The Greatest Secret

Disclaimer: Nope, don't own iCarly

A/N:

Chapter 169 (Flatline of the Heart)

"So who's going to be your maid of honor, Mom?" Carly asked as she and Marissa walked through the store. Freddie and Robert were walking through another part of the store. While the men bonded over cars, the women bought their presents. The house was already set up for Christmas and it already had several wrapped presents under the tree. Marissa was pushing the cart while Carly walked backwards in front of it. "Well? Who's going to be the maid of honor? Is it Sam? Sasha?"

"I'm not completely sure, I was thinking of having all of you as my bridesmaids." Before Sarah died, she always said whenever she got married again, that she would be her Matron of Honor, but that obviously didn't happen. "I think Sasha could be the matron of honor, so when she and the bridesmaids walk out with the best man and groomsmen, the couples will fit. I know Robert's wants Spencer to be his best man."

Carly bounced back and turned around, nodding her head with approval. "That sounds good to me. Are these our last batch of presents? I mean, it's only the 21st, so we have a few more days, if necessary?"

"Yes, but I think the next few days are going to be pretty busy, aren't they?" Carly looked over and hummed briskly. Her mom was right, tomorrow was the last day to practice before their big performance at the Groovy Smoothie. Hopefully Nevel wouldn't be too pissed about having lost his spot, but people did seem to be more interested in the Imperial Fireballs, so it was better for business. "So, will you guys be performing for tips?"

"Yeah, it'll help with the band's income and stuff. So, we're doing tips as well as T-Bo is paying us 150 to perform. That's for the total number of days we're performing. We're a primarily rock group, so the Christmas songs will have some rock theme with an innocent tone as well." It was a good plan, Freddie and Jonah thought of it. "Gibby says his Uncle's going to try and book us for a Battle of the Bands. He hasn't said where it is yet, but whatever it is, I hope we'll be able to go. It'll be awesome!"

"You guys have been practicing together all week, so you're getting used to each others' notes. That's a positive. You guys keep doing what you're doing and you'll become great." Carly grinned and thanked her.

"Are we going to the hospital later? I think you said the doctors said Zamira was waking up?"

"Yeah, we'll visit her."

"Didn't you say her daughter, Amy, was completely distraught over the news?" Marissa nodded and closed her eyes. She'd gone to the prison to tell Amy the news in person, it was perhaps the most difficult thing she ever had to do. Amy broke down and sobbed, cursing like mad, and saying she should have been there.

"It was horrible, her reaction. She was completely devastated. Her brother, George, handled the news a little better. He's allowed to be on parole, so he's going to care for his niece."

"Kelly? My god, I felt really bad for her…"

"Yeah, it's going to take her some time. I've instructed the parole officer and courts to move George and Kelly to another state. They should actually be out of the state by now, so whoever was targeting Zamira's family won't get to him."

"Amy? How is she?" Marissa's face fell and Carly gasped softly. She swallowed hard and shook her head. "No, not going to think about this on Christmas." Marissa walked over to Carly and hugged her close. It appeared that Amy had hung herself in her prison cell, but that was being investigated. The fact of the matter was, the pipe she'd hung the rope on was too high and she'd not had anything around her that she could have stood upon. Not only that, but there was speculation to how she got the rope in the first place, most inmates hung themselves with bed sheets. "It isn't fair…who would do something like this? Cause that much pain?"

Marissa didn't have an answer, but who really couldanswer something like that? The two slowly continued their shopping, moving onto other topics of discussion. Neither were going to let all the hell going on get to them, they were going to enjoy Christmas as much as they could.

An hour later, they were at the hospital, visiting Zamira. Freddie had decided to step out and go to the restroom. The hospital had a long public restroom with several blue stalls. He sat in the corner stall, which had the door right next to the toilet.

While he was on the toilet, he head the bathroom door open and took notice of it. He wasn't too sure why he even thought to care, but there was a feeling inside of him that made him feel weary. A chill ran down his spine as he listened to heavy footsteps walking across the tiled floor. His eyes fell to the door and spotted a shadow leading to two black shoes and black pants. They were right outside the stall. His heart started beating erratically the longer they remained in place. "Hello? Do you need something?"

"Freddie Benson?" His eyebrow rose and he slowly reached for the toilet paper. He didn't recognize the deep voiced man, so he had absolutely no clue how he would even know his name.

