I am so sorry for the long wait. I've been caught up in other stories, and ideas. But I'm working on balancing it all. I was disappointed with my last chapter, and didn't feel like it was my best work, so I hope this one is better.

Enjoy!

x—x

"So what do we do now?" Derek asked Casey.

She had been hanging out in his hospital room for a while. She was still surprised, and totally happy that Derek had believed her about the dream.

"I'm not sure. My mom told me that the doctor's want to keep us here overnight. We should able to go home tomorrow, once-"

"That's not what I'm talking about, Casey." Derek said.

"Well, then what do you mean?" Casey asked hesitantly. For some reason she felt like her heart was about to drop into her stomach. The first thing that popped into her head was that he wanted to talk about the hug.

Why the heck would he want to talk about a meaningless hug? ...Maybe it wasn't meaningless to him. Was it meaningless to me? Wait, of course it was meaningless. What am I thinking? Maybe I do have a concussion...

"I was talking about your dream."

Casey's heart stopped beating as fast as it had been, but it still dropped slightly. Knowing that it had made her want to shake herself.

"Well, I mean, what can we do. It was just one dream-"

"That saved someone's life." Derek said.

"And almost cost us ours. Yours." Casey whispered.

"That's not even the point."

"Well, then what is?" Casey asked.

"I mean, what if you have more?"

"That's not going to happen. It was just some crazy, weird...something. It's not going to happen again." Casey said, but inside the question stirred through her mind. What if she did have another dream?

"I hope not. I don't want anything to happen to you." Derek said.

Once again, Casey's heart strummed a little faster. Duh, he's your brother. Of course he doesn't want anything happening to you. Casey thought. Another side of her brain said, Step-brother, Casey. Step-brother. Her mind flipped back as if saying, What does it matter? She was beginning to confuse herself.

Before either of them could say anything else, a nurse, who seemed to be in her fifties, entered the room.

"Oh, hello Derek. Casey. Casey, I'm sorry, but you need to go back to your room. Your brother needs a little check up. I think your examination is soon, anyway." she said.

"Step-brother." Derek said.

"Pardon me?"

"Oh, I'm her step-brother."

"Oh, my mistake." the nurse said.

"Well, okay. I'll see you later, Derek." Casey said.

She nodded at Derek and the nurse before slipping out of the room. She hesitated a moment, then headed back into her room. She walked around the perimeter of the room-that wasn't blocked by a visitor chair, and table, and hospital equipment- before sitting down on the hospital bed.

Casey's mind went back to what Derek had said. What if she had more dreams? She wasn't sure if she didn't want to or not. She had felt really good when she found that she had helped save someone. But she hadn't felt so great when she was almost stabbed, and Derek actually was.

It wasn't long before Casey got carted off to test if she had a concussion, which they hadn't been able to do earlier, since she had been unconscious. A wave of tiredness washed over her when she was being taken back to her room. She lied down on her bed, completely exhausted.

Everything was blurred, and sounds seemed muffled. Casey tried to focus on something, but she had a rising sense of panic that she didn't quite understand, nor control. Then she saw her. The only thing that was in focus. A young woman, a nurse. She had blond hair, and bright green eyes, but they were filled with terror. Casey watched as the nurse fell to her knees, gasping for air. A name screamed through Casey's mind. Maisy. A name she did not know. Was it of the nurse she had never seen before? She also didn't know.

Casey tried to cry out for help, but it was like trying to scream through a million pillows. No sound would come out, but the frantic muffle of her suppressed scream. And she watched the nurse collapse completely onto the tile floor. Her arm lay limp above her head.

Casey gasped, as her eyes flew open. She sat up slightly, propping her elbows up on the bed. She looked around frantically. She was still in the hospital. She tried to control her breathing, which was erratic, and heavy. It was just a dream. She thought to herself, trying to calm down. She just didn't realize how horrible it was that she had 'just a dream.'

She was finally beginning to catch her breath, when a young woman entered her room.

"Hey, sweetie. How are you. Quite a day you've had, I've heard. My name's Maisalind, but you can call me Maisy."

Casey stared at Maisy with her mouth open and heart pounding. No. No. No. No. No! This isn't happening. Except she knew it was, and the overwhelming panic she had felt in her dream rose up in her chest.

"Sweetie? Are you okay?" Maisy asked. Casey's panic must have shown in her face.

"You need to get help. We need to get you help!" Casey said loudly. Frantically.

"Excuse me?"

"Some thing's wrong with you. You're going to collapse! You're going to collapse and we need to get you help!" Casey said.

"Casey, you need to calm down. I'm fine, hun. I'm fine." Maisy said, patiently.

"No! No! You're not fine! Someone help! She needs help! She's going to collapse!" Casey began to shout.

Panic began to set into Maisy's eyes, and she began to head toward the door, but several hospital staff workers appeared.

"What's going on?" A man, who appeared to be a doctor asked Maisy.

"Don't just stand there! Help her! Help her now, before she collapses! Before it's too late!" Casey shouted at the doctor. She knew she was getting hysterical, but the shock of another dream mixed with the panic of the woman's trouble, and she burst out, screaming, feeling like she was about to fall apart and cry.

"I don't know what happened. I came in to check up on her vitals, and she was hysterical. She started screaming about me collapsing." Maisy explained.

"You are going to collapse! You need help now! This is a hospital! Get her help!" Casey yelled out.

"I'm fine! I'm not going to-" Maisy stopped, taking in a sharp intake of breath. Her hand flew to her chest, and she winced, squeezing her eyes shut. Her knees buckled, but the doctor quickly grabbed a hold of her arm.

"Someone get a gurney in here, stat!" he yelled out, trying to keep Maisy balanced. She was gasping. The gurney appeared quickly, and several people lifted her onto it, and rushed out of the room. The doctor stopped and looked at Casey inquisitively before running off down the hall after the gurney.

Casey tried to get up out of the bed, but once her feet hit the floor, her legs felt wobbly. For a second she thought she saw Derek in the doorway of the room, but she wasn't sure, because then she herself collapsed for the second time that day.

x—x

I know that this was short. I'm sorry I made you wait for a small chapter. But I still hope it was satisfactory, and you guys liked it!

Pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty, PLEASE, REVIEW!!!!!

Please, I plead!

Anyway, keep reading my stuff!

Love!

-Tarryn