A/N: Aarrrgghhhhh!
*Kacee's grumpy face*
This chapter would have been up earlier, if my LOVELY computer didn't choose to FREEZE on me, when I was in the middle of writing it.
Thankyou computer! *Glares sarcastically*
You have just made my day. No no wait! My week.
*Threatens to throw computer out of the window*
Haha, only kidding. :)
Anyway, thank you to my lovely readers and reviewers, for being your brilliant selves and continuing to review my story!
And another thank you for all your votes, again, it was very close ;)
Chapter 13, oohhh, hope you guys aren't superstitious..
I have a feeling that after reading this chapter, you are all going to kill me.
Are you curious why?
Then read on, by all means!
Although *Evil laughter*, you may regret it!!
Mwahahaha!
Disclaimer: I keep forgetting to put these things in. So don't sue me! Because I admit, that sadly, I do not own any of the characters.. Except David, who is the product of my own imagination.. :)
"Damn it!" Shane cried as the patient's finger hit the button.
He only had a few seconds to get out of here.
Shane wrenched the door open, cursing under his breath as he tore down the hallway, looking desperately for Room 439.
He had come this far; he wasn't about to give up now.
If the hospital staff were on their way, then this was his last chance to see Mitchie.
Once they found him, he would be kicked out for sure.
"Stupid rules," Shane muttered angrily.
Why couldn't they just let him in to see her in the first place?
If they had, none of this would've happened, and he wouldn't be seconds away from getting caught for trespassing in private hospital corridors.
He glanced back over his shoulder, slowing his pace when he saw that he wasn't being followed.
Yet.
That was a relief, but still, something wasn't right.
Family and friends would normally have been allowed in to see the patient instantly, so why were they still refusing to let anyone in to see Mitchie?
It had been almost a day.
The doctor hadn't convinced him with his rubbish about 'tests'.
Shane knew that Mitchie was here somewhere, and he was going to find her.
Room 439.
He skidded to a stop in front of it, breathing heavily.
After looking from side to side to check that he was still alone, Shane eased the door open and stepped inside.
Finally.
He was going to see Mitchie.
Shane closed the door behind him and glanced anxiously towards the bed; but he wasn't prepared for what he was about to find…
Caitlyn was still sitting in the same place. Her legs were pulled close to her body, and her arms were wrapped around them tightly; almost as though she was afraid to let go.
She rocked herself back and forth, letting her mind go numb as she focused on the slow rhythm.
It was soothing.
It helped her to forget.
A figure was standing in the clearing, just in front of the trees, silently watching her.
She didn't notice.
The figure called her name and walked towards her.
She still didn't notice.
It wasn't until the figure lightly touched her arm that she snapped out of her reverie, and noticed.
Perhaps it was the curly brown hair, falling casually over the figure's forehead which brought Caitlyn back to some sense of reality.
She knew that person.
"Nate?" Caitlyn murmured.
Her voice was dull, expressionless.
"Jason told me you were here," Nate said, watching her with concern. "Caitlyn, what have you been doing? You look terrible. Have you been awake all night?"
"Why would you care?" Caitlyn asked quietly.
Nate looked shocked for a moment.
"You don't think I care about you?" He returned, hurt.
Caitlyn didn't reply.
"Look," Nate muttered. "If this is about last night, I… I'm sorry. I can explain."
"I don't want to hear it."
"Caitlyn…" Nate sighed. "Don't make this any harder than it already is."
"Just leave me alone."
Nate was watching Caitlyn closely. Her eyes were plagued with dark circles, and her expression was bland and lifeless.
He felt a sharp pang of guilt.
"Jason told me you were depressed, but I didn't really believe him," Nate admitted softly.
Caitlyn felt her eyes fill with tears.
"Don't cry," Nate begged, reaching out to brush the single tear that was now trickling down her cheek. "Please don't cry, Caitlyn."
Caitlyn pulled away, cringing at his touch.
"Get away from me."
Nate's eyes widened.
"What? Caitlyn, I'm not going to hurt you."
He reached out reassuringly to touch her hand, but Caitlyn leapt unsteadily to her feet. She suddenly remembered her broken ankle, but too late.
As she shifted her weight onto it, a sharp burst of pain shot through her foot, and she cried out in agony, collapsing to the ground.
"Caitlyn?" Nate cried, his voice ringing with alarm.
She was rolling on the ground in distress, tears streaming down her cheeks.
Nate knelt over her, attempting to hold her still.
"Stop moving! You'll only make it worse!"
Caitlyn didn't hear him, or if she did, she paid no attention.
Nate held her arms down firmly.
"Caitlyn!" He shouted anxiously. "Stop it! Tell me what's wrong."
Caitlyn shuddered at his touch, trying to pull away from him, but he responded by gripping her tighter.
