The kids all huddled around the two beds where their friends were lying.

Ezra's arm was in a sling and his head was bandaged. He would occasionally awake and mutter something about a bad taste in his mouth before falling asleep again.

Chris however was still unconscious. They were horrified when they found Chris crumpled on the ground with Ezra lying near him.

There was an unsettling smile on his face and he was bleeding from his stomach.

They rushed the two to the nearest hospital. Josiah forgetting about driving carefully and floored it. Very thankful that they had gotten gas just before finding them.

Mary called and informed Travis what was happening.

Two hours later he and Stephen arrived.

Travis wanted to be upset with everyone for running off, and from what Mary said, stole a car.

However, because of that they were able to get to a hospital in time and find the kidnapped boys.

He talked to the doctor to get a better understanding of what was happening.

"Well the younger boy, Ezra, he has a dislocated shoulder and several bruises on the head. There's a slight concussion but he'll be fine."

"What about Chris?"

"Chris had to get a bullet removed and looked like he was drugged. The drug seems to have worn off but there is still traces of ketamine."

"Ketamine?"

"You might have to watch him for the first few hours after he wakes up."

"Has he woken up yet?"

"No not yet."

The doctor excused himself and Travis entered the room.

All the chairs were drawn up to the beds. The younger ones sat on the beds with the patients who were still sleeping.

"Hey guys." he said, getting their attention.

"Sorry we ran off, but we had to-" began Vin.

Travis rose a hand, "I think now is not the time to be worrying about that.

"Do you think Chris is going to die?" asked JD warily.

Travis rose his eyebrows, "Why would you think that?"

"He hasn't woken up. Several times I thought i saw him not breathing."

"And he lost quite a bit of blood." added Nathan.

"He'll make it. He's a strong kid." he tried to reassure them."

"But he looks like he was almost happy to die when we found him. Like he welcomed it." Buck said in a low voice. A tear escaping.

The tears became infectious and soon Travis had a room full of crying kids.

He prayed a silent that Chris would finally wake up.

Chris looked around. All around him was an open field. A light breeze blowing, making him smile. All the stress leaving him.

"Chris?"

Chris turned around and saw Sarah. He grinned and ran to her. Scooping her up, he spun her around.

When he finally set her down she began again.

"What are you doing here?"

Chris frowned, "Yeah I guess I don't really belong in heaven."

"No, that's not what I meant. It's not your time."

"But I died. You probably saw me get shot."

"But your friends still need you."

Chris wrapped his arms around the girl he loved so much.

"But I need you. I have so much I want to apologize for."

Sarah silenced him with a finger on his lips.

"You need to go back, Chris."

"But I want to stay here with you and our son. Can I see him?"

Sarah smiled, "Of course."

She took him by the hand and began to lead him in some direction.

CHRIS!

Chris held his head in his hand and grimaced. It was like a painful headache.

Sarah turned to look at him, "They're calling for you."

"No, just a bit more. I need to see him, I need to see Adam. I need to tell him something, I need to tell him that I'm sorry."

Chris began to get desperate.

He saw a little boy bent over looking at a butterfly. He could only see the back of his head.

"Adam." Chris whispered.

CHRIS!

Chris grabbed his head and screamed, "No, please!"

He felt a small hand on his shoulder and he looked up, tears in his eyes.

"He knows, Chris."

Another wave of pain hit Chris and his eyes opened and he groaned, "No."

"Chris!" came Vin's voice.

Chris was back. A tear rolled down his cheek as the image of Sarah and Adam began to fade.

We will be waiting for you, but until then watch over your family here.

Chris felt the corners of his mouth form a weary smile.

"Are you ok, Chris? Do you need me to call the doctor?" asked Travis.

"I think I'm fine for now."

He heard a little boy's giggle and he knew it was Adam.

Chris closed his eyes, hoping that he would see them again.

"Let's give Chris sometime to rest." suggested Travis as he ushered the kids out the room.

Only Mary stayed behind.

She frowned at him. She didn't understand why this boy was so important to the others.

Chris opened one eye and stared at her.

Mary held her breath.

The cold blue eyes. Eyes that held grief and looked like they hadn't seen much reason to believe in hope.

She heard he didn't trust adults.

This boy had a major story that needed to be told. She wanted to be there when he shared it. She wanted to be apart of it.

"Who are you?" he asked, startling her out of her revelry.

"Mary. I'm Stephen's girlfriend."

"Who?" he frowned.

"Mr Travis's son."

"Oh." he said simply before closing his eyes again. "Do you mind leaving, I've had enough girls watching me sleep to last me the rest of my life."

She nodded, even though he wouldn't see it, and walked out to catch up with the others.

About a week later, Chris was cleared to leave and to travel, so long as he didn't go straight there without stopping.

Chris wasn't sure about how the others pampered him. It especially became annoying when JD tried to give him something to eat.

"I'm just going to rest." he announced and closed his eyes.

The others made room for him to get comfortable before moving on to take care of Ezra who lavished in the pampering. He'd give orders and the others would get what he needed.

"But don't get use to it, Standish, as soon as the doc says you're in the clear then you're on your own." grinned Buck.

"That's why I'm taking every opportunity in enjoying myself now."

Chris sat on the porch with a blanket wrapped around him tightly.

Vin came out to sit with him on the railing.

The older boy didn't acknowledge him.

"Are you thinking about leaving again?"

Chris shrugged, "I realize now that no matter how hard I try to run away, I'll always need to rely on adults to do things for me. I can wish to be an adult, but I know that wishing to be older is only making me miss what I have in front of me."

Vin nodded.

"I'm sorry that I ran away from you all last year."

"Were you ever going to come back if you weren't in trouble, or were you going to keep running?"

"I would've kept going if Sarah was still- if Sarah was still alive."

"I'm sorry about Sarah, pard."

Chris nodded his thanks and got up from his chair.

"It wasn't your fault you know."

"Then who's fault is it? Cause if it wasn't for me doing it in the first place then she'd be a junior and we'd be in class together with Buck in England."

Vin shrugged, "I don't know why things happen, but I feel like there was a reason you were on that ship. You saved us and helped us cope with being in the jungle. You protected us from so many things that would make us owe you our lives for life."

"You guys don't owe me nothing. You all saved me, not just from that crazy girl and her friends, but you saved me from myself."

Vin's smiled fell, "We weren't able to find her. She left before we found you."

Chris let out a sigh and looked across the yard, "It doesn't matter because we won't be seeing her again."

On the far side of Nettie's property, there was a girl standing under a tree hidden in the shade.

Ella stared at the figure on the porch. She knew it was Chris. Another figure appeared and she frowned.

"Don't get too settled in love because I'm about to rock your world, and you will be begging on your knees for me in the end."

A/N: Yes it feels abrupt the way it ended but again these are according to dreams. And according to the dreams there will be one more book at least to complete the triliology. If you want to continue then the next book in the series is going to be called, "Paths Once Crossed".Thank you so much for reading. I love hearing your thoughts on my chapters.