This is the chapter where things are explained to some extent… I couldn't give you all the details at once could I? Lol Where would the fun be for me? 'Cause you know I love to torture you all with cliffhangers and vague-to-be-explained-fully-later-on details of things!

O-tay, now that the crash has officially taken place last chapter it's time to tell you how things work concerning it: Sora has amnesia, but throughout the story he will have flashes sort of like flashbacks concerning the crash, except that unlike flashbacks it's in third person instead of first and is just bold. Thought you might want to know that to cut down on any confusion it might cause you. (You'll understand when you get there.)

Thanks to all my reviewers, and I did pick the winner of the guest starring role! I couldn't decide between the two best ones… so there's two guest stars! Ta da! Be happy for them and there awesome reviews! The two winners are:

dark sorceress of egypt – featured as Rei (Note: Rei is dating someone in this… not saying whom, but there you go. Just thought dark sorceress of egypt might want to know that)

&

Steven Kodaly – featured as the ever obnoxious Jeremy X(Note: Sorry to announce this, but Jeremy X doesn't really do anything until chapter 5 which is already under construction. He gets mentioned in this chapter but is actually in chapter 5)

Chapter 4

"Look at him just laying there, the poor little thing. He was so upset when no one would tell him what was going on earlier, especially when he found out it was something he couldn't remember but should have been able to." Sora's young female nurse sighed to the head doctor in charge of Sora's physical and psychological wellbeing. The tall blond man smiled kindly down on his young inexperienced intern's face, respecting if not completely understanding her empathy for this patient over all the others she had helped him take care of and cure. He couldn't understand why this boy should be so special. "Why couldn't we just let his Mother tell him what happened instead of giving him sleeping pills to knock him back out just to stop the questions and calm him down? Doesn't he have a right to know sir?"

"Yes, Yuna, be does have a right to know what happened to him. Sora will know when he's ready and prepared to except it for himself." The far more experienced doctor stated, moving to check his patient's pulse and heart rate for any change.

"I'm afraid I don't quite understand sir. Doctor Ansem, could you please explain what you mean by that?" Yuna asked pleadingly, begging an explanation for what she only saw as unwarranted cruelty and lying to a confused child. In Yuna's opinion, Sora had been through quite enough already without everyone around him lying to him and refusing to tell him what was going on. When the doctor didn't answer, Yuna folded her arms across her chest angrily. "I feel I must have an explanation if I'm going to be taking care of him sir, meaning to disrespect to you of course, but I feel like I'm being left in the dark – just like how no one will tell Sora what's going on. And frankly I don't like the feeling at all."

"All we have is theories Yuna, but it's enough to go off of until we find out what really happened to make him forget the accident in its entirety." Doctor Ansem said sadly, as though his precious medical theories hadn't reached their usual standards in this case. "Yuna, you know that usually when someone has amnesia they forget years of their life, or they remember only bits or flashes of the accident that was so life changing for them. Well, Sora isn't like that at all from talking to him earlier when I had everyone else exit the room so we could speak privately."

"Hello there, I'm Doctor Ansem." I said cheerily. "What's your name then?"

"My name is Sora." He said, a pained look coming over him. He was trying so hard to figure things out, I could tell just by looking at him.

"So Sora, could you tell me what you remember exactly?" I asked him slowly, sitting down on the edge of his hospital bed. When they had assigned me to this case, they had said it might be a difficult one but…

"What exactly am I supposed to be remembering Doctor?" The boy asked me calmly. I could tell this one was intelligent, trying to trick me into giving something away but that wasn't going to happen.

"Oh nothing out of the ordinary really, just wondering what you remember." I lied quickly. I saw in his eyes that he knew I had lied. This one was intelligent it seemed which was going to be a problem if he kept up this mania of trying to find out what had happened to him before he was ready to know. "Could you tell me the last thing you do remember from last night?"

"Yeah, I guess so." Sora said slowly, sifting his memories. "I walked up to 'The Dark-Heart' with Roxas and Riku, we met up with my girlfriend Kairi, we hung out up there and listened to the bands for a while, and um…"

"Is that all you can remember Sora?" I asked, a little put out by his lack off useful knowledge. Nothing he had said involved anything that might have led to the amnesia or the accident we where struggling to understand. We still didn't know exactly what had happened to cause the disaster, but it was our job to give the police as much information as we could in case there was evidence of foul play.

