_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
[The next day, January 1st, 2AM]
        "Happy 2003," Nick groaned, taking a sip of his coffee. Howie looked up at him. All the others were asleep.
        "Nick, stop with the coffee. It's past midnight. You don't need it."
        "Like I said...Happy 2003," Nick sighed. Howie shook his head, reached over, and took the cup from Nick. Too late--it was empty. He reminded himself that the next time Julie left to get things for everyone--a job that she had appointed herself--he'd make sure Nick would not get any more coffee. The boy needed to sleep.
        But Nick was afraid to sleep. He had fallen asleep in the car on the way home from the club...he didn't want to wake up to something horrible happening again.

[that evening]
        Ring-Ring
        The chiming of Chin's cell phone caught the attention of those in the room. Chin woke up, having fallen asleep in her usual chair, grumbling about how she should have turned the thing off.
        "Hello?" she yawned, taking herself and the phone down the hallway.
        "Sorry I missed."
        That voice. Low. Jealous.
        "But I figure, I hurt her, and that hurt you, right?"
        Chin knew that voice.
        "I won't miss next time. I'll get you. You have my word."
        Click.
        Shivers ran up and down Chin's spine. She dropped the phone; it shattered as it hit the ground. Kevin heard the noise and popped his head out of Sarah's room. Chin looked up and met his eyes.
        Rebecca.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
[January 6th, 11:30PM]
        Kevin opened his eyes and lifted his head slowly, wondering where he was. Beneath his chin, his arms lay folded on top of the sheets. He turned his head and saw her motionless body. He blinked, wishing that reality could have been a dream.
        Sarah had been moved out of the ICU and placed in a normal hospital room. The group had basically moved with her, camping out in the new waiting room; Kevin had resumed his place by her side. Both Chin and Sarah's parents had come, but work forced the two couples to return to their homes after about 3 days. Sarah's parents, who were both doctors, had convinced Chin's parents that it would be ok to leave when they had to; it was true that nothing could be done, besides, wait. It had been easier to leave knowing that Chin was fine and that Sarah was no longer under "critical" condition...they did, of course, call as much as possible, almost on a schedule, to check in on everyone.
        Kevin sat up and stretched his back; he had fallen asleep in his chair and used part of the bed to bend over on as support. He stood and began to pace--it was almost habit to do so now. What else could he do? He didn't know. He knew he didn't want to sit in the waiting area. Anything but that. It pained him to see her like this, but he couldn't stand not being able to see if something was wrong.
        He stuck his hands in his pockets and slowly walked back and forth, shifting his gaze from her face--the cuts and bruises were healing--to things in the room, to the figures he could see out the window; the others were sitting outside in the hallway, all asleep. He tried to zone out the steady beat of her heart rate on the machine; he didn't want to hear that annoying, nagging, taunting sound. He felt something in his left pocket and pulled it out.
        It was a small, crumpled piece of paper. What was it doing in his pocket? He slowly opened it, sitting back down in his chair as he smoothed out the creases.
        If roses are the symbol of love...why do they die?
        It was her handwriting. What was this?
        Then he remembered.
        She had given it to him on one of his past trips, before he had left to board the plane...it had been months ago. The paper had survived more than one wash of his jeans.
        Did that mean something?
        He smiled a bit in memory of the circumstances, even though what was written may have been a bit grim. They had had one of their stupid joking-arguments. This one in particular, if he remembered correctly, had been about contradictions...he remembered her grin as she hugged him goodbye, ordering him not to look at the paper she had given him till the plane was off the ground. She knew she had won, but didn't want him to look defeated before her. He remembered following her directions, and once "allowed," he had eagerly opened the paper. He had been blown away by the statement, and had put it back into his pocket to remind him to keep it safe somewhere later, and to think of some way to top her, even though that didn't seem possible.
        He blinked, feeling tears that he didn't want in his eyes, as he looked at her, lying there, so silent, so still. He looked around the room, studying the flowers. Some were roses. Would she have wanted them there?
        He had forgotten about that note until now. He had forgotten a lot of things...they all had. He took hold of one of her hands in both of his, enclosing the paper between their flesh.
        Was this how it was supposed to end? Everyone split up, memories not mattering anymore?... No. It was wrong. She wasn't supposed to be here. It wasn't supposed to be like this. The tears refused to be held back any longer.
