A/N: Hey everyone! I first want to say thank you for all the reviewers and readers who have read this fanfic and left reviews! Please leave reviews! They make my day :D I wanted to start Chapter 9 with Thorne's POV of Chapter 8. Enjoy!

~ 3pj

Thorne pressed harder on the gas pedal, going 5 miles harder than higher than the speed limit. Cress! Why did she have to go to his house? His stepmom was most likely at home, and that would mean—

SCREECH!

Thorne slammed his right foot on the brakes. The car in front of him had stopped suddenly. Thorne, groaned, his impatience growing. He honked the horn for a good bit, and drove around the car. When he checked the rear-view mirror, Thorne's heart leapt up to his throat. That person in the car… That girl…

Thorne shook his head, focusing on the road in front of him. It couldn't be her. It couldn't possibly be her. She left this place years ago.

She left him years ago. It couldn't be her. No, it wasn't her.

But no matter how many times he told himself, memories came to his head. Holding hands under the lunch table. Sneaking out the back school doors to have some fun. Cuddling under blanket on the couch. Her green eyes staring up at him. And her panic attacks. They would be so severe that she couldn't move at all.

Thorne was about to make a U-turn, but remembered Cress. He groaned, and called 911 on his cell.

"Hello, may I h— "

"I'm at Walter Valley Street, and there's a car that's not moving. I think the driver has a panic attack. Can you help please? Thanks." Thorne hung up, his grip on the steering wheel tightly. It couldn't be her.

Thorne made a sharp right turn, turning into his street. Forget the speed limit; he drove 10 miles above speed limit, and saw his house.

What he saw made him glare in suspicion.

There was Cress and a guy, a few years older than her, holding her wrist. Thorne turned into his driveway, and got out, slamming the door behind him. Thorne heard a car pull up behind him, and guessed that Wolf and Scarlet followed him. He saw Cress trying to keep back a laugh, but Thorne had no idea why she would laugh right now.

"Cress?"

Thorne come up to her, watching the guy warily. "What are you doing here? At my house? Have you seen— "

The guy put up a hand to stop Thorne. "Yes, she's fine, even after seeing her." He spat out the last word. Thorne glared at the guy. "I think you've already done enough harm to her. I'll take her home, and you can go see your stepmother."

Thorne's hands balled into two shaking fists. "Legal guardian," Thorne growled.

Who was this guy that was so protective of Cress? The guy pulled Cress to a blue convertible and opened the passenger seat for Cress. She got into the seat, and he went to the driver's seat. The car roared to life, and he pulled out of the driveway.

Thorne let out a frustrated sigh, and put his hands on his hips, pacing back and forth from the door to the yard. Then, out of frustration, he kicked the front door, and shouted something unsavory.

Wolf and Scarlet walked up to Thorne slowly, afraid what might happen if they approached him too fast. "Um… Thorne? Who was that guy with Cress? And why are you so angry? Is something wrong?" Scarlet asked.

Thorne's cell phone rang. He declined it. The call came again, and Thorne answered it this time. "Hello?" he asked, his words soaked with annoy.

"Hello, this is Hearts Hospital. A call came this afternoon a few minutes ago, saying that a car was not moving in the middle of the road, and that the driver seemed to have a panic attack. It appears that you were the person that called. Is that correct?"

Thorne gulped. "Yes, that was me. Is something wrong?"

"Fortunately, the driver is fine, but a guardian has to come and sign their documents. Sadly, we could not come with contact with the driver's guardian, and you were the only one who knew about it. We were wondering if you were or are her guardian right now?"

Thorne froze. What was he going to say? I am her ex-boyfriend? Does that count as a guardian? "Yes, I'm her boyfriend," he finally answered.

The lady's voice on the other side brightened up. "Wonderful! Do you have time now to come and sign her documents as her guardian?"

Thorne sighed. "Yes, I'll come right away. Thank you."

He hung up and looked at Wolf and Scarlet. He gave them an apologetic look. "Look, I'll try to explain later, but right now something came up and it's sort of urgent. I was wondering if maybe you could look after my stepmom for a little…"

Scarlet nodded. "Of course. But promise to explain everything when you get back. If you don't, you don't know what might happen in your bed tonight," she threatened.

