A/N: You had to wait such a long time for chapter 7 so I'm trying to make up for it by posting chapter 8 now and chapter 9 will probably be out sometime tomorrow.

Dedicated to: csigirlie156 (glad it wasn't too bad, I won't make you wait for so long again), missusmesser (it was cloudy the last few days, guess I missed them ;)), berta101 (another great idea, where do you get them from?), Rose Ray (I guess you don't live in America when you've been to Germany with school? I'm looking forward to reading some German, I wrote so much English I think I forget how to speak German :)), bdoney (this is another chapter from Martin's POV, but I don't know yet if I'll write another one or go back to Samantha/Danny/Jack) and higherbeingfriendsfan (glad you think I was able to show his pain, I'm not quite sure about this chapter, I've never been in such a situation, so read and tell me please!)

Chapter 8

When the cold grabbed his heart, he knew it was over. His tight hold on Danny's hand loosened as he lost control over his body and even the last bit of warmth left him. He expected everything to turn black, because he guessed it was similar to passing out, but it didn't.

Instead, he saw a white light, first it was very small, then slowly it got bigger and brighter, until it was blinding him. It felt like he was flying, and only a second before he could reach the light, it vanished. Darkness surrounded him again, the pain returned and he could hear distant voices.

Part of his body wanted to jump up and punch whoever was responsible for what had just happened. He had been free of pain, free of sound, free of the mad spinning in his head. But he had been ripped out of this peaceful heaven.

Another part was so happy he just wanted to cry. If he had continued toward the light, he knew what would have happened. He would have never been able to talk to Samantha again. To see her face, hear her laugh, touch her soft skin. He would have left everything behind.

His feelings were torn, and these thoughts joined the various others that were already spinning madly in his mind. He thought he would go crazy. The swirl of thoughts was slowly turning into a pounding in his head that was intolerable. If he couldn't go back to the wonderful light he at least wanted to drift off into the peaceful darkness again. It was the only place where the thoughts stopped. And slowly, as though his body followed some sort of self-preservation instinct, the darkness fell.

But it wasn't as peaceful as it had been earlier. Through his dizziness, he could still hear sounds and voices and the darkness turned to light and back repeatedly, like someone kept turning on and off a lamp.

It drove him crazy. He started wishing that the light would return and just take him away. Funnily, he thought it did. He wasn't quite sure if he saw it the first time, because it was only a short and distant flicker. But he felt the same coldness he had felt earlier. The second time he definitely knew it was there. It didn't get nearly as close as it did the first time, but still it was there.

Anger started welling up inside of him. He didn't want to die, because he really wanted to see Samantha one last time before he went on, but this constant coming and going of life and death, of darkness and light, made him wish death would just come and take him away. At least he would get some peace.

The knowledge that he was walking on the edge of a cliff and could fall down every second without having any control was really getting to him. It was like balancing on a small rope, which was swinging dangerously with every movement he made.

Finally, the dizziness in his head grew and the darkness which surrounded him got more and more intense. He didn't really know where he was, but he guessed a doctor had given him some kind of medication. His mind wouldn't have shut itself down just like that and he was thankful to whoever had done something to help him along.

Darkness came and his mind slipped off into a peaceful, dreamless sleep.

He didn't really know when he woke up again. Actually, he didn't really know if he woke up again. His mind slowly regained its usual level of awareness, but his body didn't react to the orders he sent. Although he desperately tried to do so, his eyes wouldn't open.

'Maybe I should just take it slow a little bit. I don't know how long I have been out of it and my body probably needs some time 'til it gets back to its usual strength.' He didn't quite like just laying there, not being able to see where he was, not knowing who or what was around him, not being able to do anything at all. Never had he been able to keep still for an extended period of time without doing anything. Now his body forced him to do so.

Finally, he accepted that there was no use in trying to keep on fighting, as his body didn't show the slightest sign of reacting. If he just rested and waited for a bit, maybe he would recover and get back his ability to move.

So he tried to concentrate onto his surroundings. Just because he wasn't able to see anything it didn't mean he had no other possibility to find out where he was.

He listened closely to everything that was audible.

A slow, continuous beeping. – Probably a heart monitor.

The quiet and regular dripping of liquid. – H was probably hooked up to an IV.

Distant, barely audible voices. – Nurses and doctors.

Then he tried to feel as much as possible without having to move.

He was lying on something soft. – Well, this wasn't too hard to figure out; of course he's be in a hospital bed.

Something cold and hard was attached to his arm and piercing his skin. - Probably the IV.

There were several things fixed to his chest, which he guessed were the connections of the heart monitor.

And last, there was something hard and very uncomfortable stuck up his nose, which he grudgingly had to admit made it much easier to breathe, so that was probably an oxygen line.

So he was in a hospital bed and room, connected to monitors and IVs. As the only voices he could hear were far away and barely audible, he guessed he was in the ICU. He knew the depressing silence was typical of this certain area of the hospital from previous visits.

Suddenly, he thought he could hear something else. Yeah, there it was again. Footsteps. They were coming near his room, then they stopped. He wondered whether someone would come in or not, but as nothing happened for several seconds, he thought the person had just gone by.

Again, he heard footsteps, this time leading away from his room, then the door opened. He wanted to hold his breath so he could hear every sound the person made and would therefore be able to figure out who it was, but as he had no control over his body, it didn't quite work. The door closed and he heard slow, hesitant footsteps approaching his bed.

It was a woman, he could tell from the sounds her shoes made. As the woman stopped next to his bed he felt a soft touch on the back of his hand.

It was Samantha.

He knew before he heard the whispered "Hey" she greeted him with. The tiny touch of her fingertips had been enough for him to figure it out. His heart started racing. Finally, she was here. He had spent the whole time worrying that he would never see her again. That he would pass away without being able to talk to her one last time. And now that she was finally here, he couldn't move.

He cursed his body for allowing no reaction to her presence; he wanted to jump up and hug her, explain to her why he had acted the way he had, tell her that he loved her. But he couldn't move.

She let go of his hand and he wanted to stop her, to not go away. He heard her sit down next to him. Then she took hold of his hand again. The simple touch made him shiver. It had been an eternity since he had last touched her, last caressed her soft skin, since he had last kissed her. Her hand holding his and caressing it softly made him relax and calm down, and he felt his mind slowly go dizzy.

But he didn't want to fall asleep now. If he couldn't talk to her, he wanted to at least hear what she had to say to him.

For a long time, she didn't say anything at all. Suddenly, she started talking. His mind wasn't fully able to register the words, but he knew that she was comforting him, telling him everything would be just fine.

Just as he thought his mind would fade away again, he heard her speak up one last time. He wasn't quite sure if she had really said it or if it had been something his sleepy mind had imagined. Maybe it was the medication or an illusion created by his desperate hope for her to return his feelings.

He didn't know what it was, and he wasn't in the right state to figure it out right now. But the warm and wonderful feeling that spread deep inside of him told him that it hadn't been his imagination. She had finally said the words he had so long been waiting for.

A/N: The end probably isn't any better than the last one was, but this is another late night chapter (10.00 p.m. – 11.45 p.m.). Sorry again, I'll try not to do it again.

As I already said, chapter nine is ready to go, I'm just waiting for the reviews!

Edited 08/15/09