Lying motionless on the hospital bed, Cam stared at the ceiling unable to do anything else with his body due to the crippling feeling of hopelessness and desperation consuming him. He had been locked in this room for almost an entire week; his only company being doctors or his devastated family. In a way, Cam could understand why he was in this situation—his suicide attempt combined with his habit of self- harming are signs of his instability. But, he is still confused as to how it happened so fast. One minute he was talking to Maya, pondering the reason behind her anxious goodbye and the next moment he was sent into solitary confinement. He might as well be in jail; he's trapped.

The door to this room opened, revealing a very tired but cheerful Mrs. Saunders. "Hi, honey," she greeted as she closed the door behind her. "How was therapy?" She took a seat next to his bed, immediately reaching for his hand once she sat down. "Did Dr. Williams talk to you a little more about your medicine?" She paused to brush the hair out of his eyes. "You've been on the same medication for a couple of days now. Feel like it's working at all?"

Cam hesitated to answer the question, because he really wanted the answer to be a confident "yes" more than anything. Just to get out of the hospital and return to a normal life would be amazing. But the truth was that it was too soon to really tell if the medication was going to help.

He sighed, ready to be honest with this mom. "I feel like it's too soon to tell, mom. I don't think I'll ever really know until I'm out of the hospital and back to a normal routine."

Mrs. Saunders detected the frustration in her son's voice. "Cam, you staying at the hospital is for your own safety. At least until you are stable on the medication." She squeezed his hand when she noticed his crestfallen expression. "You've been here for almost two weeks. Your discharge from the hospital is going to depend on the doctor's advice and the situation you return to."

Cam frowned as he listened to his mom. He was incredibly worried about his life post suicide attempt—the looks from people at school, dealing with hockey, and the possibility of leaving Canada. The last one in particular bothered him the most. As much as he missed his family, he knew leaving his friends—Maya especially—would be unbearable.

It's like his mother read his mind. "Cam. I really want to talk to you about what's the best option for you once you get released from the hospital." She rubbed his hand affectionately, tying to comfort him before she vocalizes her worries. "As your mom, I just want you to be safe and happy. In your condition, I really want to tell you to come home so that I can be with you more during treatment and this really long adjustment period you have ahead of you. But, I know that you have been settling in here. To me, the friends you have made here are incredibly important." She fixes her eyes on a random spot on the blank wall, leaving them there as she gets lost in thought. "The friends you have here are a much better support system than the ones you had back in New Jersey. And that's what I want for you. A life where you can just be yourself without your talent determining who you are to others. That might be what's necessary for helping you get better." She blinked away a few tears pooling in the corner of her eyes, partially failing when one stray tear escaped. "I can't help but feel a little selfish and guilty—I don't want to leave your side and return to New Jersey without you, but I was the one who even allowed you to come here in the first place. For some reason I thought you being in Canada would bring you away from the petty, competitive environment of your old school with hockey." She chuckled humorlessly, "But then I send you to Canada, a country that specializes in the sport. The amount of pressure you have been feeling these past couple of months is more than you ever felt back in Jersey." She rubbed her lips together, trying to control her quivering bottom lip.

There were many things that Cam could take, but seeing his mom cry was never one of them. He covered the hand that held his own and gripped it tightly. "Mom, please don't blame yourself. None of it is your fault. It's mine."

"No," she stated firmly, "None of this is your fault. You can't control the way you are feeling, Campbell. Depression is just like any other illness. It's beyond your control." She stood up to kiss his forehead. "As your mother, I should have been more aware of how you were feeling, especially about hockey. You haven't been happy playing for a long time." She looked at her son with eyes full of regret. "I want to make up for all of it."

When she noticed Cam's mouth opening to protest, she raised her hand. "Hold on, just listen to what I have to say." She patted his hand before speaking. "Bringing you back home to Jersey is the obvious option, but it doesn't seem right." Her voice faltered, "At least not to me." She continued after a brief pause, "You have been here for a couple of months and have settled into your classes, made great friends." She nudged his shoulder as a large grin appeared on her face, "Met your very first girlfriend."

"Mom," he whined, burying his face in his hands to hide the deep blush spreading across his cheeks.

