Author's notes: Here I am again, bringing you another chapter!

Chapter Fifteen: The Winner Takes it All

"So… you want me to switch places with her," Fiona said.

Duncan and Quigley nodded.

"But-"

"Unless you somehow prove that you didn't do it, this is the only outcome," Quigley answered.

"But won't the guards-"

"I read a diary of a guard once," Duncan said. "He said that all prisoners looked alike to him. Most likely, that's the way it'll be."

"But… Duncan, what about…. What about us?"

Duncan was silent. "I was wrong about you, Fiona. Wrong the first time, when I hated you, and wrong the second time, when I loved you. Fiona, it's over."

Fiona, teary eyed, nodded, and walked upstairs to change into the guard's uniform they brought with them. In a few minutes, she came down the stairs.

"Let's go," Fiona whispered.

---

"SHUT UP YOU-"

Isadora tuned out the rest. She hated to listen to the prisoners swear at each other during lunch. She hated the atmosphere of the prison. It was not a place for a poet. She hated the cafeteria, with its white walls, white floors, white everything. She hated the slop that they called chili that was every meal. But most of all, she hated the hallucinations that haunted her already in the short time she had been in the jail.

For instance, now she could almost swear that the guard walking towards her was the real Fiona, there to insult her… but it couldn't be. Fiona had gotten away.

Then why was the guard frantically waving to her?

She raised her hand and asked to go to the bathroom. Fiona-or rather, the guard that looked like Fiona- escorted her to the restroom, following the rule. As soon as they reached the ladies room, Fiona pulled her inside.

"Hello, Isadora," Fiona said..

"Fi-Fiona?" Isadora answered, stuttering. "No, it can't be-"

"But it is," Fiona interrupted, giving a weak smile. It had only been one night, but she could see how pale Isadora was. "Here," she said, taking off her hat. "Put this on."

"Why are you doing this?" Isadora asked, puzzled.

"For Klaus. And your brothers," Fiona answered. "And for mine," she muttered.

Now, Isadora was in the guard's uniform, free to go. And now, Fiona was in the fluorescent jumpsuit, a prisoner.

"I'll find a way to free you," Isadora whispered. "Thank you. I'm sorry that I took Klaus away from you," she said, genuinely meaning it.

"Hey," Fiona replied, "the winner takes it all."

---

After escorting the real Fiona back to her table, Isadora (or "Nancy" as it said on her nametag) said she felt sick and walked out of the prison, not looking back. She looked around, and saw Duncan and Quigley hiding behind a bush, just like Fiona said they would.

"IZZY!" Duncan screeched.

"Shhh…" Isadora answered. "We don't want them to find us. I'm glad to see you guys too. Let's get back to the mansion- I'm tired."

Her brothers faces became grim.

"Actually…" Quigley started.

"What? What is it?" his sister asked quietly.

"We have to go to the hospital. It's Klaus, Izzy," Duncan replied to Isadora's horror. "He's dying of tuberculosis."

---

As Isadora ran the entire five-mile distance to the hospital, Duncan and Quigley tried to keep up.

She sprinted into the lobby, asked where she might find a Klaus Baudelaire, and ran up the stairs, ignoring the elevator.

Isadora found Klaus's room very easily- it was the only room with a two-year-old and a fifteen-year-old, both sobbing and holding a teenage boy's hand. She suddenly found herself blinking back tears; there was the boy she loved, dying.

"H-how long?" she said, finally finding her voice.

Violet, who only now realized that someone else was in the room, embraced her friend. "Not long," she said between sobs. "He's been like this for almost a day now. The doctor said that if we're lucky, he might wake up before he… before he…"

She couldn't say the word "dies".

Author's notes: We're nearing the end, people. One or two more chapters, and that's it.

I want to thank ChoFrog09 for reviewing in between the hours (well, I had to eat dinner and go to my Religious Education Program class, so I'm sorry I couldn't post them both at once). I'm sorry I'm so harsh on Fiona- I just really hate her. It got to the point where every single time I mentioned that the book is coming out on Tuesday I talked about how much I wanted her to die. You know, I've never really hated a character with a passion like this… Hey, I'm the manager of the Fiona Hating c2, filled with anti-Fiona stories! Sorry…