As for "Blue Heelers," I haven't heard of it before. What's it about? *squees* Ooh! A squeaky toy! *grins childishly and plays with squeaky toy* And as for you MUCH-LOVED second review *smiles*...Actually, Soph lives in England. She's far away from me. *pout pout* Hehehe...Someone threw a chair at your school? Lol...Crazy people. ^_^ So you live in Australia? Coolness. I wanna go to Australia...You have cool accents. ^_~ I live in Texas. ^_^ Thanks for BOTH your reviews! Seeing the second one made the fact that I was going to school in five minutes a smidge better. ^_~ I hope you enjoy the chapter!

Rachel- I'm so glad you like the story. ^_~ And I had a blast in New York! ^_~ Very fun place to visit. I've never actually seen "Cruel Intentions" before...I knew it had Josh in it, but I also knew he was gay and it made me sad. I may watch it sometime just for him, but the movie never grabbed my interest to an extreme; something about him being anything but straight would be weird. ^_~ *sighs dreamily* Yeah, he is pretty fit...He is a very lovely creature, that's for sure...*shakes head and focuses* Eh, sorry about that. ^_^ I'm glad you liked the paragraphs o their feelings, and I'm glad you liked it! I hope you enjoy the chapter! ^_~

SPASH Panther- Gordon hasn't told any of the Ducks about Charlie's father yet, but the man is in jail now. We don't' have to worry about George Conway roaming the streets anymore. ^_~ thanks for the review, and I hope you enjoy this chapter!

Katie- Yeah, the boy does need happiness; but I'm simply not that nice. ^_~ Lol...Hehehe, yeah. I could introduce myself to the story and we could fall MADLY IN LOVE! BWAHAHAHA! Lol...*cough*...*shifty eyes*...Anyway. ^_^ Yep. A darker color is needed, but I'm too lazy/poor to go out and buy one for now. ^_~ Okay, so I'm really not THAT poor...Just very stingy. ^_~ I'll ask my LOVING daddy to buy it and smile and say 'ppppllleeeaaassseeee?'...Hehehe. Lol. Nah, I'm not spoiled at all. ^_~

Liz- I'm glad it's getting into the stuff you really like now. ^_~ I'm glad I can still have my party with you, too! ^_^ I would've cried if I couldn't have a birthday party with you! No prob about he suggestion, and I'm glad my opinion counts to ya! ^_~ *hugs*...*growls* evil...school...bah...But I am SO proud of you for not giving anything away! Lol...^_~ You already know the ending and you managed to restrain yourself. ^_^

Disclaimer- I don't own the Mighty Ducks.

-Chapter 45-

It wasn't long before Adam, Fulton, and Julie all showed up. As Gordon had suspected, they had slept in another waiting room. However, they had gone home to change clothes and shower anyway.

All three Ducks had been shocked to see Jesse and Terry there. They had sat around and talked for awhile before the Halls had left for their hotel for the night.

The next day, Julie, Adam, and Fulton had all gone to take their first few finals while the Halls left on a plane back to Montana. Charlie had yet to wake up again.

~~~*~~~

A few students sat in their desks, whispering to each other as the throngs of students milled around outside the classroom door, not ready to begin their day.

"Hey Gavin, guess what I heard," a girl said with a flick of her hair, eager to spread gossip.

"What did you hear?" he asked coolly as he propped his feet up on the back of someone's chair. The person grumbled something, but went back to whatever she had been doing.

She motioned for him to come closer as she leaned forward, her eyes excited and her mouth curved into a grin, happy to know something they didn't.

He sighed and leaned forward.

"I heard that this guy, like, tried to kill himself the other day. He went here and everything," she said with a nod.

He raised his eyebrows. "Really? Where'd ya here that?"

"Gavin, I have connections. I know these things," she said, as if insulted, while picking at the sleeve of her Abercrombie and Fitch shirt. "Anyway, where was I. Oh yeah; he was, like, on the hockey team or something. He had been cutting himself for, like, awhile and stuff. No one really knows why he snapped," the girl said, flipping her hair again as she began picking at her perfectly manicured nails.

"Oh yeah, I think I heard about that. Mark said the kid had a few screws loose," Gavin said, tapping his pencil on the desk.

"Yeah, I heard about it too. Katrina said Danielle told her it was some kind of delayed reaction from when his mom died a few months ago," another girl said from the other side of Gavin, popping into the conversation with her own take on it.

"Well HANNAH told me he turned into, like, some type of Goth pyro or something who tried to burn down the school," another said, putting her hair up into a ponytail as she popped the gum in her mouth.

"Well *I* heard-"

"WILL YOU ALL JUST SHUTTUP?!" the girl in the seat in front of Gavin screamed, standing up and facing them all.

"What's your problem?" the girl who started the conversation, Carrie, asked as she looked at the other girl with almost disgust.

