Disclaimer: Anything related to TNA or anyone else clearly doesn't belong to the writers of this story. This is written purely for entertainment purposes. If TNA is willing, though, the writers of this story would very much love to own any of the TNA-owned people mentioned within this story. We also don't own Sterling James Keenan but would very much like to. That is all.

A/N: I know, we're rapidly posting chapters but the thing is we wanna get the story done so we can start on the sequel which Phoenix is just itching to do. Plus I know the feeling of having to wait for updates for stories and it can be very annoying, so we'll try keep it at a good pace for ya! Anyway, enjoy! I'm gonna crawl back into the cave from which I emerged. Lizzie


"M… Mom?" she stammered, approaching the side of the bed cautiously. Lily forced her eyes open again, and after readjusting to the light again, she saw Kady come into focus.

"Hey honey," Lily tried to manage a smile, but fearing the pain if she put to much effort into it, she instead winked the girl. Kady breathed a sigh of relief that her mother was coherent and had apparently not suffered any brain damage. "You're okay…"

"Yeah," Kady replied, nervously. "Can't say the same thing about you… so, um… how are you feeling?"

"Never better," Lily wanted to lighten the mood a bit, noting the intense reaction Kady was having to all of this. Despite her gothic persona and complete 'I-don't-give-a-fuck' attitude to just about everything and everyone she came into contact with, Kady was still only fourteen. Still a child. And still not quite able to handle seeing her mother almost killed. Still not ready to handle losing a parent. But Kady wasn't laughing at her mom's attempts to make her feel better.

"Mom…" she breathed, in a whisper. "Come on… that's not funny."

"Sit," Lily instructed, tapping the bed with the two fingers she could move, inviting her daughter to come closer. Kady was scared; not sure if she should or could touch her mother without aggravating the injuries further, but Lily managed to smile a bit more, telling her that it was okay. "Baby, it's okay. Sit. The morphine has got a good hold on me. I'll be fine."

Kady hesitated again and stood her ground, and bit her lip – she wasn't going to show emotion unless she had to, and was pushed to the limit. Right now, she was getting pushed very close to that limit. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah. Don't worry about me. If a car couldn't kill me, there's no chance in hell that you can."

That was enough for Kady, and she checked to make sure that she wasn't going to be sitting on anything important, like any tubes or wires, or Lily herself. Once she gave the all clear, she slowly pushed herself up onto the elevated bed. Having never visited anyone in hospital before… well, at least not since her grandmother got sick and went it for a couple of weeks, when Kady was six… she didn't know how to act or what to say. The patient being her mother made it all the weirder for her. Lily could see how uncomfortable and nervous her daughter was, and wished there was something she could do to make it better. Chris said Kady felt guilty. In Lily's mind, maybe Kady was doing what she was supposed to at that age... she was wising up a bit. She was learning. Kady hung her head, staring at her hands.

"Mom… does it hurt?" she asked, unsure if it was wise to ask. Understandably it took a few seconds for the question to push past all the fatigue and heavy sedative medication that Lily was on, so it could register. Lily inhaled deeply, but couldn't feel the air move into her lungs, since her whole body was practically paralyzed by the weight of the medications she was under.

"No," she assured Kady with every bit of strength she could muster. "Can't feel a thing. Except for how thankful I am that it wasn't you, baby."

Kady's lower lip quivered. In her opinion, it should've been her who got hit, not her mother who only wanted her to listen to them. Everything was so screwed up with her and it was needlessly affecting her parents. Maybe they really would be better off without you, that nagging voice in the back of her head taunted, mercilessly.

"Kady?" Lily's tone lowered with worry. "Kadence? Honey, it wasn't your fault," she couldn't move to hug her, or physically reassure Kady that she would be fine. "It wasn't your fault, okay? Don't go blaming yourself. It's not your fault!"

"Yes it is," Kady whispered, sniffing and wiping her eyes on her sleeve again. "It's my fault, mom. I… I'm so sorry I wasn't a better kid to you. You didn't deserve this because of me."

"No… Kady, no!" Lily stressed, her energy waning. "Don't do this to yourself, it just happened. It was an accident, that's all."

Not being able to stand seeing Lily in such a state any longer, Kady stood up in preparation to leave.

"Don't leave…"

"I'm sorry, mom," Kady told her and back away. "I really am. I can't do this… I'm so sorry." She turned to leave, but to her surprise, Chris was standing in the doorway, blocking any exit she had. His arms were crossed over his chest and he glared at Kady. "Chris, please just move…"

"No," he refused. "I know that if I do, you'll run again. And your mother needs you here. Don't run from this, Kady…"

"I'm not gonna run!" she insisted. "I just… I need time!"

