AN: Thank you everyone for your reviews. Your feedback really means a lot to me. I'd like to take the time to specifically thank TurnItUp03. His ideas and advice have shaped where I'm planning to go with the next bit of this story. Hopefully I'll be able to express your concepts adequately and I hope you don't find it to be too poorly written. All right, let's do this.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

"The light at the end of the tunnel is the headlamp of an oncoming train."

Quil's POV (switching it up a little bit)

"We're honestly not sure how he's going to be" Sue finally said. That didn't ease my worry at all.

"He's relatively stable from what we can tell, but he's not healing. I've heard of this in the records." My grandfather began explaining. "It's as if he doesn't want to heal. Obviously his body is weak, but something has taken its toll on his will to go on. Once a wolf is that far gone, things that could kill humans are enough to finish the job." He finished.

"Embry…" I mumbled, shaking my head. I couldn't focus on anything else. This was all my fault. Had I not driven him away, maybe he wouldn't have been in this situation…

I called Sam, knowing that he needed to hear about this. My grandfather had explained that he was the leader of the pack that I belonged to, so it made perfect sense to keep him updated. I informed him that I had phased and alerted him that Embry was hurt – without going into the specifics. He acknowledged the situation and said that he'd take care of things like informing his mom. It didn't even register to mention that I'd found his house cleared out.

I immediately went to Embry. I needed to be close to him. I sat in the room with him, praying that he'd come back to me. I couldn't believe it. If what my grandfather had said was right, Embry truly had tried to kill himself. The very thought of it shook me to the core. Had I been the reason for it? Why was he out in the cave and why was his house empty? Right now none of these things seemed to join together into coherent ideas. I was too distraught to make sense of it all.

That afternoon some of those questions were answered. Sam stopped by to see if there was any progress. Sadly there hadn't been. His heart rate was still weak and his arm still had a deep gash going along it. We checked every few hours, but there didn't seem to be any improvement. Sam explained what he'd found out.

"Apparently his mom's gone. I talked to the elders and they figured out that she had ended her lease on the place and no one's heard from her since. I'm guessing she up and left after he explained about being a wolf, but I can't be sure. He's been living out in the woods for some amount of time, but we really don't know much about it…" Sam trailed off. I had heard that they couldn't see into his thoughts like was possible with the rest of the pack. For that I was grateful. Em was a private person. He wouldn't want anyone in his mind like that.

All of this began to weigh down on me. I had abandoned my best friend as he was going through a ridiculously difficult part of his life. Not only had I left him to fend for himself, but his mother had just cut ties with him as well. As much as I wanted to hate her, I knew that I was no better. Still, I needed to show Em that I was going to be there for him.

Sam continued to explain things about the pack. I learned about the communication we could share. I learned about imprinting. That one had me wondering. Was it possible that I'd felt a pull to Em for a reason? I kinda hoped it was true. If I was able to imprint on him, maybe I could truly show him that I never wanted to hurt him again. Of course, I didn't know if it was actually feasible for a male to imprint on another, but I had hope. If there was one person I could envision being bound to for my life, it was him. Even if it didn't happen, I wanted to show him that I was going to be in his life as much as he'd let me.

"How did you find him, anyway? What triggered your first phase and sent you running into the forest like that?" Sam asked as he was headed out.

"I don't honestly know. I could feel something was wrong and was being guided by a force that I couldn't really control." I said, still not sure exactly what had happened. I had just been caught up in it and known it was the right thing to do. Satisfied with my answer, Sam left after looking deep in thought for a moment. I was curious what he had on his mind, but let him leave without asking. I wanted to turn my attention back to Embry.

Three days passed without any advancement. Em still hadn't moved at all and everyone was beginning to worry. Jake stopped by regularly and the others at least made the occasional appearance. Sue had set up an IV to make sure that he was still getting some kind of nourishment. I hadn't left his side for more than a few minutes at a time, mainly to shower or go to the bathroom. My mom continued to bring food up to the room, but I didn't have much of an appetite. I'd heard that wolves were supposed to be constantly hungry, but nothing seemed appetizing as I saw my best friend lying there motionless.

