Wow...I just suffered a traumatic event...I was typing this up, and I accidentally moved all the other chapters to another file folder. When I moved them all back, I didn't realize this one wasn't included. I deleted the other folder and this with it. I totally freaked out when I realized it; I was literally bordering on tears. I had nearly finished it, and it was just GONE! I had it just the way I wanted, and I was very upset. I tried to recover it, but the right program wasn't installed. So I had to wait until morning for my dad's help (this happened at about 10:30 at night). I could hardly sleep; then I woke up and asked for my dad's help. He couldn't figure it out. I slunk around all morning, contemplating my stupidity and mentally kicking myself. I got back on and started messing with stuff, and finally fixed it. Suddenly, my life got a lot better. ^_^ Had I not found a way to recover this chapter, I probably would've just keeled over from a serious heart attack. But luckily for all my friends at school (who would have had to endure Upset and Angry Chelsea...something very few people have ever encountered) I managed to figure it out. I just thought I'd share. ^_^

Alright, I am really hatin' on life right now. I guess I've just lost one too many reviews to the clutches of my stupidity...But I guess I won't rant this time. By the time I post this, I won't be mad anymore, but oh well.

I'm okay now. ^_^

I...AM OFFICIALLY FIFTEEN TODAY! WHOO! *does happy dance* I can take Driver's Ed now! Whoo! And I had a SUPER fun party! ^_^ Whoo...

Allie- Aw, you're so sweet to me! *smiles* Ooh, that's a lovely resolution. My Spring Break was last week...*pouts* Ooh...you're going to write me some angst? ^_^ Exciting. Lol. Because I KNOW that it's JUST for ME, right? Lol...Hehehe...I'm sorry I can't tell you the end. ^_~ *gasps with horror and shock* I DID! OH NO! SAY IT ISN'T SO!!! *screams and hides from Glomping-Adam-Fans* SAVE ME ALLIE! *huddles in the C/J corner with Allie, afraid of the scary Adam fans* Hehehe...Don't worry, it's not bad that you giggled when Julie told off the rumor peeps. Aw, it's okay. Charlie doesn't mind that you're giggling while he's dangling on the thread of life. *Charlie cocks and eyebrow* Right Charlie? *Charlie mumbles something under breath and crawls under the couch to munch on left over cookies* Sorry about that. He's still a little angry that he's getting the short end of the stick in this deal. But things'll get better, right Charlie dearest? *Charlie mumbles again* Meh, I'm SURE he was agreeing with me. *giggles girlishly with Allie* Yes, Julie is uberly sweet! Because she WUVS Charlie! *squees*...*Charlie looks up with interest* Now, Charlie dear, just go back to sleep. *Charlie nods and crawls back under the couch* Thanks for the review! ^_~

Angel Spirit- Aw, thanks for leaving a review even though you're feeling tired. ^_^ I'm glad you were cheering Julie on! ^_^ Thanks bunches for reviewing! It cheered me! *smiles*

Hotashell99- I'm glad you liked Julie sticking up for Charlie. ^_~ Heeheehee...I'll try to update A.S.A.P. And I'm much too frightened to defy you. ^_~

Banksiesbabe99- *squees* I'm glad you liked! Rah for Julie's fighting! Lol...Hehe. Moods are fun. But I'm glad you're liking the story! ^_~

Rachel- Yes, Julie wants him back. Poor, angsting little teenagers...*sighs dreamily* Jooossshhhh...He's just so gorgeous...*goofy smile* I'm in love...*cough* Anyway. You can't imagine how huge a compliment it is to me that you can picture what's happening. Thanks SO much! It means a lot to my insecureness...eh...insecurity...eh...something like that! ^_~ Thanks for the SWEET review, Rach!

Nebula- Yes, gossip=bad. I'm glad Julie's reaction was believable and that you liked Julie swinging at Carrie. Lol. ^_~ I'm glad you liked the chapter, though. And I fear it may NEVER end...Lol...I have it planned out to almost sixty, and it STILL isn't done. I guess I'm subconsciously AFRAID of it being done. Lol...My life revolves around this story. It consumes my thoughts all day and...stuff. I will be so confused without it. Lol...But I guess "One Way Ticket" will end up filling the void. It will comfort me in my time of need. ^_~