Chris stormed forward until he stood inches from Kady, and lowered his voice out of earshot from Lily. "You might not have time, Kadence. That's the whole God damn point. Be with Lily, she really needs you! This isn't about you anymore."

Kady looked away and closed her eyes. Chris reached out and pulled her to him again; she was weakened to the point where she couldn't push him away. He held her there in front of Lily's bed, she was staring down at the ground and he whispered into her ear. Lily watched, and momentarily forgot that she was lying in critical condition and saw the family that she never had. Chris was being a father, and Kady wasn't rejecting him.

"Chris," she weakly called to him, and he stopped what he was saying to Kady and looked up.

"Huh?"

"Let her go," Lily told him. "She shouldn't be here unless she's comfortable…"

"Lil, she—"

"Chris… let her go. She'll come back when she's ready. Go on."

Chris shook his head in disbelief and muttered something under his breath, and then removed his arm from around Kady's shoulders, and the girl didn't waste any time in turning around and running out the door. Outside the room, Danny looked up in shock to see Kady crying and stood up just as she collapsed in a heap on the floor. He rushed to her side, asking what was wrong and what had happened, but she didn't answer and finally let it all sink in…

In the room, Chris wanted to know why Lily again let Kady off the hook like that, and she was more than prepared to give him an answer even in her drug-induced state of peacefulness.

"She's a child, Chris… this has gotta be hard for her."

"Doesn't excuse the fact that she should be here with you," Chris reasoned, sitting on the bed where Kady had been minutes earlier. He ran his fingers through his hair and then stretched out his arms and legs . "You know as well as I do, probably more so, Lil… what could happen…"

"I know. Believe me, I do know. But we can't force her to do anything now; she'll just get more scared and rebellious and you know it," Lily explained with equal force. "Damn it, Chris. She's so much like you its scary…" she winced when she accidentally moved in a way she shouldn't have.

"Hey, calm down," Chris said, standing up in preparation to get medical staff if she needed it. "Do you need anything? Doctor? Water?"

"You to shut up a minute," Lily weakly snapped and he backed off before she stressed out too much. "Chris, listen to me for once, okay? Give her time to digest all this…" she yawned.

Seeing that she was tired, Chris told her to get some rest and excused himself from the room. Lily was in no position to object and, in fact, welcomed his keen observation in sensing that having him around was more stressful than not. He told her to just rest and not worry about Kady; that he'd take care of everything. Lily couldn't care less one way or the other, given that she was tripping out on the medication. Nevertheless, Chris had to do what was best now and walked out of the room, pulling the door shut behind him, and looked around for Kady and Danny. He didn't have to look far as, in the middle of the floor no more than ten feet away, Kady was sobbing hysterically.

"Fuck… Kady," Chris jogged over to them and dropped to his knees. "What the hell happened now?"

"She just came out here and started crying, how should I know what's wrong with her?" Danny defended. "Man, she is fucked…"

"Danny! Kinda inappropriate, kid." The older man scolded, hotly, and then moved to help Kady up, but she was having none of it and pushed them both away. It was then that she started clutching at her chest; her eyes widened and got the sensation of an oncoming asthma attack from all the stress; her lungs started to constrict and seized any remaining air they could. Thus began the battle for air, for her. And then she realized she had left her inhaler back in Florida! It was genetic – Lily had it, and now she has it and conveniently it was another aspect of her that Chris didn't know about. Kady's hand gripped his shirt and tugged at him to come closer, and right then he sensed something was wrong.

"Kady? Baby what is it?"

Finding it too difficult to breathe, let alone utter a word, Kady fell back against him and he caught her before she could fall completely back. Danny realized what was going on.

"Shit!" he exclaimed.

"What?"

Danny looked at him, with a certain amount of fear in his eyes. "She has severe asthma."

"Oh great…" Chris complained. What else could go wrong? Lily was on life support; Kady was apparently having an asthma attack. Lucky they were in a hospital, right? "Well where's her inhaler?"

Danny searched Kady's pockets, while Chris held onto her, whispering for her to relax and to take deep breaths. If it was God's intention to take both Lily and Kady away now, then Chris would have no reason to believe in anything anymore. He only had just got his daughter back, and only now were they making any sort of progress to knowing one another.

"Come on, baby breathe… breathe… Danny!"

