'I dreamed I was missing
You were so scared
But no-one would listen
'Cause no-one else cared.
After my dreaming
I woke with this fear
What am I leaving
When I'm done here?'
Leave Out All The Rest - Linkin Park.

Chapter Twenty-One - Sensational.

One ring. Two rings. Three. An answer on the fourth.

"Hello?"

"Dad?"

Kurt's eyes widened in surprise as he heard his son's voice echo down the phone, "Cody?"

"I need you."

Now, Cody sat still and silent on London's private jet between Carey and Kurt with London and Moesby opposite them on their way to Kansas - what was now seven nights worth of sleepless, grief-ridden anticipation thumping in his heart at a million miles a minute.

Cody hadn't spoken a single word. His mood and emotions hadn't altered in the slightest. All he could do - and had done for the whole night - was stay awake, thriving on the pure adrenalin that had completely taken over his entire body the second he had discovered that he had been right all along and that Zack was alive. It was the most indescribable feeling that he had ever succumb to.

On top of that, of course, was the thought of getting to see Bailey again.

Contrary to popular belief, Zack had certainly done some nice things for his brother in the past. Some amazing things, actually. But of all those things, bringing him back to Bailey was by far the sole thing that Cody would be forever grateful for. And he was sure to tell Zack that, too.

The amount of apologies that Cody had received in the last twelve hours was totally uncanny. He knew that he was right, that was all that really counted, as well as Bailey and - so he suspected - London. He didn't need to hear it from anyone else, especially those who hadn't believed him in the first place. But for now, all that mattered was seeing Zack. Seeing him safe and, hopefully, predominantly unharmed.

As the seatbelt light flashed on and those around him quietly buckled themselves in, Cody inhaled a deep breath and gradually followed suit.

His eyelids were heavy. His stomach was nearing on completely empty. His legs were so wobbly that he thought if he stood up they would collapse from underneath him. His head was throbbing to the beat of an excruciating headache. But even through all of that, Cody didn't regret a single one of the long days or restless nights he spent worrying about Zack. Although, it was going to feel good to finally be able to sleep that night.

"Cody, wait!"

The younger twin heard Carey calling after him, but he didn't stop running. Kurt's voice soon joined in the chase, but Cody kept pounding his feet against the ground at full speed until he made it to the doors of Kansas State Hospital. He was panting with a mixture of exhaustion and tremendous anticipation thumping heavily in his chest as he barged through the double glass doors and allowed his eyes to frantically scan the hospital lobby.

"Cody? Cody Martin?" he suddenly heard a delicate voice call to him. Cody spun around as his eyes fell upon the image of a tall, blonde woman walking towards him. She had a soft face, friendly, blue eyes and looked to be in her thirties. The younger twin had instantly recognised her voice as the nurse he had spoken to over the phone the previous night.

"Nurse Clarke, right?" Cody asked as the woman made her approach. She smiled at him and offered her hand for the younger twin to shake.

"That's right. It's so nice to finally meet you."

Cody frowned, "How did you know who I was, like, how did you recognise me?"

A soft smile stretched across Michelle's face, "You look exactly like your brother."

The mere mention of Zack made Cody's heart skip a beat. He took a deep breath to try and calm himself as another questioning thought suddenly sprung to his mind, "Wait, not to be rude or anything, but what are you doing out here, anyway? Didn't you call my mum and I last night from your hospital in California?"

"I flew out here with Zack to keep an eye on him," she answered sweetly, "I wanted to make sure he was okay."

"Why, is there anything I should be worried about?" Cody spat with sudden anxiety.

"Oh, no," Michelle replied in reassurance, "Zack's fine, we're just waiting on the results from our neurologist."

Cody felt his heart slow back to its regular pace, however, his nerves were still jittering throughout his body like a constant wave of electricity was coursing painfully through his veins. Nothing was going to set his mind and body at ease until he laid eyes on Zack.

"Well, where is he? Can I see him?"

The younger twin felt his expression drop as Michelle looked hesitant, "Please," he begged her, "I have to see him."

