Yeah! I finally got the next chapter up! Sorry it took so long. I won't go into details, but basically I've been pretty busy. The next chapter should be up soon, though, because I'm already half done. I realized that I haven't actually given you a description of Lexi, so I thought for fun, you should try and guess what she looks like. However, if you've been on a certain forum (which I won't name so you can't find it easily) you can still post your "guess" just don't tell anyone you know you're right. I'll either incorporate Lexi's true appearance in the next few chapters, or I'll just post her appearance on my profile. So take a chance and tell me what you think Lexi looks like! Sorry, that sounded like a really bad commercial. Just enjoy the story and review, okay?

I knew I should have been scared, but for some reason, I was perfectly happy. The wind blew my hair back and the moon lit the desert before me. I felt adrenaline pumping through my veins, yet I felt peaceful. My heartbeat sounded like Ja-mie, Ja-mie, Ja-mie. My mind wandered aimlessly, jumping from one topic to another.

We drove for a few minutes before reaching the rock slide where the "less-conspicuous vehicles", as Jared called them, were stored. Jared and Wanda had been talking the whole way, but I hadn't paid attention until now.

"You don't have to keep your eyes down," Jared was saying. "There's nothing here to give us away. Just in case this place was ever discovered."

I watched as Wanda looked around, and then as Jared led her to where the spare clothes were stored.

"Put them on," he ordered. Wanda hesitated, and I wondered for a moment why, but then I realized as she turned around and pulled her shirt off as quickly as she could.

"Jared," I whispered. He had already figured it out and had turned away, and even though it was dark, I could tell his cheeks were red.

He cleared his throat and said," Oh. I'll, uh, get the car."

I climbed out of the car and sat on the jeep's hood, staring at the wall, unsure of what to do. I didn't have to wonder for long though, because a few seconds later, Jared drove up in the sedan and Wanda and I got in.

"Let's go," Jared said.

"Hold on," Wanda replied. I watched as she crouched to look at herself in the side mirror. "I can't go in with my face like this," she said.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"No soul would have a scar like this. They would have had it treated. They'll wonder where I've been. They'll ask questions."

I felt my eyes widen and I saw a mirror image of my expression on Jared's face. Then his eyes narrowed. "Maybe you should have thought of this before I snuck you out. If we go back now, they'll think it was a ploy for you to learn the way out."

"We're not going back without medicine for Jamie," Wanda said firmly.

"What do you propose we do, then, Wanda?"

"I'll need a rock," Wanda said sighing. "You're going to have to hit me."

"Wanda…" I said.

"We don't have time. I'd do it myself, but I can't get the angle right. There's no other way."

"I don't think I can…do it," Jared said.

"Then Lex, you'll have to."

"But – "

"For Jamie." I felt my heart pound. For Jamie, I thought. "It won't hurt you too bad, will it?"

"No, they'll heal me and I'll be fine. Please Lex, for Jamie."

I sighed. "Alright, but I don't like it."

"You can't seriously – "Jared started.

"Oh, come on Jared. Don't make this any harder than it has to be. It won't kill her, and if it'll save Jamie…" I wasn't sure who I was reassuring, Jared, or myself.

"She's right, Jared. Lex," she said, turning to me, "you just have to get the first few layers of skin off. Just hide the scar, that's all. C'mon, we have to hurry. Jamie…"

"If anyone's doing it, I am," Jared said suddenly.

"But – " I protested.

"I'm doing it," he repeated firmly. I sighed and nodded.

"Fine," I said.

"If you're going to do it, do it quick Jared," Wanda said. She paused for a moment, then said, "Mel says do it now. And make sure you do it hard enough. Get it all the first time."

Jared was silent.

"Do it, Jared!" I heard him gasp, and I watched as Wanda squeezed her eyes shut. I saw Jared lift the rock, but then I had to look away. It was too much, even if it was for Jamie. All I heard was a loud thud and a groan from Wanda.

When I turned back, I saw Jared hugging Wanda.

"Wanda? Mel? I'm sorry!"

"'S okay," Wanda said quietly. "We're okay. Did you get it all?" That was when I looked at her face. I cringed immediately. Her face was red with blood, and it was all down her face and neck.

"Ahh," I heard Jared moan. "I took half your face off. I'm so sorry."

"No, that's good. That's good. Let's go," Wanda said.

"Right," I said, trying not to look at Wanda's face as we got in the car.

The cool air helped to calm my nerves, but I took a couple deep breaths, just in case.

"Good job," I heard Wanda whispered. I looked over to see her looking in the mirror on the visor.

"How much pain are you in?" I asked.

"Not much." I could hear the lie in her voice. "Anyway, it won't hurt much longer. How far are we from Tucson?" she asked Jared.

At that moment we reached the pavement. Jared stopped to pull off the tarps and chains from the car and put them in the trunk. Then he got back in and was about to turn on the headlights when Wanda whispered something. I couldn't hear her, so I leaned forward, since I was in the backseat.

"It can't look like I walked to the hospital like this. Too many questions. I have to drive. You hide in the back and tell me where to go. Is there something you can hide under?"