        "Please wake up, Sarah..." he cried softly, giving in. "Make something right."

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 
[the next day, 9PM]
        Rebecca walked calmly down the hall. She stopped by the nurse's station to ask what room Sarah was in.
        "I'm a visitor," she informed them. She headed towards 222, slowing down as she got closer. She stopped when she saw Chin, Cathy, Kevin, Nick, and Brian asleep in the chairs. There wasn't much to do besides sleep, or read...The other half of the group--Jenny, Hannah, Julie, Howie, and AJ-- had been unable to find sleep and had taken a group trip down to the cafeteria & book store, trying to find something to occupy their time.
        Rebecca quietly walked by the sleeping bodies, heading for Sarah's room door. She slipped in, the door making a slight noise as it shut
        Chin woke up with a start, sensing something was wrong. Did she just see the door close, or had she been imagining it?
        "Kevin," she whispered. "Where is everyone?" she asked, shaking him awake. Kevin blinked and looked at his watch.
        "It's like 9PM. They're prolly getting dinner. Nothing to worry about," he yawned.
        The feeling would not leave Chin. Something was wrong. Terribly wrong.
        "Someone's in Sarah's room," Chin whispered.
        "Maybe it's the doctor." Kevin stretched. "I was kicked out earlier, remember? Maybe they're finally running the tests they said they would."
        "I'm going to go check," Chin stated, gathering up all the courage she could. Kevin shrugged.
        "Okay..."
        Chin held her breath and opened the door. She saw someone hovering over Sarah. Chin stepped inside, not sure if it was a nurse or doctor or--
        The someone turned around. It was Rebecca.
        Chin screamed.
        Rebecca made a mad dash for the door and was gone in the blink of an eye.
        The five sitting outside of the room woke up with a start. Kevin jumped up and saw a girl whiz by...That couldn't be...could it? Brian looked at Kevin and ran into Sarah's room, to find Chin crying and Sarah's machines screaming.
        The others were just returning. The girl shoved through them, books and food spilling onto the floor. A security guard that had been stationed nearby took off after the girl; everyone knew that she'd be met with police by the time she got to the ground floor. Nick, Hannah, and Jenny immediately left for the nurse's station to find help-- Nick cursed himself for having fallen asleep. Kevin's anger sparked and he ran after the girl as well. Howie and AJ each grabbed an arm and held him back. Kevin fought them.
        "Let the police take care of her," Howie insisted.
        "You have to stay here," AJ breathed, "For Sarah." Kevin stopped fighting them and turned to run to Sarah's room.

[an hour later]
        Kevin had resumed his place beside Sarah's bed, holding her hand, looking at her, as if trying to will her to wake up. Rebecca hadn't done too much damage--she had just pulled random plugs here and there--it had been fixed up in no time. But Sarah stayed in the same condition.
        AJ was sitting beside him in another chair. Brian and Nick had dragged Chin home so she could calm down--she kept sobbing "it's my fault" over and over, much to the confusion of everyone else. AJ had wanted to go along, but Frick&Frack had insisted that he be the one to stay with Kevin--reality was, the two wanted to talk to Chin about what had happened. Everyone else had gone home soon after as well.
        Kevin had refused to budge. He was afraid of anything else happening. He wouldn't even listen to the nurses. He had listened to them before and left Sarah's room...and Rebecca had slipped in. He wasn't leaving again.
       "I was so stupid," Kevin muttered, his head in his arms. AJ raised an eyebrow. Kevin hadn't spoken for some time.
        "What do you mean?"
        "I didn't listen to Chin. She knew something was wrong. Hell, if I hadn't left the room...I could have prevented this--"
        "Prevent what? That girl didn't manage to do much. She unplugged some things. Machines beeped. Big whoop. No real damage." AJ tried to get Kevin to smile. He probably didn't, but then again, the older man's face was hidden at the present time.
        Kevin lifted his head up and turned, studying AJ.
        "What are you looking at? My glasses? You want them or something? Man, after all these years, you want them now?" AJ tried to joke. It was the only thing he could do right now...but his brain switched gears. "Hey, is anyone ever gonna explain to me why Chin thinks this is all her fault?" AJ asked. "I mean, I tried to ask, but Nick, Howie, and Brian glared at me. I decided not to push it. The girls just shrugged... Do you know?"
