Author's Note: Please read and REVIEW! I've been getting such great feedback. It's what inspired me to write another chapter today!

Jim took Melinda home and made her lie down in bed with a few ice packs while he assessed her condition.

"You still feeling dizzy?" He asked, as he pulled his EMT kit out from under the bed. He may not be a paramedic anymore in this new life of his, but with his memory back, he still knew what he was doing, and he still had all of his old stuff.

Melinda nodded. "It's not as bad as before, but I still feel like my head is spinning." She said quietly.

Jim sighed, and started pulling stuff out of the bag. He took her blood pressure first, and shook his head slightly at the reading. Then he pulled out a thermometer and put it in Melinda's mouth. He gently stroked her cheek as he waited for it to read her temperature. When it finished, he looked at it, and his eyes instantly reflected his fear.

"104.6." He said, his voice shaking a bit. "Mel… This is serious. We need to get you back to the hospital."

"We can't." Melinda replied. "I told you… It's Romano that's doing this. Even if we did go to the hospital… There's nothing they can do for me there."

"How is he doing this?" Jim asked, his voice rising with panic. "And what can I do? Cause I'm not just gonna sit back and let him do this to you. I can't. I won't."

"Jim." Mel said, taking his hand in an effort to calm him down.

"No." Jim said, his voice breaking slightly. "I am not going to lose you."

Melinda reached out to him, and he laid down beside her, draping his arm around her protectively. She turned onto her side so she faced him, and ran her hand through his hair and kissed him on the forehead. Then she looked him deeply in the eyes.

"I think he can be stopped." Melinda said, her voice weak and weary. "But the key is that we can't be afraid."

Jim let out a short chuckle. "Right."

"Listen to me, Jim. He's feeding off of our fear. Especially mine. It's giving him strength. I think that's how he's doing this. We just have to stop giving him what he wants." Mel explained.

Jim looked at her tenderly for a moment. She never ceased to amaze him; all of her courage and strength even in the most terrible of situations. She once asked him where he'd learned to be so brave. He told her that he'd learned it from her, and he meant it. She gave him all the courage in the world. Except now he was struggling. He briefly closed his eyes and shook his head.

"You're lying in bed with a spiking fever of 104.6. How can I not be afraid?"

"Trust me." She whispered.

Jim put his hand to her cheek and rested his forehead against hers. It felt like fire against his skin, and he let out a long, shaky breath that he hadn't realized he'd been holding.

"Trusting you is never the problem." He whispered back to her.

After a while Melinda fell asleep, but she immediately found herself in a vivid nightmare.

Walking through the underground, she looked around, trying to find any sign that she wasn't alone down there. She wanted so badly to call out to someone, anyone… But she was afraid of who would come if she made a sound. So she kept walking. She'd been down here several times in the past, but it felt more ominous now than ever. And it was so cold… She just wanted to give up and go home, but she had to find what she was looking for. It was her only chance…

She was coming up to the church on Clay Street. She approached the door; beyond it, she could hear the whispers of the countless souls trapped inside. She was about to reach for the doorknob when she heard Jim's voice, yelling:

"Melinda!!! MELINDA, NOOO!!!"

"Melinda!" Jim called out, waking Melinda from her dream.

Melinda opened her eyes and saw him sitting over her, his eyes full of concern, holding her face gently and feeling her forehead with the back of his hand. She was shivering violently, and covered in sweat, although she felt chilled to the bone. She tried to control her breathing, but it felt like there was a cinderblock on her chest. Her vision blurred, and she flailed her hand out, reaching for Jim's. He grabbed it and held on tightly.

"Mel, calm down. It was just a fever dream, I'm here." Jim said soothingly.

Mel tried to speak, but all she could manage was a whimper followed by a wheezing gasp.

"Shhh… Lie still." Jim whispered. "Are you hurting anywhere?"

"I.. I'm… c-cold." Mel stuttered.

Jim smoothed a few strands of sweat-soaked hair back from her face and shook his head. "I think your fever is getting worse." He said quietly, more to himself than to Mel. He reached for the thermometer on the bedside table and put it in her mouth. When he saw what it said, he winced and punched the pillow beside him.

"Dammit!" He growled, double-checking the reading of 105.8. But he hadn't misread it, it was right.

"Jim. The underground… I have to go. There are people… They're down there. Trapped, I think. Romano… He's keeping them there. If I can get to them… It might be my only chance. They need to cross over. And… And…" Melinda babbled, almost incoherently.

"Mel!" Jim stopped her. "Honey, you're delirious. And you're out of your mind if you think I'm letting you go anywhere like this, unless it's the hospital."

"But Jim!" Mel whined.

"No!" Jim said sharply. "This is insane. And if your fever goes up even a fraction of a point more, I'm calling an ambulance. Ghostly-happenings or not, there's got to be some way to help you medically."

Melinda looked up at him, in shock and slightly hurt at the tone of voice he was using with her. As soon as he saw her face, though, his expression melted into one of sorrow and regret.

"I'm sorry, babe…" He said softly. "I'm sorry. God, I just… I'm scared, Mel. I'm really scared."

"I'm scared too." Mel replied, her voice small and vulnerable. "But it's like I said, we can't be scared. That's what's making this all happen. It's what's making it worse. And now I'm thinking it's a lot more than that too…"

"What do you mean?" Jim asked, taking Mel's hand and kissing it.

"I dreamed about all the souls that are trapped in the underground. They needed my help. They needed me to free them. And it got me thinking… That's where Romano is getting all his strength from. He's getting his power from the fear and hopelessness of all these souls that he's trapped or harmed in some way. And now he's trying to get to me..."

Jim finished her sentence: "Because your soul would give him the most power of all."

Melinda nodded. Both she and Jim were silent for a moment, trying to weigh their options, when Mel spoke up.

"I have to go, Jim. I have to cross them over. It could be the only way."

Jim's eyes radiated with pain and empathy. "But Mel… You're sick. I doubt you could even stand up right now, how are you going to go into the underground and help these… souls…. When you can't even help yourself?" He asked.

"If I can save them, that might be the key to saving myself too." Mel replied.

Jim looked down, deep in thought.

After a minute or so, Mel squeezed his hand. "Jim." She prodded.

Jim looked into her eyes and understood that she was right. He sighed deeply. "I hate this." He said.

"I know." Mel whispered.

"I'm going with you." He stated.

"I don't think I could do it without you." Mel smiled slightly, and Jim leaned down and kissed her. Then they prepared themselves for what could be the most dangerous journey they'd ever take.

A/N: okay, so this chapter was a little bit shorter... but this is where i had to leave off. the next chapter is going to start getting pretty intense, so.... let's just say you have been warned.