"It's not here!"

"Go get the nurse!"

Danny then stood up and ran over to the desk about thirty feet down the hall, and Chris sat back holding his child as she struggled even more, this time letting go of his shirt and clawing at his pants. Two nurses, one male and one female, came running out from behind the nurses station, the man saying to the woman to get some medication for the asthma and she went past them into a nearby storeroom. The male nurse got down next to Chris and Kady, and tried to get him to release his grip on her.

"Sir, you need to let her go so we can—"

"Kady," Chris whispered; proceeding to ignore the nurse – his desperation overtaking him past rational thought. "Come on, sweetheart, breathe…" but the nurse now practically ripped the hysterical child from Chris' arms, who was fighting to keep holding her.

"Sir, please! We know what we're doing, we have it under control," the nurse assured him, and then the female nurse returned with what looked to be a standard inhaler they kept.

The male nurse sat Kady up long enough to administer the medicine, which she breathed in, in two breaths, pausing between each one to absorb the benefits of the medicine. A few seconds later, Kady started gasping and relaxed, indicating that the medicine had caused the muscles surrounding her lungs to relax and she drank the air as fast as she could. She sat back down and reached behind her, searching for the obvious person, and when she felt his chest with her hand, he responded by rubbing her back.

"I'm here," he told her.

Kady took the water that the female nurse offered her, and gulped it down like a fish, and waited for the tense aching to disappear.

"How are you feeling?" the male nurse asked. "Better?"

She nodded, in a silent lie to get them to go away. Both nurses reluctantly went back to their station, and Danny helped her to her feet. Chris got up on his own and the racing of his own heart was yet to slow down; the possibility that Kady would've had to be admitted was in his thoughts. Why hadn't Lily mentioned these kinds of things to him earlier?

"Dude, don't you ever do that again!" Danny teased, slapping Kady upside the head. "You almost left me without a fellow outcast."

"Yeah, sorry…" Kady mumbled sarcastically. "Didn't mean to be an imposition, idiot!"

The two best friends moved in the direction of the cold, plastic chairs that were lined up against the wall, when Chris reached out and grabbed her arm as she went past him to get her attention. She stopped and, before she could react in anyway, her much stronger father had locked her into an embrace. Chris was sick of the pretenses; he wanted a real hug from her and was damn sure going to get one after that scare.

"Chris…"

"Shut up and just give me this, kid," he told her. "You scared the hell out of me."

Kady relented and allowed herself to hug him back. Oddly, this embrace felt different to any of the other halfhearted hugs she'd received from him lately. It felt... safe. Shaking herself out of that feeling, Kady finally pushed away and again headed for the chairs.

"Stop. Let's just get out of here, okay? Lily needs rest, you need rest... I need another beer." Chris reasoned. Kady felt the emotion behind his words and nodded, not bothering to disagree with leaving this time. She'd seen Lily, she knew her mother was still alive. For now, that was all she really needed.

"Careful, you may end up stealing the drunken hick gimmick from James. Don't think he'd be too pleased about losing that as well as the titles." Kady smirked, her usual sense of sarcasm returning, along with her breath.

"Smart ass." Chris laughed, putting an arm across Kady's shoulders and heading for the exit, Danny walking beside them.

Once they were back at the house, Chris let Kady and Danny go off and do their own thing. He decided that Kady probably needed time to just chill out. He, on the other hand, needed to talk to someone. Pulling his cellphone from his pocket, he searched the directory, wondering who would understand what he was going through the best. Figuring no one would really have a clue, he chose to call Jarrett to let him know how Lily was doing.

"Jeff Jarrett." Jeff's greeting met his ears a few moments after he'd been listening to call ringing.

"Jeff, it's Chris. Just thought I'd let you know that Lily's woken up. She's still pretty groggy, which is probably down to the meds but... there doesn't seem to be any major head injuries, no memory loss." Chris explained quickly, trying to keep his voice steady.

"That's great news, man. How are you and the kid holding up?" Jarrett wondered.

"Kady had an asthma attack after seeing Lil... probably from stress and everything. She seems to be doing okay now." Chris figured.

"And, you?" Jarrett pushed.

"Uh... not sure. Seeing Lily like that... it's messed up, man. And then Kady having the asthma attack... I didn't even know she had asthma. I've missed out on so much." Chris mused, letting a little more emotion show than he normally would've when talking to Jarrett.

"Chris, look at it this way. You haven't missed out on everything. Lily and the kid need you now... they've got no choice but to accept that you're there. If you work at it, once Lily's back on her feet she might let you stay in their lives." Jarrett tried to advise.