That afternoon I had my head rested on the bed as I took a quick doze beside him. I hadn't been able to sleep much in the chair that I'd been in, but I didn't care about that. I suddenly realized that there was a slight movement on the bed. I looked up to see Em beginning to stir. He opened his eyes and I stared into them as a shocked and scared look overtook his senses.

He tried to scramble up, suddenly panicking at the needle in his arm. I reached down to try and calm him down and remove the needle, only to have him flinch back as I got there.

"Don't touch me!" he cried out. I halted, stunned that he could think I was going to hurt him. I didn't deserve to have any of his trust. He ripped the needles out of his arm and tried to jump out of the bed, but he was far too weak to stand. As he fell to the ground, I rushed over to him, catching his head before it crashed into the floor.

"Are you really here?" he whimpered through tears that had begun to fall.

"Yes, Em. I'm here and sorry doesn't even begin to cover how I feel right now…" I mumbled, picking him up and setting him back on the bed. He groaned as my arm grazed his heavily bandaged cut and I immediately jerked back.

We stared at each other for a few minutes in the silence. I could see the pain and fear underlying behind his eyes. There was also something hollow about them. It was like a piece of him was missing and it made me restless. I couldn't understand or explain it, but something was wrong. I needed to figure out what it was and help him fix it. I could only hope that he'd let me be there for him. I knew that I just needed to wait for him to open up to me. If I pushed him, he'd just withdraw from me, and I couldn't let that happen. He needed to let me in willingly, and for that, I needed to regain his trust…

Embry's POV

The next few days were odd to say the least. Quil was around me constantly, taking care of whatever I needed. It was nice, but I couldn't understand where he was coming from.

One question continued to dominate the rest: Did he imprint on me? I mean, he was acting as if he needed to do things for me, but considering our last interaction, I couldn't grasp that possibility. I couldn't bring myself to ask him though. Part of me hoped he had and that this pain would stop. However, is that really fair of me? He'd already expressed that he didn't want me like I wanted him. It wouldn't be right for fate to force him into something that he didn't want. And if he hadn't, why was he doing this? I didn't want to be a burden on him and his family. That's part of why I'd gone out into the woods in the first place. I was not going to be a charity case…

"Why are you doing this?" I asked after the third day. I couldn't take it anymore. I needed to know.

"I…well, when I found you in the woods, it was worse than I could ever imagine. I need my best friend back and I need to see you well again Em. It's my fault that you were out there and that you didn't feel like you could come to me for help. I…I need to make it up to you." He said quietly.

I could see it in his eyes. Pity. A sense of obligation. Although he was partially right, I didn't want to tie him down like this.

"Don't waste your time. You don't need to watch over me like this. Go and live. You have nothing to feel guilty for" I mumbled, making my way out of the bed and towards the door, only to be stopped as he grabbed my good arm.

"No Em…that didn't come out right. I don't just need to be here, but I want to help you. Em…I've been a coward. I don't hate you. I only hate myself right now. I care about you, but I've been too afraid of that to admit it to you…" he trailed off. He cared about me? I felt a small spark of hope at that revelation as he led me back to his bed.

"Listen Em…I've felt awful since the beach. I tried to track you down, but your house was empty. What happened?" he asked. I guess he needed to know, but I still wasn't really comfortable with what had happened.

"She left…I told her about what I was and she bolted. I packed my things and went to live out there. I…I didn't want to be a burden to anyone…" I whispered, tears beginning to build in my eyes.

In a flash, Quil was on the bed beside me, pulling my body into his. I had never felt more safe than right now, in his arms. The tears began to flow as I buried my face into Quil's neck. I don't know how long we were like that, but I was aware of everything. His hand running through my hair while the other ran down my back soothed me. Considering the past few weeks of hell, this was more than I could ever hope for.

"Will you ever forgive me, Em?" He asked as he continued to hold me close.

"You have nothing to apologize for Quil. I wouldn't risk being seen with me either" I mumbled into his neck, causing him to tense and pull away slightly.

