Disclaimer: Just see previous chapters. It never changes…(sigh)

A/N: And here's chap 16 for you all. As of two chapters ago, this story was officially longer than my first fic, both in pages typed on my comp and chappies. Not reviews though…hint hint wink wink. :) No Pr's today so just read and enjoy. I forgot that this chappie was so short, so now I'm glad I posted both 15 and 16 together. Hope you like 'em!

Chapter 16

After getting clean and warmed up a bit, I went back to my room and found crisp, new sheets waiting for me on the bed. I crawled into them, exhaling softly and trying to relax. Thanks to the Anna inside me, my ribs were almost perfect, and my arm was fully healed, in only a few days. Amazing, I thought to myself. Not that I minded, really. The sooner I was better, the sooner I could get on with my life and deal with all the lovely problems in it. Great. I laid in bed for a few hours, just enjoying the quiet. Then there was a soft knock on my door, and Van Helsing walked in, quickly followed by Carl and the girls. My face lit up when I saw them, and I smiled. It felt like I hadn't seen any of them in forever.

Fiona looked confident when she walked in and not afraid or lost at all anymore, which I was relieved to see. Van Helsing searched my face, and, apparently satisfied, he smiled in return and pulled a chair up close to my bed.

"How're you feeling?" he asked in his deep, yet soft voice.

"Oh, I'm fine!" I replied, slightly more cheerfully than I felt. "My arm is perfectly healed and my ribs are almost back to normal. I'm guessing by tomorrow I'll be as good as new!" I moved my arm and sat up, showing them how I felt virtually no pain anymore. They all stared at me in shock.

"Wow, that was quick." Carl responded, breaking the silence. Sylvia nodded in agreement.

"Won't that stupid doctor be surprised." I laughed, waiting for them to get over their slight shock at my condition. Van Helsing frowned.

"Yes, that doctor was rather annoying. But I'm glad you're feeling better." Everyone nodded and made noises of agreement.

"So..." I said, when no one seemed forthcoming about saying anything, "what have you all been up to?"

"Well, it's only been about 11 hours since we've seen you last." Carl said, not quite sure what answer I was looking for. "How much did you expect us to do?"

"Well did you do anything?" I asked, a little exasperated.

"We all went home, then Fiona tried a few phone numbers Drac had given her when he was still "Vlad". She said they had worked before, but when she tried to get through last night, the numbers had been discontinued or something. We didn't really expect to be able to find Dracula by using a phone anyway." Lydia told me. "Then we all went to bed. That's it really." I nodded, a little depressed that we didn't have more answers, but I understood that it would be silly of me to think that they could make any progress in less than half a day. We needed to know why the ring was so important, then maybe things would be clearer to us. But even Van Helsing didn't know that, and he was the one who had given it to me. The only way I could think to find out was to ask Dracula, but apparently he would find us, not the other way around. I didn't particularly want to see him at this very confuzzled time in my life, but he was a threat to me, my friends, and potentially the world at large, so there was no way I could avoid any of this. Why do these things always happen to me?

"I think we're stuck for now." Carl said, sort of stating the obvious, but I let it go. "All we can do now is wait." We all nodded and sighed. How boring. I hated not knowing what to do. But, it seemed our only option.

After a moment, everyone stood up. "Well, we can't stay here doing nothing forever. Fiona, Lydia, and I still have to work." Sylvia pointed out. "We'll come and see you again tomorrow, okay? Who knows, maybe you're right, and you can be released from the hospital tomorrow." I nodded and smiled, and Sylvia, Lydia, and Fiona all gave me a warm hug and walked out. Carl smiled and waved goodbye, then gave me a hug as well after hesitating a moment, and they all left until just Van Helsing remained beside me.

"Andrea..." he said, as if he thought about saying something, but then didn't know how to say it.

"Yes, Gabriel?" I asked, prompting him to continue. He didn't respond, but instead leaned slowly forward and gently kissed my lips, as if afraid that I would break beneath him. Before I could say anything or kiss him back, he stood up and walked towards the door. I kept expecting him to turn back around and look at me, or say something, and I almost called him back, but decided against it and let him leave my room, closing the door softly behind him. He had seemed so afraid, scared that I would reject him, or maybe he was afraid to love again and surprised to find out that he could. At least, that's what the sentimental, romantic part of me surmised. However the cynical part of me whispered that it really was only the Anna inside me he loved, not me for me.

This same cynical voice also pointed out humorlessly that I was just getting it from all sides Van Helsing. First Dracula, then Carl's hug, and now Van Helsing's kiss. All I needed was for Velken to suddenly waltz into the room and kiss me while loudly proclaiming his unending love and my romantic flings with all the VH men would be complete. But, that didn't happen and wasn't going to; Velken, sadly to say, was dead, and I'd never really liked him anyway, so I didn't mind him not barging into my hospital room. I quickly and violently shoved that cynical voice aside with a stern reprimand for having horribly mean thoughts, and tried to clear my mind.

I knew what I had to do, and was resigned to it. However much I didn't want to at that moment, I knew I had to try. I took a deep breath, relaxed, and called out with my mind staring into the corner of my room Dracula seemed to favor, which suspiciously seemed to be always cast in shadow, no matter what time of day. "Vladislaus? Are you there?"

Oh boy, what's gonna happen?You'll find out soon. Review and tell me how mush you LOVE me and my fics, lol. Later!

Gem