A/N: Hey everyone! Here's the next chapter. Let me know what you think! Each time you guys send me a review, I got this ridiculously wide grin on my face. Enjoy!

The two weeks passed quickly for Kintra. She saw very little of Catie, and Nick spent more time with her instead of Catie. She was actually saddened when the time came for her dad to come and pick her up. As she made her round of goodbyes to each of the family members, Kintra felt tears starting to form, and there was nothing she could do about it. Bravely, she signed for everyone to enjoy the rest of the tour, and she would see them in two months for the Christmas break. When she reached Nick, he pulled her into a tight hug and whispered, "I'll miss you." She smiled. She'd been treating him as a friend, nothing more, and the two teens had become even closer, a feat that they would have once deemed impossible.

All too soon, it was time to leave, and Kinta's body felt heavy as she slid into the passenger seat of her dad's compact car. She was no longer bothered by the tiny space, she was just bothered that she had to ride in this particular tiny space, driving away from her friends. The fortunate aspect of having her dad come pick her up was that he was not a big talker. He left her alone, not even asking 'nod or shake your head' questions. Kintra leaned her head back on the seat and tried to relax. She had a long drive ahead of her.

"KINNY!!" the squeal must have resounded throughout the whole neighborhood as Emma launched herself out the front door of the house and into her sister's braced, waiting arms. Both were grinning at each other, and Kintra signed a very slow greeting to her sister, telling her how much she had missed her. "I've missed you too," Emma responded. "Nick's called, like, five times to see if you were home yet. How did you get so lucky as to have Nick Grey, the cutest member of Connect 3, be your friend?"

Kintra rolled her eyes at the dreamy look on her sister's face. "It's not all it's cracked up to be," she signed slowly, wishing that Nick were here so that she could sign in a faster, more natural way. "Plus, he's way too old for you." She let the 'cutest member of Connect 3' part fly, because she had no comeback for that one. She was forced to agree with her sister, despite her mental protests.

"Kintra!" Kintra whirled around and flew into her mom's arms, hugging her tightly. After a very long moment, Kintra pulled away. "I've missed you," she signed sincerely.

"And I've missed you," her mom said, giving her a squeeze. She pushed her daughter back at arm's length and said, "You and your father had better come inside. Dinner's almost ready and then you need to get some rest."

Kintra caught her sleeve before she disappeared into the house. "Why?" she signed once her mom had turned around to face her.

Her mom replied, "The doctor's office moved your appointment up. They said they need to see us tomorrow."

Kintra's face fell and she felt as though she had hit a wall at full speed. That could only mean one thing. The leukemia was back.

"Philips," the nurse called. "Kintra Philips?" Kintra and her mother stood, nodding to the nurse and following her back into the office. Each examination room was like a carbon copy of the others, and Kintra had been to the office so many times that she was able to identify where each piece of furniture and each model of blood platelets should be. And she was always right.

"Hello, Kintra," the doctor said, stepping in after Kintra had waited a few minutes. "How are you?"

"I was just fine," Kintra signed while her mom interpreted. The doctor grimaced as he noticed her subtle reference to that past tense.

"Well," he said slowly, ignoring her saddened eyes as she looked at him intently, waiting for the bad news that she knew was about to come. "I suppose that I won't beat around the bush here. The leukemia had not gone away completely. We must continue with further treatments if Kintra is to survive."

"How long will that take?" her mom asked, biting her lip. It was a strain on her maternal instincts to willingly allow her daughter to go through so much pain, and the thought of more extensive treatments made her cringe.

"About a month and a half," the doctor said. "The treatments will make it impossible for her to get up out of bed, but they should work." He paused, stroking his chin. "We could give her less intensive treatments, but they might not work as well."

"I'll do it," Kintra signed, steeling herself against the knowledge of what she was about to do. She, above everyone else, hated having to lie in bed all day, but she hated the fact that she was diseased even more.

Once her mom had translated for her, the doctor nodded. "Very well," he said. "We have one opening tomorrow."

"We'll take it," Mrs. Philips said resolutely.

When Kintra returned home, she pulled Emma aside and asked to borrow her cell phone. Flipping it open, she texted a short, sweet message to Matt. Chat w/ me on web cam?

Almost instantly, she received a text back. Absolutely!

She spent the rest of the night chatting with Matt since the web cam allowed him to see her hands as they fluttered around. By the end of the night, Kintra had set up a date for when she went back to visit the Grey family over Christmas break. He would drive a little ways and she would meet up with him. They would go to the after party for the boys' concert, and then they would see where they went from there. As she signed goodnight, Kintra's chin tilted defiantly. She and Nick were good friends. That was it. That was all they ever would be. End of story.

She was still waiting for herself to be convinced.