Michelle turned away slightly as the imploring look in Cody's eyes was quickly becoming too much to bear, but soon breathed a sigh of relief as she heard who she could only assume to be Carey Martin calling Cody's name.

"Cody!" she repeated, closely being followed by Kurt. Reluctantly spinning around to face them, Cody's eyes suddenly widened in surprised delight as he was stunned to find that his parents weren't alone.

"Bailey!"

Carey and Kurt couldn't help but smile as Cody sprinted with all of his might towards the farm-girl who was yelling his name with just as much ecstasy as the two collected each other in their arms in a tight, squeezing embrace. As a few, soft tears began to gently slide down Bailey's cheeks, the two pulled back and gazed into each other's eyes, smiling, as they met in the most chaste of devoted kisses.

Eagerly licking his lips, Cody slowly detached himself from his Southern Belle and relocked his eyes with hers, "You came."

"Of course I did," Bailey answered instantly, "I mean, my parents weren't too happy about it, but nothing was going to stop me from being here for you, Cody. For you and Zack."

An elated grin crossed Cody's lips as he quickly pulled Bailey into another affectionate hug before turning back to Nurse Clarke. Michelle sighed in sadness as the overjoyed happiness in Cody's eyes was immediately replaced with the same gloomy desperation that had only moments ago been piercing through her core.

"Okay," she gave in with an unwilling groan, "I'll take you to see your brother. If you're sure."

"Of course he's sure," Carey interjected, jumping forward and placing a delicate hand on her son's shoulder. Cody froze and looked to the ground for a brief moment as a wave of hesitation cast over him in silence. After a second or two, Carey frowned in confusion as Cody shrugged away from her touch and grabbed Bailey's hand, timidly gazing up at his parents.

"Actually… I just want two minutes with him first, Mum. Dad. With Bailey."

An instant hurt dejection crossed Carey's face as Kurt stepped forward and took her by the arm, shooting Cody a questioning glance, "Do you really think that's fair, son?"

"Fair?" Cody repeated, "You mean as fair as it was for no-one to believe me about Zack in the first place?"

Almost instantly, the younger twin gritted his teeth at his own bitterness and took a breath to calm himself, "It's not like I'm saying I don't want you guys to see him at all. I just want two minutes. That's it."

Opening her mouth, Carey managed to croak out the beginning of a word before Kurt squeezed her arm to silence her and turned back to Cody.

There were a million different thoughts and arguments flying through Kurt's mind as he kept a hard gaze linked with the similar expression that Cody was shooting at him. However, there was one sole fact that was not allowing itself to be ignored by the boys' father. And that was the horrifying thought of all that Cody had been through. After all those dangerous and dismal nights without Zack, was it really too much to ask for a few moments alone with his girlfriend and his big brother? As Kurt smiled at Cody and nodded his head, he thought not.

Cody's heart rate immediately sped up as he mouthed 'thanks' to Kurt and forced himself to swallow a chunk of nerves that had taken instant occupancy in the back of his throat. He allowed an easy breath to release itself from between his lips as he felt the electricity of Bailey placing her hand in his, turning to her to quickly remind her that he loved her before the two slowly set off behind Nurse Clarke up the long, white corridor.

This was it. This was really it. Cody could already sense a fresh set of warm tears pricking the corner of his eyes at the shear anticipation of finally being reunited with his brother. After everything he and Bailey had been through, everything and everyone that they had lost, Cody could now feel his heart beating in time with the footsteps he took up the hall. A monotonous, rhythmic beat that was well in time with the beeping he heard echoing from the medical machines in the rooms surrounding him. It was a soothing, continual pulse. Until it shifted into a sudden change - a change from a continual pulse to a long, droning flatlined tone.

The younger twins' world slowed as half a dozen doctors and nurses rapidly sped past him towards one of the rooms a few metres up the corridor before, as he had grown accustomed to, Cody immediately expected the worst.

"Zack?" He murmured, dropping Bailey's hand and pushing past Michelle, "Zack!"

"Cody!" Michelle called to him, grabbing his shoulder as neared the room causing all the commotion, "Just relax."

