Welp… I didn't plan for the last chapter of this fic to randomly be in Mike's POV or this short, but here you go…


Mike smacked the soda machine, swearing loudly. Really? After all the hell he'd been through, was it too much to ask to get a damn soda? He tried to glare at the infernal machine, but that hurt his still-swollen eye too much.

"Having trouble, Michael?"

Mike glanced over to see Josh's therapist approaching him. Huh. Imagine that – he had finally left Josh's room. Mike wondered if Em and Matt had left or if they were still with Josh.

"Just this piece of shi–crap." Mike gave the soda machine an angry kick, forgetting that his toes were still sensitive from all the cold they'd been exposed to during the Night From Hell.

"Did that help?" Hill questioned in a mild and pleasant voice.

"Yes."

"Did that hurt?"

"…Yes," Mike hissed hobbling over to one of the chairs was opposite the vending machines. "Dammit."

Hill inserted one of whatever those Canadian dollar-things were called into the food machine and got a package of pretzels before taking the seat next to him. Mike debated whether or not to point out that the expiration date on the package was over two years ago, but decided against it when his toe twinged painfully at him.

For about two full minutes, the only sound between them was Hill's pretzel munching.

"So, Josh seems to be doing a lot better already," Mike blurted out when the silence grew too thick. He'd never realized how much he hated silence until that frickin' sanatorium. He'd talked to himself way more times than he cared to admit that night.

"Oh?" Hill glanced over at him, a fine grey eyebrow arched.

"I mean, compared to how he was that other night…" Mike had already told the police everything, but somehow he doubted they'd passed that information along to Hill. Actually, Mike wasn't even sure if that was legal, in Canada or the U.S. "When Sam and I found him, he was…" Mike let out puff of air. "He was totally out of it. Couldn't even tell we were there."

"Completely unresponsive? Nearly catatonic?" Hill questioned, his possibly-poisonous pretzels forgotten.

"No, not like that. Like… like he was in another world, man. He was just… standing in the middle of the mine, yelling at whatever he was seeing." More like whomever, but Mike couldn't bring himself to say anything that might lead the conversation in the direction of Hannah and Beth.

Hill didn't say anything, but his brow was furrowed in deep concentration.

"What?" Mike asked.

"I'm not certain yet, but you may have just confirmed something I've been suspecting for a while." With that, Hill stood and headed back towards Josh's room.

"Um… okay. You're welcome?" Mike muttered, confused.

What was that about?


Not too much later, Mike found himself nursing his toe in the same chair but next to Sam and Chris. They were the only ones left in Canada now. Just them and Josh. And apparently Josh's parents, but Mike couldn't say when they'd shown up. Sometime not long after Hill had kicked them out of Josh's room, probably.

"What the hell do you mean 'misdiagnosed?"'

…Speaking of Mr. Washington, Mike had forgotten how loud his voice could get. Sam's head snapped up from her magazine, and Chris jerked awake from his doze.

"How much have we paid you assholes over the last nine years?"

Chris sat up in his chair. "Did he just say misdiagnosed?"

"Did he just say nine years?" Mike demanded. Damn. That meant… Josh had been needing help since he was eleven?

Whatever Hill said in reply, it was too low for them to hear, but Mr. Washington suddenly slammed through the door and stormed out of Josh's room.

A few seconds later, Mrs. Washington ran after him. "Bob!"

The three teens exchanged awkward glances.

There was a calm pause that lasted all of three seconds before, "I knew it! I told you my meds never helped!"

Chris glanced towards Josh's room, then in the direction Mr. and Mrs. Washington had gone, and then back towards Josh's room again. "Do you think we should, like… do something?"

"Such as?" Mike asked. Really, what could they do? And why was Sam smiling? "Sam? What is it?"

She shook her head, still smiling. "He was on the wrong meds… Don't you get it? That means they can get him the right ones now. He can get better."

"You're right." Chris' eyes lit up too. "No wonder he was so out of it!"

Maybe they were right. That would explain a lot. Whatever Josh's condition was, he'd never actually been getting help for.

But maybe now he could. Maybe something good could come from this after all.


Well, guys, that's it for this story! See you at the next sequel!

Next (and probably last) in the series: One Bell of a Night.

Otherwise known as Sam and Josh attempting to have a normal date after all this. Yeeaaaah. Like that's gonna happen. XD

May take me a bit to get this done, though.