Here's Chapter 16! Please review and enjoy and I'll try to increase the updates.

Dialla's POV

Being in a hospital after a serious car accident wouldn't be that bad for someone who was normal. However, I'm not normal. Well, I am, but I save the world and most teenagers my age don't do that. Although I was partially in a coma for most of the time, I knew it would be a pain. I was worring about my mother and my friends. My mother because she was also injured, probably not as bad as me, and my friends who cared for me deeply, who probably had know idea where I was.

Distinctly, in that group of friends, Ulrich.

We weren't going out, but we were pretty close, considering we confessed our feelings for each other the day before. According to my nurse, who's name I learned was Emily, my right arm was broken, and already in a cast, as well as two of my ribs on the right side of my chest, a fractured wrist, slight cracks in my skull and I had lost a lot of blood. However, I had been given transfusions, so I was all set for the time being. When I asked about my mother, she said she had a few serious wounds and bruises but nothing too critical. She said I would have to stay in the hospital for two to four weeks. That pissed me off, yet I couldn't show it, so I slept for a few more hours.

"Is she asleep?" a quiet voice said.

My eyes fluttered open as I registered the voice. My vision was a little blurry, but once it cleared, I saw the faces of all my friends.

"Guys," I whispered, "What are you doing here?"

My friends faced me and surrounded the bed. On my right, were Ulrich, Odd and Yumi. My left, were Aelita and Jeremy. They all had similar looks of concern and worry, but Ulrich's was the worse. Not that I blame him.

"I saw the accident on my way to school," Yumi explained, "And we wanted to see you."

"You guys are the best," I said, doing my best to smile, despite the excruciating pain in the entire right side of my body.

After noticing my cast, they were all eager to sign it. Once they finished, I noticed Jeremy had a very peculiar look on his face.

"I know what your thinking, but don't do it," I said.

He looked at me shocked and I continued. "Don't waste a return to the past on me. Four weeks will go by like that." I snapped my left fingers.

"But, what if XANA attacks you while your in the hospital?"

He got me there. If XANA were to attack me, I'd be done for.

"I don't want XANA to get stronger, just for me to get better. It's not life threatening and XANA's been pretty quiet lately. I'll be okay."

He looked like he wanted to argue, but he let the matter drop.

After conversing with my friends, I asked if I could talk to Yumi alone. They all had curious looks, but left. Yumi asked me what was wrong and I hesitated for a moment.

"What... What do you think of Ulrich?" I asked finally.

"Ulrich? He's a nice guy. Why?"

"I, uh, well... I really like him... and I think he likes me too. Odd told me how you and Ulrich had a thing so I... I wanted to find out if you still had feelings for him."

Her cheeks were a light pink, but she relaxed herself and smiled.

"It's true... That Ulrich and I were together once, but that was a long time ago. We both decided it was better if we stayed friends,"

I had a confused and surprised look on my face; she laughed.

"You should see your face," she joked, then grew serious. "Ulrich is like a brother. He's loyal, caring and very protective. And, I know he likes you, because he told me so."

My cheeks burned as she continued.

"You should tell him how you feel," she said. "You two'll make a cute couple. And, you'll drive Sissi nuts."

I laughed and that, then cringed as my ribs throbbed. Yumi placed her hand gently on my shoulder, questioning me if I was alright. I nodded and smiled.

"Thank you, Yumi,"

She smiled back. "You're welcome."

The door opened and Jeremy announced that William and Dan were attacking the Skid. Yumi stood up, said good bye and I was alone was again.

Sighing deeply, I thought over the conversation that had happened minutes ago. After about ten minutes, Emily came back in and gave me some pain meds, so I was immediately drowsy and fell asleep again. When I awoke later, Emily offered to get me some food. I agreed, seeing as I had nothing better to do. She disappeared and my phone vibrated on the table next to me. I reached over and grabbed it. It was a text message from Alex.

How you doing? It read. I heard you were in a car wreck. You ok?

"Gossip sure spreads fast," I mumbled, but quickly replied, telling him how badly I was injured and how long I would be in the hospital.

Ooh. Rough. I'll come visit you after school. Okay?

Okay.

Emily came back with a plate full on snacks and some fruit. I munched on an apple, bored, while she sat down and decided to tell me a little bit about herself. I learned that her and I were alike, minus the whole saving-the-world-from-a-computer-monster-thing.

As promised, right after school, Alex visited me at the hospital. He questioned me where my friends were and I explained that they had already stopped by. He nodded and signed my cast, adding a little smiley face. Over an hour had passed and he made me laugh and smile the whole time. And, although he was sweet, funny and caring, I had to tell him that I chose Ulrich.

"Hey, Alex? I need to tell you something."

"Hm? Well, go ahead. What is it?"

I took a deep breath. "I choose Ulrich. He's the one I want to be with."

There was a long period of silence before he spoke. "I see. Is that your final decision?"