Liz- Heehee, I'm glad you caught the irony of the 'cat fight' thing. Lol...Aw, poor William. Lol...But yeah, I figured Julie would be one of those girls who could actually fight. Luckily I haven't seen you THAT mad before. ^_^ Thanks for the review as always, and have fun with your work! ^_~

Kate- *squeaks with excitement* TWO Kate reviews? I must have died and gone to heaven. ^_~ Lol...*cough* I'm okay now, really...Oh, I'm proud of you for signing in TOO, Kate! Hehehe...Bah, homework is over-rated. Lol...I'm just kidding. Though I DO have a 5-8 page paper I need to write for Geogrpahy...*thinks* Meh, I'll do it later. I already have about three...Near future is good! Very good! I'm dying; you just don't understand! Well, okay, I did KNOW of Starbucks; I just never went and it meant about as much to me as...Well, okay. I can't think of a good comparison, so I'll just say I didn't care much for it. I didn't like coffee, so why would I go to Starbucks? But now I have been enlightened of the greatness that is the frappaccino...I appreciate you making sure I got my entire review. *huggles Kate* You're so nice! ^_~ Hehehe, yeah...It would have been pretty sweet if Julie had said that. *blink blink* Nah, Charlie doesn't get angry. *blink blink*...*pants catch on fire and the Revelation song starts attacking Chelsea* AHHH!!! I'M SORRY! I'M SORRY! I'LL NEVER LIE AGAIN! *screeches and pats down pants* Okay, okay! You win! Charlie does get angry OCCASSIONALLY! *pants magically return to normal* Whew...o.O Scary. The Revelation song is funny though. Lol...*sings the Revelation song to the tune of 'Ferajacka' perkily* Revelation, Revelation 21:8! 21:8! Liars go to HELL! Liars go to HELL! Burn, burn, burn! Burn, burn, burn! *cheeky smile* Doesn't it have a kind of "Fire and Brimstone" feel to it? I actually learned it in church from some of my friends. Lol...Anyway. Yes! Julie punched the evil gossip girl. Lol. I hope you're satisfied with this chapter! ^_~ Aww, you're my number one fan? *eyes get watery and smiles REALLY happy-like* Do ya really mean it? AW! I love you! *hugs* Here, you deserve cookies! *hands lots of yummy things to Kate* I'm so honored!

Katie- Yes...We're honing in close to the big 5-0...But fear not! I've pegged ten more chapters on! Lol...It seems every time I post ten chapters, ten more magically appear. It's odd. Not that I'm complaining; I'm almost afraid for it to be over! Lol. I'm glad you liked the fight. ^_~ Whoo for the stingy and spoiled Charlie lovers of the world! Lol...no shame. ^_~ Hehehe...Thanks for the review!

Colli- Lol, thanks for the review. *smiles* Charlie will consider your wake- up call. ^_~

DodgerMcClure.aka.Drama-Queen- Oh, I'm sure Charlie would LOVE it if you did that! *Charlie looks up confused*...*pats Charlie's head* Don't worry about it; just go back to sleep. *Charlie nods and goes back to sleep*...*smiles* He's so obedient. Hehehe...It is becoming quite the soap, isn't it? ^_^ I'm not trying to make it like that...lol...Hopefully it has better ACTORS than most soaps. o.O Lol...*winks* Hehehe...Thanks for the review! ^_~ It's always nice to hear from ya.

Disclaimer- I don't own the Mighty Ducks.

-Chapter 46-

Just as they had for the past few days, Adam, Julie, and Fulton prepared to go to the hospital after school.

Anxious as ever, Julie searched for Fulton and Adam in the vast Eden Hall crowd. She still couldn't believe the others weren't going with them. Connie and Guy had returned once or twice for an update, along with several others of the original Ducks. However, she, Adam, and Fulton were the only ones who were there constantly.

"Miss Gaffney?" she heard the dean of the school say from behind her.

Julie sighed and turned around, dreading whatever it was that he was going to say. She could already guess Dean Buckley was about to tell her what her punishment was for fighting in school.

"Yes sir?" Julie asked politely, hoping it wasn't too bad.

"Follow me, please," he said, motioning towards his office down the hall.

Julie gazed longingly at the front exit of the school and followed the dean.

Once they were inside his office, Dean Buckley closed the door. Julie saw Carrie sitting in a chair, waiting for her punishment as well.

The dean walked behind his desk as Julie sat in the hard chair next to Carrie. Dean Buckley cleared his throat and looked at both girls.