"No, I remember more than that but I'm not sure I want to tell you." Sora said honestly, his face a bit pink.

"Nothing you say will leave this room, if you're worried your parents might find out Sora. I swear I won't tell a soul what you say." I promised him, taking his hand. It was shaking slightly, but Sora nodded nonetheless.

"Kairi offered me and Riku a ride home and we accepted it because it was dark and all the weirdoes were out at that time so it wasn't safe to walk. Riku and Kairi didn't wear seatbelts because it was just down the road like fifteen to twenty minutes. Kairi and I didn't have the best relationship, and she kept controlling me and making me unhappy, yelling at me all the time and telling me who I could and couldn't hang out with." Sora explained his face the picture of deepest misery. "She even tried to take Riku away from me! Riku's been my best friend since preschool for God's sake! I couldn't handle it anymore, you know? So I did what I had to do."

"What did you do?" I asked, worried that this 'victim' might not be as innocent as we had believed.

"I broke up with her, on the ride home. I ended it and freed myself from her bossy grasp." Sora said casually, and I let out a sigh of relief. He didn't seem to notice. "Kairi was freaking out and stuttering the whole time I was telling her. Her hands were shaking on the wheel and everything. Um, that's all I remember."

"He doesn't remember it at all." Yuna said seeming a bit shocked by Sora's tale. "What does it mean thought, that he doesn't remember any of it?"

"My theory is that the disastrous experience left Sora in a traumatized state, there in accounting for the memory loss. Simply put Yuna, the memory part of Sora's brain shut down in order to keep him from the pain of the truth. There are other theories, ones more connected with the incident it's self." Ansem continued. "Of example, the mere force of the impact could have knocked Sora's head around so much that it brought on the amnesia, but there's no way to tell for sure."

"I think I understand now sir." Yuna said sadly, her eyes filling with tears over a boy she barely knew. "What would happen if someone did tell Sora what happened to him and the other's that night?"

"That would be a grave error on their part Yuna, as it could be potentially dangerous for Sora in his weakened state of mind, not to mention his weakened physical form. If you or anyone else were to tell him what happened, he could be further traumatized, it could cause a mental collapse rendering him mentally paralyzed the rest of his life, be so overwhelmed with shock that he chokes himself in his sleep, or be so filled with guilt that he starves himself or refuses medication."

"Oh my God, no wonder no one wanted to tell him!" Yuna said, her hands flying to her mouth. "That's just terrible!"

"I'm afraid that's not even the worst case scenarios." Ansem said grimly, his eyes clouding over.

"What could possibly be worse?" Yuna asked, he voice timid.

The absolute worst case scenario would be that when Sora receives the news would be for him to go into an 'emotional-cardiovascular-shutdown' or an ECS." Ansem said quietly. Yuna's usually pretty face looked pale and confused, causing Ansem to elaborate for her sake. "During an ECS, a patient's body goes suddenly limp and the heart stops beating and shuts down due to emotional stressors. It's a very rare condition indeed, though I have seen one case myself when touring another hospital years ago. What's even worse, in the few dozen cases that ESC had played a part, not one of the patients has survived after the attack. That's why we can't risk telling Sora the truth."

"Oh my…" Yuna tailed off, looking down at the sleeping boy's shivering figure. As she pulled the blankets up over him a little higher beeping suddenly swept through the once silent room. Both checking their pagers to see where they were needed, they rushed from the room, running swiftly down the hallway to an equally important patient connected to Sora and his amnesia – Riku.

Sora' dreams were punctuated with strange visions and violent screams making him toss and turn in his bed.

"NO!" Riku yelled savagely as they swerved in front of a car. "Kairi, grab hold of the wheel you fucking idiot! Snap out of it!"

Kairi seemed to be in some kind of trance, her hands at her sides with her foot still pressing the gas peddle down hard causing them to accelerate at a rapid speed. She seemed immune to Riku's shouts. All Sora could do was try to get through to her.

"Kairi, please snap out of it and quick! Do something before we crash!" Sora yelled, his brain screaming as his tight throat continued to plead with the immobile Kairi. She blinked when Sora said her name, signaling that she hadn't been ignoring Riku but hadn't heard him somehow. As though she could only hear Sora's voice. "I know you're upset right now, but please stop this! Get control of the car!"

