A/N: So sad. this is the second last chapter of the story. *sobs* I hope you all like this chapter; I thought it was rather funny, but maybe you won't find it so. Anyway; enjoy!

Changes

I let out a low groan. My head felt like someone drove a nail into my skull. It's a strain to open my eyes even the slightest bit but once my eyes are open, they're wide open.

For some reason quite unknown to me, I was lying down in a bed. How did I get in a bed? I glance about the room around me.

The walls were white and as plain as the white bed. But for some reason I was sitting up. I look down and see that I'm on a reclined bed. Well that explained one thing.

There was a small TV in the upper corner of the room but other than that there weren't any other decorations. The shades were closed so the room was pretty dark since the door was closed too. The only light came from a small bathroom off to my right. As I glance to my right, I see my cowboy hat resting on a bedside table.

Shocked, I glance down at myself to find that I'm wearing one of those ridiculous gowns that they make you wear in a hospital. That's when it hits me. I was in a hospital.

"How the hell did I get to a hospital?" I wonder to myself. "Wasn't I just at Chelsea's?"

The thought of Chelsea sends a pang through my heart and a scorching pain through my head. I throw my head backwards against the steady presence of the bed and let out a low moan of pain.

The pain subsides when I clear my head of all thoughts about Chelsea; which is much easier said than done. Anxiously, I look over to my side and catch sight of the medicine cart. It was farther away than I could reach in the bed.

I shut my eyes tightly and then swing my legs over the edge of the bed. I use my hands to push myself into a completely upright position. But as soon as I do, my head gets light and stars begin to appear in my vision. Quickly, I lie back down on the bed.

So I thrust my hand out and punch the button that would call the nurse into the room. But I'm surprised when I hear a voice.

"Yes?"

Damn it. I'd pressed the wrong button. Oh well; this could work too. "Can you send in some morphine?" My voice sounds shaky and unstable to me and it shocks me.

"Are you awake?"

Was this nurse stupid? "No I'm sleepwalking. I want the medicine so I can sell it to some drug dealers outside my window."

"I'll be there in a minute."

I roll my eyes. This was just perfect. Silently, I glance around the room; I still didn't know how I'd even got to the hospital. And I didn't know how much time had passed. To me it seemed like I'd only just fallen into unconsciousness, but I knew from last time that that was only an illusion.

Suddenly the door opens and the light makes me blink rapidity so I can adjust. "It's about time you got here."

"Vaughn?" The voice isn't the woman's voice I'd heard on the intercom. It takes me a minute to place who the male voice belonged to, but then it hits me when the man closes the door behind him.

"Oh Dad. Sorry, I thought you were the nurse." I let out a deep breath and close my eyes briefly. It took a lot of energy just to keep them open.

"Vaughn?" He repeats, and I look back over at him. Not only had his voice sounded haunted, but he looked like he was seeing a ghost.

"Yes?" I ask back, very confused. It wasn't that hard to recognize me was it? The bright purple eyes and silver hair kind of narrowed it down a lot.

"You're awake?"

I roll my eyes. "No, I'm sleep sitting." Then I focus my gaze on him. "Why is everyone asking me if I'm awake?"

Seth lets out a deep breath and sits down on a chair that was beside my bed. He places a small box of Chinese food on the bedside table and then presses his hands tightly together.

"There's no easy way to tell you this Vaughn." He begins.

"Just say it then." I interrupt.

He lets out a deep breath. "You've been in a coma for a season less than two years."

My eyes blink, and at first I don't really understand what was going on. Then it hits me; almost like a ton of bricks. "It's fall?" My voice is unsteady and it scares me.

Seth nods sadly. "A lot has changed."

Fear suddenly grips my heart, and I lean over towards him. "What happened to Chelsea?"

His face becomes pained and he grimaces. "She's single, but…"

"But what?" My voice is anxious and the pain in my head is incredible, but I have to know.

"She's not the same." He looks at me warily, as if gauging my reaction. "She goes about her farm, taking care of her animals and her crops with remarkable diligence. She participates in all the festivals and wins almost all of them. She talks with the villagers and she laughs."

He suddenly looks sick, and I'm even more confused. "It sounds like she's fine."

Seth shakes his head. "She's not. It's like her body is there doing all her normal activities but she's not even there. Almost like she's sleepwalking. Her eyes are dead."

I lean back against the raised part of the bed. I want to close my eyes but I can't. I want to say something, but I don't know what to say.

He sighs. "You know, she told me what happened." My head turns sharply towards him as he continues. "She told me you broke up with her, and she told me why."

Suddenly the look in his eyes changes and he's looking at me in fury. "You know something Vaughn? You're selfish."

"Excuse me?" I'm surprised. Okay, that's a bit of an understatement, but you get the point.

"That's right." He nods aggressively. "You so selfish. You're so obsessed with keeping your life a cold miserable place that you're destroying everyone around you."

My mouth gapes open, but he continues right on. "Did you know that the second you went into that coma, Chelsea didn't leave your side for half a year? Julia and Natalie had to drag her out of the hospital so she would come back to her farm."