"Both of you know why you're here. It was a horrible display you put on, and both of you will be punished for your actions. Your disagreement should not have been solved with your fists, and especially not in the middle of a classroom. It is the last day of school tomorrow, so it would be pointless to suspend you. I discussed it with some of your teachers, and we settled on having you clean up the school for 2 hours after school today and tomorrow. The janitors are waiting in the hallways for you, so you should probably get going. Have fun girls," Dean Buckley said as he dismissed them from his office.

Julie accepted the mop handed to her by the janitor, and she sighed. This would be a long two hours...

~~~*~~~

Adam and Fulton were looking everywhere for Julie.

"JULIE! JULIE!" Adam called out as he and Fulton searched the school grounds for the girl. "JULES!"

"I don't see her, Banks," Fulton said, looking around the thinning crowd of students.

Adam Banks looked around for a few more seconds before sighing. "Should we go on without her?" he asked his friend.

Fulton nodded. "Yeah. Maybe something came up. Besides, she knows the way to get there if she needs to," Fulton said.

"Yeah, it's just she's been there every day. It's just kind of weird that she isn't going today," Adam commented.

"It is pretty weird...but there's probably a reason. She's not required to spend every living, breathing second there anyway. She may just need a break. It is a pretty taxing experience," Fulton said as they took off for the hospital.

Banks nodded and followed Fulton along the rest of the way.

~~~*~~~

"Hey guys," Gordon greeted them as they walked in. Over the past few days, it had become routine for them. "Where's Julie?"

They shrugged. "We're not sure. We didn't see her after school," Fulton answered.

Bombay nodded and returned to the case he was reviewing. Since he had gone back to his job as an attorney, he had gotten his workload back. He was currently taking time off for Charlie, but he was still looking over his papers.

~~~*~~~

The room was dark and he wasn't sure where he was...

It smelled...stuffy. Everything was fuzzy and dark...

He smelled...alcohol...

Suddenly a hand grabbed his upper arm and yanked. He tried to scream, but when his mouth opened, no sound came out. In fact, it was then that he realized there were no sounds around him. It was an eerie silence filling the room.

He could see his father's angry face, and smell the familiar stench of alcohol as if it were really happening. He could feel every punch, every kick, every yank...

Then the scene seemed to change...

Now he was in the doorway of his father's house. It was as if he had no control over his body; it was moving for him.

A presence seemed to be behind him, and when he looked, it was his father. He had the glass bottle.

Everything went black, and as if in a movie, a flash occurred and he could see the cutting edge of the bottle flying at his face again...

Charlie sat up straight, his eyes flying open. His heart was pounding in his chest, and he could feel a cold sweat come over him.

He looked around. Where was he? Where was his father?

He tried to calm his breathing as he looked around in confusion. He couldn't see his father anywhere...but...he could have sworn he was there...

After completely sure that his father wasn't anywhere within a fifty mile radius, Charlie laid back against the hard bed.

He could vaguely remember waking up, but he hadn't felt like fully waking up and finding out where he was at the time. However, Charlie wasn't too big on the idea of going back to sleep now.

It was only a few more seconds before Charlie concluded that he was in a hospital...again.

Why would he be...

Charlie looked down at his arms. They were hooked up to an IV as well as other machine-looking contraptions. He then noticed his sling was gone. The evil blue sling was actually gone...

He lifted his arm from the bed and observed it. Just as he had thought, the cuts were there. He hadn't even realized how deep some of them had been. They trailed up his arms, reminding him of that night. Considering he was still alive and breathing, Charlie assumed he didn't die.

Charlie let out a sigh. He hadn't particularly WANTED to die, per se; he hadn't really been thinking clearly and just wanted to let whatever happened....happen. He certainly wouldn't have OBJECTED to going ahead and dying at the time...

As he groaned, he couldn't help but think death wouldn't be so bad as compared to whatever questions he would have to answer any minute now...

~~~*~~~

The nurse peeked her head through the doorway and into the waiting room.

"Are you three here for Charlie Conway?" the nurse asked, confirming what she thought. They had been in there everyday, but she wanted to make sure.

"Yes," Gordon answered as all three head turned eagerly to the lady.

She gave them a warm smile. "He's awake."

All three of their faces brightened. "Can we see him?" Fulton asked, voicing all of their thoughts.

The nurse smiled again. "In a few moments; we need to give him a chance to readjust," she said. "We'll come get you in a few moments. I just thought you would want to know so you could figure out who's going in first."

