Again, I own nothing from The Suite Life of Zack and Cody

It was now 4 and a half hours since Zack's second surgery had begun and for his twin Cody the wait had been agonising, bedridden Cody was unable to be near his brother, and only the presence of his friend Maddie had kept him from going completely insane with worry. All Cody could think of was that Zack was going to die, and as much as he wanted to think of anything else, all thoughts went to that eventuality, and in Cody's mind it would be his fault, Zack wouldn't have been this injured if he hadn't jumped in front of Cody, probably saving his life, but causing himself these potentially fatal injuries.

"Cody, It's not your fault, someone evil and twisted did this to Zack, no one else is to blame" Maddie kept telling him, desperately trying to comfort Cody and bring him out of his self imposed torment.

Truth be told Maddie was feeling similar feelings, probably even stronger than Cody's, Maddie felt that she was in some way responsible for London's death, one part of Maddie's mind told her she could have done nothing, and told her what she kept telling Cody, but another part, the less rational part, told her it was her fault, and like Cody she was finding it hard to silence the irrational side.

Maddie and Cody had spoken at length about their feelings relating to the events of the past 24 hours, but they had spoken only in limited amount about the trauma, and how they were going to go on, Zack was weighing on their mind too much, and so they had ended up cuddling on Cody's bed, each finding their comfort in their friend. Kurt and Esteban had given Cody and Maddie almost an hour alone when they returned and aside from a few short remarks the wait had been silent. Kurt desperately wanted to see Zack, to see what was happening, but he knew he couldn't leave Cody, especially since Carey and Moesby were down watching the surgery go on, and on. Everyone just hoped Zack would be alright.

Carey and Moesby were, like the others upstairs, sitting alone, Moesby wanted to say something to comfort Carey, who he knew must be dying inside, but for all of Moesby's mastery of the English language, there were no words he could conjure up that would come close to comfort in this situation, and so Moesby let his presence be all the comfort it could. Carey and Moesby and held each others hand, their presences comforting each other, for Carey, simply knowing there was someone else there was enough, she knew she had a shoulder to cry on and another's warmth to keep near her.

In the operating theatre below a team of doctors and nurses were desperately trying to find all the bleeding vessels in Zack's abdomen, many pieces of shrapnel had been keeping them plugged but some had dislodged causing massive internal bleeding which had almost killed Zack. The doctors also had to carefully mange Zack's vital signs as his head injury had not nearly healed as much as they would have liked to begin the second surgery with. Carey and Moesby had been shocked to see all manner of things removed from Zack, aside from the metal, some pieces of Zack's intestines had to be removed, it amounted to about 5 inches, but it was so badly sliced that it could not be saved. The doctors had also removed Zack's appendix and replaced a great deal of blood, the bleeding had been severe and the doctors thought it was lucky Zack was gotten to surgery so quick, he probably wouldn't have had much time left, it was almost a miracle that his heart had been restarted in the ICU earlier, it was as if there was a special connection that was keeping him alive, some kind of life bond.

Eventually it seemed as if the surgery was reaching its conclusion, Carey and Moesby watched as the doctors removed their tools from inside Zack's abdomen and begin the process of closing the cuts and begin stitching him back up. The process of stitching Zack up would take at least 20 minutes and it would be even longer before he was taken back up to the ICU to recover, but to Carey and Moesby it signalled that the dangerous part of the surgery was over, and Zack's heart had keep beating the entire time, so it was a very good sign which gave them both great hope for his recovery.

the biggest sign of the success of the surgery came when the lead surgeon left the table and looked up at the viewing room window, smiled at Carey and Moesby and gave them a big thumbs up. It was the best sign and the greatest feeling of Carey's life. The lead doctor then left the theatre; his job was done for the time being.

The feeling in the viewing room from Carey and Moesby was above all else relief, mixed with some cautious happiness, and for the first time since the night before Carey actually felt that genuinely her family would be alright, Zack had survived something that would obviously have been the hardest thing his body had ever coped with, and if he could get through this, then Carey thought he could get through anything.

"Marion, Thank You" Carey said

But before Moesby could respond some other nature took over, Carey and Moesby looked into each others eyes, and then for some reason, it happened, their faces got closer and closer together, and their lips met. For a fleeing second all their bad feelings, the feelings of guilt, of worry, of overwhelming sadness, were evaporated in a kiss. It was Carey who pulled away, the kiss having lasted for under 2 seconds.

"Oh, um, I'm sorry" she said, before turning and moving quickly out of the room toward the elevator, her face going the brightest shade of red. Moesby quickly followed her and reached the elevator, getting in just before the doors shut.

The journey up to the ICU was a very awkward trip for both Carey and Moesby, there was a great deal of uncertain feelings swelling in each of their minds, and neither of them was able to pluck up the courage to speak. Upon reaching the ICU it was Carey who broke the happy news to Cody

"Cody, honey, I think your brother is going to be alright"

OK, well there it is, chapter 19, sorry it took so long to come, i've been trying to upload since yesterday but i was getting errors, there will probably be another chapter today, but from tomorrow i may be going away for a few days so there may not be an update for 3 days or so. i'm loving that some people are reading and reviewing, i'd like it if more people reviewed though, so yeah, hope to hear from you all!