I nodded, seeing her point. "Yeah. There's a blanket we can hide under."

"Okay," Jared said slowly, "okay. But if you take us somewhere I don't tell you to go…"

I looked at him, surprised at his doubt. The hurt on Wanda's face told me she was surprised too.

"Shoot me," Wanda said flatly. I shuddered at the thought, but said nothing.

"Turn right at the road," Jared said once he had climbed in the backseat.

"Lights," he said a moment later. Wanda switched them on and their bright glow lit up the road. I soon learned that Wanda was the slowest driver in history.

"You could drive a little faster," I said finally.

"I'm right at the limit," she protested.

"Souls don't speed?" Jared asked.

Wanda laughed, but it sounded unnatural, like she was going a little crazy. Maybe she was. A couple months in a cave having to put up with people 24/7 could do that to you.

"We obey all laws, traffic laws included," she said.

So we traveled slowly, with Jared whispering orders every now and then. Finally we reached the hospital.

"Quick, give me the knife," Wanda whispered. I opened my mouth to speak, but Jared interrupted me.

"Wanda…I know you love Jamie, but I really don't think you could use it. You're not a fighter," Jared said.

"Not for them. I need a wound," she said.

I gasped. "You have a wound. That's enough!"

"I need one like Jamie's. I don't know enough about Healing. I have to see exactly what to do. I would have done it before, but I wasn't sure I'd be able to drive."

"No," I said. "Not again."

"Give it to me now, Jared," Wanda said, ignoring me. "Someone will notice if I don't go inside soon."

I watched as Jared thought for a moment, and then gave it to her.

"Jared, what are you doing?" I asked.

"What needs to be done," he said. I would have protested longer if not for the look in Jared's eyes. It has to be done, they seemed to say. For Jamie. I sighed in resignation.

"Be very careful. Not too deep," he said, turning back to Wanda.

"You want to do it?" Wanda asked.

"No."

"Okay."

I watched as she took the knife and plunged it into her left arm. Her scream was terrible, just like it had been when Kyle had come after her. She tried to muffle it in her headrest, but it was still loud.

"Wanda!" I exclaimed.

"Let me see!" Jared said.

"Stay there," she panted. "Don't move." Jared didn't listen. He grabbed at her arm, but she pulled away and jumped out of the car. "I'll be right back," she said, still gasping a little.

I sat next to Jared and watched her stumble across the lot. When she entered, I saw the woman behind the reception desk jump to her feet. They talked for a moment, and then disappeared down the hall.

The worst part was waiting. Jared and I were silent as we watched the front entrance. We had no idea when she would come back, if at all. What if they find out she's helping us? I wondered. I shuddered at the thought of Wanda being sent to another planet, and at Mel being replaced with some other soul. What if they got the information out of Mel with another soul? Our haven, our sanctuary, would be lost. We would all become one of them. I grimaced and shook my head of those thoughts.

Instead, I thought about how we would be welcomed if we got back. Kyle would be furious. So would Ian, and Sharon, and Maggie, and everyone else. But if it saved Jamie… If. Suddenly, a horrible idea came into my head. What if the medicine didn't help Jamie? No, it will work. It will. Wanda said so, I thought.

At that moment Jared elbowed me hard in the ribs.

"Ow!" I whispered.

He was silent, but he nodded his head towards the hospital entrance. The woman we had seen before was returning to her desk, and Wanda was walking out into the parking lot. She got into the car without a word.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

"Shh," Wanda said. "Wait."

She waved to the woman behind the desk and then drove out of the lot.

"Making friends?" Jared asked.

"All souls are friends," she said.

"Are you all right?" I asked again.

"I'm healed."

"Let us see."

She stretched her left arm across her body, and where the cut had been, there was a tiny pink line. In the faint light from the moon, I saw that her face was healed too. It looked just like it had before. All my previous worries disappeared. It worked! It would save Jamie! I breathed a sigh of relief, ignoring the quizzical look from Jared.

"Your face!" Jared said as he looked at her under the light of a streetlamp.

"It's healed, too. Naturally."

"Does it hurt?" I asked.

"Of course not. It feels like nothing happened to it in the first place."

"Did they suspect anything? Do you think they'll call the Seekers?" Jared asked.

"No. I told you they wouldn't be suspicious. They didn't even check my eyes. I was hurt, so they healed me," she said, shrugging.

Jared asked something else, but my mind drifted after that, back to the caves, to home, where it belonged. I smiled as I watched memories with Wes, Lily, Paige, Ian, Kyle, Jeb, Jamie, and many others. Most of them were with Jamie though. I couldn't wait to see him again, especially now that we could save him. I made a mental note to thank Wanda later, but before I could finish my thought, I was fast asleep.

I woke up to the sound of loud, harsh voices. "Stop!" one voice said.

"It's just us. Yes, yes, look. See? I'm still me," Jared's voice said. He said something else, but I wasn't fully conscious, so I didn't hear.

"Jared, you idiot!" I groaned at the sound of Kyle's voice. "What were you thinking?"

