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

"WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?"

I watched as Jack winced from the lady's harsh words. His head had to still be killing him. I put a hand protectively on his arm.

"Kindly lower your voice, Miss," a passing nurse said, her face reading disapproval. "We are in a hospital, if you might not remember. Please be considerate of the other patients." She glared at Mrs.Brown again and shook her head sadly at Jack and me, and continued on her way.

Her face flushed, the dragon lady lowered her tone but repeated the same question with a vicious tone. "I repeat, what is the meaning of this?"

Jack started to shake. This was too much for him right now. I grabbed her arm and pulled her out of the room. She started to shake, and tried to pry my hand off her arm, but I didn't stop until I'd pulled her into the (thankfully) empty waiting room. I motioned to a chair and told her to sit.

"Sit down. Calm down. We're in a hospital and they will kick you out if you start screaming and making threats. Now listen, and listen here. I know you're doing your job. I know you need to question us and I know it's important. But Jack is sick. He's just coming out of a drug induced coma and he's in no condition to answer questions. Quite frankly, he's a mess, and I'm not any better right now. But I'll do my best. Ask away, and I'll answer."

"What exactly is going on?" she asked. "I got an anonymous call saying that Mr.Barakat was in the hospital after falling unconcious do to drugs. This is unacceptable! This is exactly why I don't think -"

"Jack was drugged, deliberately, by someone else! If I hadn't gone outside when I did, he'd have been raped or even k-killed." My voice broke and tears streamed down my face. But the dragon lady's fierce gaze didn't even waver.

"It's settled, Mr.Gaskarth. You don't lead a suitable life to have children. You won't be getting guardianship of Gabrielle, and you won't be keeping Samantha if I have anything to do with it."

I stared at her in horror. "Because a crazy person tried to hurt my boyfriend? This happens in the real world all the time! Parents who's children get kidnapped, do they lose their kids when they're found? No. Because it's not their fault! If someone's husband or wife gets murdered, does the surviving parent lose her child because the child might be a murderer's next target? Maybe for a little while, to protect the child. And even then, if the murderer is never caught, is the child really safe? THEY CAUGHT WHO DID THIS. Nothing else can happen."

She shook her head, frowning at me. "I'm sorry, Mr.Gaskarth. It's settled. Think about it. Who knows what kind of weirdos you will end up touring with next? Or what a crazed fan could do? No, Mr.Gaskarth, I can't risk this. I'm sorry."

She got to her feet and headed to the door.

"But the girls are happy with us!" I cried. "Doesn't their happiness count at all? Can't you talk to them first? They love us. We love them!"

She was at the door before she turned and looked at me. "Happiness isn't enough, Alexander. It's never enough. Whenever you think you're happy, something is going to come along and fuck it up. Like it just did for you. I don't want to be a bitch, but that's just how life works. I'd rather see the girls miserable and safe than have them happy and dead or in jail before they turn 18."

I sank to my knees, tears running down my cheeks. I was so blinded by tears that I didn't notice Flyzik and the girls walking into the room.

I felt two pairs of little hands on my legs and I looked up, my eyes red, and pulled my girls into my arms. To think that this could be the last time that I'd ever hug them ...

"Are you okay?" Sammie asked. "I know that Daddy is hurt, but you look hurt too."

I shook my head, barely able to talk. "I'm okay, baby. I'm just tired. You know how you and Gabby get tired when you need naps? I need a nap right now."

"Oh." She smiled at me. "You can take a nap. Uncle Matt will take care of us. We'll be quiet."

My heart hurt and the tears welled up again. "Actually, baby, I need you to be a big girl and take Gabby into the hallway and watch her. I need to talk to Uncle Matt for a few minutes."

She nodded somberly. "And then we can see Daddy?"

I nodded, my throat too thick with emotion for words to come out.

The second the girls were in the hallway, I threw myself into Matt's arms, the tears rolling down my cheeks. He didn't hesitate to wrap his arms around me and maneuver us into a chair. He held me until I was all cried out, and then he wiped away my tears and waited for me to speak.

"I'm going to l-lose them," I hiccuped. "Sh-she's going to take away my b-babies."

Matt's eyes narrowed. "Over my dead body! Nobody deserves those girls more than you and Jack! We're all proof to how much they've overcame in the last few months, especially Sammie. And it's all thanks to you and Jack! She's a first class life ruining bitch, that's all she is! She's not going to win this!"

I just shook my head. I didn't see what we were going to do about this. In my opinion, it was over. That was that. And I wasn't a quitter, either. For me to admit defeat ... it just wasn't a good sign.

"Did she say when she was going to take the g-girls away?" Matt said, his voice shaking too. We all loved these girls so much, it was going to kill everyone, not just me and Jack. "Maybe we can take them and hide them!"

I chuckled slightly at his words. "And get charged for kidnapping? No thanks." I sighed. "This is all my fault. I didn't want to tour with Forever The Sickest Kids to begin with. I should have put my foot down."

Matt shook his head. "I was the one who brought it up. It's my fault."

"There's no point in playing the blame game," I said. "It's over and done with."

"How's Jack? Is Danny still with him?" Matt asked, changing the subject.

"Yeah. He's in a lot of pain but I think he's doing okay. He's emotionally unsettled and doesn't understand why this happened, but then again, neither do I. Kyle ... to think I considered him a friend. But all the signs were there. It's too bad we didn't catch on fast enough."

"I just can't believe he tried to steal the girls," Matt said. "The bastard. I have no pity for him."

"I kind of do, I guess. After seeing what Lisa went through with that guy last year, I feel like I understand this better. It's obsessive love. It's a sickness. It's no excuse, but ... I just can't blame him for everything. And I feel really bad for the rest of his band. They're probably all blaming themselves."

Matt nodded. "Jonathan's taking it the hardest. They wanted to come with me, but I figured it'd be better to wait ... we didn't know how you'd react. I know you're a fair person, but it's easy to be hotheaded in a situation like this."

I climbed off Matt's lap and stretched. "I guess we should take the girls to see Jack now," I said sadly. "Oh, Matty ... how do I tell Jack that it might be the last time he's seeing them?"

Matt shook his head. "Don't, Alex. I told you. We're going to get through this. No one is taking the girls away from you. No one."

As I hugged my best friend again, neither of us noticed the two little shapes right outside the door. One of them was small and ignorant, but the other had a look of horror on her face, and her eyes were filled with tears.

She'd managed to regain her composure by the time the twosome stepped out of the door, and no one noticed a thing. When she was quiet during the visit, everyone assumed she was hurting. But it was more than that. Much more.