They nodded as she walked away.

"Wow...he's awake," Adam said after a moment of shocked silence.

"Yeah..." Fulton said, still unsure of what to say.

"Who's going in first?" Gordon Bombay asked.

They sat there in silence, trying to decide who it would be.

"I think you should, Coach," Fulton said after a moment.

Bombay gave a light smile, but shook his head. "I want to see him, but I don't know if he really wants to see me. And if he doesn't, I don't know if I could handle it. I would much rather you guys warm him up first," Gordon said with a tinge of humor.

"Gee, thanks." Fulton joked. "Get'm to yell at us first."

"Well, if Coach isn't going first, then I think you should, Fulton," Adam said.

"Why? I would've thought you would," Fulton said, confused.

Adam nodded. "Under any other circumstance, I would have too. But to be blunt, we didn't part on good terms. I don't want to upset him more either. I think you're the only one here that did have a huge blowout as a last conversation. If Julie were here, then I would vote her. But for whatever reason, she isn't here. So I think you should," Adam reasoned.

Fulton nodded, still confused as to why they didn't want to go first. "Right...You know, Adam, you should really try out for debate."

"Very funny," Adam said, hitting Fulton lightly with a rolled up magazine.

"You ready?" the nurse asked, walking over to them.

Fulton nodded and followed her to the room. He knocked lightly on the door, and he saw Charlie's gaze flash in his direction.

Fulton opened the door and walked in.

"Hey Charlie," Fulton said before the room became silent again. "You know, if you didn't want to take your finals, you should have just said so," he said, cracking a small smile.

Charlie smiled back. "Hey, I do what I must."

Both just remained in silence, aware of what needed to be said, but neither up for talking about it. Fulton didn't want to ask, and Charlie didn't want to answer.

"Bombay and Adam are waiting outside too...Julie's been with us too, but today we couldn't find her. We've been worried," Fulton said, unsure of what he was supposed to say.

Charlie sighed and leaned back into the bed, frowning. "Is that so?"

Fulton blinked and frowned too. "Yeah, of course we've been worried. Dude, I think Julie nearly had a heart attack."

Charlie pursed his lips. He was having a difficult time picturing it.

"I'm sure," he replied, diverting his gaze.

Fulton frowned, furrowing his eyebrows. "What is your problem lately? We've just been trying to help, and you give us the cold shoulder?!" Fulton asked tightly, the frustration of the past week piling up.

"I don't have a problem," Charlie said sharply.

"Yes, you do," Fulton replied, force behind his voice.

"NO, I do not," Charlie retorted through a tight jaw.

"Yes, Charlie, you obviously do!" Fulton said back, trying to keep his voice even. He didn't want to set Charlie off into a yell-fest. He also didn't want to be banned from the room for 'exasperating the patient.' That would not be cool...

"NO I DO NOT!" Charlie snapped back. The nerve of these people!

"Charlie, listen. I don't know what your definition of 'problem' is, but I'd have to say there is definitely a problem here. People don't withdraw from there friends when there's no problem! People don't just suddenly change into mean, antisocial people when there isn't a problem! People don't wind up in hospitals for suicide attempts when there isn't a problem!" Fulton nearly yelled, locking eyes with Charlie.

Charlie's face hardened as he tightened his lips. When he was about to respond, the door creaked open.

"Is everything in here alright?" the doctor asked.

Charlie inhaled sharply and continued glaring at Fulton.

Fulton kept his eyes locked with Charlie as he walked out the door. The doctor gave Charlie a questioning glance, but the boy only crossed his arms defiantly and rolled over, facing the opposite direction.

~~~*~~~

Fulton plopped down next to Adam and buried his face in his hands.

"What happened?" Adam asked with confusion.

Fulton groaned. "I probably did the worst possible thing I could have ever done..." he mumbled.

"Which is...?" Bombay probed.

"Go off on him...of all the times to lose it, it had to be then," Fulton muttered into his hands.

"I know EXACTLY how you feel," Gordon said with a sigh as he leaned back.

"Me too," Adam added with a knowing look. "So I'm guessing now would not be the time to visit him?"

"Not if you want to leave the room in one piece; or at least try and salvage whatever little ray of hope still exists." Fulton answered.

All three sighed. "This really bites..." Fulton continued after a moment.

"I second that..." Adam replied with a groan.

They had come to the decision that there was definitely something wrong here...