"Sora… I'm sorry."

"Roxas dear, go upstairs and get some sleep. No need to worry yourself sick over Sora, they're taking good care of him." His Mother said sweetly, kissing him on the forehead as she headed for the front door. "Your Father had to leave town again on urgent business, so it will just be you here tonight Roxas. I'm going back to stay with Sora in case he wakes up again. Do you think you can manage on your own for the night?"

"Mother, I'm a fifteen year old soon-to-be sixteen year old boy! I think I can handle one night on my own by now, just go take care of Sora." Roxas said with a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. "Go on and get to the hospital already Mother, Sora needs you there with him."

"Bye Roxas, I love you!" She called as she whipped out of sight behind the shutting door. Roxas ran to the window and watched her car as she drove off into the dim twilight just before dark. It was almost nine o'clock, but Sora had been out for hours because of the sleeping medication they had shoved down his throat.

Roxas was unable to sort out his feelings. He was upset and anxious, his brain souring into overdrive as he attempted to calm himself down enough to think clearly. Apart from the feelings related to the fact that his twin brother might be dying as he spoke, there was a feeling of guilt that was haunting the back of his mind like a ghost. A feeling of dread that he already knew what was to befall his sick brother.

"I can't think like that!" Roxas shouted to the empty living room. "It's not like I'm expecting the hospital to call any second now to tell me Sora – "

The telephone rang out suddenly, interrupting Roxas' thoughts.

Roxas jumped about a foot in the air, staring at the phone in terrified apprehension as it continued to ring. He gingerly picked up the receiver and placed it to his ear, his breathing coming in short gasps.

"H-Hello, who's there?" Roxas stuttered, fearing the worst.

"Roxas, is that you?" The familiar voice asked.

"Y-Yes, this is R-Roxas." Roxas said, his voice still trembling in fear for his brother. Please don't be the hospital, Roxas thought pleadingly.

"Rox, it's me Axel. Remember, your boyfriend?" Axel said coolly, laughing slightly. Roxas let out the breath he had unwittingly been holding in with a sigh, nearly dropping the phone in his intense relief. "Roxas, are you okay? You don't sound so good."

"I'm fine Axel, it's…" Roxas started but was unable to finish due to the massive amount of tears that had sprung up in his eyes.

"It's me isn't it Roxas?" Axel asked quietly, sounding as miserable as Roxas felt. "I did something to upset you, didn't I? I'm sorry Roxas, please forgive me."

"No Axel, it's not you at all. You've been perfect to me Axel; I love you so much more than you could ever know." Roxas said, trying to convince Axel that the fault was not him. "It's my twin brother, Sora. You know, you met him last night at the club."

"You mean the spiky brown-haired kid?" Axel asked just to be sure they were talking about the same person.

"Yeah Axel him, that's the one." Roxas said morosely, angry with himself. That night could have ended so much differently if I had just left with them like they wanted me to, Roxas thought guiltily. I could have asked Axel to drive us all home and then none of this would have happened. I could have prevented this whole thing!

"Is he messing with you Rox, is that why you're upset?" Axel asked protectively, causing a small halfhearted smile to form at the corners of Roxas' lips. "Do you need me to come down there and ruffle some feathers, get him off your back maybe? What's be doing to you Roxas?"

"Sora's not doing anything Axel. In fact that's part of the problem." Roxas sighed again, massaging his aching temples with his free hand trying to make his stress headache go away with no success. "Do you remember the two people Sora and I were hanging out with before I left to chill with you and the band?"

"Yeah of course, the redhead bitch you hate and the tall dude with the unusual silver hair. I saw you with them when you came in." Axel said nonchalantly, but Roxas could tell it had eaten Axel up inside to see Roxas show up with another guy, even if the other guy was just his brother's best friend. Axel had been dropping hints for weeks that he didn't like seeing Roxas hanging around other guys without him around, especially now that they were dating. "What about them specifically Roxas?"

"Sora road home with them last night." Roxas said, tears welling up in eyes again at what he knew he had to now voice aloud and tell Axel. "Axel, they were in an accident. They crashed on their way home last night."

"Are they alright Roxas?" Axel asked sounding slightly dumbfounded by the whole thing. "I don't believe it, thank God I asked you to stay behind with me! Is everyone okay though? Please tell me everyone's okay Roxas!"