The sight of her son so embarrassed made her giggle. It was a welcome action, considering all of the crying she has been doing in the past couple of weeks. The laughter faded a moment later once she remembered the initial point of this conversation. "I'm moving up here, so that I can be with you. There is no way that I'm going back with you like this. If I stay, then I can watch over you better." She grabbed his arm, reminding herself of his presence and safety, "If you want to stay then my only option is to move. What do you think?"

Hearing his mother's suggestion sparked opposing feelings in Cam—joy and guilt Having the opportunity to stay in Toronto with Maya was too good to be true; he really didn't know how he would have left her if his parents pulled him from Degrassi. But the guilt of knowing that his mom turned her whole life around just for him would be too much to handle.

"But what about your firm? And dad?" Though Cam's relationship with his father was no doubt strained right now, he loved him. Picturing his dad living alone—or even his parents separating bothered him more than he ever thought possible. The feeling of his mother's hand on his cheek calmed his anxious thoughts, allowing him to patiently listen to her explanation.

"Pumpkin, don't worry about me. I can always find work here; I'm sure there are many law firms in Toronto. And please don't worry about dad. He actually supports this idea. Due to the business, he can't relocate right now, but he will visit as much as possible. We both promise." Taking a moment to look at him, she patted his cheek gently before reaching into her large purse and pulling out her cell phone. "I know the hospital has a strict policy about visitors right now, so I figured you'd want to talk to Maya. Maybe tell her the good news?" She smiled at him as she placed the cell phone in his lap. "I'm going to talk to your doctor and grab you a couple of snacks. I'll be right back." She gave him a brief hug, "I love you."

Cam clutched tightly to his mother, allowing the strange feeling of happiness and optimism to over take him-he won't be apart from his mom anymore, he was being allowed to stay at Degrassi, and he didn't have to leave Maya. "I love you mom, thank you." He furiously blinked back tears as his mom placed a series of quick kisses on his forehead. She pointed to the phone before heading towards the door. "Have fun talking to Maya. I'll be back as soon as I can."

Cam nodded and offered a small wave to his mom. Once she left the room, his eyes focused on the phone in front of him. He quickly searched through her contacts and hit Maya's name, not wanting to go another minute without talking to her.

The sound of her frantic but excited voice soothed any negative thoughts he had been feeling for the day. "Cam! How are you? I am so happy that you called. I love you." Maya's rambling brought a smile to his face.

"I love you too. I'm so relieved that I can finally talk to you." He stopped once he detected the sound of sniffling from the other line. "Maya?" he asked worriedly.

Maya slammed her palm against her forehead in frustration at herself for crying when she promised herself she wouldn't. "I'm sorry Cam. I knew that you had to be put under more extreme security. I just couldn't bear the thought of you hurting yourself. I need you to be safe. It was the only thing that I could think of at the time."

It dawned on him that Maya was the one who probably alerted a doctor about his self harming. Even though being in the psych ward was miserable, he could never be angry with her trying to help him. Her desperate plea broke his heart, so he quickly interrupted her. "Maya, listen to me. It's okay. I'm messed up. I need all of the help I can get." He gripped the phone, "Having you on my side is more than I could ever ask for. In case, I don't show it enough—I just wanted to let you know that I appreciate your belief in me. If it weren't for you then…" He hesitated, not wanting to finish the thought. They both knew that if it weren't for Maya finding him on that day, he would be six feet under the ground right now.

Maya understood. "You're here." She emphasized both for herself and Cam.

The right corner of his mouth lifted in a smile, "And I'm here to stay."

Intrigued, Maya listened closely to her boyfriend explain everything. If anyone were to look at them now, they would appear to be a normal teenage couple chatting on the phone for hours. Maybe, they could get back to some sense of normalcy very soon.

A/N: Hey, everyone! I wouldn't normally comment on something like this, but I feel like I have to defend myself a little bit. I received a review from someone today, expressing disappointment that I have given up on the story. It has been a little over a week since I have updated, which to me is not very long. I'm currently following stories that are updated once a month or even less than that, which doesn't bother me because I understand the writers are busy. With that being said, I am not giving up on this story. Like I said before, I'm trying this new thing where I actually finish my fics lol I just came back (today) from presenting a paper at an academic conference in Oregon, I am a senior in college, and I am going to grad school next semester. I'm just a tiny bit busy, so I please hope that you all understand that. Thanks for reading and reviewing. I appreciate it. Till next time, which may take a little bit. But it will happen!