"Em…you're wrong. I'm a coward and you deserve better than that. You're worth so much more than you give yourself credit for. You're worth everything to me, and I'm going to do whatever it takes to prove that to you." He said. I stared into his eyes, noticing the concern and determination in them. I nodded as he pulled me against him.

After a few days, Quil was required out on patrols. I felt useless, sitting in the bed. For some reason, my healing still hadn't kicked in. It was frustrating, knowing that there might be leeches out there. I needed to be there for the pack.

One afternoon while Quil was out, I heard a howl. They had found something. Even with one weakened leg, I knew I needed to go out there and help. I hopped out of the bed and jumped out the window, darting for the woods. I stripped my clothes, preparing to phase. I tried to focus on the wolf, allowing his heat to consume me as it had so many times before. I reopened my eyes in shock. I couldn't feel anything. It was like I couldn't call my wolf to the surface. I frantically tried again, visualizing the creature I normally turned into, but it was to no avail. I couldn't phase.

That realization frightened me. I slid my cutoffs back on, trudging back into Quil's room. He'd insisted that I stay there and I wasn't going to argue with him. I was far too happy not having to be away from him right now. He promised that I wasn't a burden, and even if a part of me didn't believe it, I couldn't bring myself to leave his presence.

What am I going to do? Why could I not phase? This injury shouldn't be able to prevent the change and I had eaten enough recently to have the energy. I was scared that maybe I had lost the ability, but I still didn't understand.

Quil came back a couple of hours later. Apparently they'd found a small coven that was trespassing across our land. They had been chasing the leeches until they heard a shout from across the Cullen border. Apparently they were vegetarian friends of theirs. Wouldn't have been a bad idea to provide a warning, but they had prevented the pack from ripping the vamps to shreds.

Apparently the Cullens had decided to go ahead and turn the Swan girl into a vampire and wanted to have some extra support there in case anything went wrong. Sam had agreed to allow this one instance to pass, as she was doing it willingly. Nobody seemed to really care, but if she attacked a person, we were going to be ready to destroy her.

That night I dreamed. It wasn't like the dreams when I remembered Quil's words on the beach. This was new, but just as powerful as any memory. I was running through the forest, my blade in my hand. My predatory senses were pushing me forward, giving chase to some creature. I didn't know what I was hunting, but it was close. There was a small river flowing nearby, but my attention was drawn to the nearby cave. It was familiar, but I knew that there was danger inside. I stalked up to it, preparing to attack. I launched myself in, thrusting the knife into the animal who's outline I could barely make out. Whatever wild beast this was could be a threat to our lands and needed to go. I backed off and prepared for another round in case it was still capable of fighting. I heard a whimper and as my eyes adjusted, I realized what I had attacked. It was my wolf.

He was bleeding profusely, a look of pure betrayal in his eyes. I dropped the knife, running towards him and throwing my arms around him. He shook me off, growling as he limped slowly out of the cave, leaving a trail of blood behind him. I ran to follow him, but he had disappeared into the forest. At that, my eyes shot open and my torso quickly shot up in the bed. I was sweating and panting, my heart beat going much faster than usual. Quil was looking at me, panic rising in his system.

"Em? EM! What's wrong!" He yelled, surveying the room for danger.

"I think I killed him!" I cried out.

"Killed who, Em? You haven't killed anyone. It was just a dream." Quil attempted to comfort me.

"No…it's not just a dream. I think I killed or chased him away…" I said trembling.

"Who are you talking about?" He asked, still not able to understand my rambling.

"It's…it's my wolf. He's gone. I can't feel him anymore. I – I – I can't phase…" I said, finally realizing the connection to the dream. The look in Quil's eyes was hard to describe. Pain, fear, and some amount of anger, all burning under the surface.

"We'll get him back, Em…we'll get you well again and you'll be able to join us." He said, pulling me back into him. I could only hope that he'd be right…

AN: Thank you all for reading another chapter of FML. I hope that you enjoyed Quil finally stepping up to the plate a little bit. Of course it couldn't be smooth sailing though, right? Hope that you found the chapter enjoyable, and I look forward to hearing any feedback that you have!