"It was a really bad wreck Axel, the car was completely demolished!" Roxas sobbed, unable to hold back his tears any longer – unable to tell Axel that the people that he, Roxas, cared about had been hurt. "I just- and they - I can't –"

"Whoa Roxas, try to calm down and focus for a second, okay?" Axel said a bit too sternly than was necessary. But strangely enough it calmed Roxas down more than anything else Roxas had tried himself had. "Did anyone get hurt?"

"Y-Yes, all of t-them were hurt." Roxas sputtered slightly, his voice breaking in pain. "Axel I need you, I'm scared. I just don't know what to do!"

"Just calm down now sweetheart, everything's going to be fine, I promise you everything will be just fine in the end." Axel said soothingly, his voice low and calming. "I need you to tell me how bad everyone was hurt very calmly, okay Roxas?"

"Sora was the only one wearing a seatbelt when they ran off the side of the road and crashed into the barrier. He was just knocked unconscious and has a few bad bruises, but he can't remember the crash at all." Roxas sobbed, completely breaking down, his tears falling onto the phone. "Mother went to go stay with him at the hospital and left me home alone so I didn't have to see him all beat up like that again. I don't want to be alone right now. Axel, what am I going to do? I'm so scared Sora's going to die!"

"What was your Mother thinking to leave you alone at a time like this, when you obviously needed someone to talk to and tell you it's going to be alright." Axel said heatedly out of concern. "Say no more Roxas, I'm on my way right now. You don't have to go through this alone anymore. I'm going to take care of you."

"Oh Axel, thank you so much!" Roxas smiled through his tears. "I really didn't want to do this alone, but Sora needs Mother and Father's out of town. Thank you Axel, thank you!"

"Listen, I'm going to hang up on you know okay? I can't drive and talk at the same time, but I'll be right there okay?" Axel said compassionately, opening his car door to slip inside.

"Okay, bye Axel." Roxas said sadly hanging up the phone. Grabbing a blanket, Roxas sat in a ball on the sofa, the blanket like a cocoon around his trembling body. There was a knock at the door and Roxas jumped, hurriedly rushing to answer the door. "Axel! You came, oh Axel thank you!"

"I said I wouldn't make you do this alone and I meant it." Axel said soothingly, opening his arms so Roxas could rush into them as he had been longing to do ever since he opened the door and saw Axel standing their on his doorstep. Axel picked Roxas up and sat down with him in his arms on the sofa, allowing Roxas to cry into his shoulder and the soft curve of his neck. Axel did exactly what Roxas needed him to do – to just be there for him and comfort him by showing that he cared about him and what he was going through right now. They sat there together in silence except for Roxas' sobs for nearly an hour before Roxas finally calmed down enough to speak again. "Feel any better now that you've cried yourself out Roxas?"

"I do feel better now, thanks to you Axel." Roxas smiled, leaning forward to kiss Axel lightly on the lips in thanks. Refusing to give up the thing he loved more than life just yet, Axel deepened the kiss taking Roxas' face in his hands gently. When Axel finally pulled away, he looked down on a breathless and panting Roxas. "Axel, about the others, they-"

"No, you don't have to tell me anything Roxas." Axel replied, taking Roxas' cold hand in his warm one. "It'll just upset you again to talk about it so soon after we finally clamed you down. And I love you too much to see you that unhappy ever again over anything. I don't want you to cry again, it hurts me and makes my heart ache. I can't do it Roxas; I can't stand to see you cry."

"Oh Axel, I love you so much!" Roxas cried out lovingly, wrapping his arms tightly around Axel's neck. "But even so, I think you should know what happened to them. I won't cry, I promise. Or at least I'll try not to if it makes you feel any better."

"Alright Roxas, tell me if you must." Axel said, wrapping his long arms around Roxas' thin waist holding his love protectively against his chest. "I just don't like to see you so upset. I love you so much."

"I love you too Axel. Thank you for being here with me to remind me how much I love you and how much you love me." Roxas said sweetly, quickly kissing Axel once more before going back to telling the sad information the hospital had given him. "As far as anyone can tell, the car swerved and ran off the road. When it did it hit the barrier and the force of the impact caused the car to flip over, therein causing most of the injuries."