The nurse's urging tone caused Cody to swallow calmly as he gazed through the window of the room and shuddered at the sight of the doctors trying to revive a middle-aged African-American man. He wasn't sure how many more shocks he was able to endure until he himself would require severe medical assistance, and this thought remained with him as he felt the gentle touch of Bailey's hand on his shoulder and heard Michelle brightly clear her throat.

"Relax," she continued, "and turn around."

Gazing up at Michelle with a bewildered look, Cody then slowly about-faced and glanced across to the glass window of the room opposite him. And his heart skipped a beat.

"Zack!"

His voice resonating throughout the entire hospital, Cody swiped at the instant tears that fell down his face and burst through the door to Zack's room, collapsing by his brother's bedside and simply staring in complete amazement at the peaceful, sleeping image of Zack Martin.

Zack's lips were still faintly blue. He was covered in a numerous amount of trivial cuts and bruises. His eyes had bold, dark circles underneath them. But he was pink in the cheeks, he was breathing without the help of any machinery, and he was alive. Just as Cody had always said.

"Zack.." the younger twin mumbled in absolute bliss, tracing his older brother's hairline with his forefinger. There was a desperate, gnawing urge in his stomach telling him to dive across the bed and collect him in a tight embrace, but Cody was all too scared that Zack was still too fragile from his traumatic accident to endure such raw affection.

Jumping a little bit, Cody willed his eyes away from Zack and glanced up at the sensation of Bailey's hand once again being placed on his shoulder. The younger twin smiled through his tear-stained face and locked his imploring vision with Bailey's beautiful blue eyes.

"He's okay."

Bailey nodded and choked back a gentle sob, "I knew he would be."

Still smiling from ear to ear, Cody turned back to Zack and placed the back of his hand against his brother's cheek, "He feels so cold."

"The doctors will be making sure he stays warm," Bailey assured her boyfriend, taking a seat in the chair next to his.

The icy feeling of Zack's skin caused Cody's eyes to narrow in pain as he was grudgingly sent back to the night on the ship which almost took his brother's life. The frosty wind had harshly whipped against his face and swirled the smoke from the explosion into his vision and his lungs. The memory was all too familiar, and the rotten, salty spray that had burst from the swash of the ocean and swallowed up Zack caused Cody to shiver in pure fear from the excruciating recollection. Looking at how serene and undisturbed his brother seemed now, Cody could hardly begin to even imagine how much pain Zack must have been in as he had been spiralling down into the unforgiving depths of the ocean.

Cody swallowed, "Do you think he was scared?"

Bailey blinked and nervously fiddled with the hem of her dress at the awkwardness of the question from her boyfriend, "I don't know, Cody…"

"Something?" the younger twin sharply added, "Anything?

Hesitating for a brief moment, Bailey soon shrugged her shoulders, "Wouldn't anyone be?"

Cody defiantly shook his head, "Not Zack. He's not afraid of anything."

Bailey sighed. There was no telling what effect this whole voyage was going to have on Zack - medically or emotionally. And the fact that Cody was sitting before her in total miracle mode without any single consideration that Zack may never be the same again only caused a harsh feeling of anxiety to pound aggressively in the back of Bailey's mind.

Gently moving her hand from his shoulder to his knee, Bailey took a deep breath in an attempt for Cody's own good to drum some common sense into his fantasy world, "Cody, he's not Superman."

The words from Bailey's lips instantly triggered another memory for Cody.

I get it. Zack is… well, he's like Superman to you, isn't he?

Nate.

He's your hero, he's everything.

And he was. As much as Cody was happy to have his family and his girlfriend around him, there was nothing he wouldn't give to have Nate and his understanding words and way of thinking back, either. Nate just got it.

"He is to me.."

An immediate wave of guilt sweeping over her, Bailey simply sighed sadly to herself and leant over, kissing Cody on the cheek, "I'll give you guys a moment alone."

Cody merely kept his gaze on Zack, blinking in sync with the sound of the door shutting behind Bailey. Pushing any thought of Nate to the back of his mind, he refocused all his attention on his brother.