Thorne managed a weak smile. "Thanks Scarlet. You're the best. You too, Wolf." And Thorne went back into his truck, going over speed limits the third time that day.

Thorne paused at the doorway of the emergency room at the hospital. What would happen if she saw him? Would she remember him at all? What if it wasn't her? What if he was being paranoid and it actually wasn't her?

Thorne sighed and ran a hand through his head. Then he saw his shoes. One was his, but the other was Wolf's. So that was why Cress had been trying—and failing—to keep her laugh in. She was messing him up, mentally and physically.

He took a deep breath, and went through the automatic doors. Instantly, sanitation smells came rushing to him. He cringed at the sight of blood and other bandages, and made his way between beds to see which bed chart said panic attack.

He finally saw it. Panic Attack. But it was a different name. Linh Cinder. Cinder? The mechanic Cinder? She has panic attacks?

"CINDER!" a voice cried from behind. Thorne turned his head around and saw Kai running towards the bed. He also saw Iko- a face he saw in class- stand up from next to Cinder's bed. Guess they found her guardian after all.

Thorne sighed in relief, his hand going through his messed up hair. Just as he was about to go back out the door, a voice asked from behind him, "Excuse me?"

Thorne turned around. A short nurse holding a clipboard was standing behind him. "Yes?" he answered.

"Are you the guardian of the recent panic attack that happened to a patient in a car?" she asked.

Thorne frowned. "Isn't she the person that had the panic attack?" He pointed to Cinder. The nurse followed his finger, and shook her head.

"No, sir. She wasn't in a car when the panic attack took place."

Thorne froze. So it wasn't Cinder after all. "Oh. I guess I am the guardian then…" He paused. "Is she okay?"

The nurse nodded her head. "Thankfully, yes. The call came before any serious accident happened. Would you like to see her?"

He nodded his head slowly, and the nurse started walking away from Cinder's bed. He turned to see her, to see if she looked alright, but turned around when a group of doctors and nurses crossed his view.

The nurse stopped in front of a bed that had its curtains closed. She quietly opened the curtains, but for Thorne, everything started going slow motion.

The curtain opened slowly, revealing, first a hand, an arm, and finally, her face. Thorne's breath caught in his throat.

She was still the same as before. Her hair was still auburn color, her thick eyelashes unmoving, her eyes closed. And her lips—

"She seemed to have a panic attack due to some memories that suddenly surfaced her brain. We do not know why her memories suddenly surfaced her brain, but after consulting with her therapist, we may be able to figure out the reason," she interrupted his thoughts.

Thorne nodded, his eyes not leaving her face. "Can you leave us alone?" he whispered, his voice hoarse. The nurse nodded, and started to close the curtain around the bed. He took a hesitant step forward, staggering the rest of the way to the seat next to the bed. He sat down.

Thorne stared at her hands, her small, scarred hands, wondering if he could hold them. Wondering if he had the right to hold them. He lifted his hand up, and a thousand of memories came surfacing up to his head. Holding hands on the bus. Holding hands during class. Holding hands walking home. Holding hands under the blankets. It was easy holding hands back then. Why couldn't he do it now?

Unlike Thorne, so unlike him, he timidly set down his hand on hers. Her hands were cold. So cold. Was it always this cold?

Suddenly, her eyes snapped open, revealing two green irises. Thorne jerked his hand back, standing up and knocking the small stool over. She looked around at her surroundings, wondering where she was at. When she saw Thorne, her eyes hardened.

"Thorne? What are you doing here?"

Thorne whipped his head back, seeing an old, but still familiar face. "Fateen? What are you doing here?"

Fateen smiled. "Internship for high school. Remember when I always talked about being a doctor when I was younger? I guess this is helping me make my way up. What about you? What are you doing here?" Then, she saw her on the bed that was next to Thorne.

Fateen's eyebrows lifted up. "Kate? Oh my gosh! I haven't seen you in, like, forever! Where have you been?!"