~~~*~~~

Julie stood there, enraged. What was HER problem? What was HER PROBLEM?!

"Look, I'll tell you what my problem is you pompous little witch. MY problem is how you are all just sitting there, making assumptions and casually talking about it as if it's ANY of your business," Julie snarled.

"Hm, snappy much?" Carrie said with a condescending tone as she cocked a perfect eyebrow and half-smirked.

"You have NO RIGHT to talk about him like that. You don't know what's going on, so you can just take your gossip and new bottle of lip gloss and SHOVE IT!" Julie nearly screamed.

Carrie's jaw dropped as she froze, her hand pausing its motion as it held the shiny pink lip gloss a few inches from her lips.

"You little-" Carrie started as she stood up, placing the tube of lip gloss on her desk.

Julie stood there with her jaw tight with defiance and eyes flaring.

Carrie swooped her hair off her shoulder and took off her sweater, placing it on her desk next to the lip gloss.

Carrie crossed her arms and raised her eyebrows, seemingly calming down a little. "It's not MY fault he's a nutcase. You don't have to blame it on me. I guess I can't really blame you for wigging out; I mean c'mon, your little boyfriend's psychotic. It's enough to drive any girl a little crazy," Carrie said.

Julie reared back her arm and punched Carrie in the cheekbone. Carrie jumped back with a yelp, clutching her cheek before slapping Julie hard across the face.

Julie shoved Carrie against the desk, but Carrie and grabbed a clump of Julie's hair, thus bringing her down too.

A random guy stood on top of his desk and cupped his hand around his mouth. "CAT FIGHT!"

The teacher looked in from her spot outside the door, and her eyes widened with horror as she saw Julie and Carrie clawing at each other, trying to slam each other against the desks. They had knocked several desks over and there was a crowd surrounding them.

Once recovering from shock, the teacher called the dean, as well as some security officers, to the room to help break up the fight.

By this time, tears were threatening to fall as Julie continued hitting the other girl with all her might. Not because Carrie had a death grip on her hair; sure, that hurt too, but she couldn't believe they had said that. Charlie wasn't crazy...

Julie got a good grip on Carrie's hair and slammed her face into the desk as tears began to flow down her cheeks. Carrie deserved it...

Carrie growled and kicked Julie in the shin before clawing at the blonde girl's face.

Julie was practically snarling as she kneed Carrie in the stomach and slapped her in the face.

Getting a good grip on Julie's shirt, Carrie jerked her down to the floor where they continued the brawl.

"Girls! Girls, break it up! Break it up!" the dean shouted over the loud cheers and catcalls filling the room while the security guards struggled to part the thrashing girls.

Once the two had been parted, Julie's body went limp as she began sobbing. She covered her face with her hands and cried. The voices of her classmates were drown out as she felt herself being led out of the room.

Soon enough she was sitting in front of the dean of Eden Hall, as well as a security officer. She was still crying, and was finding it difficult to stop. It was beginning to hit that Charlie had almost died...That those...insensitive people were mocking it...

The adults sat and waited for her to calm down.

A few minutes passed before Julie's former sobs had faded into sniffles and shaky breathing.

When Dean Buckley deemed it safe to speak, he folded his hands on the desk and leaned forward.

"Miss Gaffney, I can hardly believe what I just saw in there. Thursday is the last day of school, and this? What happened in there? That wasn't like you, to get in fights. You're usually such a wonderful student, so that's why I didn't have them cart you off immediately," he began.

