Kate's POV

Shaky stayed in bed as I moved closer to him. I just felt awkward being the distance that I was. I put the chair right by the bed and took my seat again. Shaky stared at me waiting for me to ask what I needed to ask so finally I spit it out as if it was some big reveal.

"What… What were you doing last night? You said you wanted to talk to me, why is that?" I asked curiously. Shaky blinked, revealing his eyes in a different direction when they opened back up. I waited patiently for a response.

"Well, a couple hours earlier Lilly told me that Rick died… it was the first time I was hearing about it…" Shaky answered, turning his eyes back to me. "I still wasn't over Angel, I'm still not over her… and at first I was destroyed, I was right back at square one, grieving over two family members now instead of just one… but then I started thinking about you, how close you and Rick were… how much you loved each other… I knew exactly what you were going through, so I hoped… that maybe at the very least I could help you. I told everyone I wanted to be alone and that much was true but… that was mostly because no one knew what I was going through. Sure we all loved her, we all lost her, but from my perspective… it took a long time to find someone that I truly loved… and I know you went through the exact same thing" Shaky explained. I was at a loss for words.

"I… I didn't know you cared about me so much" I said with a slight smile.

"I do Kate… I love you… I know it seems like I may keep to myself, or I avoid you. But I guess that's because in the back of my mind, you're still that girl that I would see around school and was just so far out of my league that I shouldn't even talk to her" Shaky explained, again making me feel bad. I understood why I had this reputation, but it made me mad because I felt like I still didn't deserve it. Some popular bitch that didn't talk to low life peasants. There were girls like that at school. But none of them were me.

"I'm… I'm sorry that I ever made you feel that way Shaky… truth is… I love you too… I love all of you, and like you just said I know that we don't really talk a lot but… if you want to change that… I would be more than happy to spend some time with you" I smiled. Shaky laughed lightly but then cringed, holding his stomach. My smile faded.

"How bad does it hurt?" I asked. Shaky grunted lightly before turning back to me, lying back against the pillow.

"A lot… it comes in waves'' he answered. I looked back down to see that his hand still rested on it, as if it was ready to hold it again in case of another pain wave. I knew exactly how that felt. "Hey Kate?" Shaky said, making my head snap back over to him.

"Yes?" I answered.

"What… exactly happened?" Shaky asked. I sighed, looking up at the ceiling for a moment before going back to him.

"Well… before you showed up I heard glass break from downstairs. That was Garth's cousin trying to break in" I said.

"Garth's cousin? That's who stabbed me?" Shaky asked as he gritted his teeth in pain.

"Yeah… I was about to face her in the living room but you rang the doorbell just before I did. She went out, circled around the house and got you just before I could pull you in'' I explained, again looking at Shaky's condition. "I'm sorry, I should have pulled you in sooner… you wouldn't even be here" I added. Yet another thing I fucked up and felt bad for. Why did anyone even bother staying around me?

"It's alright Kate… if anyone was attacked I'm glad it was me and not you" Shaky said.

"It didn't have to be any of us," I said. I shook my head as I turned away from Shaky and sighed.

"What happened after?" Shaky asked. I turned back to him and continued.

"I pulled my gun on her, told her to take off the mask and… I shot her leg, she went down… and I told her to tell me why she did everything. Turns out she blamed us for Garth's death, and so she hunted us down starting with Rick… when she explained it to me I snapped and… I killed her" I explained, hesitating with the last part. I turned to Shaky who seemed sympathetic more than scared. Actually he didn't seem scared of me at all. I was hoping for that. The last thing I wanted was for my family to be terrified of me.

"I'm sure you did what you had to do," Shaky replied. I covered my face with my hand as I used the side of my finger and thumb to rub my temple. I then slapped my hand lightly on my knee.

"That's the thing… I don't know if I had to… I was just so angry… I fear for what's gonna happen to me after I die" I admitted as I began to sob.

"Oh yeah… I forgot your religious too…" Shaky said. I looked over to him again with tears in my eyes, barely able to see because of them.

"What if I go to hell? Or I'm not able to see Rick again? What if I'm punished?" I asked in a panic. Shaky sighed again.

"I don't think that will happen Kate. it's not like you enjoyed doing it, or want to do it again. It was something you had to do, whether you see it that way or not. And when your time finally comes I know that God will forgive you, and Rick will be there waiting for you once you pass" Shaky explained confidently. It oddly made me feel a little better, but still I wanted to talk to a priest as soon as I could. I offered a small smile through my tears but it faded as fast as it came.