"Ow! Get off me!" Caitlyn cried, but her mind was so blurred with pain that she didn't hear his response.
Her broken ankle was throbbing unbearably.
She screwed up her face in anguish.
"Nate," Caitlyn groaned. "Just go away!"
Nate responded by scooping her up in his arms.
"Hey! Put me down!"
"Look, we can argue later. Right now, I'm taking you to the doctor."
Caitlyn winced in response, muttering objections under her breath.
Nate sighed.
Why did he have the feeling that this was going to be another long day?
Tess watched her brother enter her hospital room with a sour expression on her face.
Obviously, Tess Tyler was back to her usual self.
She had no more tears left to cry, having seemingly run her whole supply dry an hour ago when she had first heard the news that she was paralyzed.
She winced at the word.
Paralyzed.
It was something that she hadn't wanted to hear, and still refused to accept.
Tess blinked and glared at David, who had frozen in the doorway, and was staring at her as though she had just sprouted three heads.
"Hi Tess," David greeted her cautiously.
It had been years since she had last seen him. He was nineteen now, yet Tess would've recognised him anywhere.
Maybe it was the blonde hair, so similar to her own, that was tousled so effortlessly that even she herself was jealous.
Maybe it was the handsome features; the chiselled jawline, defined cheekbones, masculine physique.
She pursed her lips together, her gaze moving to his face.
Or maybe it was the eyes.
He had her fathers' eyes; everyone said so. Dark and intense, with just a twinkle of impishness that most girls found impossible to resist.
Tess shuddered with hatred as she thought of her father.
Maybe that was why she felt so hostile towards David at the moment: He reminded her so much of their dad.
Dad.
Tess was disgusted at the thought.
She would never, could never, call her father Dad.
Not anymore.
Not after what he had done to her.
"How are you, Tess?" David asked quietly, snapping her out of her thoughts.
He was walking towards her now, and Tess could see every line, every detail of his face.
David looked a lot older than he had the last time she had seen him.
His face was creased with worry, and he was watching her with an expression that she couldn't quite read.
Curiosity?
Sympathy?
Tess realized she hadn't answered his question, but she didn't feel the need to.
She was locked up in a hospital, paralyzed for life.
What did he expect her to say?
"Oh, I'm great thanks David. Never been better. And you?"
Tess looked at her brother with unsupressed desdain, and was pleased when he looked hurt.
"Tess, I've come all this way to see you, and you won't even say hello?"
He shook his head sadly when she didn't reply.
"I know I've been gone for a while, but I thought that everything could just be the same as it used to be, you know? Me and you, we used to be like this." He crossed his middle and index finger together, and held them up wistfully. "Remember?"
Tess did remember.
Before he had left, they had been close.
Before he had left, she had considered her brother as one of her best friends.
Tess ignored the voice in her head that whispered, "One of my only friends."
But so what if they had been close?
The fact was, those days were over.
They weren't close anymore.
"Tess, just talk to me," He pleaded.
Tess sighed in exasperation.
"Fine. What do you want?" She snapped.
David looked stunned.
He stuttered for a moment, his usual charisma noticeably absent.
He wasn't used to people talking to him so rudely, especially his own sister.
"I.. Uhh.." His voice trailed off, and a long silence followed.
"Have you heard from Mom?" David asked finally.
Tess glared at him.
"What do you think?"
David sighed, and looked at his sister with fresh sympathy in his eyes.
"I take it that you haven't?"
Tess nodded stiffly, but refused to say anything more.
"She's still too busy being wrapped up in her own career to take any notice of you, then?"
Tess blushed crimson and looked down at the floor.
"She hasn't changed at all," David murmured in disgust when Tess didn't reply. "Her daughter's paralyzed for life, yet she'd rather attend a red carpet event than visit her in hospital."
David seemed to be talking to himself now. His tone was bitter, disbelieving.
It brought back memories of three years ago, when there had been so much tension and arguments between David and their mother.
Tears were stinging Tess's eyes now.
She didn't want to think about the past.
It was too painful. Everything that had happened: Between her mother and David, between her and her father…
Tess shuddered.
It was still too fresh in her memory.
She could just make out the shape of her paralyzed legs beneath the sheet.
It brought Tess back to reality, and she winced at the sudden thought.
She didn't want to think about her future, either.
Tess looked up, and noticed that David was watching her intently.
"What about Dad?" He asked, his voice still cold. "He hasn't turned up either?"
Tess shook her head.
"Thank God," She muttered.
David frowned in confusion.
"You don't want him to come?"
Tess raised her eyebrows.
Of course.
David didn't know.
It had happened after he had left home.
He would be furious if he knew what their father had done to her.
But she wasn't going to tell him, no way.
