The Price of Desire

Disclaimer: I do not own Victorious

A/N: Here it is guys, the final chapter. Now I haven't completely began the sequel, but it is coming. Expect "FINDING NORMALCY" to be up, hopefully tomorrow (April 12th). Since I now work nights at Wal-Mart and I'm off tomorrow, I can write then. Anyway, enjoy this final chapter.

Chapter 27 (Nothing Comes Between)

Trina opened her eyes, finding herself in a big white hospital room, her eyes were stabbed by light and her lips separated into a moan. Her body was no longer in pain, but she was afraid to try to sit up. She could see a window to her left and the silhouette of someone sleeping. She turned her head to the right, blinking several times, adjusting her eyes to the light. Where was Tori, exactly? Would they have put her in a different room? She hoped not, she'd been gone too long without her to be apart. That girl was still scared, most likely. Or maybe, she just didn't need her. Maybe her friends were already with her.

She struggled to move her body as the blue hospital door flew open. "Okay sweetie, I'm going to fix you right up," spoke a nurse with curly black hair. She raised her eyebrows and looked over curiously. Her heart began racing when she spotted Bethany's round, smiling face. What? What the hell? She was dead! She started shaking her head as the woman moved to her bedside. "Don't worry dear, I'll give you a lollipop after this, but first, we're going to have to amputate your legs. We don't want the gangrene to set in."

"N-No!" Sweat poured from her body as the lady started to grab a scalpel from some metal table. She watched with fearful eyes as the woman put the point of the blade directly above her chest. "Get off me! Get away, damn it!" Why couldn't she move her body? Had she become paralyzed? Panic spread to her limbs and her body began shaking, but it felt like someone was pushing her. Holding her.

"Trina, love, you're fine." She meshed her brows and arched her chest upwards as Bethany pushed the blade into her chest. She hissed and clenched her teeth, pulling back her tears and forcing the scream down. As the woman cut along her chest, she couldn't contain it any longer, the pain was too intense. She opened her mouth and let out a loud scream, writhing in agony.

She shot up in the bed, still screaming as two strong arms held her, hugging her. Her body was soaked with sweat, her heart racing, and her breath rapid. "It's okay Trina," Jason's voice seemed to echo into her head, reassuring her that she was somehow miraculously safe.

"A-A…dream?"

"Just a dream," Christy's voice was next. Her hand was on Trina's forearm, the contact was warm and gentle. Her eyes adjusted to see them standing on either side of her, Jason to her right and Christy to her left. She was in a hospital room with two beds. Sikowitz was seated in the chair beside the window to her left while Dr. Richards stood on her right between the two beds. On the second bed, Tori was sitting up and looking at her with wide, concerned eyes. Dr. Richards glanced up from a notepad, he had a younger doctor and a nurse with shoulder length, sandy blonde hair standing beside him.

"Make sure you don't hold her too tightly," Dr. Richards ordered while pointing a pencil to Jason. "Her ribs are bruised and she still has some broken bones, I'd like for them to heal sooner than later." Jason nodded and slowly released Trina, who was battling to recover from that nightmare. Dr. Richards moved over to her and smiled. "Trina, how are you feeling?"

"Like I just got out of a living hell. What are you doing here?" She heard Tori clear her throat and glanced over to see her with a bowl of soup in her lap. The others looked over and she inhaled softly.

"I know she just woke up and everything, but…can I have some time alone with her? I want to talk…" Dr. Richards sighed and turned to the doctor and nurse, gesturing to the doors.

"Everyone out." They hastily followed the instruction and Sikowitz started moving from his chair. He put his hand to Jason's shoulder and motioned with his head. Trina felt Christy squeeze her arm and met her eyes with a soft smile. She was relieved to see them there at all. Just being alive, she was relieved. Jason kissed her forehead and she closed her eyes, feeling the warmth of his kiss flow down into her body.