"It's not Lily I'm worried about. Kady's still so angry at me... it's gonna take a while to get any kind of trust between us." Chris replied honestly.

"It'll be worth the hard work. Walking away now would kill any chance you may have, man, you know that." Jarrett reassured him.

"There's no way in hell I'm walking away. Anyway... uh... just thought I'd let you know what's going on. I should go check on Kady, make sure she's breathing alright." Chris made an excuse to end the call, knowing he couldn't take much more emotion or judgment right now. As he was about to go and find Kady, his cellphone started ringing in his hand. He checked the Call ID and wasn't sure whether to groan or not.

"James, what's up?" He answered the call quickly.

"Hey, man. Just thought I'd call in and see how things are going." James told him.

"Are you trying to tell me you miss me?" Chris laughed slightly.

"Nah, man. Just wondered if anything had changed with Lily. I called earlier and Kady told me there was no news... that kid's got a smart mouth on her." James had no way of knowing what his partner's state of mind was at that point, and couldn't see Chris' clouding eyes that could pierce metal. Maybe it was all of the stress from the day that had him on such a fine edge but, whatever it was, he wasn't exactly stable at this moment. But he forced himself to remain calm.

"Yeah, no kidding," he replied through gritted teeth. "She's a handful, but I think she's calming down a bit."

"Honestly dude, she shouldn't be allowed to go off at people the way she does," James was pushing Chris' buttons further and not even knowing it.

"Shut the fuck up, James," he finally snapped angrily, on the other end James jumped – startled at the sudden surge of anger in Chris' voice. "What the hell do you know? Get your head out of your ass – she's been through a lot; she just saw her mother get nailed by a fucking car!"

"Chris, I—"

"Fuck you! You don't know the first thing about her and what she's gone through," Chris secretly wished his tag partner was here right now so he could beat him to a bloody pulp. Where all this anger and adrenaline was coming from, he wasn't sure. He was irrationally angry, and knew who to lay it all out on.

Meanwhile, on the other end of the connection, James flipped the television on while listening to Chris' rants and ramblings, in a state of confusion. He would definitely say that the pressure's finally gotten to Chris Harris, understandably. Just last week they were discussing match strategies for defending their tag team titles. Now Chris had to deal with the pressures of his past stepping into his present. To say that there had been many skeletons in his closet would be a major understatement.

"Chris, stop this shit…" James broke through Chris' yelling.

Back in Kentucky, Chris caught himself before he went off the deep end at his longtime friend and breathed deeply. "I swear to God, you have no idea," he growled.

"Hey… okay, I'm sorry. Jesus, Chris… what the hell?" James softly spoke, the disbelief and shock resonating in each syllable. "I know you've been through a lot, but… you gotta calm down…"

Chris wandered out into the backyard after having taken a beer from the fridge, slamming the back door behind him and walked out to stand in the quietness of the night. It was very clear to see the pain he had; his facial features were speaking of nothing but the heartache that confronting his past had brought to him. Seeing Lily lying there, so vulnerable and so hurt, and then being there to experience Kady going through what looked to have been a severe asthma attack. During those short, few seconds, thoughts of losing his child had crossed his mind.

"Chris? Are you okay?"

"Huh?"

He had spaced out for a few seconds, and the persistent voice of James on the other end of the phone brought him back to reality.

"Man, are you sure you're okay?"

Chris sat down on a chair and dropped his head into the palm of his free hand; using any strength he could to not get emotional over all this. But there was no use in denying the power any longer and he completely broke. He slumped against the back of the chair and could feel the tears become to powerful to hold back – if he tried any longer, they would become painful and he sobbed. James stopped what he was doing, I.E. channel surfing, when he heard the cries through the phone. Shit, he thought. He had never, and was pretty sure that no one had ever, seen or heard Chris Harris crying about anything before… this was a whole new emotional playing field now.

"Chris? Holy shit… what's happened to you?"

