Woo! Updated on time! :D This one is a bit longer for you guys... but warning: another cliffhanger! Soz!

Anyways.. ENJOY :D

It was Saturday that day. Friday was only six days. Friday was my limit. My limit until my mum's life support would be turned off.

By Valentine.

My stepfather sent me away, and when I refused the doctors had to practically drag me out of the hospital and sit me on a bus. Doctor Wells, the man that I had to hear the initial news from, was one of these doctors. "Please," I begged to him, "Don't let him do it!"

The doctor looked at me gloomily, "I'm sorry, son. He has all the paperwork. There's nothing we can do."

"I'm her son!" I spat angrily, "Surely I should get say over the guy who she was about to divorce for good."

Jacob Wells looked away, and I could see the war behind his eyes. "I'll try my best for you, Jace. But there's nothing to prove that their relationship was sour."

"What? She moved away! To get away from him!"

The doctor sighed, "In paperwork it says the move was for business. And then why did she not take her daughter with her?"

I blinked in shock. "Be-because…" I stumbled for words, "Because she… she wanted to… she stayed because…"

"I'm sure you'll be back," Jacob said, "I'll look into it a bit and see what I can find for you. I can see that there's something going on here. Go home, son. Go to school. Let your friends comfort you. But please do stop by again. I'll keep in contact."

It was shallow, but all my mind could bitterly muster was, Friends? What friends? I swallowed harshly as he prompted me onto a bus back to Philadelphia. The doors closed with a screech and the doctor waved goodbye as the rickety old vehicle pulled away from the hospital.

Home seemed quiet and eerie. I walked in the door and felt a shiver travel down my spine. My mum wasn't always home, and I knew that I shouldn't be feeling like something was missing, but I was. The kitchen that usually smelt faintly of some kind of pasta that mum had cooked up stank of rotten and off food. I spent an hour clearing out the fridge and scrubbing everything to try and get the rancid smell away.

It was dark outside. The sun had set while I was in the hospital and I had stayed for as long as I could. It was probably around one 'o' clock in the morning. I stretched out on the couch and focused on the silence that echoed through the hallways. I'm not sure how long I stayed like that, but I didn't fall asleep. Soon enough, the sun was peeking through the front windows and casting everything in a juxtaposing cheery glow.

I tried to fill my time, but I ended up looking at bus times and wondering how I was going to get back to Washington. The next bus wasn't until Wednesday afternoon. In a split-second decision, I booked a cheap motel from Wednesday to the following Monday at a place close to the hospital.

Monday rolled around, and I had only gotten about three hours of sleep. I tried to pack my bag, but I knew that I had forgotten quite a bit. I just didn't have the energy to try and remember what I needed.

I didn't want to go, but for some reason Jacob's words had pushed me into it. I had no obligation to the doctor, but I owed him for trying to help me. If he told me to go to school, I would, if only to make him proud. I shook my head in disbelief of myself. I barely knew the doctor.

The hallways were as busy and bustling as always, but people seemed to clear a path for me. Through my groggy thinking, I thought I registered people staring at me and moving quickly out of my way. I didn't see Seb until lunch, and even then he barely gave me a glare and moved on. Clary wouldn't meet my eyes, but I picked out her fiery red hair at the jock table.

I sat at a lonely table and stared at the tray of food in front of me. My stomach heaved at the thought of any of the food touching my tongue, and I didn't touch it. I felt like the cafeteria was more quiet than usual, but then again I felt so numb to the rest of the world that I wasn't really sure.

"You know what happened!" Someone exclaimed, loud enough to cut through even my murky haze.

I blinked once as my ears tuned into the sounds around me. Everyone's distinct muttering died out, and everyone had turned to look at the table where Seb, Clary, Alec and Seelie were sitting. Clary was out of her seat, looming over a still sitting Seb. Seelie looked in shock and Alec regarded the situation with calm curiousness. The rest of the jock gang had backed away from the table completely.

Clary continued, "You can't keep going on with this. Give him… you… everyone… a damn break! Haven't you done enough?"

Seb averted his eyes, which caused me to blink in shock. Seb was backing down? Even to Clary, that was weird. "I'll stop…" he murmured. I could basically feel his pride shatter, "For now."

Seemingly unpleased with the result, Clary stalked away with an audible huff. I should have felt happy, relieved… I should have at least felt something. But I was numb now, and they had done their damage. I couldn't be here, and that's all I knew.

So on Tuesday I didn't go back to school, no matter what Doctor Jacob said, and on Wednesday I left for the hospital.

Some of the doctors seemed to know who I was now, and no one questioned me as I made a beeline to my mum's room. I wasn't surprised to see a small figure hunched over my mum's sleeping body. Her eyes looked up at me when I took a seat on the opposite side of the bed to her, but she didn't left her head. Immediately I could tell she had been crying. Her eyes were red and puffy around the edges, and she wouldn't lift her whole face to me. I knew the expression and body language all too well.

"Cece," I whispered, "Shouldn't you be at school?"

She covered her eyes with her arm, but shook her head and mumbled, "It would be over now anyways."

I didn't say anything for a while. I took the hand that Cece hadn't claimed and close my own around my mother's. She was still warm. I sighed in relief, and felt tears brim in my eyes.

"Hey, Cece?" I said softly, "What were you about to say the other day… before Valentine arrived?"

Her head shot up and I could see her wide, blue eyes. "I didn't say anything," she barked defence.

I blinked at her, confused. "Yes, you did. I remember that you were about to say something and then he appeared."

"I didn't say anything secretly," she fumed, "I don't have anything to hide from my father."

This made me frown. "Cece…"

"Celine." Said Valentine, who once again appeared in the doorway, "What do you think you're doing?"

Even in the dim light of mum's room, I could see her cheeks turn bright red. "Nothing. I was just checking on Imogen. Jace happened to arrive while I was here."

Imogen? Not only was she calling her mother by her first name, but the tremor in her voice made me worry. Valentine walked towards us and gripped Cece's wrist. I couldn't be sure, but I thought she flinched at his touch. Anger bubbled up inside of me.

"It's ok," Valentine said coolly, "Besides, I had something that I wished to discuss with Jace anyways."

"Well," I snapped, "Stop drooling on. What is it?"

"Alone, please?" Grudgingly I followed him into the hallway, where he continued, "I'm aware that this recent news has hit you quite hard."

"What news?" I burst, "Oh, what? About you trying to kill my mother?"

"I know you're upset, but…"

"Upset doesn't even begin to cover it!"

A nurse walked past, giving us both suspicious glances. I forced by anger into a compressed bubble and took a deep breath. Seeing that I had cooled down a bit, Valentine said, "I'm offering for you to stay with me and Cece while your mother is still hospitalized."

"No." I replied bluntly.

"I lied," the older man said, his voice taking on a sharp edge, "I wasn't offering. I was ordering."

Thanks for reading guys :D See ya next week!