"We'll see you in a bit," Jason spoke with a very soft, loving tone. She smiled back at him and watched as he and Christy followed the others out of the room. She lifted her hand and rubbed her forehead, he had stubble that tickled her. Had she been out that long? Her eyes drifted town to her body and she smiled when she saw two feet under her blanket. She wiggled her toes and chuckled softly, here she thought they would have had to cut off her left leg. Her left leg, however, she could feel a cast. The fall down those stairs must have bruised her ribs and caused her leg to break. Great. She wouldn't be able to take her martial arts classes for a couple weeks now. How was she supposed to get stronger?

"I requested Dr. Richards," Tori said quickly. Trina looked to her sister with a subtle smile and leaned back against the bed. When had they moved the top portion of the bed up? It was good that she could recline and not have to lay all the way down. It hurt to move and she wasn't too sure she wanted to try to move that much. Tori spooned her soup to her mouth and stared down at the bowl, a deep sadness in her eyes. "Dr. Richards knows us best and he's been working with you, so…I could leave, but I'm still under eighteen and that's considered a minor. I need a parent or legal authority to be able to sign me out…"

"Tor..." The memory of the last few days returned to her, and with them, came the tears. Tori's face was hardened with depression, but it looked like she'd cried all her tears already. Their parents, she remembered they were gone, but did Tori already know that? Her tone, what she said, it seemed she had an idea.

Without missing a beat, Tori sniffed and wiped her eyes. They were wet, but tears just were not coming. Her face was already red and stained by tear streaks. She did look like she could use a shower. "Michael and Warren explained everything…you've been asleep for two days, Trina. Jason never left your side." Her eyes widened and she slowly turned her gaze to her body. Had it shut down that much? She did overexert herself, but it was all for a good cause. "What were you thinking? Going in there alone…after you know mom and d-" Tori choked up a sob and closed her eyes. Her heart sank and she slowly reached her hand out, she wanted to take Tori's hand, but the beds were spaced too far apart. "What if you had died, Trina? What then? I'd be alone…Sure I have my friends, but, I need you. I can't survive this without you, Trina!"

"I know. Me either…" She felt terrible being scolded for her stupid mistake by her little sister, but it was justified, she knew. It was a stupid mistake to go alone, Jason and Christy could have been a great help, as could Sikowitz. Had Christy been there, she could have sliced right through that damn whip that Bethany had, Sikowitz could have smacked down Sinjin, and Jason could have toppled Tyson. Things would have been so different had she brought them with her.

"But Trina…" Her eyes flew to Tori, who was watching her from the corner of her eyes. The girl's lips were curved into a smile. Her breathing seemed normal and she didn't have any bruising or scarring. "Thank you. For not giving up on me. The others too…my friends are all safe because you guys cared enough to save them. They could all be dead right now, but they're not, and they have you guys to thank for that. Their families took them to hospitals, as requested, so they'll be there for a while, but the important thing is that they are alive." Her heart filled with that old prideful feeling, but no more did she have to acknowledge that she was best. She wasn't. It was good that the families had hospitalized the others, that was necessary. Andre would need his physical therapy, as would Beck, and everyone needed to be checked over.

"I couldn't have done it without Jason, Christy, and even Mr. Sikowitz. I probably would have been killed in the first battle if they weren't with me." Tori chuckled and slowly nodded her head, she was thinking on Sikowitz's involvement.

"I was surprised…that Mr. Sikowitz knew how to kick ass." Trina laughed, but her chest flared up with pain in response. She put her hand to her side and leaned her head back, sighing softly. "Even more interesting is…you and his nephew have a thing going on."

"What? Are you going to say 'I told you so'?" She smirked, remembering their last conversation before the whole tragedy happened. Tori smiled at her, then frowned, bowing her head and closing her eyes.