        Kevin weakly smiled at him and returned his gaze to Sarah. AJ took that as a sign to shut up. Kevin's mind was fighting with itself.
Silence followed for a while...but was finally broken when Kevin spoke up again.
        "AJ, you need to know something," Kevin sighed. "I guess I could have told you this ages ago, but I swore I wouldn’t, and I didn't want to let a friend down."
        "What are you talking about?"
        "All the other guys know now...and...well...if we're all gonna face this...if you're gonna be there for Chin...you need to know."
        "I need to know what? Why Chin thinks this is her fault for some reason?"
        Kevin nodded. "Rebecca."
        "Rebecca? Who's Rebecca?"
        It had been difficult to tell Brian and Nick, but this was even harder. This was the reason Chin had broken up with AJ. This is what he had never been given the chance to understand. This is what she didn't want him to know.
        Kevin sighed. He had to do this.
        "Remember when the girls got kidnapped?..."

[same time, at the house, Chin's room]
        "...You're not mad?" Nick asked incredulously. Chin smiled at him and shook her head. She pulled both guys into a hug.
        "How can I be mad at you guys?"
        "But we were so horrible to you after you broke it off with AJ--" Brian began.
       "You didn't know. I would have done the same thing," Chin shrugged. She looked out the window for a moment and sighed.
        "Sarah's alright," Nick assured her.
        "I know...it's just--"
        "It's NOT your fault, okay? We've been through this already."
        "How can I not think this is my fault? If it wasn't for me, Sarah wouldn't be in the hospital in the first place!" Chin exclaimed, fed up with having guilt that no one could understand.
        "You didn't choose to have that freak stalk you or threaten you. You didn't choose who you fell in love with. It's NOT your fault." Nick took Chin by the shoulders, as if to imprint the thought into her mind.
        "What do you mean 'stalk or threaten'...!?" Jenny asked, as she and Hannah opened the door. The two had been walking down the hall on their way to the airport to pick up Lance, and had dropped by Chin's room to let the other three know they were leaving before heading downstairs to inform everyone else.
        But they had heard part of the conversation. They wanted to know.
        Chin looked at Nick and Brian, and then back at the two girls.
        "Remember Rebecca?" she almost whispered. Hannah took a deep breath and Jenny's face paled.
        "She was the leader of those girls who tried to kidnap all of us, right? The ones who pulled all those stunts..." Hannah trailed off, sitting on the bed beside Nick, who put a comforting arm around her.
        Jenny looked Chin in the eyes. Finally, it seemed to click. Everything seemed to make sense...She wasn't sure if and how Chin would answer, but she had to ask.
        "What did she do to you?"

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
[the next day, 6AM]
        "Chin, Rebecca's gone," Nick gently shook her awake. She rolled over onto her back and made a noise of annoyance for being woken up--it had been awhile since she had slept in her bed.
        "Whaaat," Chin groaned as Nick opened her curtains, letting light shine through.
        "Rebecca's gone, Chin...GONE!" He jumped happily onto her bed, making it bounce. Chin made a face and sat up.
        "What the hell are you talking about?" she yawned, rubbing her eyes.
        "The police chased her for a few hours last night...it was on the news, supposedly...anyway...she crashed her car...she's...dead." Nick's face got little solemn, feeling bad for being so happy about the death of a human being.
        Chin's eyes shot open.
        Rebecca was gone for good? No more letters? No more phone calls? No more life-threatening messages? AJ would be safe? She would be safe? No possibility of a court hearing...? Rebecca was GONE?
        A wave of relief washed over her. Tears were in Chin's eyes. Tears of happiness. She threw her arms around Nick and hugged him as hard as she could.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
[1 week later]
        For the past 4 days, Sarah had been in and out of consciousness. AJ and been the first to notice--he had been "taking Kevin's post" after shoving the older man out of the room, ordering Kevin to eat something--and while on duty, had run like a madman down the hallway shouting "Sarah's AWAKE!!!" ...But had been a false alarm. By the time everyone had bumbled into the room, she had returned to her resting state. It was reported to the doctor, and Sarah was closely monitored. Dr. Heren has assured everyone that it was a good sign, that Sarah wouldn't stay in her coma for much longer.
