A/N: I'm Ba-ack! : ) Hello again! Thanks for voting and reviewing!

You guys have some great ideas! :D

Most of you wrote such long reviews, and I read every single one of them, you guys are awesome!

Some of you thought the whole Shane/Mitchie thing at the end was sad, but a few of you thought that it was funny!

That had me a bit confused, because it wasn't supposed to be funny, but if you laughed, at least the chapter kept you entertained, right? ; )

Geeze, I thought you guys would want to kill me, and I wasn't wrong! XD

A few of you were really nice about it, some mixed death threats in with cookie bribes, and one even told me that the awful truth was that if I killed Mitchie, this story would suck.

Well, lets see how much this story sucks then, shall we? ;)

Read on and enjoy!


Shane didn't have the energy to stand.

He lay restlessly on the floor of Mitchie's room, his head throbbing and the tears still rolling down his cheeks.

Mitchie was gone.

He was so immersed in his own grief that he didn't hear the footsteps increasing in volume, getting closer every second.

Finally the footsteps stopped, and the only thing that could be heard was the sound of Shane's ragged breathing.

"So you know," a loud voice boomed.

Shane didn't move from his position on the floor.

"Mitchie's dead," the voice continued ruthlessly, and Shane felt fresh tears stinging his eyes.

No.

No, she wasn't.

She couldn't be.

"She's gone Shane."

Shane froze.

Wait.

He knew that voice.

He looked up into the eyes of Tess Tyler, and anger bubbled in his veins when he saw that she was smiling.

The anger overcame his grief, and he pushed himself up into a sitting position, his eyes blazing.

"You!" He spat, watching Tess furiously.

Tess smirked, and flicked her blonde hair away from her face.

Even in a wheelchair, she was still the same old Tess.

"Of course," Tess drawled, now playing with a strand of blonde hair and watching Shane with a malicious grin.

"It was me."

It took Shane a minute to understand.

When he did, the sheer anger that was already reverberating through his body doubled.

"You- I.. How-"

The words wouldn't come out the way he wanted them to.

He glanced at the person standing next to Tess and recognized Mitchie's doctor.

Shane struggled with his confusion for a moment before directing his attention back to Tess.

"You- you killed her." It wasn't a question, it was a statement.

Shane already knew the answer.

Tess's smile widened and she nodded.

"I had to, Shane. Don't you understand? Now we can be together! Just you and me."

Shane felt sick.

He narrowed his eyes; his vision clouded with fury.

So he had been wrong all along.

Mitchie hadn't died from her illness; she had been murdered.

Shane shuddered, unable to keep the violent images from invading his mind.

And that was why no one had wanted to tell him the truth.

Why they had kept him in the dark for so long.

Because they knew that once Shane found out, he would want to kill Tess Tyler.

And they had been right.

"You knew about this?" Shane demanded, looking at the doctor.

The doctor gave a small nod.

Shane balled his fists and advanced on Tess, his anger so immense that he would have killed her right then and there.

But just at that moment, the ground began shaking.

Shane was thrown off balance; everything around him was uplifted.

There were screams everywhere.

The hospital bed was thrown on its side, the bedside table smashed against the wall.

A deep rumbling came from the ground, and the floor continued to shake.

Shane could hear voices calling his name, but they seemed to be coming from somewhere a long distance away.

"Shane! Shane!"

As the voices got louder, his surroundings began to fade.

Shane wondered briefly if he was dying.

Was this what it felt like to die?

And, as though in answer to his question, everything went black...

"Shane!"

"Shane!!"

The voices were echoing strangely.

"Shane!"

The shaking began again, more vehement this time.

"Shane!"

Shane sighed and felt his eyelids flicker open.

Connie was standing in front of him, her hands on his shoulders, shaking him awake.

"Mmm.. What?" Shane murmured, squinting up at her.

"Sorry for waking you," Connie said in a motherly voice. "We can go in to see Mitchie now."

Shane wiped the back of his hand across his forehead; his face was covered in sweat.

"What? We can see her?" Shane blinked in confusion, memories of Tess's conniving smirk still raw in his mind. "In the.. In the morgue?"

Connie looked horrified.

"The morgue? No, no. In the hospital room."

Shane's head was pounding.