He shakes his head. "Do you have any idea what kind of love that is? No, of course you don't. Because you're too selfish to see it."

My eyes are blazing. "I'm not selfish! And I love Chelsea!"

His eyes soften for a brief second but then they regain their hard edge. "You sure about that? Then why did you giver her Amy's wedding ring when you broke up with her? That's nothing but cruel."

I wince slightly and when I speak, I can't help but notice that my voice was weak. "I didn't want to leave her with nothing."

He sighs as his shoulders sag. His face has softened again as he looks at me. "You've got a great girl Vaughn. Don't lose her like I lost Amy."

I lean my head against the bed again and let out a deep breath. My eyes close and I desperately wait for the morphine.

I get out of the hospital two days later. The doctors gave me a few blood transfusions and they told me to take it easy for a while. I don't think that would be possible.

Seth doesn't tell me much else about what has changed on the Islands. He said he wants it to be a surprise. But he did tell me that Will was married to Lily now; and that he'd been paying my medical bills. That gave me hope.

Thankfully, the day I'm released is a day I don't have work, so I get on the boat to the Islands with my dad.

"Have you told anyone that I'm coming back?" I ask him as the Island comes into sight.

As soon as the words are out of my mouth, he smacks his face. "I knew I forgot something!" He mumbles.

"Joy." I mutter as I look up at the clear blue sky.

We get onto the island but no one is on the beach. "Did you tell anyone that you were coming back?" I mutter as we walk across the sandy beach.

He just shakes his head. I let out a deep breath and pull my Stenson closer over my eyes. From my point of view, I was lucky I could walk at all.

We enter the main part of town, but I don't see anyone. We've stopped near Mirabelle's when I hear a small giggle.

I'm startled when a little tiny girl runs out of Mirabelle's shop. She had light pink hair that falls over her shoulders and bright blue eyes. But she didn't look like she couldn't have been more than a little over a year old.

The little girl catches sight of me and falls onto her butt. Then she starts to wail and my mouth drops open in surprise when Seth picks up the little girl and she stops wailing.

Abruptly a little boy steps out of the same house. He looks about the same age as the girl. He has the same pink hair but his eyes were a chocolate brown instead.

The little boy breaks out in a smile when he sees my dad, but he ignores me completely. My dad smiles and picks up the little boy; all three of them laughing.

"Alright now. You guys don't want to hurt grandpa." A light happy voice says as a women walks out of Mirabelle's house.

My mouth gapes open at the sight of the woman. She was tall and her blond hair fell carelessly around her shoulders. She wore a plain white t-shirt that I seem to remember Elliot wearing, and plain sweat pants. Her face was smooth but had a mature look to it as she gazed upon the children.

Then a man walks out of the house. He wraps an arm around the woman's shoulders and kisses her passionately on the lips. He was dressed in casual jeans and a plain t-shirt that matched the one the woman was wearing. There was no apron tied around his waist and I could clearly see his brown eyes; as he wore no glasses.

"Okay kids, back in the house! We're having pancakes for breakfast with grandma and grandpa!" The man bends down as he says this to his children and they squeal in delight as they run inside.

With that, the man kisses his wife again and they walk inside. Seth follows them, like he's forgotten about me, and I'm left standing outside; bewildered beyond belief.

So, I carefully ease open the door and slip inside. The sweet syrupy smell of pancakes, bacon and eggs drifts to my nose and makes my stomach growl quietly at me. I shush it before I remember that it wouldn't listen to me.

I walk into the dining room to find everyone bustling around the room. The man and the woman were sitting their children into highchairs and I'm shocked when I see my dad walk up to Mirabelle and kiss her soundly on the lips.

So I do the first thing that comes to mind. I loudly clear my throat and everyone looks at me.

"Sorry to interrupt." I start as I watch all of their faces drain of colour, like they were seeing a ghost. "But I didn't want to stand outside."

"Vaughn?" The woman is the first one to speak. "Is that you?"

"If you're Julia, then I am." Then I tilt my head slightly. "But you look much different than you did when I last saw you."

Julia blushes. "Parenthood does that to you."

I gesture to the two little kids, playing with their food. "Those are yours?"

Both her and the man nod. I turn to him. "Elliot?"

He nods. I shake my head in disbelief. "You look amazing. I mean, you actually look normal."

Elliot laughs, and when he speaks I'm shocked to find that his voice is much deeper than when I last talked to him. "Thanks. You on the other hand; haven't changed at all."

No physically. But I just smile and nod. They invite me down to sit and eat breakfast. I agree, and it's then that I learn all that has changed in the Island.

I learned that Julia and Elliot's children were twins. The girl's name was Ashlyn and the boy's name was Calvin. They were a little over a year old.

Natalie married Pierre and they just had their first child a couple days ago; a little boy they named Josh.

Denny married Lanna and they announced to the whole Island that Lanna just became pregnant.

Will married Lily a season after I went to the hospital. They have a year old boy and are expecting a baby girl any week now.