"Yes…"

In Zamira's room, she was supposed to have a roommate, but didn't. Marissa, Robert and Carly were still with her, nobody was saying much. Her hands were holding the blanket tightly and her body was shaking. Her dull eyes stared down at the white sheet as she swallowed hard. "This is…the third attempt on my life in my entire eighty years of life…" Marissa's eyebrows rose and Carly's expression quickly changed to worry.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean quite simply, someone has been trying to kill us at least since I can remember. My family…I…Why them?" An eighty year old woman shouldn't have to go through such pain. She didn't want to outlive all of her children, it wasn't right, it wasn't fair. "You say George and Kelly are safe?"

Marissa nodded and pulled the bed sheet up to Zamira's neck. "Yes, Aunt Zamira. They've been relocated to another state." She stood straight and closed her hands. "I promise you, we'll find the person who did this. They won't get away with it."

"Good. As long as my son and granddaughter are safe…"

"They are." She watched Carly step out of the room for a minute and breathed in. As she was about to say something else, Carly came rushing back in.

"Mom! Dad! Freddie's on a stretcher!"

"What?" Marissa turned suddenly as doctors and nurses came barging in, pulling Freddie into the room. Her eyes widened and Carly put her hands to her mouth. Zamira looked over and a heavy feeling dulled her heart. Freddie's head was covered with blood and the heart monitor sounded erratic. "No! Not my son!" She started to run over and Robert held her back, knowing that she shouldn't get in the doctor's way. "Freddie! Freddie!"

"Freddie!" Carly whined as the doctor turned to them and ordered them out of the room. "What happened to him? Someone tell me!" Once more, the doctors ordered them out. Carly left without answer to her question.

Zamira watched with growing sadness as her hands started to close up. Was he alive? Was he dead? Could it be by the same target who tried to take her family out? She uttered a raspy breath and whispered. "Marissa doesn't deserve this…she's gone through so much loss in her life…she doesn't need this." She lowered her head and groaned as she moved a weak hand to her chest. Her eyes closed and another moan left her lips.

"Nurse, we need to clean this blood! Stat!"

"Doctor, he's bleeding from the leg!"

"What?"

"I think he may have a fracture, we need an X-Ray." The heart monitor was in the process of flatline, the doctors didn't have long.

Zamira tuned out the noise and lifted her eyes skyward, closing her hand upon her chest. "God," she whispered with a subtle tone. "I know…my family is the religious type and well, I'm not as religious as I'd like to be…but please, hear me out if you're up there. I am an eighty year old woman, I've survived my fair share of life. My niece has been through so much and her son's life is practically just starting. Please. Please don't take him. My family, they're all with you now…take me too, please."

"Doctor, he's fibrillating!"

"Nurse, grab the shocks!"

"On it!"

Zamira moaned as her chest rose and fell. "Don't take him. I beg you. Don't take him…I will gladly take his place. Please remove your hold on him…take me. I don't want to outlive anymore of my relatives."

"Stand back! Clear!" Her eyes slowly closed as she heard the sound of the defibrillators shocking the body.

Outside, Carly was in a panic as Robert held Marissa in his arms. Carly's eyes were wet with tears and worry, she hated the thought of losing her brother. "He can't die! He can't! Sam needs him, the band needs him! Most of all, Sam needs him! He can't die, he just can't!" She beat her fists on a wall and sank to her knees, crying hard as her parents watched her with tearful eyes. "I feel like I just got to know him! It isn't fair! It isn't fair!" Her throat was dry and sore from her cries, her chest was aching, and her tears were beginning to burn.

They hadn't called anyone, they were in too much shock and confusion about what happened. Nobody was telling them anything. The hallway felt colder than a large ice box. The chill of death seemed to surround them and overtake them. colder than a large ice box. The chill of death seemed to surround them and overtake them. An ominous feeling crept over their hearts as everything became still. As a nurse walked past them, Marissa reached out and grabbed her arm, gazing firmly in her eyes and pleading for whatever was happening to not be true. "Miss…my son, can you tell me…what happened?"

The woman looked to the room and her lips turned down. Marissa felt her heart tearing in two as the nurse looked back to her. "An orderly heard a racket in the bathroom and ran in to see what happened. Nobody was there except for your son…the stall had been busted down and he was lying there…beaten. The doctors in there are trying everything they can."

