Hospitals were never something Cat Valentine liked very much. Of course they weren't something bad, people could come here and get better when they were sick. The doctors and nurses that worked here were there to help, not anything else. But that didn't stop Cat from despising hospitals. They were so white and sterile, the constant ringing of telephones and noises from machines Cat would never be able to know the names of, and worst of all, the always present thought in her head that death could linger around every corner.

Cat simply hated to be in hospitals.

Her cold hands were folded together in her lap while her teeth tightly bit down on her bottom lip as she stared at the white door in front of her. The thought of death being behind that door, just waiting for the right moment to strike, sent a shiver down her spine and made her stomach turn. It was quiet, so quiet, the only sound her ears were able to take in was the quiet murmuring of Aiden and Robbie. How they could be so calm in this situation was a mystery to Cat. She couldn't even sit still, let alone think about anything but Amelia. Her entire body buzzed with tension and if they wouldn't hear something about Lia's condition soon, Cat was sure she would go insane. It had been half an hour already since Jade disappeared into the room, and neither her, the doctor, or Amelia's parents had come out once.

Something just had to be wrong.

"I can't do this anymore." Cat shot up from her seat and caused Aiden and Robbie to stop their conversation and turn their attention on the small redhead. Her hands ran through her hair as she pushed out a deep breath. "I'm going insane! Why is no one coming out of there? Something has to be wrong!"

"They probably just… run some tests or… something like that," Robbie weakly said, trying to explain the lack of news they've been getting. He watched his girlfriend's eyes fill with tears as she shook her head. "Then why is everybody in there? If they'd just run some tests, then the doctor should be alone in there."

Aiden stood up and the look in his eyes betrayed his otherwise so calm exterior. They showed worry, fear even and now Cat knew that he had the same thoughts as her. "We shouldn't jump to conclusions, Cat. It's really not helping anyone." He tried to crack a small smile but the look in his eyes didn't vanish and only fueled Cat's fear. Nevertheless, she let Aiden grab her arm and pull her down so that she was sitting in her seat again. But not even five seconds later, she shot up again when the door to the room opened. The doctor emerged, softly closing the door behind himself. "How is she? Is she going to be okay?"

He stopped for a moment and looked at Cat with his lips parted in surprise, but then he smiled tightly and shook his head. "I'm sorry, I can't tell you anything."

"But you… you have to! Just… just tell us if she's okay," Cat's voice grew louder but the doctor seemed unfazed. "I'm sorry," was all he said as he quickly walked down the hall.

"He didn't want to tell us anything," Cat quietly said and shook her head. With her lip between her teeth and eyebrows furrowed, Tori listened intently to Cat. "I mean… it's understandable, they have their regulations but… he knew who we were. We were always there the first days after Lia had the accident. She was feeling better but when we heard her condition got worse, we were just as worried and scared as Jade or Lia's parents. I think he could have just told us. At least tell us if she's going to be okay or… not." Her voice slightly cracked at the last word and she cleared her throat before she smiled a weak smile and shook her head again.

"What… happened then?"

"After a little while her parents came out."

Cat jumped up and quickly walked over to Jacob and Diane. "How is she?"

Amelia's father ran a hand through his graying hair and sighed. "Not so good. She caught an infection and the doctor put her on some medication to lower the fever and make her feel better but… of course an infection isn't really a win in her condition."

"It's treatable though, right?" Aiden stepped up behind Cat. "They'll get it under control." His voice was filled with strong determination but his eyes betrayed him once again. A shaky breath escaped from Diane at hearing his words and he immediately knew that it wasn't as easy as he wished it to be. "With her injuries," Diane shakily started and wiped at her eyes, "It could be fatal."

Her words were like a blow to the face to Cat. She faintly registered Aiden taking in a sharp breath and Robbie slumping down in his seat again, but she stayed where she was as her eyes filled with tears. "But she… she can't… it's not right!" Tears started to escape, her heartbeat started to increase and panic arouse in her body. "She's not dying. She can't be. She and Jade are getting married!"

