A/N: Thanks to all the reviewers and readers who put up with my sudden love of cliffhangers. I've given you a break this time 8).

Disclaimer: I do not own The Suite Life of Zack and Cody.

There it was at the tip of my fingers
There it was on the tip of my tongue
There you were andI had never been that far
There it was the whole world wrapped inside my arms
And i let it all slip away

-Rascal Flatts; Words I Couldn't Say

Cody sat down in a chair as his parents rose to greet the doctor. The sixteen-year-old had never felt so terrified in his entire life, because for the first time he could remember, he couldn't reach out to Zack at all.

Their twin-connection wasn't always strong; most of the time Cody could only get Flashes of what Zack was thinking and even then it was just emotions and not actual thoughts which, arguably, he did not need telepathy to be aware of. But even when it was not working, Cody could always feel Zack's presence. Just a little tinge, a little alarm, that told him his brother was around and still, however discreetly, thinking. When Zack had moved to Hunter with their dad it had lessoned considerably, but it had saved his twin's life last night and for that Cody would be unfailingly grateful.

But now…Now he could not sense Zack at all. Nothing. It was as though a little part of his own soul—heck, a lot more than just a little was somewhere in the rooms behind the doors, and Cody could do nothing about it.

"Martin family?" The doctor checked, glancing at the clipboard.

"Yes," said Cody's father. "How's Zack?"

"Let's sit down," the man in the white coat said quietly, and perched himself across from the little family. "I'm Dr. Carter," he introduced himself.

"Kurt," said Kurt. "My ex-wife Carey, my son Cody." He looked at the doctor expectantly, hands trembling. It scared Cody to see his father so nervous. He brought his knees up to his chest and hugged them close, trying to stop his teeth from chattering. Carey pulled him closer to her and he leaned in to her embrace.

Dr. Carter smiled gently, before his gaze turned solemn once again. "When Zack was brought in, he had lost a lot of blood. We had some difficulty finding the right type of blood to give him transfusions, but one of our interns managed to provide what we needed." Carey sniffed loudly, and Dr. Carter continued. "The damage of the weapon luckily hit nothing major, so he was very lucky there. However there was some internal bleeding in the abdominal region, and we had to operate." He glanced down at his chart. "We did find some blackening of the lungs, however, in some x-rays we took. Has he had any history with smoking, maybe?"

Cody winced slightly and Carey wiped away a tear. "A little," she said. "A year ago he was in a house fire. He's had Asthma ever since."

The doctor nodded. "You may want to talk to a specialist regarding lung disease," he said seriously. "But other than that," he continued briskly. "Zack's recuperating quite nicely from the anesthesia. However, I would like your permission to administer an HIV test. We know nothing of the knife and the nature of its condition, and we like to be sure when it comes to open wounds."

"Of course," said Kurt immediately. "But-when can we see him, doctor?"

Dr. Carter looked at the chart in his hands. "I'll see what I can do," he said, and with a last reassuring smile he stood up. "He's going to be fine," he told them warmly.

And as he left Kurt sighed in relief, Carey brushed away her tears, and Cody buried his head in his hands. Suddenly he felt exhausted.

Zack couldn't move.

Dimly, he picked up on a slow beeping somewhere behind his head, and felt bandages on his arms and around his abdomen, but he felt no pain. Slowly, he moved his fingers, and then opened his eyes slightly. He had expected to see the inside of a hospital room, but all he saw was white.

Maybe he was dreaming…

He found that he was ling in a bed, and he gently pushed himself up, shocked when his injured wrist gave him no anguish. He was definitely dreaming.

With a sudden jolt, he realized he was not alone. Sitting on a small stool across from his bed (a stool that, like everything else in sight was white) was a boy. A boy Zack knew. A boy Zack had last seen on the worst night of his life.

Sam…

"Hey, Zack. Long time no see." His hair was still curly and light brown, and glasses still perched on his nose, hiding violet eyes that were strangely calm for someone who had committed suicide nine months ago.

"Sam?" Zack whispered, finding his voice surprisingly steady.

"Yeah," his old friend said quietly, nodding and smiling slightly. "You're in the hospital. Cody saved your life."

Zack looked at him numbly as the past few hours came rushing to him. "But you're dead," he said softly.

Sam looked down. "Yeah," he agreed. "Look, Zack, about that. I just-I wanted to say-to say that I'm, you know, I'm sorry." He looked up apologetically. "Guess I kinda freaked out on you a little bit that night."

Zack swallowed thickly. "You were gonna shoot me." He didn't know whether to feel anger or sadness towards his late best-friend, so he looked away.

"No," said Sam. "No," he shook his head forcefully. "I'm not-I wasn't a murderer. I wasn't gonna shoot you, man, not you." He opened his mouth, then closed it. "It got to be too much. My dad…" he shook his head and clenched his jaw. "It was just too hard." He said, gaze desperate. "And I'm sorry."