"Fuck!" the troubled man cried in frustration and gazed up into the dark sky and at the stars that littered the deep infinity of space. "I don't know what I'm doing anymore…"

"I don't know what to tell you…" James replied honestly. He didn't need to see Chris to know that the man had completely broken; the pain he heard in his friend's voice was heart wrenching. It had been less than a week, now, since everything happened and by the sounds of it, things weren't getting any better. "Wow…"

"I don't get it, James. All my life I was convinced I was a good person, and now, in just a week, it's hit me just how much of an asshole I was to the two people I was supposed to love…"

"Whoa, hey now partner don't go starting this self-loathing shit," James jumped in, but knew that Chris had a lot to answer for, and he was now. There wasn't much anyone could do about it; the fact was that Chris did leave his family for the sake of his career, and it couldn't be denied. "They need you more than they're willing to admit. You know they need you…"

"I wasn't there when Kady was losing grip on reality and…" Chris trailed off and looked down at the ground, kicking at the dirt. The more he thought about, the more he began to believe that he honestly did not deserve to be in Kady's life. And it stung because he wanted to be with her and make up for that lost time, though he had given her the reasons to not trust him. "I'm the reason that she did, in the first place…"

"She's a teenager. What are the odds that even if you were there, she would've gone off and done everything you did at her age?" James countered, knowing of the trouble Chris used to get himself into when he was Kady's age. "Somehow I doubt you're the only reason she's as screwed up as she is."

"Me not being there to reign her in has made things worse... trust me. She's made sure to tell me all about it. Fuck. Man, I gotta go. I can't talk anymore." Chris sobbed, ending the call before James could protest in any way. He dropped the phone at his feet and sat with his head in his hands, letting the emotion take him over completely now.

Kady had heard the back door slam and watched out the window of Danny's room as Chris sat down in the chair in the backyard. It wasn't hard for her to see that something was wrong – Chris' shoulders were shaking. A painful feeling started emanating from somewhere deep inside Kady. She got choked up and briefly wondered if she was having another asthma attack. Danny noticed the look on her face and thought the same thing.

"Kady, you okay?" He asked, drawing her attention away from the window.

"No... something's wrong." Kady replied.

"What? Do you need an inhaler?" Danny wondered, jumping off his bed to dig through the draw in his desk. He kept a spare inhaler for her in there, just in case she had an attack while she was at his house.

"No... not with me. Chris." Kady answered, looking back out the window in time to see Chris dropping his cellphone.

As he buried his head in his hands, Kady left the window and ran out of the room. Something wasn't right... she just didn't know what it was. All thoughts about her asthma attack earlier fled her mind as she ran through the living room and the kitchen, then out the back door. She slowed down to a walk as soon as she got close to Chris, not wanting to startle him.

"Um... Chris?" She whispered tentatively, not sure what was going on. She'd been able to hear his sobs as she crossed the yard. Chris looked up in surprise, trying in vain to wipe the tears from his cheeks.

"Kady, baby... go back inside. It's too cold out here for you." He told her, concern for her health showing clearly.

"Screw the cold... are you okay?" She asked seriously, showing him she wouldn't just let him push her aside. She knelt down next to him and tried to look into his eyes. Chris put his hands over his face and let out a deep sigh, trying to gain back control of his emotions.

"Nothing for you to worry about, darlin'. Go on back inside." He spoke from behind his hands, slightly stunned now that Kady was actually there, asking him if he was okay. He didn't want to jump to conclusions but it was a minor sign that maybe she did care about him, after all.

"You want me to walk away? Dude, isn't that your thing?" Kady tried teasing him, hoping to get him to snap out of whatever it was that was bothering him.

"Fine, I'll walk then." Chris decided, getting up and walking down towards the creek.

"Wait, wait! I didn't mean it. Come on, Chris... talk to me... please?" Kady pleaded, following after him, wanting to know what was on her father's mind.

"I can't, Kady. I'm meant to be the adult here... I'm meant to be the one holding things together." Chris told her, avoiding her attempts to get in front of him.

"Dude, things were broken before you got here. No chance you can hold it together all on your own." Kady pointed out.

"Damn it, Kady, just leave it alone! Go back inside." Chris ordered, losing control of his temper slightly.

"Fuck you and your fucking double standards! You want me to give you a chance yet you won't do the same for me? Do you honestly want to spend the rest of your life alone?" Kady challenged, standing her ground.

"Can't you just give me five minutes? Five fucking minutes!" Chris fumed. Kady caught the menace behind his words and backed off.

"Five minutes? Sure that's long enough? Let's try another thirteen years." She spat as she turned and stalked her way back into the house, slamming the door behind her.

"Fuck. Stupid fucking idiot." Chris berated himself, smacking a hand to his own forehead.

For once in the time he'd known her, his daughter had cared about him and he'd thrown it back in her face just as she'd been doing to him to start with. He turned and headed towards the house, stopping briefly to pick up his cellphone. Kady stormed through the house, one destination in mind. She couldn't take this pain anymore, couldn't deal with the things that Chris was putting her through. Danny heard her coming and made his way into the hall, having watched the scene from his window.