I nodded. "I'm sorry. There's just something about Ulrich, something special, that I really like."

"I understand," he stood up but I grabbed his hand.

He was jerked to a stop and he looked back at me.

"I'm not done yet." I said, smiling slightly.

He forced a smile and sat down.

"You are my best friend and I don't want to lose you just because I'm with Ulrich,"

He placed his hand on my good one. "You don't have to worry. I'm not gonna let something stupid reck our friendship."

"Really?"

"Course not."

Emily came in and told him that visiting hours were over. Quickly pecking his cheek, I smiled as he blushed, waved, then left.

Two of the four weeks had gone by and my strength was recovering rapidly. My ribs had just about healed, and I was able to walk as long as I had someone close by if I were to fall. However, the doctor insisted I stay a few more days. Ulrich visited me whenever he could and helped me out a lot. It was a few days away from Christmas when I was finally let out of the hospital. I still had on my cast which was completely covered in signatures and drawings. Normally, I would be happy, but Christmas was in five days and I had to buy presents for my family and friends. And, as much as I wish we were, teenagers aren't exactly made out of money. And being in the hospital for two weeks didn't help either. However, thanks to health insurance, some company my mom works for paid for the hospital bill, so my mom gave me $180 to spend for presents. Which meant twenty dollars for everyone. Ulrich, Odd, Yumi, Aelita, Jeremy, Alex, 'Dan' and my parents. This is gonna be hard.

I was really glad it was Saturday because there are no afternoon classes, so I used my time wisely and went straight to the mall. Unsure exactly of what to get for my friends, I got them something based on what they like. For Odd, since he's always either complaining he's hungry or Kiwi, I bought him a large bag of chips and a dog toy. For Yumi, I knew she was interested in Japanese stuff, and there was a beautiful white fan with Japanese writing and Sakura petals on. Giggling at the irony, I bought that for her. For Aelita, I bought her a pink necklace, since everything she had was, well, pink.

Next was the brains of the group, Jeremy. He was the second hardest to think of, but in the end, I bought some software that was supposed to debug any program. I figured it might help the supercomputer. For Alex, he told me once he was a fan of handball, so I bought him a handball. 'Dan' had been bugging me about some ninja video game he wanted, so I got that. My mom was a sucker for jewlery, and my dad liked tools so they were all set.

Last, but not least, Ulrich.

He loved soccer, the Subsonics and Pencak Silat. So many to choose from. I figured getting a soccer ball for him would be lame, so I focused on the Subsonics and Pencak Silat. I found there latest CD and paid for that, and I was just pennies short from a Pencak Silat book of techniques. Fortunately for me, the cashier let me off the hook since it was Christmas. I thanked her and left to get the presents wrapped. Once the presents were wrapped, I was able to breath easy until Christmas. Which came quicker than I expected. We were all hanging out in Einstein's room, waiting for Ulrich so we could all exchange presents together. My cast was gone and it felt so good to move my right arm again.

After a half hour of waiting, Ulrich arrived with four packages in his hand. Before I could even ask why he had only four, he explained that his last present- mine- was going to be a surprise for when we would be alone. I raised an eyebrow, but decided to play along. We all exchanged our gifts - with the exception of Ulrich and I - and opened them simultaneously. From Aelita, I got a doll, Jeremy gave me a book on computers, since I was starting to become interested in them. According to Yumi, in Japan, you don't open presents in front of the person who gave it to you, so her present was also going to be a surprise.

"Is this from the cafeteria?" I questioned.

He nodded. "Yep! You like it?"

"Uh, sure," I said, twirling the fork in my hand, then placing it back in the small box.

I looked up and Ulrich gestured with me to come with him. I stood up and followed him. It was snowing outside, and only a little bit cold. Nonetheless, I shivered, even with my black hoodie and sweatpants on. Ulrich wrapped his arm around my shoulders and pulled me close to him. Blood burned my cheeks a little, but I managed to stay calm as he led me to the park. Walking through the snow, he walked me towards a tree then stopped.

It was a rather large tree, decorated with all sorts of lights, little balls and dolls. I looked up at the branch we were standing under and my blushed deepened.

"Misletoe," I whispered.

He smiled and his hands slipped around my waist as he pulled me even closer, so his lips could finally meet mine. I closed my eyes and immediately kissed back, wrapping my shivering arms around his warm neck. His shuddered at the touch and I giggled, pulling away. I reached into my sweatshirt pocket and pulled out a medium sized box ( it's a size large. I love huge sweatshirts!).

"Here," I said, handing him the box.

Ulrich took the box and he grabbed my hand, placed something in it, then folded it shut.

I looked up at him and he nodded at me to open my hand. I did so, and there was a heart-shaped locket. After looking at him again, I opened the locket. Inside was a picture of him on the left, and on the right was some writing. It said "I love you, Ulrich". I gasped softly and he embraced me, holding me tightly with passion.