        "No..." Sarah murmured, shifting in her bed.
        Kevin's head shot up from its resting place on her bed.
        "Sarah? ...Sarah??" He lightly shook her arm, hoping that this time she wouldn't fall back into her deep sleep.
        "No..." she cried.
        "Sarah???" He shook her arm harder. He had to wake her up. He couldn't let her slip back into her coma...
        Sarah's eyes shot open and looked at him. She was scared to death. Her eyes darted around the room, not comprehending where she was. They were brimming with tears.
        "Brian...?" she choked. Kevin stood in shock. "Brian...?" She covered her eyes with her hands and started sobbing.
        Kevin snapped out of it and shot out of the room. Brian, AJ, and Jenny were sitting in the waiting room, eating impromptu lunches. All three looked up as the frantic Kevin appeared.
        "She's AWAKE!" he yelled. AJ looked at Kevin, as if to make sure. There had been so many false alarms already, he had trained himself not to get his hopes up..."DOES THIS LOOK LIKE A FALSE ALARM?" Kevin exclaimed. The three dropped their lunches and shot up. In a rush, trying not to sound hurt, Kevin quickly barked out instructions. "Jenny, call everybody. Cell phones. Whatever. Get them out of the house and get the wanderers back up here. AJ, help me find Dr. Heren. Brian, she's calling for you--go."
        "W-what?" Brian was bewildered. Jenny ran for the phones.
        "Just GO!" Kevin shoved his cousin in the direction of the hospital room as he dragged AJ with him to find the doctor.

[10 minutes later]
        "Shhh...it's okay...it's okay," Kevin heard Brian's voice as he stood outside the room.
        The doctor had just left the room saying that she would be right back in a second, but not before informing Kevin that Sarah had indeed recovered complete consciousness--as if Kevin didn't know that--that she was well on the road to recovery. AJ had left with one of the cars to help bring anyone that was at the house back to the hospital to see Sarah. Howie, Cathy, and Julie were on their way up from the 1st floor bookstore. Jenny was still on the phone.
        The door to Sarah's room was slightly ajar. So as to not disturb anything, Kevin looked through the small parting. On the bed were the figures of Brian and Sarah. Brian had her wrapped in his arms was trying to soothe her, rocking back and forth, rubbing her back.         She had calmed down a bit, and the tears were almost gone.
        "I called every--"
        "Shhh," Kevin cut Jenny off as she came up behind him.
        "What's going on?" Jenny asked, looking at the scene before them.
        "Like I said before, she was calling for him, so he's in there," Kevin replied quietly, still watching Brian and Sarah. Jenny could detect the hurt in his voice.
        "Do you have any clue why?" she asked carefully.
        "Only one. Dr. Heren mentioned it in a flash, before she left, so I guess we'll find out when she returns."
        "What is it?" Jenny asked as Dr. Heren walked up.
        "There's a possibility of something resulting from her coma," the doctor began to explain as she opened the door for the three to walk into the room. Brian and Sarah looked up.
        "Sarah, are you feeling any better?" Kevin asked. Sarah looked at the three new visitors quizzically, especially the tall man that had just addressed her.
        "Who are you?" she asked. Jenny looked at Kevin. He tried to hide it, but he his heart felt like it had just been hit by a truck. The doctor shook her head and sighed.
        "Amnesia."

[20 minutes later]
        “Well?” Kevin asked impatiently as Brian re-entered the waiting area. Sarah had only wanted him to stay with her until she fell asleep. The doctor had been called away and returned just as Brian was leaving Sarah's room. Dr. Heren was paged again, but explained to Brian what was happening so he could tell everyone else.
        Brian looked at the ten faces that were staring at him expectantly. He took a deep breath.
        "The doctor first mentioned that Sarah could have any kind of amnesia...and...judging by the symptoms I described after talking with Sarah, the doctor says she has selective amnesia. She remembers the majority of us...But her mind is stuck in the past; she thinks everyone is still together and happy...She's also mixed up a bit. Hannah, Lance--she doesn’t remember you two.  She thinks that I’m her best friend. She thinks that Nick, Cathy, and AJ follow as good friends. Basically, aside from her 'good' friends, thinks she knows everyone else through dating one of us; Howie through Cathy, Chin through AJ, Julie through Nick,” Brian paused, “...and Jenny through me.” Silence fell over the room. Everyone was trying to digest what was going on.