"Kady? Everything alright?" He asked hesitantly, slightly nervous about the look on her face.

"I was right. He never fucking wanted me." She stated flatly before pushing past him and heading into the bathroom. Before he could react, Kady had slammed the door and locked it, effectively shutting everything out.

"Shit... Kady, open the door." Danny called, knowing this wasn't a good situation.

Kady made no attempt to reply to her best friend, knowing she'd imposed on him too much over the years. It was time for her to take things into her own hands, and she intended to do it. Searching through the bathroom cabinet, she located an old razor blade. Sliding down to sit with her back against the bathtub, Kady held the razor between her fingers, needing to feel something real... something more than emotion. She ignored Danny banging on the door and slowly dragged the blade across her arm, just below the elbow joint.

As the blood began to flow from the cut, Kady's tears began to fall – not from the physical pain but, because the emotional pain was overflowing. She held back her sobs, drawing the blade across her skin again, then again and again. Her tears were now mixing with the blood, causing it to flow even more than it already was. A particularly large sob overwhelmed her and she dropped the blade on the floor beside her.

"He never wanted me... the bastard never wanted me." Kady sobbed to herself, over and over again as she cradled her bleeding arm in the other one.

Danny heard the sobbing from the other side of the door and pulled on his hair out of stress. He didn't know what to do... he'd never seen Kady this bad before. He'd seen this coming, had tried to warn Chris... wait, that was it!

"Chris! Get in here! Kady's locked herself in the bathroom!" Danny yelled down the hallway, hoping Chris was near enough to the house that he would hear him.

As luck would have it, Chris had just walked into the living room. After hearing Danny's frightened voice calling for help, he ran to the spot in front of the bathroom door where the boy was standing. Danny looked up at him, his usually guarded eyes pleading for him to help.

"I don't know what you said to her but... she thinks you never wanted her. She could be hurt..." Danny stammered, panicking completely.

"Back up." Chris ordered, moving the boy away from the door.

He took a few steps back himself before kicking the bathroom door. The door sounded like it was splintering slightly but the lock held. Chris kicked out at the door again, putting all his weight behind it, determined to get in the room with his daughter. This time, the lock broke free and the door gave way, allowing Chris and Danny to see into the room. Danny backed away, running into the room that housed the toilet and vomiting into the porcelain bowl. Chris stood, stunned for a moment, before moving into the room and kneeling beside his child.

"Aw, Kady... what have you done?" He whispered hoarsely, taking in the sight of the blood dripping from her arm.

"What have I done? I've made the outside show what you can't see on the inside! Now you can see what you've done to me... now you can see how much I hate you!" Kady screamed, hitting out at Chris with both blood covered arms. He caught her arms quite easily, and she yelped in pain and resorted to try kicking him – but he pushed her back so her legs couldn't connect with him. Then, with he let her go just long enough so Kady could lunge at him, but again he was too quick for her and caught her with an arm around her waist.

"Danny, do you got a First Aid kit around here somewhere?"

"LET ME GO, ASSHOLE!" Kady screamed at him, almost kicking Danny accidentally because of her rage, and he jumped out of the way.

"In mom's room," he stammered.

"Well get it then!" Chris ordered, struggling to maintain a good hold on Kady.

Blood was running everywhere; both father and daughter were covered in it, and the mess on the bathroom floor was horrendous. Danny rushed from the room and Chris carried Kady out, into the living room so they would have more room to deal with this. His heart was pounding so hard from everything – her words; her blood that now stained his clothes and his skin as much as it did hers. He put her down on the floor, and within a second Kady had started attacking him again, hitting him as hard as she could with her fists, though her weakening condition made each punch less effective, and she stumbled backwards onto the floor. Now, the physical pain was overwhelming her too much for her to ignore it any longer, and Chris knelt down over her, impatiently waiting for Danny to get here. He saw his daughter weaken considerably from the loss of blood, and so used his hands to cover the wounds. Kady screamed again; the pressure he applied did a little to impede the blood flow, though exacerbated the pain further.

"Get off me, you son-of-a-bitch!" she kicked at him. "I hate you. Go to hell!"

"Hate me all you like," he softly told her and struggled internally to keep his emotions in check. "I know it's my fault, but this isn't the time—"

"No, this is exactly the right time!" Kady spat. "Now you can see what you've done! For thirteen years, this is what you've done to me! I hope you're happy, Chris! You're not my father and you never will be! It's your fault mom almost died! And it's your fault that I wanna die!"

