Ahh, the final hurrah! Last chapter now! hehe be sure to review! and i would just like to thank everyone who did the whole time, you guys are the best!

Chapter 6: Anna Begins to Change My Mind

Sandy had rushed to the hospital as soon as he heard. Claire had called him into her bedroom, a pale shade hijacking her skin tone. She wrapped her arms around herself, looking at her feet and shaking her head frantically, as if that might change what had happened.

The only thing he had been able to think of was Kirsten, and why nearly an hour and a half later she was not back yet, when she had promised 35.

So now, he sat in one of the uncomfortable plastic chairs, thinking of everything but that. All he could think about was her. How she had to be ok. Because Charlie was gone. The doctor said it was instant; there had not been any pain.

Sandy found that he was automatically sickened by the fact that that piece of news caused every emotion but relief. In fact, not only did that inflict a terrible whirlpool of emotion in him, but also the physical gut ache, the splitting headache making him feel as if he were forty, and the numbness in his hands was so significant that he could not feel them shaking uncontrollably.

His mind was running races with itself. Mainly it was Charlie and Kirsten's voice just running around in circles, calling out his name in every tone imaginable.

"Saaanford!" his voice was excited, a party tone that desperately tried to pick up women.

"Sandy!" Kirsten snapped. He had just done something stupid, and she was trying so hard to keep a straight face.

"Sandy," Charlie was trying to convince him that his 'master plan' was, in fact, a fabulous idea.

"San-dyyyyy!" she was using the puppy dogface to get what she wanted. He, of course was complying.

"Sandy…?" Charlie whispered, a look of defeat and guilt spread across his face, the reason only one he would confide in his best friend with.

"SAN-dy!" her voice came out as more of a moan, as she could feel the satisfaction rising in her, that only he could provide.

"Ssss...Sandy?" he looked hurt and disoriented. Sandy pictured this as the last way that Charlie would have ever said his name.

"Sandy, I want to be with you too. " This too, was hardly above a whisper, so only he could hear, but everyone would know.

This time when kindness falls like rain
It washes me away and

Anna begins to change my mind
And every time she sneezes I believe it's love and
Oh lord, I'm not ready for this sort of thing

The names grew faster, more frantic, more upset. He felt sick to his stomach, remembering he had drank a few beers himself this evening. A dry heave coursed through his trunk, shooting a surge of panic down his spine, but that was it. He didn't think he had the energy to throw up. All of that needed to be saved so that when the doctor showed up to talk to him about Kirsten, he would be able to move his legs more than a few inches.

And speak of the devil, the doctor, a man in his early 40's or so, dressed in a too-clean white lab coat. The fact that his coat looked too fresh for the occasion could only mean one thing; something bad had happened in the operating room, or so Sandy would think.

"Those waiting for Kirsten Nichol?" Sandy shot up, having been praying that he would be able to since the moment the doors swung open.

Claire, who had been sitting with him the whole time, got up as well. Her eyes were still puffy and red. Her knuckles were white, and her cheeks, too, resembled a child's white linen sheets.

"Yes?" Sandy asked, frantically. "Is- is…" he pulled himself together for a moment. "How is she?" Claire looked as if she might start crying again at the thought of losing both of them at once. It was bad enough that they had both already lost Charlie. What was worse was that Kirsten might be about too go too. She did not think she could handle it, let alone Sandy. He would be a mess.

"She's out of surgery, and in the ICU recovering still. She is still heavily sedated, and is not awake yet. It might be a few hours. Surgery went surprisingly well…" Sandy felt his stomach, which had been in his throat, fall back to his abdomen. "And we are happy to report that she only suffered a mild concussion, a broken rib, but also a femur. Femurs are life-threatening brakes, but we were able to make sure that the fracture did not touch the femoral artery. So, after a few months of recovery, she should be perfectly fine."

All of the doctor speak went in one ear and out the other. All that he heard was that she was going to be ok, and that was what mattered.

"So when can we see her?" Sandy asked.