Julie nodded, not bothering to wipe the drying tear-streaks from her cheeks. She could hardly bring herself to speak.

"Care to explain yourself?" he prompted.

Julie sniffed and nodded slightly, swallowing. She looked at him with blood- shot eyes and took another shaky breath. "Yeah," she said, her voice cracking slightly.

The dean and the security officer waited patiently.

"I-I was sitting in class, minding my own business. I was looking over my review before the teacher took it up so we could start our final exam, but then I heard them talking behind me. They..." she started, swallowing again. "...they were talking about Charlie. And-and what happened...And they were calling him crazy...and talking about stuff that's none of their business...and I guess I just got really upset," she said, her voice cracking. "I'm really sorry, I know I shouldn't have done it, but I just got so mad. It's like they didn't even care about how he, or any of us, would feel...I just got so mad, I'm sorry," she said, her face scrunching up slightly as she tried to keep herself from crying again. She took a breath and closed her eyes, hoping it would help. She could feel her nose burning slightly, warning her that more tears would soon come.

Dean Buckley nodded and exchanged a look with the officers.

"Yes, I know it must have been rough for you. I'm sure it's very difficult, and that could not have helped. I will still have to punish you in some way, but I'm not sure how yet. It's still against school rules." he said, with almost-regret in his voice.

She nodded solemnly and sniffed again. "Yeah...I guess I deserve it...I've just never gotten in trouble before...You're not going to kick me out are you?" she asked with fright in her voice.

"No, no...we won't kick you out," he assured her.

She nodded. "What will I do about finals?" she asked, her voice quivering.

"You can still take them; we don't want to jeopardize your academic standing over this. But we will keep you separate from the others; and once we find a suitable punishment, we will tell you," Dean Buckley said. "Now these men will take you to where you can take your final exams. Good luck, Julie," the dean said, wishing he didn't have to come up with a punishment for her. He knew she was a good girl.

Julie nodded and followed them, trying to calm herself enough to take her final exams.

~~~*~~~

Adam and Fulton looked around for the other Ducks. Again, they were the only ones who weren't too busy. Everyone else was studying or hanging out, but Adam and Fulton were bringing their reviews to the hospital in case. But for some reason, they couldn't find Julie anywhere...

"JULIE!" Adam called out to the crowd, and her blonde head peeked from behind a group as she struggled to get to them.

Julie gave them a weak smile and began walking along with them.

"Wow, Julie. What happened?" Fulton asked as he saw a bruise and a few scattered scratches on Julie's face.

Julie let out an ironic laugh. "I kind of got into a fight." she said, giving them a half-smile.

"Seriously?" Adam asked incredulously as he turned to face her.

She nodded.

"Why?" Adam asked again, crossing his arms as they walked along.

Julie shrugged slightly. "They were just being their ignorant, Eden Hall selves..."

"And YOU got into a fight with them? Little Miss Perfect Julie Gaffney got into a fight?" Fulton asked with amusement.

"Shuttup Fulton," she said, smiling.

Fulton and Adam laughed as the three got on the bus and rode to the hospital.

It wasn't long before they were approaching the large building again.

"Do you think he'll wake up today?" Julie asked absently as they opened the doors and entered the building.

"I dunno," Fulton replied.

Julie hit the button for the elevator and within seconds, the elevator opened, beckoning them to get on.

Adam led the way into the elevator and they rode it to the floor Charlie was on.

When they entered the waiting room, Gordon Bombay was sitting in the same chair, reading the same magazine, wearing the same blank facial expression.

"Coach?" Julie said softly.

Bombay jumped a few inches in the air. He looked over to the three teenagers in the doorway. "Hey guys; you scared me," Gordon said with a hint of a laugh.

They all smiled in return and sat down in chairs, spreading out their books across tables and unoccupied chairs.

They all sat in an almost comfortable silence as the three Freshmen studied for their final exams, and Gordon flipped through some channels on the TV. It was raised up and attached to where the ceiling and wall met; not that there was anything terribly interesting on it, anyway.

Julie let out an exasperated sigh and stared at the sheet of paper sitting on the wooden coffee table-like structure a few feet from the chair she was leaning against. She REALLY was not in the mood to study...It was difficult to be in that environment and not think of Charlie.

The blonde girl stood up, catching the attention of the other three.

"Where ya goin'?" Fulton asked as he looked up from his Geography review.

"I'm gonna go check on Charlie; they said we were allowed to go in now, so I figured I might as well," she said as she walked off to find Charlie's room.

The three men watched her disappear down the hall, and all looked at each other.

"Do you think she's okay?" Adam asked softly once he was sure she was long gone.

"I dunno. She seems to be taking it pretty hard," Fulton replied.

"What makes you guys think that?" Gordon asked, not understanding what the urge to see Charlie had to do with how she was taking it.

"She got in a fight at school today," Fulton answered. Adam nodded, confirming the statement.

"She what?" Bombay asked, not exactly expecting that. "Why?"

Fulton and Adam both shrugged. "We don't know. She didn't tell us," Adam answered.

"That's strange..." Gordon said.

The two boys nodded in unison, before returning to their review packets.

