If you want to know why it took so long read the Author's Note in So Happy I Could Cry. I'm tired. It's 3:19 in the morning and I finally fnished this story for you guys. So feel special. -lol- I liked how it turned out. Epilogue is next!!

Chatper 20: My Angel

I was caught under waves and a strong current. I couldn't see which way was up or down. Darkness surrounded me and I was trying to swim through a whirlpool of confusion and pain. I was holding my breath knowing that if I would try to breathe I would choke on the water that was trying to consume me. I was drowning deeper and deeper into this illusion. Then I heard someone call my name. I didn't know who it was at first. Water was going into my ears. "Jude!" I heard. It was my angel coming to take me to heaven. I knew it. I knew I was dead. I tried to call out to him but it was no use. My voice wasn't there. "Oh, my god! No, Jude! No, no, no, no! Please don't do this to me. Jude, my love, wake up!" I heard his dry sobs but there was nothing I could do.

The angel held me close to his body. I tried to get out of the water that kept dragging me deeper and deeper in. Then suddenly, all the pain stopped. I was numb. I tried to breathe but I choked on the water. I opened my eyes as I finally surfaced and I saw Tommy looking at me. His face was full of agony. I gasped, finally being able to breathe. "Jude," he whispered pushing my hair out of my face.

I blinked a couple of times trying to focus on him. I saw Shay and Kwest dragging something on the ground and walking out of the academy. "Tommy?" I questioned

"Jude!" he said and I could faintly see him smiling. "You're still alive!"

Alive? How could I be? I tried to move but something heavy held my leg down. I groaned and tried to clear my blurry vision. Suddenly, there was something pulling on my head. I closed my eyes and hissed. Something was tugging on my scalp. "She has a broken leg, and two cracked ribs," I heard Darius say. "Other than that, it's just a bunch of big cuts and bruises. She should be fine."

"Tommy," I moaned.

"Sh, I'm here Jude," he assured. "I'm not going anywhere."

The pain in my scalp completely disappeared when another took over. My neck was on fire. It was traveling through my body, and I could hardly breathe. I started to pant and thrash my body. I saw Tommy's scared face as he tried to calm me down. Could they not see the fire? Why wasn't anyone putting out? I screamed as it got worse. It felt like the blood in my veins was growing deadly cold. I might've been alive, but I was dying. "Put it out!" I shouted.

"Jude?" he asked with agony dripping from his voice.

"Please! Put out the fire! Stop the pain!" I screamed out.

"Darius!" Tommy shouted.

I heard a gasp of someone else in the room. "He bit her," I heard a woman say. It was Sadie. Sadie was here to. I started to cry as the pain got worse. "Tommy, you have to do it."

"No!" he growled.

"There may be a way to save her," Darius said. "You'd have to suck out the venom."

"D…I don't think I can do that."

"It's your choice Tommy, but either way I can't do it. I have to finish stitching her head."

I saw Tommy nod and go to my neck. He was so hesitant, that he stopped half-way for a couple of seconds. His cool lips made the pain even worse and I thrashed my body as best as I could to try to get him to stop. Sadie came up to me and held my legs effortlessly and I couldn't move. I wanted him to stop. It hurt so much. Why wouldn't he stop? Soon, the pain subsided and the coldness of his lips were an actual comfort. I sighed in content and his lips were gone from my neck.

Sadie released my legs and I could hear her heels click on the wooden floor. Nothing was pulling at my head anymore either. I moaned. I wanted to go to sleep. I felt so exhausted. "Is it all out?" I heard Darius ask. His voice seemed farther away than before. It wasn't as clear. I wasn't sure if it was because he had moved, or because I was slowly drifting away into sleep.

"I think so," Tommy responded. "I can taste the poison in my mouth."

I felt around for Tommy and found his arm. I gripped it tightly making sure there was no way he could leave—even though I knew he could get out of my grip easily. I moaned again laying my head against his cold, hard, chest. "Tommy," I said.

"I'm right here, Jude," he reassured me.

"We need to get her to the hospital, quickly," Darius said as I heard the double doors open.

"No, I don't want to move," I whined. "I want to go to sleep."

"It's ok honey, I'll carry you," Tommy said as he picked me up gently. "Just go to sleep. I love you."

"I know," I sighed. Then I drifted off into sleep.

-----------------------------------

I woke up in a room with white walls, white floors, and white ceilings. I had never seen so much white in my life. I shivered wonder why I was so cold. Then I realized someone was in the bed with me. I turned and saw Tommy. His eyes were closed, but he wasn't pretending to sleep or anything. It looked like he was in deep thought. I rubbed the back of my hand against his cheek and his eyes snapped open. I smiled at him. "Hey there handsome," I whispered.

"Jude, my darling, your awake," he smiled and kissed my cheek.

"Awake?" I asked. "How long have I been out?"

He shrugged. "About three days," he said.

"Three days!" I exclaimed. He put a finger over my lips and shushed me.

"It's ok, your better now. That's all that matters." He wrapped his arms around me tighter.

I heard some beeping and realized it was a heart monitor. I was in a hospital. I hated being in hospitals. I finally looked down at my body. I had a cast around my leg, and my ribs were rapped around in an ace bandage tightly. I sighed and laid my head back down on the flat pillow. My head was throbbing trying to remember exactly what happened. I remember writing a note to Tommy. But I didn't remember what it had said. I also remembered running a fairly long distance to somewhere. I was meeting someone, but whom?