"Hey, Hey, Hey," Robbie was up and by his girlfriend's side in an instant, gathering her in a tight hug and kissing the top of her head. "She's not dying. We have to be positive, okay? Lia won't die."

But the feeling that gnawed away inside of her told her otherwise.

"I knew." Cat took a shaky breath and lifted her hand to wipe her tears away. "I knew that… she wasn't going to make it. I just… I had such a… a feeling inside of me that… that told me that it wouldn't be okay."

Completely powerless, Tori sat and watched Cat close her eyes. She felt horrible for making her feel so… so sad but she couldn't bring anything out, not a word, not a sound. She just sat there and listened as Cat continued.

"She was one of the… sweetest persons on earth." Cat let out a laugh and for the first time she turned to look at Tori. "Genuine, and… and funny." Tori smiled weakly as Cat took a deep breath and looked down at her hands, sniffling. "Amelia brought a light to everything. Jade… Jade was no exception." With a smile she looked back up, her teary eyes settling on Tori's. "She made her so happy." Her smile fell but her eyes stayed locked with the brunette's next to her. "Lia survived five hours. We all thought… that maybe she would get through it. But then everything just… crumbled. Fell apart."

"No! Please, no!" Jade's screams bounced off of the white hospital walls and cut through Cat's eardrums. Two nurses dragged her out of the room, held her back, the doctor rushing past them with two more nurses."Please let me go! I need to be with her, she needs me!"

Cat couldn't do anything but watch. Her mouth fell open, a gush of air escaped her lungs and fresh tears formed when she realized what had happened. "No! Please," Jade sobbed, still trashing in the strong hold of the two male nurses. Cat's teary eyes began traveling around the room.

Lia's father with his hands shielding his face, catching the tears that were sure to fall.

Her mom sinking onto a chair, letting her head fall into her hands.

Robbie's and Aiden's shocked gazes fixed on Jade as they stood rooted to the spot.

"Please don't let her die," Cat heard Jade whimper and Aiden snapped out of his reverie, striding over to his little sister and freeing her from the strong grasp of the two men. Her heavy body immediately fell into his, her breath coming out in short and loud gasps against his chest. "I want to see her," she began pushing against her brother but Aiden tightened his arms around her body, "Please let me back in. I need to make sure she's okay!"

Cat felt arms encircle her own body but she didn't look away from her best friend, she couldn't look away. Robbie's head came to rest on her own and Cat could feel him, his chest unsteadily rising and falling as he cried, his arms lightly shaking. If she didn't already know it, this would have been the moment it sunk in.

Amelia was gone.

"It was… the worst day of my life," Cat said after a while, her tears wiped away.

Tori blinked away the sheer layer of tears in her eyes and even though she really didn't know what to say, she decided to speak up. "I'm so sorry. That's… it's horrible." The only death Tori had to experience in her life was that of her grandfather. They barely saw each other and never had a really good relationship with each other and yet, his death had her crying for three days straight. She can't even imagine what Cat must have gone through, what Jade must have felt like.

Cat nodded and smiled, shrugging her shoulders. "Yes, it is. I always asked myself why. I still do. Why her? I mean, she and Jade were… so happy and… they were about to get married. It's just so unfair."

Tori nodded, lips tightly pressed together. Cat took a deep breath, shook her head and sniffled one last time before she started to gather the invitations together. To see the redhead with tears in her eyes, the sparkle that Tori had come to see in just two days completely gone was a little bit off setting and Tori wished she'd never asked. But then again, at least she knew now. "So," At Cat's voice, Tori lifted her eyes from the pink envelopes to look at her, "Do you have a special someone? A boyfriend," She paused for a moment and raised her eyebrows, "or girlfriend?"

