I'm glad you guys could see where this was going, I was hoping you'd be able to!!!

Song for this chapter: Back 2 Good by Matchbox 20.

Everyone hides shades of shame

But looking inside we're the same

We're the same
And we're all grown now

But we don't know how
To get it back to good

The first week of Corny's 'recovery', if it could be called that, which Amber didn't believe it could be, was horrible. He had spent the first few days at the hospital, and though she and Sophie had gone to visit him every day for hours, there was a strange silence in the air between them. Then, when visiting hours were over at the hospital, she and Sophie would return home only to face more of that same silence. Amber hated it. She hadn't felt so genuinely unhappy in years; maybe since she'd lived with her mother.

Link stopped by the first night, after they'd come home from the hospital, and offered to take Amber and Sophie out to dinner. Sophie had begged Amber to go, but she had politely declined his offer. Her stomach was in knots over Corny, and the show. Additionally, she wasn't too sure how fond Corny himself would be if he knew she was allowing Link to treat his daughter and fiancée to meals.

The rest of the time, it was pure torture; being alone with Sophie for that long. Their quarreling normally didn't affect either of them, but without Corny there to referee, their smart comments became hurtful and unnecessary. Amber called Sophie a spoiled brat when she refused to take a bath, and when Amber turned the television to a different channel than the one Sophie had requested to watch, she mumbled something about Amber being "meaner than Daddy ever was". When Amber had told her to speak up, Sophie had shouted the words at her before running into her bedroom and slamming the door shut. Sophie hadn't asked Amber to tell her a bedtime story that night, either.

The next few days were the same. Amber had been forced to cancel the show the entire week, if for no other reason than she couldn't concentrate on anything except Corny being home, and well. He'd been allowed to come home on the fourth day, and Amber had helped him into bed, wincing each time he groaned under his breath. He was still the same Corny, still buttering her like bread, joking about the sponge baths he requested from her. She rolled her eyes at him playfully, leaning down to kiss his lips gently before reminding him that the doctor had stressed the 'no physical exertion' part.

It was after Amber had reluctantly put Sophie to bed again that they sat in their bed, Corny propped against his pillows, Amber curled onto her side in the darkness, that she knew she had to say something. She didn't want to, that was for sure. It was a necessity. This was her job, and she had to figure out what exactly needed to be done with Corny's show. They had filled the spot temporarily with a series of after-school specials that had sent the network ratings plummeting, and though it was a priority to care for Corny, this was her job. She couldn't deny it, just as she couldn't deny him.

She turned toward him, her fingers finding his hand in the darkness.

"You sleeping, babe?" She stroked his hand, and he sighed softly.

"No. I think I'll set a new world record; crippled man goes without sleep for…" he paused, "how long do you think I'd have to go without sleep to set a new world record?"

She smiled gently, her fingernails tracing his wrist.

"You're not crippled, honey." She tried to keep her voice light so that he wouldn't be able to hear the uncertainty in her tone, the absolute fear that encompassed her.

"Well, incapacitated, then," he responded, urging her to move closer to him. She did, but only enough to rest her hand gently on his chest, careful not to hurt him. She was quiet for a moment, closed her eyes to gather her strength, and felt herself saying the words.

"Listen, Corny, I need-I mean, we need to talk about the show."

He was silent beside her for a minute.

"I know." He was reluctant, she could tell, and it broke her heart. He knew what was coming. He knew what she was going to say, even before she said it.

"Corny…" she took a deep breath, starting slow, "You're going to be gone for another couple of months. I have to make some kind of decision." She left it out in the open, and hoped that she wouldn't have to actually say the words.

"Okay…" he responded in a few moments, his grasp on her hand relaxing slightly. "Who are you replacing me with?"

She furrowed her eyebrows at him.

"Baby, I'm not replacing you. I-"

"Yes, you are." His voice was quiet, but firm. He blinked a few times in the darkness. "Who is it?"

She was taken aback by his sudden desire to know, and shook her head slightly.

"I…don't know. I wanted to talk to you about it first before-"

"Amber," he said her name so firmly that she looked up at him. "In all technicality, it's your show. Not mine. You have ultimate control over it, you know."

"I know," she admitted softly, "but I didn't want you to get hurt, or upset."

"I'm already hurt," he quipped softly, "you might as well upset me, too."

She turned on her back, her hands splayed across her stomach. She closed her eyes, if only to escape from all of this, and sighed softly in the darkness.

"I was thinking maybe Link," she practically whispered the words to him, failing at swallowing the lump in her throat as she waited for him to respond. There was a long silence between them, and Amber looked toward him to see if he had fallen asleep.

"Link." He said the name after a few minutes, but it came out as more of an external thought.

"Yes," she attempted to cover quickly, "I mean, Corny, he can dance, and sing. The girls love him, even the boys love him. I think he could really help our ratings, and I think he'd do an amazing job."

"It sounds like you're trying to sell a car to me, babe." He groaned the words, and she slid her hand onto his shoulders, massaging his neck muscles lightly. She waited for him to give her his blessing on Link, waited for him to tell her to go ahead and call him, ask if he was interested. When he didn't, she felt the need to broach the topic again.

"He'd just be saving your spot for you, honey." Her fingers worked lightly on the muscles in his neck, "If I don't find someone, you won't even have a show to go back to."

He sighed again, and she held her breath. As much as she liked to pretend she was the same kind of liberated woman that her mother had been, she knew that Corny's opinions and feelings meant too much to her to dismiss them so easily.

"I guess Link would make sense," he said the words, but sounded defeated. Her cheeks were flushed suddenly, and she felt guilty for causing that pain in his voice. She pulled herself into a sitting position and held herself above him for a moment, gently moving in to kiss his lips.

"Just a few months, sweetie. Remember that, okay?" She stroked his cheek gently. "And then you'll be back to work."

And though she didn't even pretend to understand why, she couldn't keep herself from smiling.

She called Link the next day and asked him to meet her at the house. When she asked him to fill the position, he was somewhat surprised, but accepted almost immediately. They agreed to meet early the next morning at the studio, to rehearse the dances with the council members. Amber couldn't be gone for too long, with Corny laid up in bed, but a few hours was just enough time.

Seeing Link do all of Corny's dances, the ones he had made famous, made something inside of her hurt. Corny was right; he had been replaced, no matter how temporary the replacement itself was. The girls on the council were suddenly tripping over themselves to be next to Link, just the way they had when they were council members themselves. It suddenly made Amber blush to remember those days, and suddenly made her realize something; the show needed to be redone. New music, new dance steps. If there was ever any way she was going to erase the guilt of dethroning Corny, she would have to get rid of everything that reminded her of him on the show. When she casually mentioned the idea to him later that night in bed, he became sullen, and withdrawn.

The first day that Link was set to take over Corny's position, Amber awoke feeling somewhat nauseous. She calmed her stomach with some soda crackers and kissed Corny goodbye before watching Sophie climb onto the school bus. She promised Corny to come home for lunch, and rushed to the studio. Rehearsals were early, and went off exactly as planned. She watched as Link swiveled his hips, worked his feet just like he had those years ago, and the girls that were standing in close proximity of him began to tremble. It made her smile; this was going to work, she already knew.

Rehearsals ran longer than expected, and Amber worked through lunch without even realizing it.

Her idea to revamp the show had worked a little too well: it seemed that Amber had already started to forget all about Corny.