"You know… I've been wanting to check on you, even before Rick… I've been wanting to talk with you since Angel passed. But I had to take care of Rick and then… he went to" I explained sadly.

"Talk with me? Talk with me about what?" Shaky asked. My eyes looked over to him again.

"Rick told me about your mom… I just… I didn't want you to go through that again. I wanted to tell you that you didn't have to do it alone. That I was there if you needed me, and that I loved you… but I could never get a chance" I explained. Shaky offered a warm smile.

"I'm glad to see that you care so much," he said. I didn't smile back, I felt like I didn't have the right to.

"I'm not saying that I was gonna know what you went through… I still don't, but at least we have the whole lover thing in common" I said.

"I don't know about that… Angel died in a car accident, she wasn't taken from me" Shaky said. I squeezed my eyes shut as I gritted my teeth, looking away from Shaky again. I guess it was that time. "Kate?" Shaky said. I opened my eyes, looking at him again.

"I'm so sorry, Shaky…" I sobbed. He began to look worried.

"What are you talking about?" he asked. I sniffed frantically, trying to catch my breath and stop the oncoming tears.

"When… when I had her… she told me that after the fight we had… she wanted to go after me… but Garth wouldn't let her… so she went after Angel… and she cut the breaks on her parents car…" I cried, watching Shaky's expression change. He looked away from me and down at his legs. He started to breathe more heavily. "Shaky…" I sobbed.

"Don't… please don't" he said as he too began to sob. I watched as it started with simple cries, and then screaming through gritted teeth as he turned angry at the situation. I couldn't say I blamed him. I stood up, leaning over to put a hand on his back as he leaned forward to cry into his hands.

"I'm sorry Shaky" I repeated, feeling bad for the poor wolf while also thinking that it was all my fault.

"Dont… dont do that" Shaky sobbed.

"Do what?" I asked. Tears still flowed down my face. Shaky trembled before continuing.

"Blaming yourself… I know you're doing it right now… you do it every time. It wasn't your fault… not Angel's death, not Rick's death, none of it… it was all the work of some bitch that you had no idea of knowing what she was up to" Shaky explained. It meant a lot to me. Knowing how easy it would be to blame me, especially since I was right here. But here he was proving me wrong, being kind… I could see why Angel liked him.

"You… you really mean that?" I asked. Shaky turned around, facing me as he spoke.

"Yes… and even if it was still somehow your fault I would forgive you… because your family… and I love you" Shaky said. His words meant so much. The fact that he would be willing to forgive me if it was all what he said meant a lot. Sure it was easier said than done but he wasn't in a good mindset right now, so it made me think that he was true to his word. Humphrey always said that he was after all.

"I… I love you too" I said. All of a sudden time froze for a second as we looked into each other's still teary eyes. Shaky looked so fragile. Like he could burst at any second. And I'm sure that I looked the exact same. But something within me felt warm… like this was right. I think Shaky felt it too, because the next thing I knew we were both leaning forward, lust, love and hurt in our eyes. All that went away once we shut them however. I began to feel the warmth that surrounded Shaky's mouth, making me open my own for a sweet kiss. Shaky reached up, grabbing my cheek and messing around with the fur on it using his thumb. Then just as the edges of our mouth met my phone began to ring, making me jump away from him in fear of getting caught. Once I figured out what it was though I felt angry again. I pulled my phone out of my pocket and groaned in anger. I then looked over at Shaky who was sitting again, staring at the phone in my hand. "Shaky I-"

"It's okay… just answer it," Shaky said. I looked at the unknown phone number and finally answered it, putting it to my ear.

"Hello?" I said annoyed. It was a males voice on the other end of the line.

"Hello, is this Kate?" he asked.

"Yeah… it is, who are you?" I asked.

"Oh I'm DR Stevens I'm calling from the shore medical center regarding Rick" he said. I closed my eyes and sighed shakily as I felt a tear run down my face. This was the call, preparing me for the funeral. I guess he couldn't call his parents because they were gone, and I was the only emergency contact. "We've been trying to contact you for a while but didn't get an answer. We called a few minutes ago but the line went dead quickly. We figured that we would give you a few minutes" he explained.

"Yeah… sorry I… I've just been grieving" I said. There was a pause.

"Oh I'm sorry. Did you lose somebody?" he asked. Part of me felt confused, but mad at the same time with a small slither of getting my hopes up.

"Yeah, you're calling for him," I answered. Another pause.