~~~*~~~

Julie crept into the room, closing the door behind herself. Charlie looked exactly the same as he had before; just now he was much closer. She could see more clearly the machines and pale complexion of his face.

A thought then hit her as she looked at him for a moment; his sling was gone.

"Ma'am?" Julie asked a nurse who was walking by outside the door.

"Yes?" the lady asked, turning to face the teenage girl standing half inside the door, half out.

"Would you happen to know what happened to his sling?" she asked, pointing to Charlie.

The nurse nodded her head, and came to a full stop. "Yes, as a matter of fact I do. We had to remove it in order to help the transfusion run smoothly, so we removed it. We checked it out and discovered that he may not need to wear it anymore, as long as he's careful. But we aren't quite to the point of that decision yet, anyway." The nurse answered.

Julie nodded and muttered a 'thank you' before closing the door behind herself again. That made sense.

The room had an almost chilled silence as she stood at the door, watching him. It was almost surreal, when she thought about it. It still seemed slightly unreal to her that it was happening.

She took a few light steps toward the hospital bed and paused again. She frowned slightly and sat at a chair next to the bed. At least he was alive...

Julie leaned up against the wall and watched the steady rise and fall of his chest. The bright lights around were blinding, and his room was seriously lacking in color. It was a bleak white and grey everywhere she looked. It was slightly unnerving...

Reaching her hand out, she brushed a few stray hairs from his forehead again and folded her arms on the metal bar that surrounded the perimeter of the bed, resting her chin on top.

She leaned her face sideways on top of one arm while reaching out with the other hand, taking his hand in her own. She rubbed the side of his hand with her thumb and watched him sleep. Or, she would assume he was sleeping, considering his unconscious state. How much could a guy sleep, anyway?

More then anything, Julie wanted to whisk him away from the hospital and make everything normal again. No suicide attempts, no school rumors, no machines hooked up to arms, no weirdness, no awkward pauses, no lies...

She continued tracing circles in his palm, never moving from her position. Her leg had fallen asleep several minutes ago, but she didn't really feel like moving. As uncomfortable as she was, she felt comfortable at the same time; just being there gave her a sense of peace. It was almost as if she felt she could protect him from everything as long as she stayed there.

"Everything alright, Miss?" the nurse asked as she entered the room and began checking Charlie's stats.

Julie let out a sigh, but didn't move from her position.

The nurse watched the younger girl's statuesque position. "You okay?" the nurse asked, turning back to what she was doing.

"I guess," was Julie's reply.

A few more moments of silence filled the air, before it was disturbed again. "Do you have any idea when he'll wake up again?" Julie asked suddenly.

"I'm not sure. It's strange that he hasn't woken up again; but it's unlikely that it will be much longer. Don't you worry; I'm sure he'll be fine," the nurse said, trying to comfort her.

Julie Gaffney simply sighed and continued watching her friend's nearly- lifeless state.

The nurse slipped out the door when she was finished, leaving the two teens alone again.

Julie let out a shaky breath and closed her eyes, gently squeezing his hand as she bit back any possible tears. She wouldn't cry again...

"You gotta come back Charlie..." she said, opening her eyes to watch him again. "You have to..."