"What happened to Riku?" Alex asked, pulling Roxas closer to him, resting his chin on top of the blonde's head. I'm so glad I didn't let Roxas go home with the others, Axel thought gratefully. What would I do if he had died when I could have prevented it?

"Since Riku wasn't wearing a seatbelt he was thrown around and landed on his neck." Roxas explained sadly, pressing his face closer against Axel's broad chest.

"Your kidding me, you have to be." Axel said. Roxas closed his eyes, taking in the sound of Axel's voice like it was the last time he would ever hear it again. Roxas loved the sound of Axel's voice, the way it made his heart do back flips in his chest whenever he heard it. "That kid looked like he had more sense than to not wear his seatbelt with that idiot of a girl driving him home. What could he have been thinking?"

"Who knows what he was thinking, though I have a sneaking suspicion it had to do with Sora somehow. The point is he didn't wear his seatbelt apparently, so Riku fell and broke his neck." Roxas said his breathing heavy. "Riku's listed as under critical condition at the hospital… he's in a coma."

"…" Axel said nothing. The only sound was the combined note of his and Roxas' breathing. "What happened to Kairi? What happened to her?"

"Kairi was thrown through the front windshield on impact." Roxas said, preparing to say what he knew he must. He cleared his throat, determined to tell Axel the horrible truth. "Kairi didn't make it Axel, she's dead."

"Medication, that's all anyone around here has given to me all flipping day long!" Sora complained unsympathetically, thrusting the painkillers Yuna offered him back into her hands. She took them back sadly, sitting down on the empty bed opposite him, looking at him with a mixture of sadness and annoyance at what her helpfulness that earned her.

"I only want to help you Sora. You can stop being such a jerk to everyone you know!" Yuna said unpleasantly, taking her frustration out on Sora as he had on her. Sora looked over her a moment before taking the pills out of her hand. "Thank you, I'm just doing my job by giving them to you after all."

"I know Yuna, I know you and everyone else are just trying to help me get better but it still doesn't change the fact that no one's telling me anything." Sora said swallowing the small pile of pills in one gulp, grimacing in disgust. "Why can't you just tell me Yuna?"

"Oh Sora, I wish I could." Yuna sighed, patting his hand kindly. Sora pulled his hand away from hers unfeelingly, looking out the window away from her. "But I really don't know what happened to you because I'm an intern and they don't usually put interns like me on the need-to-know list if you know what I mean, so even if I wanted to tell you I couldn't."

"Oh." Sora said simply, finally looking away from the window and over at her with a guilty expression much resembling her own, though he didn't notice. "I'm sorry I yelled at you Yuna, I'm just frustrated. It's infuriating to not know what happened to me, especially since everyone else around here seems to know what happened to me, you know what I mean. I just feel helpless here, and I don't like it."

"Its fine Sora, I shouldn't have snapped back at you. It's unprofessional of me, I should have known better than to yell at you like I did." Yuna sighed softly, running her hand through her hair distractedly. Sora chuckled to himself, breaking Yuna out of her reverie. "What's so funny Sora?"

"Oh, there's nothing funny about it really. I was just wondering what Riku would say if he could see me like this." Sora smiled up at the ceiling. Yuna was secretly glad Sora had looked at the ceiling instead of her face, because tears had sprung up in Yuna's eyes instantly at the sound of Sora saying the name of the other patient she was caring for – Sora's own best friend Riku. "He'd tell me to stop being weak and suck it up like he always does when I say I'm sick. Never lets me skip school even a single day when I feel ill, Riku's stricter than my parents are with me at times. Riku cares about me now and he always has, even more than Kairi ever pretended to when we were together. Riku's my best friend and he always will be. Yuna, what's wrong?"

"Oh nothing Sora, don't worry about me." Yuna smiled a large fake smile down at him as she wiped her tears away with the sleeve of her white hospital coat all the new interns had to wear so they could be identified easily. "I have to go check on my other patient quickly before I get off work Sora. I guess I'll see you tomorrow then Sora."

"Goodbye Yuna, see you tomorrow." Sora said cheerily, waving at her when she looked back at him as she pulled the door shut behind her. As soon as the door was closed she ran down the hallway until she found and empty room, slipping inside the door without even bothering to turn the lights on. Kneeling down beside the wall, Yuna cried, knowing that no would find her here. She was alone in her misery, only her own shallow tears present to keep her company.