Thorne's heart screamed internally, but Kate just smiled. "Oh, I've been going here and there, visiting some old family and friends. I think I'm here for good now, though." Thorne's eyes widened, and his heart's pace grew. She was staying here for real?

Fateen smiled. "Oh, that's cool. Are you going to the same school as me or this dude over here?" Fateen jabbed a thumb towards Thorne.

Kate shrugged, ignoring Thorne. "I don't really know. Depends on where I live I guess."

"I—I have to go now. Do I need to sign anything before I go?" Thorne asked Fateen.

She nodded. "Yeah, I'll get them for you. Wait right here." Fateen left the bed, and Thorne was alone with Kate. After 5 years, they were finally alone.

Thorne avoided Kate's eyes, while she was trying to make eye contact. "Thorne? How did you know I was here?"

Thorne swallowed, nervous. "I—I should go sign the papers. I'll see you later." Thorne walked away from the bed to the front desk, even though Kate was calling from behind him. He didn't have the right to talk to her, or even look at her. Nothing could make him deserve her now. Not after the things—

Fateen bumped into Thorne, looking surprised. "Oh, you came? I guess you're busy right now. Here's the paper and a pen. Just turn them in at the front desk over there." She pointed over to the desk behind her, and then smiled. "Well, see you later!"

Thorne nodded, and smiled. "Thanks." He paused. "Take… take good care of Kate for me. She's one of my best friends. You know that."

Fateen nodded seriously. "Of course I know that. Don't worry, we'll take good care of her." He went up to the front desk, filling out the paper. After he was done, he gave them to a nurse at the front desk.

The nurse giggled behind her hand, but Thorne didn't respond to her. He didn't feel like flirting with anyone today. Not right now.

The cool air that greeted him as he came out of the hospital doors calmed him, a little. He got in the truck, and started the engine. Out of frustration, he banged his fist on the horn, making two nearby people jump from surprise.

Thorne felt something vibrate in his pocket, and pulled out his phone, seeing that he has missed 5 calls from Wolf and Scarlet each. Thorne gulped, and pulled out from the parking lot, out onto the road. He had to go find Cress, and figure out who the suspicious guy next to her was.

He finally decided to call Wolf—Scarlet would yell at him for not answering her calls—to at least let them know he was fine. After two rings, Wolf picked up.

"Hello? Thorne? Are you alright?" Wolf asked, Scarlet obviously trying to get the phone from him.

Thorne managed to create a fake laugh, and said, "Sure, bud. Thanks for not asking any questions. I promise, I'll tell you everything. But… What happened with my stepmom?"

Wolf sighed. "Somebody must've called 911 or something because soon after you left, an ambulance and two police cars came up. We're at the police station right now, trying to answer most of the questions, but we don't know any of them. You should probably come. Oh, and the ambulance took your stepmom to the hospital. She was knocked out when we found her."

Suddenly, Scarlet's voice came on. "Thorne? Are you okay? Where are you? Why in the world are we at the police station, and not you? Come here right now! And why haven't you been answering my calls?"

Despite the stress that was building up on his shoulders, he laughed, a real one. Scarlet was always complaining, whether Thorne was doing something wrong or right.

"I'm sorry, Scarlet. It's just that I had my phone on vibrate, so I didn't know you called me. And I'll come to the police station right now." Thorne nodded to himself. Cress would have to wait. It seemed that she trusted the guy, even though his instinct said otherwise. He would have to trust her, just for a few minutes.

Thorne made a sharp U-turn, and said to his phone, "Look, Scarlet? I'm driving right now, and I don't want to get in an accident because I was talking to you. Even though there's nothing that I can't do, I don't want to get a ticket from the police. I'm Captain Carswell Thorne, I'll be there in just a sec."

Her voice made it understandable that she was rolling her eyes as she said back, "Come on, Thorne. Just because your dream is to be captain, doesn't mean you already are. You aren't even a cadet yet! I'm hanging up. Not because of you, but since Wolf's phone battery is going low. I better see you in 5 minutes, mister." She hung up.

Thorne rubbed the back of his neck as he went down the road. Cress would have to wait a bit for him. Just a little bit.