It was as if he had walked straight into a brick wall when she said that last part, and he stopped for a second to register the full meaning and her intent behind them. The coldness of feeling betrayed was shining brighter than the sun through her eyes, more intense now than he had ever seen it. This was it. He had blown it. Chris knew he had lost any chance to make things right between them.

"Here!" Danny rushed into the living room, carrying a relatively small box in his arms, and dropped down next to Chris. Chris opened it and rummaged around for some bandages and anything that could control the wounds. Kady's resistance dropped sharply, and his panic increased when he noticed that her breathing was becoming deeper; sharper. He looked at her and saw her eyes closing – the blood was still flowing strongly and now seeping into the carpet. "Is she gonna be okay?"

"I don't know," Chris replied quickly, and took the wrapping off the rolled up bandage he had found in the kit, using his teeth to break through the stubborn plastic and then pulled it away to reveal a fresh, soft bandage. "There's a couple more in there, get those," he told the boy. Danny didn't hesitate in obliging.

"Come on, baby, stay awake!" Chris pleaded, almost blinded through tears.

It then hit him that they would need to be making a third trip to the hospital that night; this time for Kady. And when Lily would eventually find out, things were going to get even worse. Having no time to go get something to mop up the blood, and seeing how deep the wound was and that the blood was not going to slow down or stop, Chris used his own shirt to try soak up some of the thick crimson liquid. It was still warm against his skin. After clearing the wound of enough blood, he unrolled one of the bandages and started applying it to the large, deep wound which Kady had inflicted on herself. He and Danny watched the blood soak into, and then through the material that was probably not designed to withstand this much blood.

"SHIT! Danny, another one!"

Danny gave him another bandage, and Chris did the same process and then asked for a third one. After the third bandage was applied, the bleeding slowed down and stopped soaking through the material, and they could both breathe a sigh of relief. By this time, however, Kady had grown very weak and was fighting to stay awake. Her dad stopped what he was doing to just look at her... it was truly heartbreaking and he felt his heart shattering in his chest.

"I'm so sorry, Kadence..." he whispered, choked up. "Please, baby... I'm so sorry..."

Kady blinked and turned her head slightly, but did not reply.

"And," Chris continued, grazing her cheek with the back of his hand. "I always wanted you. Always." He leaned forward and kissed her forehead, fully aware that she was in no position to push back, or hit him or resist it in any way. Satisfied that she had heard him, Chris then shuffled around her and looked around the room.

"Danny, can you get a blanket or something?"

"Yeah, sure," Danny sure as hell wasn't going to argue with him, and at the same time was wondering how his mother was going to react when she came home to find their house stained with blood. A few seconds passed and he returned from his room with a thin blanket that would do in keeping Kady warm enough. Chris snatched it from his arms, unfolded it and then wrapped it around Kady. Securing the blanket around her body, he then slid one arm under her knees and the other around her back.

"Out to the car, now!" Chris instructed Danny, standing up and lifting Kady until she was resting comfortably in his arms.

Danny led the way out of the house, locking the door once Chris and Kady were out. Chris gently lay Kady across the backseat of the car and he and Danny climbed into the front. Within seconds, Chris had the car started and was heading for the hospital. Chris could tell that Danny was still a little panicked about what was happening with his best friend, so he tried to calm him down.

"She'll be alright, Danny." He offered weakly. Danny saw through the attempt to calm him and nodded vaguely. Chris abandoned the task, knowing he wasn't in any position to be offering that service to anyone, considering how uncertain he was himself.

Once they reached the hospital, Chris carried Kady inside, calling for someone to help them. Danny followed closely behind, still in shock at the whole situation. Before long, an orderly had taken Kady from Chris and rushed her into a doctor's exam room. Chris refused the request to sit in the waiting room and followed after the orderly. Danny, not wanting to be forgotten or left out if something bad happened to Kady, followed after Chris.

Roughly two hours later, Chris quietly slipped out of the hospital room that Kady was in. She and Danny were both sleeping now. Kady had needed surgery to repair a nick in an artery in her arm as well as a small blood transfusion. Because of this, the doctor had told Chris that Kady would need to be there for at least a week, for monitoring. Chris raked a hand through his hair as he mulled over what he should do next. In his heart, he knew that he'd made things a hell of a lot worse for Kady than he'd ever meant to.