Stifling a long, exasperated sigh, Cody abruptly grabbed Zack's hand and sensed some further warm tears explode from his eyes, "Zack.." he choked out, "I'm so sorry, bro. I love you."

The last syllable from Cody's lips erupted on the end of a sad sob as he collapsed his head down on the side of the bed and purely allowed himself to do nothing but cry for the first time in a long time with no other strings attached. He was so deeply lost in his thoughts of how desperately he wanted this entire nightmare to be over and for Zack to wake up and to be okay that he barely even noticed when there was a sudden struggle from Zack's hand to be released.

"Codester?"

Shooting his head up, wide-eyed, Cody pinched himself and pleaded with any possible god or heavens above that this not be some sort of sick dream. He begged his voice box to come to life but the image before him of Zack sitting up and staring at him, awake and alive, was way too much to complete any kind of natural human function.

"What's happening bro?" the older twin croaked out with an incredibly raspy voice.

Cody blinked through the sweat building up on his face and managed to utter but one word, "..Zack?"

"Aw man," Zack went on, rubbing his forehead with his eyes shut tightly, "bro, I had the weirdest dream."

Further disbelief clouding the brink of Cody's thoughts, the younger twin slowly shook his head, completely mystified, "What… what are you talking about, Zack?"

As Zack nonchalantly shrugged his shoulders and leaned back into the pillow of his bed, Cody simply stared at him with extreme intent, failing to even begin to comprehend how his brother hadn't yet made any single mention of the ship or the accident or anything like that. It made no conceivable sense at all.

"It was so weird," Zack simply went on, still struggling to talk "I was just, like… lost, or something. I had no idea what was going on. Everything was just… black."

Trying to hold back even more reluctant tears, Cody felt the strings of his heart tug at his insides at the eerie accuracy of Zack's nightmare.

The older twin swallowed as he nervously glanced at his younger brother, "And you were really scared. Like, terrified, I could almost… sense it, or something. But no-one was listening to you. It was the craziest thing. And now, I just feel all… creepy on the inside. If that makes any sense."

"More than you know," Cody answered in an instant. Cautiously licking his lips, Cody took a deep breath, "Zack, what do you remember?"

Zack frowned, "Remember? What are you going on about, it was just a dream."

"Zack, look around," Cody suddenly interjected, watching his brother slowly gaze around, taking in his surroundings.

"Whoa," Zack went on, his eyes wide with uncertainty, "I'm in the hospital… hospital gown, that would explain the uncomfortable breeze."

Cody squinted his eyes, blinking again and holding back the laughter at Zack's typical jokester nature, all the while still resisting the urge to squeeze the life out of his brother in a tight hug, "You still don't remember anything, do you?" he then asked extremely tentatively.

There was a slight pause as, again, Zack slowly shook his head, "Nup."

Cody immediately felt his stomach tangle itself into a nervous knot as Zack continued to stare at him blankly, still seemingly unaware of the situation or the days of heartbreak endured by all those who he loved.

Despite all the terror that those days separated from Zack had caused the younger twin, Cody had never felt as petrified as he did then and there at the prospect of having to tell Zack about all that had happened to him. Mainly because he was frightened that the memories may not come back - that something may be wrong with his brother psychologically, but also because it meant that Zack would also be reminded of the fight he and Cody had fallen into on the ship before the accident had occurred. And Cody couldn't stand to lose his brother again.

"Zack…" the younger twin started again, choking on the seeping emotion building up in the back of his throat, "Zack, you gotta' remember, okay? The ship? The accident? There was an explosion and… you fell off the edge, but I couldn't reach you, I couldn't…"

With all his overly anticipated sensations of despondent feeling eventually breaking through, Cody was reduced back to miserable tears as he looked away from his twin, ashamed at the way he had treated Zack, how he had let him fall, and how he didn't even have to guts to face him now.