Sabrina and Mark got married and she moved back with him to his farm. Regis approved of their marriage. I say good riddance.

Charlie and Eliza started "dating". While they're only 12 now, so there's no much they can do. But they still play together and they hold hands.

And my dad married Mirabelle. Turns out, Mirabelle had a crush on my dad when they were younger. My dad had liked both her and her sister, but Mirabelle was never around so he fell in love with my mom. Guess that wasn't a problem anymore.

"I guess the church has been busy." I mutter as I help Julia and Elliot wash the dishes.

They both laugh. "That's true."

They finish the dishes and I sneak out of the house. They hadn't told me anything about the person I wanted to know about the most. I was going to fix that.

First I go to Chen's shop. I needed to buy something from there before I saw Chelsea.

"Vaughn?" Chen's surprised voice greets me when I walk into the shop. I raise a finger to my lips and he stops talking.

"Hello Chen." I greet him. "His Charlie here?"

"No, he's out with Eliza." He answers as he stares at me; trying to believe what he was seeing.

I nod. "Good." Then I take some cash out of my pocket and whisper into his ear what I wanted.

Chen smiles at me and no longer seemed surprised by me being there. He goes into the back and then reappears a moment later with the item I wanted. I take it from him and hide it inside my vest.

He smiles at me again and then gestures for me to go on. I smile at him and then leave the shop.

Outside, there's no one. It kind of freaks me out because usually there's usually always someone roaming aimlessly around town. But I was gratefully too; I didn't want to be stopped.

Quickly, I make my way to Chelsea's farm. It looked similar to how I had last seen it; except that there were fall crops instead of spring ones plated right now. It sends a weird sort of pleasure through my body when I notice that she didn't have any carrots planted.

With my heart practically in my throat, I head over to her house. When I reach the door, I take a deep breath in and then step inside; completely forgetting to knock.

The door is silent, and I think that's the only reason I walk in and see Chelsea fingering my knife.

I slam the door behind me and Chelsea jumps about a foot into the air. The chair that she was sitting on gets pushed back about a yard and my knife clatters to the floor.

"Vaughn?" Her voice is shaky but I close my eyes and I take deep breath in as her sweet voice flows over me like the best medicine in the world.

"What were you doing with my knife?" I ask her quietly.

"Am I dreaming?" She asks me, completely ignoring my question.

My heart is hammering faster than I knew was possible as I walk over to her. I cup her face tenderly in my hands, relishing the way her smooth skin felt. Then I lower my head, closing my eyes in the process.

"Is this real enough for you?" I whisper to her as I descend.

The instant my lips touch hers, something powerful rises up in my chest and it feels like I can't breathe. I kiss her hard, all my longing, passion, desire and love flowing in that one kiss. My hands leave her face to encircle her waist and pull her closer to me.

She responds eagerly to me, her lips folding over mine. Her hands run up my chest and shivers are sent down my back. As she tangles her fingers into my hair, my hat is knocked onto the ground but neither of us cares.

Slowly, I move my hands down her waist. If possible, she seems to kiss me harder when she realized what I was doing. A low moan scratches its way out of the back of my throat at what she did to me.

I pick her up and spin her around the room without ending our kiss. She clutches at me desperately but unlike last time where she stopped and giggled, she only deepens our kiss and wraps her legs around my waist.

"Chelsea," I whisper hoarsely against her lips.

She moans when I say her name. Softly, she whispers just as hoarsely against my lips. "Say my name again."

"Chelsea, I love you." The words bring a blush to her face that I can feel on my own skin.

"I love you too Vaughn." Her words fill me with such an inner peace, it almost scares me. But it wasn't the time for me to be scared.

Gently I break my lips off of hers. It brings a smile to my face when I see how swollen and red her lips were. Without letting go of her, I reach into my vest and pull out the blue feather that I'd bought at Chen's shop.

"Chelsea, I'm sorry that I missed the past two years of your life. But Chelsea, I love you and I'll do anything to make it up to you. Will you please marry me?"

Her eyes light up and her face breaks out into that huge smile that was my salvation. Then she speaks. "I'll marry you on two conditions."

"What?" My eyebrows crease, wondering what on earth she wanted me to do.

"First," She starts, a smile still on her lips as she reaches into her pocket. "I get to wear this."

Chelsea pulls out my mother's wedding ring. The one I'd given her right before I went into that coma. I smile as I take the ring from her and slip it onto her finger. Gently, I kiss her hand once it's on.

"What's condition number two?" I ask her softly.

She leans forwards and begins to kiss my collar bone. A violent shiver wracks my body but it's not a bad thing. She trails the kiss all along my neck and across my jaw. Her lips delicately embrace my skin, even as it feels like she's burning me with fire. I'm breathing raggedly when her lips reach my ear.

"I still want kids." She whispers to me as she lifts her lips off my skin. Then she looks at me and raises her eyebrows to see if I understood what she was implying.

A sly grin spreads across my face. I lean forward and whisper to her. "Of course, my darling fiancé."

With that, I press my lips powerfully to hers and carry her to the bedroom.