        “What about me?” Kevin broke the silence.
        “She thinks that you are just known through us. Being a group. Not because you guys are friends...” Brian said softly.
        “What are we going to do? We can’t just tell her that we aren’t together and confuse her more than she probably is,” Julie mumbled.
        “What about us?” Hannah asked. “She doesn’t even...” Hannah trailed off and pulled her legs to her chest. Lance sighed and pulled her into his embrace.
        “What are we going to do?” Julie repeated.
        “What can we do?” Jenny asked.
        “We can pretend for her...” Chin said quietly from the door.
        “What?” Nick jumped to his feet.
        “If this is going to help Sarah, we are going to do this," Chin said, stepping forward, no longer leaning on the door. "NO questions asked. If she needs us to fake happiness, you better believe we will... So from now on, it's like it used to be. None of us has broken up. No one has cried over another person. No broken any hearts. No hate. No grudges...Got it?” Chin demanded.
        “Yeah... sure.”
        “For Sarah...”
        “Yeah...for Sarah."
        “Okay...”
        “Alright...”
        Everyone in the room nodded in agreement.
        “And most importantly, NO fighting,” Cathy added.
        “Definitely.”
        “No other way.”
        “Of course.”
        “You got my word.”

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
[2 days later]
        "Sarah?"
        "Yes?" Sarah looked up, seeing Kevin enter her room.
        "How are you feeling?" he asked as he sat beside her on her bed.
        She had been sitting there alone for the past hour, having retreated to her room as soon as she stepped into the house. Nobody wanted to bother her yet, but Kevin had lost patience waiting for her to emerge on her own and was determined to at least talk to her. He had walked into her room, finding her with an old journal open at its beginning, a pile of about 3 more sitting beside her, as if trying to understand what her life had been like.
        "I'm not sure," she finally replied after a few moments. She looked around her room blankly, as if trying to latch on to something she could recognize. "This cast is annoying," she sighed, looking at her left arm. "Who uses the other bed?" she asked simply, pointing to the unused mattress on the other side of the room.
        "Jenny used to. But she lives on the East Coast now, so you don't have a roommate at the moment," Kevin replied, wondering what her reaction would be.
        "I had a roommate?...Jenny?...Oh, yeah, she's Brian's girlfriend, right?...I'm so mixed up," Sarah sighed as she tried in vain fix the jumbled puzzle pieces in her mind.
        "Well..." Kevin hesitated, but remembered the agreement.
        Sarah got up abruptly and walked over to her boom-box. On her way, she passed a mirror that hung in the middle of the room. Kevin heard her sigh as she stopped to look at herself. She had supposedly been very swollen originally, but she was still deformed. Her right hand traced over the cuts and bruises on her face that had seemed to be there for an eternity. They must have been deep to have been around for so long. If only those would just go away... She sighed again and continued on her route. She picked up a pile of CD's and fiddled through them.
        "If only I could remember half of these artists," she mumbled, staring blankly at the album covers. "Oh, here's the one you guys are in," she smiled as she held up the cover of BSB's 1st European CD for Kevin to see. He smiled and nodded. She seemed to so proud of herself that she could actually identify something.
        "Yeah. That's when we started out."
        "Was that before or after you guys met Jenny, Julie, and Chin?" she asked, still flipping through more CD's, pausing to study of covers that seemed to look somewhat familiar.
        "Yeah," Kevin struggled to reply. He studied her as she sat down on the floor with the CD's, spreading them out around her, separating them into piles of ones she knew and the ones she didn’t remember, as if either trying to kill time or to assure herself that she hadn't forgotten everything.
Kevin's mind was racing. How long would it take? Granted, it had only been a few hours since they had left the hospital, but would everyone be able to hold up? Would it have been better if she had complete amnesia instead of selective?
        "Can you get Brian?" Sarah asked, not looking up from the CD's.
        "Sure," Kevin said and left the room to find his cousin. He had decided not to protest. He was still hurt by the fact that she felt for some reason that Brian was her best friend, but it wasn't her fault, and he couldn't hold it against either of them.