The hospital room?

Shane tried to clear his thoughts.

He was curled up awkwardly on one of the hard sofa's in the hospital waiting room.

His back was stiff from being in the same position for too long, and he rubbed his eyes wearily.

His sleep had been uncomfortable, to say the least.

Shane knew he should've listened to his uncle and stayed back at Camp for the night, but he had been stubborn about that.

He had wanted to be as close to Mitchie as possible, so he had curled up on a couch in the hospital waiting room.

That had been last night. The sun was blaring through the windows now, and Shane blinked at the sudden brightness.

It must be morning.

"Are you all right, Shane?" Connie asked, watching him with concern.

"Yeah," Shane sighed.

Images of the empty hospital bed, and the clipboard with those two fateful words on it were embedded in his memory.

He had to get a hold of himself.

It had been a dream, that was all.

Just a dream.

"Mitchie's alive?" He asked hesitantly.

Connie looked stunned for a moment. She nodded, then looked at Shane worriedly.

"Did you have a nightmare?" She asked, her voice sympathetic.

Shane flushed, and got unsteadily to his feet.

"Yeah, you could say that."

"What?!" Tess cried, looking at her brother with horror. "You called the police?"

David frowned in confusion.

"Of course I did."

Tess's face turned pale.

"Why would you do that, David?" She asked her brother furiously.

"Tess," David said with sudden agitation. "You were pushed off a cliff. That's a crime! Those kids could go to prison for doing that to you, and if they're not found guilty, we'll sue them for attempted murder."

Tess bit her lip.

"But they'll just say that they didn't do it! They'll lie, and say that.. I don't know, I tripped or something!"

David smiled grimly.

"No one will believe them. Trust me. They're just a bunch of stupid snotty nosed teenagers. None of them come from a background like yours, Tess. Once they find out that you're a Tyler, the case will be pretty much closed."

Tess still didn't look convinced.

"Tess," Her brother said soothingly. "Don't worry about it. This will all sort itself out. All you need to concentrate on is getting yourself better."

Tess ignored him.

"When are the police coming?" She asked moodily.

"Soon, I think. They want to interview you. You know, get your side of the story."

Tess folded her arms across her chest and pouted.

"Has Mum arrived yet?"

David sighed and looked at his sister sympathetically.

"Not yet. I've tried ringing her, but she's not answering her cell phone."

Tess rolled her eyes and slumped down further in her hospital bed.

"Whatever. Go away now, David. I want to get some sleep."

David nodded calmly, tousling his blonde hair with his hand.

"OK, Tess. But if you need anything, I'll be just a phone call away, alright?"

"Yeah, whatever," Tess mumbled, closing her eyes and trying to lull herself into sleep.

She wished David hadn't come.

He was a nuisance.

She thought her plan had been full proof, but she hadn't guessed that her brother would call the police.

Now she was going to have to come up with a really good story, or else nobody would believe her.

And if nobody believed her, she'd end up being the one behind bars.

Tess winced at the thought.

Her eyes hardened suddenly.

There was no way that she was going to let that happen.

"Caitlyn, just say something!" Nate pleaded, unnerved by her stony silence.

Caitlyn looked up at Nate with disgust.

"You already have a girlfriend?" she asked him harshly.

Nate nodded, trying to look meek and remorseful.

"I'm sorry, but I really-"

"Nate, I don't want to hear your excuses," Caitlyn said with revulsion. "Go back to your girlfriend. If she still wants you after what you've done."

"Caitlyn," Nate gulped. "You don't understand! I didn't want to.. Uh.. cheat on her. But she.. And you.." He sighed as a blush crept across his cheeks. "I really like you."

"Imagine how your girlfriend would feel if she heard you saying all of this stuff to me! Just leave, Nate."

"N-No.." Nate stuttered, trying to sound confident. "I'm not leaving until I hear you say it too."

"Say what?"

"Say that you like me!"

Caitlyn sighed and looked away.

"I used to like you, Nate. But not anymore. I could never like someone who cheats on their girlfriend and doesn't even feel guilty. Imagine if we went out! You'd be making out with girls left, right and center. How do you think I'd feel? To know my boyfriend was playing around?"

"But, it's not like that, Caitlyn!" Nate said weakly. "I would never cheat on you."