"Ummm, I would give it a few hours, she might be awake then. Plus, she might have been moved into a private room by then. So, maybe around noon, or so. I would suggest you two go home and get some rest."

"Thank you, doctor." Claire added. Sandy nodded and they turned around.

Outside, he hailed a cab and they silently drove back to Sandy and Charlie's apartment.

Sandy shut his eyes, feeling the burn of the tears that threatened to fall. He was not sure of the emotion he was feeling, but still, the tears fell. And he too, just fell straight on his bed and fell to a desperate, yet restless sleep.

He woke up what felt like moments later, but the bright sunshine and birds chirping gave away that it was late morning. Sandy was angry at the fact that it was so nice outside. How the sun could still rise, even though his entire world had fallen apart last night.

Insignificance, it is really a lovely feeling to wake up to.

By noon on the dot, Sandy was back at the hospital, while Claire had stayed back to meet Charlie's parents. Kirsten's were probably at the hospital by now. Sandy had not pictured this the way that he would meet her parents. He had always thought that Kirsten would be, well, conscious.

Finding her room on the seventh floor, he brought his bouquet of white lilies, Kirsten's favorite, inside with him, shutting the door behind him. He found a woman, probably in her late forties, sitting beside the bed, presumably Kirsten's mother, Bridget.

Kirsten was not awake yet.

He did not know where Caleb, her father was, and was not too keen on finding out. From what he had heard, meeting Caleb was not going to be a funfest for Sandy.

"Hello, you must be Sandy. I'm Bridget Nichol, Kirsten's mother. Please, come sit." the woman was warm, polite, and was chillingly resembling of her daughter. It killed him to see so much of her in another person, even if it was her mother, while the Kirsten he knew was not awakening yet from a traumatic surgery.

"Hi, Mrs. Nichol. It's very nice to meet you, given the-- circumstances."

"She's a tough one, my daughter, and she'll be ok. I am going to go find my husband, so why don't you sit with her awhile?"

"Ok, where can I find you if she wakes up?"

"Don't you worry about that, we'll be back soon. Just stay here with her."

"Alright." His gaze was still transfixed on Kirsten's limp form, tied up to tubes and IV's and her leg was raised in a splint. His head was still pounding, but he could not think to complain. Her pain was more like a thousand times of his at the moment. He couldn't think hardly at all anymore, so he did what he did best, ramble, for the fact that this was definitely more than a fling had finally struck him.

"Kirsten, I just want you to know- and I should be saying this while you are awake, but I am the way that I am. And normally, girls just think that I'm some loser that doesn't know how to shut up. But you, Kirsten, with you, I saw the me-- inside you that I am like outside.

But then, I moped because I thought that I would never again have what I wanted in life. I thought that I would never again fall in love. That I was done.

And Charlie was the one that told me that I didn't need a woman to fall for. He said I would be just fine playing the field, having fun, waiting and seeing if I could ever even be the 'settle down' kind of guy.

Then I met you. And I tried to tell myself that we were nothing serious, and that I was not as attached as I really was.

But I fell for you-- hard and fast. Faster than I realized, until now. And it just sucks that it took something like this to happen. I couldn't risk being hurt again. And that was selfish of me not to believe in what was actually happening just because I couldn't handle it. I just hope it's not too late."

"Sandy…?" Kirsten's voice had stirred his monologue for a moment. He took a moment to pause, take her hand in his, and kiss her softly.

"Let me finish. I just have spent a long time wondering when things were going to start making sense.

Then I had you, and things didn't have to make sense anymore. I lived for the moment. What made sense at the moment was up to par.

I wasn't being honest with myself. And because of it, I almost lost you. I realized, in the balance what it means to be completely happy.

Anyone could be completely happy. All they have to do is ignore everything that is bad around them. I did that. And I was completely happy with you.

But I've grown past that. I don't want to be completely happy. No one can be completely happy and still be real. And I can't compromise myself to be that ignorant.

But, what I can do is be honestly happy. Meaning, that I can accept what sucks, and learn to cope, learn to be amazed by the fact that I am a living, breathing, loved human being-- loved by you.