He wouldn't believe her if she did.
Tess shivered.
"Did you and Dad have a falling out?" David asked suspiciously.
Tess bit her lip, and nodded.
One little lie wouldn't hurt him, would it?
David seemed to accept that.
"Oh, well okay…"
He paused for a moment, watching his sister curiously.
"So, you're still going to that camp you used to go to when you were younger then? Camp Rock, or whatever it's called?"
Tess nodded.
"Is that where it happened?" David asked hesitantly, looking down at Tess's legs.
Tess looked away.
She knew that David would bring this up sooner or later.
A dim lighbulb blinked on in her head.
Perhaps this is my chance to get some revenge, she thought suddenly. Payback, for what's happened to me. For everything that's gone wrong in my life.
The more she thought about it, the more it made sense.
So I didn't kill Mitchie when I'd had the chance, but maybe there's another way to do it; a better way to hurt her.
Tess smiled at the thought of it.
After all; pain didn't have to be physical.
"The doctor said that you fell over a cliff?" David prompted.
Now was her chance.
Tess sighed, and reluctantly looked up at him.
Her eyes were expressionless.
"I didn't fall," she whispered.
David frowned in confusion.
"But.." He gestured towards her legs, which lay motionless under the white sheet. "You're…Paralyzed." He winced as he said it.
Tess nodded slowly.
"I didn't fall," She repeated, her eyes now hard and cold.
She paused for dramatic effect, before uttering the three words that she knew would change her life forever.
"I was pushed."
Caitlyn sat stonily on the bed in her cabin, her broken ankle now wrapped in a white cast and propped up against a chair.
She refused to look at Nate, who was watching her worriedly.
"Hows your ankle?" He asked.
Caitlyn scowled and ignored him.
She didn't know why he had gone to all of this trouble for her: Taking her to the doctor, waiting while they put a cast on her foot, driving her back to Camp and staying with her in the cabin.
Why was Nate acting like he cared about her, when his actions of last night made it quite obvious that he didn't?
"Are you still ignoring me?" Nate asked in exasperation.
Her silence was enough to answer his question.
"God, Caitlyn," He fumed. "I'm sorry all right? What else do you want me to say?"
There was a tense silence.
"Just go away, Nate," Caitlyn muttered.
Nate was watching her with disgust.
"That's the way you treat people? 'Go away Nate'? After everything I've done for you today, you haven't said so much as a thankyou. What's your problem, Caitlyn?"
Angry tears stung Caitlyn's eyes.
She swung around to face Nate, her eyes full of hurt.
"My problem?" She spat, shaking her head. "It's not me with the problem."
Nate groaned.
"If this is about last night, I've already offered to explain. You're still made at me, aren't you? For leaving?"
Caitlyn shook her head, but her expression said otherwise.
"Caitlyn, I would've stayed with you!" Nate shouted. He blushed, and his voice became suddenly gentle. "Believe it or not, I wanted to stay with you…"
Caitlyn met his eyes, the disbelief clear on her face.
Her voice was suddenly quivering. There was an edge of desperation to it, so that it became almost a plea.
"Then why didn't you?" She whispered, trembling. "Why didn't you stay, Nate?"
"I… I…" Nate looked away from her, shaking his head. "You're going to hate me for this. But.. I.."
"Just say it, Nate."
Nate sighed.
"I already have a girlfriend," He admitted shamefacedly.
Shane stared around the hospital room, his mouth wide with disbelief.
The bed was empty.
Shane blinked in confusion.
He must be in the wrong room.
He glanced nervously at the number plate on the door.
439.
Shane bit his lip, unsure of himself.
Maybe he'd seen the wrong number on the doctors' clipboard.
Maybe he'd made a mistake.
But when he saw the card on the bedside table, he knew he hadn't.
He walked over to it and picked it up, his hands quivering.
It was adressed to Mitchie Torres, a 'Get well soon' card, and Shane noticed that it was from Brown.
He put the card back down and looked around, his hands on his hips.
So this was definitely Mitchie's room.
The only problem was, where was Mitchie?
His eyes were drawn to the clipboard beside the card.
He squinted at it.
And suddenly he couldn't breathe.
It was the first few words that caught his eye, and once he had read those, he knew there was no need to read anything else.
Patient deceased.
Shane blinked furiously.
He read the words again, praying that he was dreaming; that this was by some chance just a figment of his imagination.
But it was there, in black and white.
Patient deceased.
Shane felt the lump rise in his throat.
He squeezed his eyes shut, to stop the tears that were now building up behind his eyelids.
No.. It couldn't be true! This wasn't real. Mitchie couldn't be.. dead? Could she?
He opened his eyes, and looked from the empty bed to the clipboard with those two fateful words on it.