Knock, knock, knock!

"Who could that be so late at night, it's nearl eleven o'clock!?!" Sora's Mother asked herself quietly, going to the door of Sora's room to peer out of the glass window placed about the door handle.

"H-Hello Mrs. Nuage, c-can we come in and see S-Sora for a b-bit?" Tidus shakily asked Sora's Mother when she answered the hospital room door, slipping out into the hall with Sora's visitors.

"Of course dear, but I must warn both of you not to mention what happened to Sora. He has amnesia and can't remember anything about it." Mrs. Nuage whispered, peering through the glass window on the door at her son. Sora was sitting up in bed flipping through a magazine she had brought for him looking perfectly contented. "Please don't say anything about what happened to him, or Kairi, or Riku. I don't want to upset him, and the doctors don't think it would be wise to tell Sora just now while he's still healing."

"Alright Mrs. Nuage, don't fret." A pretty black haired girl smiled. Her small hand was in Tidus's, their fingers laced together, her paler skin contrasting beautifully against Tidus' tanned skin. "We won't tell him anything you don't want us to."

"Thank you dear. Would you please tell Sora I had to leave? I don't want to be late for work." She smiled down on the young girl and opened the door for them to slip inside.

"H-Hey S-Sora, h-how are you f-feeling?" Tidus asked, letting go of his friend's hand to pull two chairs over by the bed for them to sit in.

"Hello there Sora, your Mother told us to tell you she had to leave for work." The girl smiled as she and Tidus both sat down beside Sora's bed.

"Hey Tidus, I didn't know you were coming to visit me!" Sora smiled, setting aside his magazine. "I'm feeling better, I guess. Who's your friend Tidus?"

"Oh, S-Sora t-this is Rei." Tidus blushed looking over to find Rei's crystal blue eyes staring into his face. She smiled reassuringly and Tidus plowed on. "S-Sora, t-this is my g-girlfriend."

"Your – Tidus you sneaky little rascal, how long have you been hiding her from us?" Sora laughed, offering Rei a hand which she shook sweetly.

"Only a m-month or s-so S-Sora, not t-too long." Tidus stuttered, reaching for Rei's hand again. "I w-wasn't s-sure w-what you all w-would s-say s-so I didn't t-tell you. S-Sorry S-Sora, I s-should have t-told you."

"Aw, its fine Tidus, I'm just sorry she had to meet me the first time when I'm stuck in a hospital bed." Sora laughed. Rei and Tidus laughed along with him thought they didn't feel much like laughing under the current circumstances. Rei and Tidus kept up their feigned happiness for a little over an hour while Sora pelted questions at them, repeatedly asking them what had happened to them. Rei was the one who finally found a kind way to for both her and Tidus to leave without hurting Sora's feelings.

"Um Tidus, we have to go, remember?" She said kindly. "You promised we could go visit my sick grandmother before you took me home and I have to be back in half an hour."

"Oh right, s-sorry S-Sora b-but w-we have t-to g-go." Tidus said, standing up and quickly dragging Rei to the door. Once they were safely down the hallway, Tidus spoke to Rei. "T-Thanks Rei, I t-though I w-was about t-to c-crack under the pressure he w-was putting on us."

"I know what you mean Tidus." Rei said, resting her head on his shoulder sadly. "He seems really nice, even if the questioning was a bit annoying. I can't say I blame him though, I'd do the same if it was me."

"C-Come on Rei, let's g-go s-see my other f-friend R-Riku, you'd like him. I heard he w-was in a c-coma t-though." Tidus said, leading Rei a door that said – PATIENTS: JEREMY X & RIKU MIAKE.

Okay, Riku's last name is Miake which means absolutely nothing to tell the truth, I just liked the way it sounded when I was trying to procure a last name out of nowhere. (It's pronounced m-EE-ah-KEE) so Sora and Roxas' last name is Nuage which is French for cloud. Sue me for mixing nationalities – yes I know Kingdom Hearts characters are usually given wonderful Japanese names in stories but still. It never hurts to be a little different, does it? At least not in my experience…

Hope you liked it, please send a review and tell me if you did. If you didn't like it please – no flames. Flames burn, remember that next time you wanna flame a story. I'd say the review button is a good two inches away… feel like pressing it?