"What's going to happen to us, Trina? I know Michael and Warren said any possible charges against your vigilante actions were revoked. Besides, you're kind of like…a hero…I saw everything on the news over the last two days. I can't believe Sinjin was involved, and that boy, Damian…" Trina bowed her head and closed her hands on the sheet. She was grateful she wouldn't have to worry about getting in trouble for going vigilante. Besides, she could prove self-defense on anything, she knew enough about criminal law to pay attention to that. "That necklace…the police got everything from that chip, so the gang's definitely finished, but…"

"It wasn't about the chip or the necklace, Tori. I realize that now." Tori whimpered softly and clenched her eyes shut, a sign that she possibly understood the true reason herself. "That crazy nurse snapped, obsessing over wanting children. She only used that chip as bait to lure me in…once I got to her, she tried to kill me, but either or…"

"I haven't seen the others yet." Trina raised an eyebrow and glanced over at the table between their beds. There were several get well cards resting there, for both. Condolences offered and whatnot, the same was said for the balloons surrounding them. Had everything been delivered? "Like I said, it's only been two days and they're all recovering at their own clinics. The doctors didn't want too many visitors."

"I guess I can understand that."

"I just can't believe…Will anything ever be normal again? I even know the answer to that, but I just…"

"Don't let your soup get cold…" Trina closed her eyes and exhaled. What could she say? She wished for normalcy too, but it was clear nothing would ever be the same again. There was no sense in lying about that. "We'll still be together, Tori."

"I'm not leaving your side, Trina…I just…I don't think mentally…I don't think I can do that. I've never stopped needing you, sis."

"Funny…I was about to say the same thing…" Tori sniffled. Trina opened her eyes and turned her head to her, fresh tears welled up as she studied her little sis. It would be so difficult for her to readjust to everything. "I'm going to do everything I can…to ensure we can have a good life. It'll happen…one day…I'm going to look after you, but, I may need you to look after me sometimes."

"I'll try. Where are we going to live? What about money?"

"Mom and Dad left behind money, it's probably ours now…I want to put that in a savings account. As for where to live, I don't know. I was thinking we'd move in with Grandma downtown for a while." She wasn't ready to buy an apartment yet, she still needed to get back to her own classes, she had at least a week of college material to catch up on. "You can finish school when you're ready to go back."

"I just want to start school whenever I can. I know my friends are going to get back as soon as they can start." Tori reached over and took one of the cards on the table, smiling as she opened it. "Look, they sent us letters and stuff."

"They were able to do that?" Tori's face fell and she lifted her shoulders.

"They filled out cards with their families, but the doctors at their clinics sent them into the police department really. They don't know we're here at the moment. Chief Warren and Michael have only told certain people where we're at because until they're certain you can deal with the media asking you a million questions, they don't want us or the hospital to be bombarded by people."

"I see…" That was understandable, she would hate to be hit with a million reporters. "I thought the police were taking the credit for taking out the gang."

"They did. Giovanni at least…but they said you singlehandedly took out the final members of the gang. They had to, everyone at the school saw you take out Lane…"

"Oh. Yeah." She lifted her head up and furrowed her brow as Tori read the contents of the card. They probably had plenty of time to read through them all. "What does it say?"

"This one is from Andre. He says, 'I'm glad you and your sis are okay, words can't express how happy I am! I hope we can see you guys again really soon, we're all eager to talk to you.' All the cards are relatively similar, expressing thanks, best wishes, hopes to see us again soon…I miss them, Tri."

"I know, we'll see them once we recover enough to get out of here." Tori smiled half-heartedly and scooped her soup up to her mouth. It might be a while before anyone was ready to truly talk about everything that happened, but she knew eventually, in order to cope, they would all have to sit down one day and just talk about it. Maybe with a guidance counselor that wasn't an evil prick. "I suppose you were told what happened to Lane…"

"You went nuts…I didn't ask for details. I really didn't want to know everything. I was surprised though…about the Gorilla Club. I didn't know that thing was a robot."

"Yeah, that was a shock. I have to say, Christy really did always come through for us. Jason and his uncle too, like you wouldn't believe." Tori didn't smile too much, but her lips gave way to a very faint upwards curve. She was practically glowing from relief of being out of that danger, the fear that she wouldn't make it out alive.

"I don't think I'll look at Mr. Sikowitz the same way after this."

"Be kind of hard to do that."

