Disclaimer: Still no own-age

Author's Note: So this is the chapter that will either answer all of your questions or bring about more, guess which! I'm almost completely finished with the written copy (I'm through chapter 8 of 10) now I just have to transfer them here for all to see!

Chapter 5

I sat at the foot of Jace's bed holding a box of photographs from my past. She sat next to me staring a hole with her wide, sunken eyes. I shuffled the pictures around until they were in chronological order before I began thumbing through them.

"This was me at sixteen," I said, pulling a picture of myself with a big, forced smile, showing off my braces. "My parents had just divorced and my dad left, I wouldn't hear from him again for eight years. My brother had opted to take the GED and drop out, all of the family pressure was on me."

"You look sad," she said, running a finger down the picture.

The room is engulfed in purple smoke, Jace is a psychic looking into a crystal ball. "Your picture was taken on a Tuesday, it was raining. Your brother was making funny faces at you."

"What else do you see?"

She looks at me with clouded eyes. "You will die next Thursday..."

"Nooo!" I yelled. Jace looked at me, surprised.

"You weren't sad?"

"No, no, I was. Just a little day dream is all." I said, covering well before pulling out another picture of myself.

"Seventeen?" She asked.

"Yeah. I just had a skin graft on my forehead from where my brother wrote on me. My mom stayed to herself most of the time, and I started to let my grades slip." Jace stared into the photo, recognizing the look in the eyes. I sighed and pulled the last photo out.

"Eighteen," I said. The picture looked nothing like me. The hair was a platinum blonde with some brown shining through, my eyes were sunken and bloodshot, and I had lost so much weight I could've passed for one of those anorexic super models. In the picture I was sitting on a rock outside of my house trying to look thoughtful, or I may have been in a haze, I can't remember much from then.

"What happened?" She whispered. "No, strike that. I know."

"Yeah, I just don't want to see it happen to anyone else."

Jace quietly stared at the picture and I waited for her response. "Show me your arms," she said suddenly.

"Wha...no!" I pulled back, suddenly feeling very self conscious. Nobody had ever seen the marks, or if they did I called them freckles. Not even Turk and we'd been friends for years. I had no intent of letting this girl that close.

Before I could stop her though she had pulled my sleeve up my arm and was admiring the tiny pink scars. She ran her finger down a line of them and a chill shot up my spine.

"These are perfect," she whispered. "On a vein every time."

I pulled back, pulling my sleeve down in the process. I didn't like how proud she sounded, I knew I sure wasn't. "Yeah, but I'm not proud of it, I am proud that I got better, just like I know you will."

Jace smiled and grabbed my scrub top. "Maybe I don't want to get better." Her hand found its way behind my neck and she pulled her weight on top of me, planting a firm kiss against my mouth.

It took my mind a second to process and push her off. She pouted and went back to her bed. "I thought you were fun."

"I, uh, have other patients," I lied, turning to run away.

"Dr. Dorian, wait!" She shouted. I reluctantly turned back to her. "Do you think you could find my photo album for me? I can write you the address."

"Sure," I agreed, taking the paper from her. I couldn't quite tell, but I could've sworn that after I left the room, a smile creeped across her face.

"And who do we have in here?" Dr. Cox said as he followed Carla into a group patients room with four stunning girls.

"They work at the strip club over by the Forest Gate apartment complex. Apparently a male customer tried to crash the stage and the floor collapsed," Carla said, barely trying to hide her contempt for the girls.

"My favorite kinds of patients." Dr. Cox said, putting on his stethoscope to listen to the girls heart (translation: stare at the girls chest.) "And your name is?"

The girl giggled. "Candy."

Dr. Cox stood up. Carla cast him a look of recognition. "It was nice to meet you girls, but we must be going."

Dr. Cox stormed from the room and Carla chased after him. "Perry, you know it isn't the same girl. It's impossible, she's gone."

"I know that Carla," he groaned. "It's just weird is all."

"So I had a question for ya' Cock." John said while PC took his vitals.

"It's Cox, but what?"

"These phones dial out? I need to call my chick." PC shook his head but tossed the man his cell. "Thanks."

PC sat in the chair after completing the check so he could wait for his phone.

"Hey Man, is Candy around?...What?...How could she OD?...I told you to watch her!...Which hospital?...Sacred Heart, thanks..." John tossed the phone back to PC. "My girl, Candy, should be around here."

PC got where he was going with that. "I'll go check. Carla, can you finish up in here?"

Carla walked in the room nervously. The man on the bed winked at her.

PC slowly walked back and Carla glared.

"Your druggie in there just tried to get up on me!" She shouted. "Now I know I may be hot, but that's no excuse. From now on you take care of that one on your own."

"I don't think I can do that, Carla," he said solemnly. "His girlfriend is dead."

I walked down the dark street I hadn't seen in years. There were murmers all around me and faint distant memories coating the air. I didn't like the feeling.

I rounded the corner to the alley she gave me directions to. Lying in a big pile of garbage was a yellow photo album. I bent over to pick it up and heard a voice behind me.

"Well, well, well. It's about time you came back to us, Johnny Boy."

Author's Rant: Please review me, I live off of them.
Hope you liked it and that it didn't confuse you to much!