We'll Tell The Saddest Story Of How We Made It Through This Past Year.

I opened my eyes slowly, very very slowly because each eyelid felt like it weighed a million pounds. My head was groggy and achy and my body felt like it was made of a weird kind of rubber. I felt pretty numb and nothing made much sense.

I looked around, blinking. I was in a hospital bed. There were machines connected to me, beeping everywhere. Had I been in an accident? Had what happened? Where were Alex and the girls? I couldn't remember anything and tears of frustration welled up in my eyes. Where was everybody?

I saw a figure out of the corner of my eye. It was wearing purple and wasn't Alex.

"D-danny?" I croaked. Panic was somewhere just underneath the surface.

He was by my side in a flash. "Jack, you're awake. How are you feeling?" He placed a hand over mine and the human contact instantly calmed the panic.

"I ... what happened? Where's Alex?"

Danny's eyes clouded over. "I think Alex should be the one to tell you what happened," he said softly. "He's in the waiting room with Rian. He had to leave the room, he had a panic attack watching you hooked to these machines. I'll go get him, and at the same time I'll get a nurse."

He moved towards the door and I paniced. "Don't leave me!" The tears slipped down my face. "Danny, please."

He was back by my side in a heartbeat. "Jack, I need to go get Alex. We'll be right back, I promise you that. Can you stay calm for a minute, for me? Please?"

My best friend's deep brown eyes looked deeply into mine. There was nothing written in them but love and worry, no deceit, no malice, nothing that should worry me. I took a deep breath.

"Okay."

I watched as his shadow passed by the window of the room and I looked around, trying to figure out what time it was. Was it dark? I couldn't even tell. I clenched my hands into fists and them let them out, taking deep breaths and forcing myself to think of beautiful sunny beaches and pretty rivers and anything else water related, which always calmed me down. I felt like my chest was going to explode, and then last thing I needed was to be admitted into the ICU for cardiac problems.

But my resolve to stay calm didn't last long as Alex flew into the room. Careful not to disturb any of the wires, he wrapped his arms around me, and I sobbed into his arms for a few minutes.

He held me, his hand rubbing my back reassuringly and his lips brushing against my cheek. I finally calmed down enough and he straightened up, looking at me with tears in his eyes.

"I love you so much, Jack," he said thickly. "I don't know what I'd do if anything ever happened to you."

"I love you too, Alex. B-but ... what happened?" I needed to know.

"Move over a bit, I'm going to sit with you," he said.

He took both of my hands in his and I saw him struggle to compose himself.

"What's the last thing you remember?" he asked me.

I thought back and was surprised to find much of the last few days were a blur. "I know we went to Disneyland, but that's about it," I said, burning with shame. "But I don't know when that was. I don't even know what day we are," I said, and the tears fell again.

Tears dripped down Alex's cheeks too. "Don't cry, Jack, it's not your fault. It's h-his," Alex muttered, balling his fists.

"Who's fault?" I didn't understand what Alex was trying to tell me.

"Kyle. Kyle Burns. From Forever The Sickest Kids," he added, making sure that it was crystal clear. I nodded to show that I knew who he was talking about. "H-he, he ... he gave you date rape drugs and tried to get you to s-sleep with him." Alex dropped his head into his hands and my heart hurt watching him.

"D-did he manage to d-do a-anything?" I stuttered, not sure that I wanted to know. Images of Kyle flashed in my head. His nice smile, stupid blond hair, quick jokes. It didn't seem possible that he'd try to - bile rushed into my throat and I had to force it back down.

"He kissed you, but that's it. I got up and c-couldn't find you and I th-thought after what happened at Disney that you were probably outside, so I went outside and he was kissing you and then you just collapsed." Alex rushed through the explanation as fast as he could, just wanting to put the pain of what he'd witnessed behind him.

"What happened at Disney?" I hated to put him through this but I needed to understand.

"The girls got lost ... at least, we'd thought they were lost. Now, there are signs that Kyle had been trying to kidnap them."

Kidnap them? My babies? My head spun.

"This is all my fault," I cried. "I never should have insisted that they come on tour with us. None of this would have happened if they'd just stayed home."

Alex wrapped his arms around me again. "Jack, no. It's not your fault. Kyle's sick. It's no one's fault, not even his, as much as I hate to admit it. It's a mental disease. Freak bad luck. Who could have ever known?"

I wasn't convinced. "Do you think this will hurt our chances of getting Gabby?" I asked softly. I couldn't live with myself if we didn't get her. I loved her so much, it was unbelievable. And so did Alex. I'd known Alex would make a good father since high school.

"Nah," he said. "We're going to try and keep this a secret. We've come up with a reason that Forever The Sickest Kids had to leave the tour and obviously the cops have to keep these kind of things a secret and -"

He was interrupted by a knock on the door. Danny stood there, his face pale.

"Uh, guys..." he hesitated. "I hate to be the bearer of bad news but ... Mrs. Brown is here and demanding to see you both."

Before we even had a chance to respond, the dragon lady in question pushed past Danny and into the room, her eyes wild.