"Someone…tried to kill my son?" Her eyes widened and her blood ran cold, she clenched her teeth and her throat locked tight. Her arm lowered and her heart started to sink. Carly flipped over and sat on the ground, staring with wide and blank eyes at the wall in front of her. Robert was frozen and quiet, his body was quivering, as if ready to fall apart. He wanted to punch the nearest thing he saw. "How can someone…who would want…to hurt my son?"

Her immediate thought was that it was someone trying to get to her. All her work in the police force could easily create such animosity. Still, she was in such a state of disbelief that she wanted to deny it. Her son would be fine, they would go and celebrate Christmas as a family. He would go and perform at the Groovy Smoothie, then he'd be here when Sam got back from her family.

The door opened and the head doctor stepped outside. Carly quickly stood as the Doctor moved his eyes to Marissa's. They were preparing for the worst. "Ms. Benson, we've done everything we could, and…it's strange, but-"

"No!" Carly exclaimed, interrupting the doctor and catching everyone off guard. They could hear the sound of a flatline, it disheartened them and sank them like a torpedo. She ran past the doctor and hurried inside the room, freezing up when she saw Freddie. Her eyes widened and her hands began to shake. "Mom. Dad. Come in here…" Robert and Marissa hurried inside and paused, tears were fresh in their eyes.

Freddie was sitting upright in his bed, no wounds or blood on him whatsoever, he was looking at them with a smile on his face. The doctor walked in and cleared his throats. "As I was saying…we started working on him and the strangest thing happened. We thought he had crushed ribs and a skull fracture, but as you can see here…" He walked to the X-Ray screen and pointed to a normal looking skeleton. "Nothing, he's completely clean."

Carly whimpered and her heart tightened in her chest. "I was so scared…" With a quick foot, she ran to Freddie and hugged him tight, crying hard. Marissa put her hand to her chest and Robert breathed in softly. She put her hands to Freddie's face and looked in his eyes, then continued inspecting him.

"Uh, Carly, I'm okay…" He breathed in as Carly turned her head to the heart monitor. It wasn't a flatline, it was a normal and steady heartbeat. They had to wonder where the flatline sound was coming from. As Carly inspected his eyes again, it hit her. The others slowly looked over to the curtain around Zamira's stretcher and quickly rushed over.

"Aunt Zamira…" Marissa's voice was soft and saddened as she stared down at her Aunt. Zamira's body was pale, her lips were parted, eyes closed, and hand flat against her heart. The doctor walked up behind her and scratched the back of his head. Marissa put her hand to Zamira's arm and slowly lifted her other hand to her eyes. Robert wrapped his arm around her and pressed his lips tight together. Carly held her breath and looked up to the doctor for a statement.

"We couldn't find a cause for her passing. Nothing other than old age, no complications or anything, simply old age…" Marissa slowly nodded her head and closed her eyes. A tear stroked her cheek and her breathing steadied. "When her EKG flatlined, that's when Freddie was found in good condition. It's as though nothing happened." An unexplainable, but precious, miracle indeed, somehow Freddie was lucky to be alive.

Almost two hours later, after considerable inspection, Freddie was allowed to leave the hospital. On the way home, Robert was driving, as Marissa was still incredibly shaken up by what happened. Carly was in the seat behind Robert while Freddie remained in the seat behind Marissa. Marissa rested her head on the headrest and sighed in exasperation.

"Freddie? Did you happen to catch what the person looked like?"

"No…" He frowned and looked to the side, ashamed that he couldn't help them out. "I could hardly react to the door being slammed down."

"Okay…just…I'm glad you're okay. I love you, you know."

"I know Mom, I love you too." He contemplated telling Sam, it wasn't something he wanted to scare her with. He wanted her to enjoy her Christmas at all costs. Of course, she did need to know of Zamira's passing. Marissa was going to contact her father with the news once she was relaxed enough. She had to know who did it, she really hoped it wasn't Tyrone. Yet, by that same concept, if it were him, at least she'd know and could arrest him. Most likely, it was someone else. "Let's just all get some rest. Carly, the band's practicing tomorrow like usual, okay?"

"Okay Freddie…" She was looking at him with tears of joy in her eyes and a soft smile on her face. She wasn't sure whether this was a happy occasion or a sad one. Zamira's death was normal, old age happens to everyone, but it was still depressing. She reached over and hugged Freddie. At least she didn't lose him.

It was a miracle indeed, Freddie survived. Zamira, you will always be loved and remembered.