I struggled to open my eyes and almost fell over when I saw the ground so far away. Then I realized Jared was carrying me, and I relaxed.

"Thanks, Jared. Sorry, I didn't mean to fall asleep," I said as he put me down.

"Don't worry about it. Just help me with Kyle, okay?" he said quietly.

I nodded. "Kyle – "I began. Unfortunately, I hadn't noticed that Kyle hadn't seen me until now, or I wouldn't have spoken.

"Lex! You are the stupidest, most annoying, idiotic, stubborn – "I'll stop there, because the list was pretty long. Use your imagination. It's not too hard. All you have to do is think of the nastiest, most insulting words you can think of, and that's what Kyle said.

I was about to hurl a bunch of insults back at him, but as soon as he said the last word, he charged at me. I wasn't expecting this, otherwise I would have moved. But since I had no idea he was going to hit me, I stood, frozen in surprise.

The next thing I knew, I was on the ground, and for some reason, it felt very wet. I felt my stomach lurch as I realized why, and I turned on my side and threw up. My head throbbed and the whole left side of my face stung. Then, as I threw up again, I felt a wave of exhaustion go through me, and I collapsed onto my back. The last thing I heard was the sound of Jamie's voice. I'm not sure if he was really there or not, but I heard him.

"Lex! Lex!" he cried. Then the world turned dark, and I drifted into oblivion.

I woke up only moments later. Again, I woke to the sound of angry voices.

"Kyle! What did you do? You jackass!" It was Ian who spoke this time.

I strained my ears, but all I could hear was a loud cracking noise. I wondered what had happened, but I didn't dare open my eyes, for fear that Kyle turned on me again.

As I regained consciousness, my head started to throb again. I moaned quietly, but it wasn't quiet enough.

"She's waking up!" I heard someone whisper.

"Come on, Lex, wake up," I heard another voice say. I think it might have been Wes' voice, but I'm not sure.

Slowly, I forced my eyes open. I couldn't tell where I was, because someone was leaning over me. My eyes were still adjusting so I couldn't tell who it was at first. Then as my eyes focused, I saw Jeb's face inches from mine.

"That's a girl," he said. "Now, c'mon. We gotta get you inside. Kyle landed a nasty blow on your face, and Doc'll want to see it to make sure there's not too much damage." I tried to sit up, but immediately I collapsed from the pain in the left side of my face.

"Worse than I thought," I heard Jeb mutter. "Jared, can you come here? I'm gonna need some help."

"I'm a little busy right now, Jeb!" I heard him call. I looked around slowly, so my face wuoldn't hurt too much, and finally I found him. He was breaking up a fight, and when I realized who was fighting, I sprang to my feet despite the pain.

"Ian! Kyle! What are you doing?" I yelled. My head was pounding now, and I struggled to remain upright.

They stopped fighting for a moment and looked at me. I guess I must have looked pretty bad, because then Ian turned to Kyle and yelled, "Look at her! You did that to her! You – "his words were lost because Kyle punched him in the face.

"Me! You're the one who let her go! I told you both to stay away from it!" Kyle yelled.

"It! Wanda is not an it! And you really think I would've let Lex go?" Ian hollered, kicking Kyle.

Kyle doubled over in pain, and was about to charge at Ian when I screamed, "Will you two stop it?"

They stopped abruptly and looked at me.

"You two are both such idiots! Kyle, first of all, Wanda is not an it! Wanda is a she! She's a person too! And second of all, Ian didn't let me go, I went with Jared and Wanda by my own free will! As for you Ian, you should stop acting like you're so much smarter than everybody else. That may be true when it comes to Kyle, but not to everyone else! And both of you need to stop trying to control me! I'm not five anymore, and neither of you are my parents! Mom and Dad are gone! I get it! So why can't you just accept that and let me be? I did this for Jamie! Not for me, or for anyone else! For Jamie!"

They stared at me in shock as I tried to catch my breath. Then Kyle stalked towards me, his eyes blazing. I honestly thought he was going to hit me again, and maybe he would have, if Ian hadn't stopped him.

"Leave her, Kyle. We can deal with her later." I opened my mouth to protest, but he just held up his hand. "That's right, Lex. This isn't over. But for now, we'll postpone it. There are more important things to deal with."

"Thank you Ian," I said.

"Now that that's all over, we need to get you to the hospital," Jeb said, taking my arm and helping me. "I'm surprised you didn't fall over during your little spiel. Quite impressive, actually," he whispered as we walked. "I've never seen anyone talk that way to Kyle, not even Jared. But what you did wasn't too smart, I gotta say. You coulda been captured by the Seekers, and nobody woulda liked that. Now, now, don't you get sharp with me, young lady," he said when I started to argue. "We'll discuss that later, like Ian said. For now, we just need to get you fixed up."

I nodded submissively, and we walked in silence the rest of the way. When we got closer to the south wing, my heart started to pound. My thoughts turned back to Jamie, and I felt a strange, nervous excitement.

So there you go. Like I said, I'm half done the next chapter, so it should be up soon. As always, please review!