"Yeah…oh, and Cat sent me a letter in her card, saying that mom died protecting me. Was that true? I wasn't there during the whole ordeal…the others all thought it was me…"

"Even I thought it was you, from the picture they sent. Truth? When we saved Cat, I thought she was the last one alive…I was about ready to let the police raid the casino they took all of them to. By some miracle, Lane didn't take Cat away right off the bat like the other leaders did with your friends…so she managed to recognize mom…" Tori's face scrunched as though she were trying to cry. "In a way, I should thank Cat as well. Emotionally I was far past drained, had she not said you were still alive…"

"I know. They told me about my 'death'. Just, thank you for not giving up."

"Yeah…read some more of those cards?"

"Sure." Trina sighed as Tori reached over and started grabbing more of the cards from her friends. As time went on, tears streamed her cheeks and joy washed through her angry heart. She didn't have to be angry anymore, she didn't have to hate that nurse any longer. She was enjoying the peace now, her sister at her side, reading off all the cards and letters sent not only from friends, but the school and relatives.

The only real relative left was their grandmother, Betty Keller-Vega. She was seventy-six years old. She was actually their father's mom. She heard someone suggest that she was Holly's mother, but Holly's mother died in 2009. David had a younger sister, their Aunt Sonya, who was fifty-two years old. Sonya actually was taking care of her mother, she'd been married, but her husband died in some freak accident back in 2002. They had one son, who was finishing college. It would be nice to see them again.

Tori was still finishing up her senior year, so she probably wouldn't want to skip out on these next few months. Though they would have to see if she could manage. It was possible that Tori may actually need a break from school.

The door handle turned and her eyes flicked towards it. Her heart started pounding as she prepared her defenses. Tori froze and stared at the brown door, uncertain who would be coming in. When it opened, Chief Warren and Michael came walking in, smiling at the two. They relaxed for a split second, then tensed one more as they heard a familiar voice.

"My grandchildren!" Smiles plastered their faces as a flash of grey came running in the room. It was their grandmother, Betty. Trina never thought she'd be so happy to see her grandmother's wrinkly face. Though the woman still needed a haircut, the woman's long silver hair hanging over her shoulders just looked creepy. "Trina! Tori! I'm here!"

The lady was of average size, wearing a white dress with flower shaped polka dots patterned into the design. She started moving from bed to bed, hugging them both and crying softly. Behind her stood a tall, thin woman with chin length brown hair and gentle, kind eyes. Her eyes seemed hazy and her lips bore a smile of relief. Trina looked over and breathed in.

"Hi Aunt Sonya. Where's Arnold?"

"He's coming, he stopped by one of the nurses. He wanted to ask them something. You know he's going into Med School in the fall." Trina nodded and looked to the door as a young man came walking in. He had short dirty blonde hair, with the front end spiked up. His deep blue eyes met hers and his lips curved into a smile. Sonya smiled at him and closed her eyes. "Hey Arnold."

"Hey cousins!" Tori squealed delightedly, instantly recognizing Arnold. "Glad to see you guys. Mom and Grandma rushed over here when Michael told them what happened…why it took them two whole days to contact us, I'll never know."

"Told you, we had to be sure of their safety," Michael urged. "All precautions. The point is, you're together, they're safe, and that's important."

"Right." He moved over and hugged his cousins. Sonja hugged them as well. There wasn't a dry eye in the room. After the tearful reunion, it was determined, mostly by Sonja and Betty, that the girls would be staying with them. Dr. Richards still wanted to observe them for the rest of the day, but they would be free to leave the hospital the next day.

No matter how long it took, though, Trina didn't care. All she truly cared about, all she truly wanted, was that Tori was safe beside her. Everything that happened to her, all the struggles, all the near deaths, it was all worth it. It would always be worth it, and would remain a memory that there was truly nothing that would stand between her and the sister she loved. No matter what.

So what did you think of the chapter? Tell me your thoughts, I hope you enjoyed it! (Also hope you caught the "golden age of nick" reference I threw in.

So...final chapter...It's come a long way, and I want to thank each and every one of you for reading, leaving your much appreciated thoughts as the chapters went on. You're all great, and this story was truly awesome. The sequel is up, here it is: .net/s/8016243/1/