"Um… no, I don't." Tori shrugged her shoulders and shot Cat a tightlipped smile. Cat's face seemed to brighten up at her answer and the invitations were quickly forgotten.

"Oh really? That's interesting. May I ask you a question?"

"Yeah, sure. Go ahead."

Before Cat could open her mouth though, both women turned to the doorway when they heard Robbie's voice. "Oh, hey ladies," he chirped and walked into the living room. He shot a look at Cat before putting on a smile and turning to Tori, "I'm done now. So if you want, you can retreat into your splendid bedroom."

Tori laughed and motioned to Cat. "Great, but Cat wanted to ask-"

"No, she didn't," he quickly interrupted her and earned himself a glare from his fiancée. Tori's eyebrows shot up as she looked back and forth between the couple before deciding to leave them alone. "Okay… Well… Then I'm going to bed now." She slowly stood, sending Robbie an amused smile and bidding both him and Cat goodnight.

"See ya tomorrow, Toro," Robbie called after her and heard her laugh, and when he was sure the door to his office closed, he turned to Cat, his eyes narrowed into tiny slits behind his glasses. "You little sneak! I thought we agreed you wouldn't ask her."

Cat held her hands up. "I didn't."

"But you were going to," he argued and let himself fall next to Cat. He turned his body to face her and shook his head. "You promised, Cat."

"Nooo, I didn't promise you anything." She smiled and stuck her tongue out. Robbie sighed, then held up his pinkie finger. "Then promise me now. Pinkie promise you won't ask her?"

Cat puffed out a breath and rolled her eyes, but then, she locked her finger with Robbie's. "Yeah. Pinkie promise."

A content smile crept onto Robbie's face as he nodded, and leaned back on the couch, closing his eyes. "Can't promise though that I won't try and get Jade and her to spend some time together."

Robbie groaned, slapping his hands over his face. "You're unbelievable," he mumbled into the skin of his palms, "Just don't tell me your crazy plans." He sat up, raised his eyebrows and pointed his finger to his chest. "Because I want to live and not be killed with a frying pan by Jade West."

Cat only grinned and shook her head while Robbie stood up, kissed the top of her head and told her he'd go to bed.

She'd get Jade out of the house. If it so happened to involve Tori, well, then that's even better.

…

"Hey Jade! It's Cat!"

Jade rolled her eyes at the cheery voice coming out of the telephone and cradled it between her shoulder and ear. "Yeah, I know. What's up?"

"I have a question."

Jade stayed silent, clicking away on her computer as she waited for Cat's question. The line stayed quiet however, the only sound the quiet breathing of her redheaded best friend filtering through. "Well, what is your question?"

"I was wondering if you could stop by Tori's place after work? Maybe help her a little bit? Her stuff from L.A. will be delivered today and she needs to let the moving guys in."

Jade's eyebrows crunched together. "Why me?"

"Well, Robbie will be at the office all day and I have to organize some stuff for the wedding after work. Besides, her apartment isn't that far from your building."

"Ugh! But I don't even know her that well!"

"Then get to know her," Cat argued briskly, obviously not wanting to take a 'no' for an answer, "Please Jade. She just needs to let the moving guys in and then maybe arrange her furniture. That's not so bad, is it?"

The thought of spending time with Tori, someone who she barely even knew, was a complete nightmare. She wasn't good with people, what was she supposed to say? Sure, she spent her entire Sunday with the brunette, but Robbie and Cat had been present. It was different being alone with her. "And she can't do that alone?"

"She can. But…" There was a pause in which Cat drew in a deep breath before loudly exhaling. "She's struggling with settling in. Imagine yourself in her shoes. All alone in a strange city, not really knowing anybody. A little bit of company won't hurt her." And with a pointed tone Cat added, "And neither will it hurt you."

After spinning around on her desk chair two times and heaving out a loud sigh, Jade finally agreed. "Yes, okay." She sat up straight and rolled the chair closer to her desk again, grabbing a pen. "Give me her stupid address."