Patient deceased.
Shane felt sick to his stomach.
He flung the clipboard furiously against the wall; it collided with a sharp thud, but Shane barely heard it.
So the doctors had lied to him.
Anger was coursing through his veins, but it was shadowed by the immense feelings of hurt and betrayal that he felt.
Why had they pretended that Mitchie was still alive?
Why had they hid the truth from him, and Mitchie's family?
Shane was breathing heavily now, trying to make sense of it all.
He could hear footsteps in the distance.
As he glanced towards the doorway, a sudden thought struck him.
Maybe they hadn't hidden it from Mitchie's family; maybe everyone already knew.
Maybe they had just hidden it from him, because they knew he couldn't take it.
They knew that he would blame himself.
Shane opened his eyes.
Realization hit him like a slap on the face.
Suddenly it all made sense.
His vision was blurred; he could feel the hot tears now streaking down his cheeks.
This is why Connie and Steve had barely talked to him, why they had looked so sympathetic when Shane kept bugging the doctors and nurses about Mitchie's condition, why they had appeared so fragile and helpless as they had left to go to the cafeteria.
They had already known.
This is why the doctors refused to let anyone visit Mitchie.
Why they kept lying to him about her condition, saying there was 'no change', that she was still having tests done.
They had already known.
Shane looked around the room, shaking.
This is why Mitchie's bed was empty.
He felt suddenly light headed.
His legs buckled beneath him, and he collapsed into a weak huddle on the floor.
Shane felt like his world had just crumbled into a million pieces, right before his eyes.
He didn't want to accept it, even though deep down he knew it was true.
The one thing he had feared the most had happened.
Mitchie was gone.
In his mind, pictures flashed.
Mitchie on the canoe, smiling and laughing.
Mitchie after Tess had exposed her lie to all of the campers, pleading with him, close to tears.
Mitchie lying on the ground in the forest, fragile and lifeless.
Mitchie being carried away in the stretcher, unconscious, close to death.
That had been the last time Shane had seen her.
Shane was crying now, but he didn't care.
He was too lost in his own emotions to realize that the footsteps were getting louder now, getting closer.
All he could think about was Mitchie.
He hadn't expected it to end. He hadn't expected her to leave without saying goodbye.
The same thought kept repeating itself over and over in his mind with unrelenting force.
Mitchie was gone…
Gone…
Gone…
Her face kept intruding into his memory.
Shane tried to block it out, but at the same time, he welcomed it.
It made his heart ache for her.
That long dark hair, calm doe eyes, sweet tinkling laugh..
Gone.
All gone.
Shane gasped for air.
It felt like he was being slowly suffocated; someone had taken away all of the oxygen in his body, and now he couldn't breathe.
He wanted more than anything to see Mitchie, one last time, to say how sorry he was for listening to Tess; for acting like a jerk; for not being able to save her when he found her unconscious in the forest; for never telling her how much he liked her when he had the chance.
Because now, it was too late.
There was no Mitchie, anymore.
Shane was trembling, hot tears of disbelief streaming down his cheeks.
Mitchie was gone.
A/N: THE END.
XD No, only kidding!
I wouldn't do that to you guys! :D
I can tell you, this story is nowhere near finished yet.
Now, I know you're probably reading this and fuming, thinking of new and exciting ways to kill me ;)
And I'm sorry.
I honestly wasn't planning this to happen.
I guess I was a bit grumpy with my computer for freezing and crashing in the middle of the chapter, and so I decided to take it out on the characters..
Yeah, that's my excuse! :)
But anyway, it's not all over yet.
You can put everything right again, if that's what you want!
You have all the power now!
All you have to do is press that little button that says REVIEW, and vote!
DO YOU WANT MITCHIE TO BE DEAD?
OR DO YOU WANT HER TO BE ALIVE?
I can either let the story continue like this, or put in a twist so that Mitchie is still living...
Mwahaha!
Gawd, I'm evil..
What do you think?
SHOULD CAITLYN BE MAD AT NATE?
OR SHOULD SHE FORGIVE HIM?
You get a cookie if you can guess what Tess's father did to her! :D
Also, are you mad at Tess? For lying, and saying that she was pushed?
Can you imagine whats going to happen next?
Will the police get involved?
Remember, I am leaving what happens in the next chapter up to you.
If you don't want other bad and terrible things to happen, I suggest you vote! ;)
Right, well I'm off to find a nice, safe hiding place, where you guys can't reach me with your pitchforks and other sharp objects.. XD
Press the button down below, and let me know what you thought of this chapter.
And Vote!
Takes you two seconds!
Oh, and can I just add, that if you want Mitchie to live, bribing me with cookies works SLIGHTLY better than death threats! XD
Hugs,
Kacee