Tilting his head in pure and utter confusion, Zack simply licked his lips and, not knowing what else to do, stretched his hand out towards Cody's, "Bro? Cody, what's - "

Suddenly, as the older twin's fingertips skimmed his brother's, Zack froze as he felt his heart skip a beat. Impulsively, the sensation of Cody's hand against his own shot Zack back to the horrifying memory that he unwillingly allowed himself to succumb to as he was instinctively reintroduced to the image he had of Cody dangling his hand down towards him, clawing for his twin as Zack was slowly but surely being swallowed by the fierce swash of the ocean.

The older twin's eyes widened and he gasped in severe shock. It had all returned to him. The ship. The explosion. The accident. The incredible sensation of his brother's fingertips touching his. The raw, callous sea water that had filled his lungs. The strong salt that stung his eyes. The feeling that had overwhelmed him, telling him that his life was slipping away. The sadness that had besieged him at the thought of never seeing his loved ones ever again - even Cody, who he had only been arguing with moments beforehand. That's when his thoughts came to a sudden stop.

Shooting his twin an abrupt glare, Zack raked his hand away and folded his arms across his chest, causing to Cody to frown in bewilderment, "Zack? What is it, do you remember something?"

"Oh yeah," Zack croaked sharply, "I remember everything, Cody."

The younger twin's face beamed in the highest expectancy, "Oh thank God!" he cooed, "I was terrified there was going to be something wrong with you!"

"Really?" Zack snapped, watching the frown on his brother's face increase.

"Of course I was, Zack."

"Because I just find it a bit hard to believe," Zack went on, ignoring the genuine tone of Cody's voice, "seeing as you don't want to spend every day of the rest of your life anywhere near me."

Instantly, Cody's heart sank. The only thing he ever wanted was for Zack to safe, yes, but the only other thing that he had ever told himself was that it would all the more sweeter if his brother could somehow find it in his heart to forgive him. Though unfortunately, as Cody frantically searched for any kind of desperate argument within him, the scowl that lay across Zack's face told a different story.

"Zack," he choked out, "That's not what I said - well, not exactly, anyway… but, come on, bro, you know I didn't mean it, Zack, I - "

"I don't want to hear anything you have to say!" Zack interjected as loud as his dreadfully sore throat would allow him, "Just leave, okay?"

Cody's heart stopped, "No. No, Zack, this wasn't supposed to turn out this way, bro. I never meant for any of this to happen," he argued distraughtly, "This exact moment was supposed to reflect a miracle! Everyone's here to see you, Mum, Dad - "

"Well, good, go get them or something then," Zack persisted, "Something, anything, just… leave, Cody."

Feeling the weight of the world collapse on his shoulders in dire defeat, Cody swallowed and harshly scraped at his tear stained eyes, mumbling out his brother's name once more, only to endure a sensation similar to being shot in the stomach as Zack turned away and sighed in antipathy at the recollection of his brother's vindictive words.

As he reluctantly stood up and wiped his face yet again, Cody heaved a heavy breath at the feeling of his bottom lip trembling miserably. Pushing the door to Zack's room open, Cody glanced back and gazed intently at the upset and offended expression that graced his twin's face, silently cursing himself over and over again - because even though his brother was breathing, alive and well, Cody simply couldn't shake the feeling of pure disgust and hatred in himself for being the sole course of the pain that was probably just as much as Zack would have experienced if he was dead.

..Um.. hello :) For those of you who are wondering who this random person is who has popped up wth an update in your inbox, allow me to introduce myself. I'm Reney.. I'm pretty slack with my updates, and don't have much of an excuse. Before we analyse this chapter, let me catch you guys up on what's been happening with me :) I turned eighteen and celebarted at a casino (seriously!), I graduated high school last week and am now preparing to move three hours away from home to go to Uni :D But, yes, none of which are excuses for making you guys wait for this chapter for so long.. You'll forgive me, I'm sure :)

OHMYGOSH, ZACK'S ALIVE! How does that make everyone feel? But will he forgive Cody about their argument? I happen to think he's being quite immature, but I suppose you guys will have to wait and see what happens next :) Although, I'm not saying anything about how long that update may take... :)

Pleeease review kindly :) I hope all you guys are doing well, and it feels aweeeeesome to be updating for you :) :)

Reneyyyyyyyyyyy x