"What do you mean? We're calling to tell you that Rick made it through his surgery and is on the road to recovery" Stevens said. All of a sudden my hot stopped as hot chills ran through my body. I felt light headed, so much so that I began to stand up so that I didn't feel so bad. It backfired heavily however.

"What do you mean?" I asked drowsily. Shaky looked up and took notice, reaching for me.

"Kate, are you okay?" he asked. Sorry to say that I ignored him.

"Rick… he made it through surgery and is recovering" Stevens repeated. I went to catch my balance again but failed, falling to the floor.

"Kate!" Shaky yelled. I could have passed out probably but something prevented me from doing so. This was all just too much. Shakily I grabbed the phone off the floor and put it to my ear again, standing up once more.

"I… I thought he was dead" I said in almost a whisper. My hands trembled as tears rolled down my face again.

"No, he's very much alive. Where are you right now? You can visit him anytime. Although he is still in intensive care so he's in a coma" Stevens said. I tried catching my breath again.

"I'm… I'm here, I'm at the hospital" I said.

"You are? Where?" Stevens asked. Immediately I stood up and walked outside the room to look at the number.

"Two fourteen in recovery" I answered.

"Alright, ask a doctor about intensive care and they'll direct you. Can I expect to see you soon?" Stevens asked.

"Yeah… yeah you can" I said.

"Alright, see you soon" he replied before I heard the phone hang up. My heart pounded as I turned around and walked over to Shaky's bed again.

"Kate what is it? Who was that?" Shaky asked.

"It was a doctor here in intensive care. Rick's alive. I don't even know how" I explained quickly. Shaky's mouth nearly dropped at the news as his eyes widened.

"Rick's alive?" he asked.

"Yes, I have to see him," I said. Shaky took a moment to quickly scan the room as if he were looking for something and then shoed me off.

"Well don't let me stop you. Go go" he said. Immediately I took off, asking the first doctor I saw where intensive care was.

"Where is intensive care?" I asked, sounding like a psycho, not even saying hi. He looked stunned for a second as he studied my panicked expression.

"Third floor to the left" he said, instantly I booked it to the elevator, hitting the call button so fast and so many times as if it were gonna make a difference. It was too slow for me. Looking to the right however I saw a room that held a staircase. Instantly I crashed through the door and began running with everything I had up the stairs. When I charged out I looked both ways. First right then left. That doctor had told me left so that's where I had to go. I charged in the direction, noticing a sign that has an intensive care label on it with an arrow that pointed right. I went in that direction before coming face to face with a set of double doors. I went to open them but found that they were locked. Instantly I felt angry and defeated. Of fucking course there's locked doors here. I felt hope again however when I saw a call button on the wall next to the left door. Immediately I pressed it and then waited. It took a second but eventually I heard the voice from the phone.

"Hello, who are you here to see?" they asked.

"My name's Kate, I'm here to see Rick" I said quickly.

"Ah, welcome Kate. you came quick" he said just before the door opened. I sprinted inside, seeing a set of rooms that looked extremely similar to recovery. And like recovery, they all had curtains in the occupied rooms. I turned the corner, running into the doctor's arms. He caught me, grunting in surprise as I nearly knocked him over. "Woah, easy there" he said. He was white with with brown hair, wearing a white doctors coat. The only other notable things were his brown shoes and black pants.

"Where's Rick?" I asked. Stevens smiled, nudging near a room with his head.

"Right this way," he said. We then began heading down the hall, away from the secretary desks. I speed walked, nearly passing him a couple of times. I actually had to stop two times because I was walking too fast. This was taking forever. Please just hurry up so that I can get to my love. Finally though my heart jolted once we finally stopped, facing a room which as all the others, had a curtain covering the doorway. I turned back to the doctor.

"He's in there?" I asked.

"Yes ma'am,'' he smiled. I turned back, taking a deep breath. It was time. I pulled the curtain back to see who was in the room and sure enough… there he was. He was laid in the hospital bed with no shirt, blanket covering up to his lap. His head slumped over a bit with his eyes shut, an oxygen mask over his muzzle. Multiple needles in his arm to keep blood in him, bandages wrapped around his torso where he was cut up the middle, and finally the heart rate monitor that beeped at a steady pace. I felt like I was in a lost world. Was this one of those dreams? Immediately I began crying, walking over to him with a smile. I extended my arms out and then wrapped my arms around him, shoving my muzzle into his neck.

"I… I thought I lost you!" I cried loudly. Never in a million years did I think that I would get to hold him again… and yet here I was. He held on for me… just as he said he would.