And I can be amazed by the fact that I've never had a feeling-- whether it is good, bad, right, or left-- that was this acute before. Not about anything other than what I feel for you. Maybe it's love, I think it's love… maybe I'm just a kid that's confused and falling for a dream that I am going to wake from any second now, but I've never felt that stomach-lurching, heart-pounding, adrenaline-rushing, feeling before with something that wasn't synthesized in a rollercoaster.

She's talking in her sleep
It's keeping me awake and

Anna begins to toss and turn
And every word is nonsense but I understand and
Oh lord, I'm not ready for this sort of thing

And if that's what I'm going to get when I am with you, then that is what it takes for me to be completely honestly happy. See, I would say that no one knows what it feels to be like this; except for I know that you feel the same way.

I know that you would give up ignorance to be honest with yourself, if it meant being and feeling this way with me, even though I would never ask you to. You know you would. I know you know you would. You know I know you know you would- I know you know I know you know you would- you--"

"Sandy! You're starting to become ridiculous!" her voice was firm, but exhausted.

"Sorry, I just--"

"I know." she smiled lightly.

"Kirsten you promised me that you would never hurt me like this you know that I can't lose you. I can't lose you… Please."

"Sandy, do you honestly think that I am doing this because I feel like it? Hell, I'm not even doing it! Please, honey, just stay with me. I'm gonna be fine. Please. Just stay with me. Please." she begged him, her eyes beseeching his.

"I'm never going to leave you voluntarily. It'll take a lot more to get me away from you. I love you so honestly and completely much. I don't even know if that's grammatically correct but I'm sure as heaven, hell, and this moment that it's true. And if I can't be with you then I won't be with anyone else. I'm sorry if I didn't know that right away, I was too scared to find out, but now I know that I need you more than ever. I promise."

"Sandy…"

"You're gonna be ok. I promise. I'm not gonna lose you too."

"I love you too."

"Good. Because I don't know what I'd do without you now…"

"Shhh… you don't have to tell me, I already know, just hold me." she said, her voice drifting off, and her eyes closing.

"Ok baby, whatever you want."

Kirsten Cohen found her husband on the couch, sneaking a peak through their seventeen-year-old son Seth's DVD collection.

"Wanna watch one with me?" he asked her as she approached, pointing to the case full of movies.

"Sure." she said, sitting down and curling up on one side of the couch, leaving room for Sandy to come cuddle. He had selected some film that Kirsten was sure to fall asleep by the middle of, and he could mock the plot to himself without being interrupted by her pleas to shut up and watch the movie.

Joining her on the couch, Sandy put his arm around her, pulled her close, and put a light blanket over the two of them. He left a light kiss on her temple, pushing a strand of blond hair behind her delicate ear.

"Kirsten?" Sandy asked.

"Sandy?" she replied in a light sarcasm.

"I've been thinking about what you told me the other day-- about Charlie." he felt Kirsten shrink in his arms. Her hand tightened in his. "I think that was the first time I ever told you I loved you." she smiled before she spoke.

"Yeah, it was. It was tucked inside one of your finer rambles, if I remember correctly."

"I think I knew it before though. I'm sorry I didn't say it earlier."

"Well, I think we've made up for it over the course of our marriage. And I'm pretty sure I knew it too." she turned around to face him, and kissed him lightly.

"Good, because I would never want to miss an opportunity to tell you that I love you. In fact, I love you. And I still mean every word of that ten minute ramble." he said, smiling toothily as if he was still a nine-year-old. Kirsten laughed at her silly husband.

"I love you too." she leaned into kiss him, finally on the road to peace with what happened to her after that accident over 20 years ago.

Her kindness bangs a gong
It's moving me along and Anna begins to fade away
It's chasing me away

She disappears and
Oh lord, I'm not ready for this sort of thing

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Alrighty, then. I hope you guys liked the end, it wasn't too cheesy or anything! Thanks for those of you who update, I love you all! Any feedback is greatly appreciated.