I'm not dead! I'm still alive! Rejoice!

Well, as some of you may have noticed, I started a new story recently, which I have been updating constantly. Yeah, I know. I'm not fair to you guys. I finally told myself that I needed to give you guys the chapter you've been awaiting for…what's it been now? 4…5 months? Something like that.

I must thank you guys a lot for being so patient with me. Oh, and definitely have to thank those who sent me their ideas. They actually helped me a lot. I had been planning to end the story around here, but I knew that'd be lame. Thanks to your reviews and ideas, I finally figured out what I'm going to do! Arigato gozaimasu!

For that, this chapter is dedicated to the two people who sent me their ideas:

Ao-Senshi

karislight

Disclaimer: Was it this story I said I wouldn't be putting the disclaimer anymore? Or was it some other story? Hmm…Well, anyway, I don't own Digimon.

"How many fingers am I holding up?" asked Henry, holding two fingers in front of Ryo's face. Ryo blinked a few times and squinted, trying to see clearly. He could see six, but he highly doubted that Henry had six fingers on one hand…

"Does it matter?" Ryo asked after a few minutes, pushing Henry's hand away from his face. "I'm totally fine."

"You sure about that?" asked Henry, sounding and looking very skeptical. "You realize how much blood you just gave, right?"

"I can handle it." Said Ryo, waving away Henry's comment. Slowly, he got up from his seat in the waiting room and stood straight. "You think you can find out where I can get some coffee? I'm pretty tired…"

Ryo blinked in surprise at the look on Henry's face. It was a sort of smug look; like he had just found out he was right about something. Ryo also noticed that it looked like Henry was leaning rather far to the right.

"What's that look for?" asked Ryo.

"Three…two…one…" replied Henry. And just like that, Ryo collapsed, crashing face first into the floor. Unfortunately, Ryo, like so many other first time donors, underestimated the aftereffects of his blood donation.

"Okay," said a dazed Ryo as Henry helped him to his feet. "Maybe that took a little more out of me than I thought."

"Really?" said Henry as he handed Ryo a cookie, sarcasm dripping from the word. "I couldn't tell."

"Yeah yeah, smart-ass." Said Ryo as he took a bite out of the cookie and sat back down. "So…" he said, his tone becoming much more serious. "You think…she'll survive?"

"Ryo, she's Rika. She's a pretty strong girl. Not to mention that she's got your blood now." Henry smiled reassuringly, though Ryo couldn't see it. Still, he couldn't hide the tension in his voice.

"Alright." Said Ryo, trying to pretend that Henry sounded more sure than he really did. 'What if it was too late?' He thought. 'She might still…'

The sun began to rise steadily from behind them, reflecting against the white hospital floor tiles. Ryo stared at them, wondering why every hospital had a white floor. It must get pretty bloody…and there with the blood again.

"So," he said, leaning back and closing his eyes. "What about that coffee?"

That had been the previous Thursday, and on Wednesday afternoon, Ryo could be found at his desk in English class, his face flat against the pencil-scarred desktop. The strange English words rang his ears as the teacher attempted to teach them the difference between "laughter" and "daughter". God those Europeans and their crazy language.

Normally, Ryo wouldn't have a problem with English. He was rather good at it in fact. But today, and for several days previous, Ryo wasn't really into it. He still hadn't received any word from Rika's doctor, nor Rika's family. Each day after school, Ryo would whip out his cell phone and call Henry to see if he had heard anything. Unfortunately, the answer was always the same.

"I haven't heard anything yet." He would say solemnly. "But they'll inform us as soon as anything happens."

Ryo tilted his head to the side to look out the window. The sun was shinning again. He had hoped for a rainy week, because after all, misery loves company. But no, it was still sunny.

Then, through the almost silent classroom came the piercing sound of a ringing phone. The teacher grew silent, and the ringing persisted. Ryo continued to stare out the window, barely noticing the sound.

'Poor chump.' He thought. 'He's losing that phone.'

Then, he became aware of several sets of eyes boring into his back.

"Akiyama-san." Said the teacher, annoyance apparent. "Would you turn off that phone before I'm forced to take it?"

Quickly, Ryo scrambled through his backpack, searching for the annoying device. However, before he could find it, it ceased in ringing. The room remained silent for a few moments before the teacher, with an annoyed huff and a warning to Ryo, started talking again. The students stared a moment longer, but soon went back to listening and taking notes, much to Ryo's relief.

He reached into the bottom of his backpack and felt his fingers brush against the phone's plastic covering. He pulled it out, leaning over so that the teacher couldn't see. Flipping it open, Ryo pressed the button for his answering machine and, ducking lower, put the phone to his ear.

"Hello Ryo." Came Rumiko's voice through the receiver. Ryo's eyes widened at hearing her voice and pressed the phone closer to his ear. The tone of her voice seemed rather exciting, which could only mean…

"I thought I should call you and tell you the good news. I got a call from Dr. Tanaka this morning. She says Rika's recovering! She's awake now! When you're free, get over to the hospital. I'm sure Rika would love to see you! Buh bye!" With that, the call ended, followed by the monotone electronic voice saying, "End of messages."

And Ryo's reaction? Well, to the excitement and concern of his classmates, he was quite literally floored.

…alright, I'll admit it. This is desperately short. I want to beat myself with a golf club for making this so short. However, like with chapter two, I just wanted to get something out to you guys before you bought me a coffin.

Also, this chapter got my point across, so I guess it's alright. Oh, and just so you know…

This is not the last chapter!!!

Just thought I'd say that for anyone who thought that it might be.