I groaned and closed my eyes as I tried to put a face to the unknown person in my memory. Then I saw red eyes shining in the darkness and Hunter's face appeared in my mind. I gasped loudly finally putting the missing pieces back together. I wrote a note telling Tommy I was going to meet Hunter; to not follow me or try to find me. In my mind, I saw Hunter's fang revealed to me and him going for the kill. I felt his teeth sink into me and I blacked out. So, how was I here? How come I wasn't a vampire? I knew I wasn't because, according to the heart monitor, my heart was still beating. I looked at Tommy with a confusing gaze. Everything was coming in my head so fast, I was getting overwhelmed. I leaned against him as I tried to collect everything one at a time.

He held me tightly as if I was going to fall off the bed. I thought I was if I didn't get my head to stop spinning. I finally took a deep breath and looked up at him. "Hunter," I whispered. "What happened to him?"

Tommy lowered his gaze away from me momentarily and then looked back at me. He sighed and said, "Shay and Kwest took care of him. He won't bother us anymore; I promise."

I lowered my gaze like he had just done. "Oh," I said. Realization came in. They had killed him. I shook my head and put it back on his chest. I didn't want to think about that right now. I sighed again as my head eased against his cool skin. Then I picked up my head thinking about Stuart. "Wait, what about Stuart? Does he know I'm in the hospital? What's my story?" I rambled with different questions to Tommy and he laughed thinking it was cute.

I hit him in the chest knowing it didn't do a thing to him. "Stop laughing," I said unable to hide my own smile. "I'm serious, what do I say to people?"

I sat up on the bed taking me with him. "Well," he started. "D told your parents that you were in a hotel, and you fell down some stairs, and went through a window." I cocked an eyebrow at him. "What?"

"You've got to be kidding me. That sounds a little too ridiculous."

"For you, I don't think so." He shook his head saying it.

I looked at him shocked. I opened my mouth to protest but shook my head instead and kissed him quickly. He was right. "So, is Stuart freaking out?" I asked him biting my lower lip.

He nodded slowly. "So is Victoria," he said quickly that I almost didn't catch him. Almost.

"Victoria?" I asked with a gasp. "My mom is here!"

That was an interesting conversation when my mom and dad came in to visit me. I told them what happened, to get the story straight. My mom tried to convince me to move back with her, but I assured her it was a momentarily lapse of judgment. I just told her that Tommy and I had gotten into a really bad argument and broke up, but he went to apologize and went all the way to Santa Barbara to find me. I know she was a little upset, but she put on a brave face. After D checked me out and my parents were convinced that I was ok, Tommy came back into the room.

He smiled at me and sat on the chair next to the bed. I looked at him with a questionable look. "I have a question for you," I said as Tommy took my hand.

He squeezed my hand and smiled even wider. "And what's that my dear?" He asked.

"Why did you just let it happen?" I asked seriously. His eyebrows scrunched together in confusion. "D told me that you sucked the venom out of me when Hunter bit me. Why didn't you just let it be?"

"Because, as much as I would want to spend eternity with you, I don't want you to have my life," he sighed. "It's not as wonderful as you might think it is Jude. It's a gift and a curse. I'm sorry, but I don't want you to think that this is what you want."

"And how do you know what I want?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. But I do know what you need. And you need a normal human life."

"You are all I need," I whispered.

Tommy shook his head. "It's not right, and I'll do whatever I can in my power to make it false."

My eyebrows raised in realization. I knew why he was so upset now. I knew why he was nervous about my prediction. "Sadie saw it didn't she? She saw me…and you…and everything."

"She's wrong," Tommy growled.

I shook my head at him. "You would never catch me betting against Sadie," I chuckled at him trying to lighten the mood.

"Sadie isn't always right," he explained. "She saw you dead, and that didn't happen."

I felt my eyelids droop a bit. They had given me medication earlier for the pain, and said it might make me drowsy. I sighed and laid my head back on the pillow. Tommy smiled slightly and kissed my temple as I drifted off sleep slowly. He caressed my cheek and I smiled leaning into his touch. "Tommy," I moaned slightly.

"Yes my love?" He replied.

"I'm betting on Sadie," I said and finally drifted off into dreamland.

Alright, I just fnished the epilogue!! Go me!! yay!! -lol-. I'll try to get that up, but I'm not doing it tonight. Or this morning I should say. But it's actually done!! So, it's ok. Won't take another two and half months to put up. -lol- PLEASE REVIEW!!

Sneak Peek-Epilogue:

Yes, that's right. I, Jude Harrison was going to a high school prom. It's not that I minded dances but I wasn't really good at dancing at all. But, Tommy convinced me to go with him and I decided to make him happy. But after a day with Sadie playing dress up at the mall I was actually becoming more and more excited. Honestly, how many people would be jealous to see me enter that gym with none other than Tommy Quincy? I secretly enjoyed the envious looks I would get from the other girls.

-----------------------------------

"You sure you want this?" He asked.

"Yes, I truly do," I said honestly.

He smirked and I closed my eyes. "Ready?" I nodded. I suddenly felt his lips brush my neck.