"Is that what you told your girlfriend too?"

Nate sighed in frustration.

"Emma and I.. We haven't been dating for long. It's nothing serious."

"That doesn't make it any better."

"Caitlyn! I'm sorry, alright? What else do you want me to say?"

Nate looked down at his shoes with a sigh.

There was a tense silence for a moment.

"God, I've made a mess of all this."

Caitlyn nodded sadly.

"Yeah, you have."

When Nate's eyes met Caitlyn's, there was a silence which seemed to drag on for forever.

Finally, Nate broke it.

"I'll leave now, if that's what you want."

Caitlyn nodded but didn't say anything.

Her eyes followed Nate as he made his way to the cabin door.

"I hope your ankle gets better, Caitlyn. And I'm sorry. For.. Everything."

Nate sighed sadly and with one last glance at Caitlyn, left the room.

Shane took a deep breath and pushed open the door to the hospital room.

Nervous butterflies fluttered in his stomach.

Finally, he was going to see Mitchie.

He shut the door gently behind him and walked slowly towards the bed.

Mitchie lay pale and motionless. A million tubes and wires were attached to her body, hooked up to different machines.

Shane jumped nervously as the heart monitor beeped.

He flushed.

Why was he so jittery?

Shane tried to shake away his nervousness and focus.

He smoothed his shirt down and walked to the edge of the bed, looking down at Mitchie's face.

His heart started racing.

She was so pale, it was almost frightening. Beads of sweat clung to her forehead and Shane fought back the sudden urge to yell for help.

Mitchie looked so fragile; like a china doll laid out and forgotten about.

Shane sighed and reached out to gently brush her hair back from her face.

"Wake up Mitchie," He pleaded, his voice almost breaking. "Please wake up."

He clutched her hand tightly, careful not to move any tubes that were attached to it.

She was so cold.

Shane rubbed her hand soothingly, trying to get some heat back into her body.

"Come on, Mitchie. You've got to wake up," Shane kept repeating over and over, willing her with his mind to open her eyes.

But Mitchie remained just as pale and lifeless as she had been earlier.

The machines continued to beep steadily.

Shane found it unnerving, the way Mitchie's life was so reliant on technology.

What if something were to happen?

What if the electricity failed? What if the machines stopped working?

What would happen then?

Shane squeezed Mitchie's hand tighter, willing himself not to think about it.

"Sorry, visiting hours are over," A voice called from the door.

Shane looked up to see a nurse in a white coat gesturing for him to leave.

"But I've only had a few minutes with her," Shane said indignantly.

"Sorry Mr. Gray, it's hospital policies."

Shane sighed exasperatedly.

"Fine," He muttered.

He bent down to kiss Mitchie's cheek.

"Get better soon," He whispered in her ear. "I'll be back as soon as I can."

Shane knew that Mitchie was unconscious, that she probably couldn't hear what he said, but he didn't care.

There was no way he was leaving without saying goodbye.

He squeezed her hand one last time, and was almost sure he felt her squeeze it back.

Shane smiled.

"Mr. Gray, I'm afraid you're going to have to leave."

Shane rolled his eyes, and let the nurse lead him towards the door.

Tess heard the door creak open and sighed, still half asleep.

"David," She said drowsily. "I told you to go away."

There was no reply.

Tess rolled over, pulling the blankets up over her head.

She could hear slow footsteps walking over to the bed.

"David," Tess muttered blearily, flinging the sheet off of her and struggling to sit up.

But it wasn't David.

Tess gasped at the figure standing in front of her.

Goose bumps crawled along her arms as her surprise turned to fear.

"Hello Tess," her father said with a soft smile.

A/N: So there you go! Another cliffie for you! XD

Hoped this chapter didn't suck? ; )

Mitchie lives! Right, where's my cookies?! :D Haha!

Now, I want to wish you all a very M E R R Y X M A S! :D

This chapter is my Christmas present to you! A huge thank you from me, for sticking with me all of this time!

You guys are wonderful! Hope you have an awesome day today!

And best wishes for 2009!

PS: A review would make this christmas extra special for me, it's nice to know that you guys are still here and are still enjoying the story!

: )

Much love and hugs!

Kacee