Finally deciding on a plan of action, he made his way to Lily's room. Lily was sleeping peacefully when he arrived and he almost backed out before reasoning that she deserved to know what had happened to Kady. He sat down in the chair next to her bed and took her hand in his, wanting to feel something like comfort from her. He stroked the back of her hand with his thumb gently.

"Lil? Wake up. Please, Lily..." Chris whispered, his voice catching in his throat. Lily must've only been dozing because she came out of it rather quickly.

"Chris? What's going on? Why... why are you covered in blood?" Lily wondered, focusing on the bloodstained shirt he was wearing.

"Something happened, Lil... I fucked up." Chris admitted honestly, tears starting to slide down his cheeks.

"What? Where's Kady?" Lily asked, the panic rising in her chest.

"She's been admitted. I brushed her off earlier and she got upset... she cut herself, Lil... there was so much blood..." Chris stammered, trying to keep the images of Kady with blood pouring from her arm out of his head.

"Please tell me you're kidding... this isn't funny, Chris." Lily told him, trying to sit up which only resulted in pain. Chris lifted his head, staring Lily straight in the eye.

"She thinks I never wanted her. I've lost her, Lil... I pushed her away." He sobbed. Lily moved her arm slightly, managing to pull her hand free from Chris'.

"I have to see her. I have to see my baby." She stated, fighting the pain as she tried desperately to get out of bed. Hard to do with a concussion, three broken ribs, a punctured lung and a leg in plaster from the thigh down. Chris got to his feet and put his hands on her shoulders gently to stop her.

"You're not in any shape to get out of bed. Danny's with her, she's not going anywhere for a few days. Please, Lil... just stop." Chris pleaded, not wanting her to get hurt any worse than she already was.

"Fuck you, Chris! She's my daughter! I have to see her." Lily reiterated. Chris sat on the bed next to her, still pinning her down at the shoulders.

"You're right, she's your daughter. I never should've stepped in, Lily... I've ruined everything. I... I can't take this... I have to go." He told her before letting her go and walking out of the room.

Chris made his way out to his car, tears still running in rivers down his cheeks. He'd never meant for it to come to this. Now, in the short time that he'd been back in Lily and Kady's life, they'd both ended up in hospital because of him. Chris drove back to the motel and sat in the cat for a while, trying to pull himself together. He went up to his room, changed his clothes and packed up, not planning on sticking around. As he went back down to load up the car, he looked over towards the diner where Jenna was working.

"Fuck..." He muttered, remembering that he'd left Jenna's house a blood soaked mess.

Figuring the least he could do would be to tell her about what had happened and where Danny was, Chris locked up the car again and walked over to the diner. The bell above the door jingled as he walked in, catching a few people by surprise. They looked up, briefly, before returning to their food or mugs of coffee. Jenna smiled at him as he approached the counter.

"Hey, stranger. What can I get ya?" She asked cheerfully before she noticed his tear streaked face.

"Nothing. I just came to... shit. Something happened at the house a couple of hours ago. I upset Kady and she... she, um... she cut herself. Pretty bad, too." Chris explained, fresh tears springing to his eyes.

"Oh my god. Is she okay?" Jenna wondered, walking around the end of the counter to stand in front of Chris.

"No. She needed surgery, a blood transfusion. Doctor says she has to stay in the hospital for monitoring. Danny's there with her. I just came to tell you that I kind of left your place in a mess... there's blood everywhere. And that... I'm leaving." Chris admitted, trying to control his emotions.

"Excuse me? You're what?" Jenna asked in shock.

"I'm leaving, Jen. I never should've forced my way into Lily and Kady's lives in the first place. If I hadn't, none of this would've happened. They wouldn't both be in hospital right now. I've fucked up completely." Chris told her. Jenna's hand shot out and hit Chris upside his head.

"Leaving would be you fucking up completely. Whatever happened with Kady, it can be sorted out. She's been heading down that path for a long time, Chris. It just goes to show you that she needed you... she needed you to make her feel something, anything! You got through to her like no one other than Danny has been able to. If you walk away now, there'll be no turning back." Jenna warned.

"It's too late... she thinks I never wanted her and I all but proved it by pushing her away earlier. It wouldn't have killed me to just talk to her but... I pushed her away. There's no way she'll forgive me now... no way I'll forgive myself. I almost killed my own child... fuck..." Chris trailed off as he turned and walked away from Jenna and out of the diner.


A/N: You think that's bad? There's still heaps more torture to come! YAY! Lol. Please leave a review, it would be greatly appreciated.