"Okay," said Zack, not wanting to grudge past mistakes. Not when he'd almost died himself. "It's cool, man, I forgive you."

Sam looked at him gratefully. "You're gonna wake up in a few seconds, Zack," he said after a long pause. Zack looked at him in puzzlement. Sam blinked slowly. "You're going to be in a lot of pain, so you might wanna brace yourself."

Zack looked at him, eyes wide. He was so confused…Where was Cody? Where were his parents? Where was he? He tried to ask Sam, but his voice didn't seem to be working anymore, and slowly he noticed that his friend was slowly going out of focus…Like a camera caught between two spotlights.

"Thanks for being my friend, man, it meant a lot. Really." Sam was still speaking, and Zack wanted desperately to answer him. "Your family loves you, Zack. Especially Cody. They want you to be happy…"

Zack squinted, trying to focus…Trying to see…But I am happy! He wanted to shout. I do love them!

"Try to be happy, Zack…"

And then everything went black.

"He's sleeping, now," Doctor Carter told the Martins as they stood outside his room. "We try to keep visits in the ICU down to one or two people at a time. In this case we'll allow the three of you to go in, but try to keep it short. Nothing more than five minutes or so."

"It's okay," said Cody, and his parents looked at him. "They can go in. I'll wait 'til they're done."

"Baby, the doctor said it was alright-,"

"-No, mom, it's cool. Really." In truth, he was terrified to go in and see his brother in this state. After that fire last year he'd hadn't much choice, but now it was different. Now it was more real, somehow, and now he wasn't filled with a deep and boiling anger. Now he was terrified.

"You sure, Cody?" Kurt checked. At his son's nod, he followed his ex-wife into the hospital room, bidding thanks to the doctor who'd held the door open. Cody leaned against the wall outside, sliding down so that he crouched and stared at the plain manila floor.

Dr. Carter stopped and nodded assuringly. "He's a lucky kid, you're twin."

Cody tried to grin. "Yeah," he managed. "Sometimes I think so."

The doctor smiled gently. "And you're one heck of a brother."

Cody blushed. "Thanks," he whispered.

When it was Cody's turn he slowly shrugged out of his mothers slight embrace and turned away from his father's concerned glance, and walked inside the room. Closing the door behind him he made his way over to the bed.

His brother was pale, and looked small laying propped up against the pillows. His wrist was wrapped tightly in gauze, and little bruises dotted his arms and face. A blanket covered where Cody knew a bandage would cover his abdomen.

He was sleeping deeply, brow furrowed slightly. Cody sighed as he sank down into the chair next to the bed. "Hey, Zack," he whispered.

Zack frowned in his sleep, coughing. His eye lids twitched, and Cody half rose from his seat. Slowly, Zack opened his eyes and his gaze settled on Cody. He opened his mouth to say something, but then winced and cried out a little.

"Hey," Cody went immediately to his side, grasping his brother's hand and squeezing it tightly and Zack clenched his eyes shut and his breathing became ragged. "It's okay, Zack, you're safe now."

"Cody?" Zack murmured, voice strained. "What…happened?" He tried to sit up, but evidently wasn't able to, and rested his head back on the pillow.

"I called 911," Cody said, looking at him in concern. "You lost a lot of blood. In the ambulance…" He broke off and chewed on his lip. "They had to perform CPR because you weren't breathing. They put this respirator down your throat…And then they made me stay out in the waiting room with dad. Mom came later."

Zack had closed his eyes again. "Oh," he said.

Cody sighed and sank into a little chair at the side of the bed, releasing Zack's hand. "Do you want me to get a nurse?" He asked him, seeing the obvious pain he was in.

Zack shook his slightly, then winced. "No," he managed. "Stay."

Cody didn't move.

"I saw-I saw Sam…" Zack said, eyes still shut.

"Sam?" Cody frowned. "Were you dreaming, or something?"

Zack shrugged limply.

Cody bit his lip and felt his twin's forehead. "You have a fever," he said mournfully, sitting back in the chair, and sighing in his helplessness. "Sam's dead, Zack," he reminded him softly.

"I know."

"So…It had to be a dream."

Zack turned his face away. "Guess so."

Cody felt guilty suddenly for being so blunt. Zack was sick and hurt, and here he was being rude. He hated being rude. He, Cody, should leave soon because his parents would want to come talk to his brother, and it was the ICU; Cody shouldn't linger, especially if his presence was only…making things worse. He started to rise from his chair. "Was it-was it a-a good dream?" he asked, trying to bring the conversation back to more cheerful things.

Zack shivered slightly. "Yeah," he said softly. "Yeah, it was a good dream."

To Be Continued

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