A/N: Okay, so before you all drop kick me because of this ending... just know, the story's NOT OVER YET!! :D

-Jaclyn :)

Chapter Twelve: I'll Wake Without You There

"CASEY!" Derek cried out, sitting straight up in his bed, feeling suction cups attached to wires come off of his head. He looked around, confused. He had just been outside, why was he now in a hospital room? He looked down at himself; he saw no blood, just a hospital gown. He pulled the gown away from his chest and looked at where the knife had stabbed him and lost his breath; there was no hole, no scar, no anything. It didn't look as if he had been stabbed at all.

He then looked to his right. There was Casey, lying in a hospital bed, eyes closed, breathing softly and rhythmically. He jumped off the bed and hurried over to her, "Casey! Casey, wake up! CASEY!"

His yells attracted attention, and soon his parents were bursting into the room. George's eyes widened, "Derek, son, you're awake!" and he hurried over to him, wrapping his arms around him in a hug.

"Wait, did you just call me 'son'?" Derek asked, curiously pulling away from his arms.

"Yes." George looked worried.

"Why?"

"Because you are my son. What's going on, Derek?"

Derek shook his head, "You tell me. One minute I'm outside, blood pouring out of my chest from a knife to the heart, and the next I'm here! And last I heard, you had no idea who I was. You didn't remember me. I wasn't your son… Oh no! I'm back!" he looked down at Casey, "But she's not. She stuck back there all alone! I've got to get her up." And he began to gently shake her, trying to wake her.

George and Nora looked at each other, clueless, but then they pulled Derek away from her, "Derek, she's been in a coma for almost four days. She's not going to wake up just like that." Nora explained, gently.

"Was I in a coma too?"

"Yes."

"Why? What happened?"

"You and Casey were in a car accident. Your car hit a tree on your way to school Thursday morning." Nora looked at him cautiously.

"Thursday? What's today?"

"Monday."

"Oh no. We were really there though. Casey, she's still stuck back there! We have to find a way to bring her back! She can't be stuck there alone. I was the only other person who knew it wasn't real!" Derek went back to trying to wake her up.

"What wasn't real? What on earth are you talking about?" George asked, worried his son had gone insane.

"The alternate reality. I guess we were sent there because of the accident, but then I died, and was sent back, but Casey's still stuck there! I don't know what to do!" he cried, panicking, and hurriedly trying to get her to wake up.

"Derek! There is no alternate reality. You must have been dreaming while you were unconscious."

"But it was the exact same number of days. It was like I was really there! I even felt the stab! I wouldn't have been able to feel pain if I was in a dream! This was real! You've got to believe me! Casey's in danger! There are two boys there that could very well kill her. Wait a second, if they kill her there, she'll be sent back there. Maybe that's why I was sent back here, because I died there. Once she dies there she'll be sent back, too. But who knows when she'll die there. I doubt Sean or Alan would kill her. They didn't even look like they had planned to kill me. She could be stuck there until she dies of old age!"

George and Nora watched him ramble on and on, muttering to himself, seriously worrying them. He turned to them, looking crazed.

"Why are you just staring at me?! I'm in the middle of a crisis here! Casey could be stuck like that for the rest of her life! I have to find a way to wake her up! I can't leave her there! I promised everything would be fine once things go back to normal! I never thought I would go back to normal without her!"

"Derek, you're not making any sense. Maybe we should get the doctor in here" George said, backing away back toward the door.

"NO! I'm not insane! Dad, you gotta believe me! I was really there, and Casey is really there without me! She's probably worried out of her mind! I can't just leave her back there!"

"There is no 'there' for her to be left back in! Derek, you both have been in those beds for four days. Nothing has changed. You were not in any alternate universes, because George and I have been sitting here in this room, and not once have we seen either of you leave to some other reality!"

"That's because, well, I don't know! But what I do know is that every minute we waste is another minute Casey's alone in a world that's not real!"

"Exactly. A world that's not real! It was all in your head! Casey's safe, right there. There is nothing to worry about."

But, just as Nora spoke, a loud beeping noise started ringing out from one of many machines surrounding Casey. Nurses and doctors hurried in and began checking her, seeing what was wrong. They spoke hurriedly, and in hushed tones. Then one of the doctors grabbed the AED and prepared to shock Casey.

Derek saw what they were about to do, and yelled, "NO! Casey!" he cried, and tried to reach her through the group of people. As one nurse held him off, one of the doctors hurried over to the parents.

"What's going on, doctor? Is my daughter going to be alright?" Nora looked like she was on the verge of tears.

"She's slipping out her coma."

"But, isn't that a good thing?" George asked, not liking the look on the doctor's face.

"For some reason, even though she's waking up, her life's slipping."

"What are you saying?" Nora fell into her husband's arms as he looked at the doctor.

Derek cried out, as the nurses began to shock Casey with the AED, "CASEY! NO!"

"We're losing her."