Episode 25

"The Time is Now"

I don't own these characters, but it would be nice if I did.

Wait...In this story, I created some of the characters, so I will actually own them.

Anyways, I do promise to keep them true to themselves.

And as to the ones I create, who they are is up to me, so...

Operating Room Waiting Room

After seeing the look on the doctor's face coupled with the fact that he wasn't saying anything, everyone began fearing the worst. Bailey and Carey both felt their hearts lurch up into their throats and tears begin to form in their eyes. Both wanted to scream out and what was wrong with Cody, but neither one of them could find their voices. Eventually after what seemed like an eternity to everyone (but in reality only a few seconds), the doctor broke the silence and spoke again.

"Mr. Martin is a very lucky young man. He was very fortunate that he was brought in when he was.."

That caused Carey to finally find her voice, and she spoke up. "Why? What's wrong with him? Is my baby boy okay?"

The doctor paused again. "Mr. Martin was suffering from a case of acute epityphlitis."

Upon hearing that, Bailey sighed in relief that it hadn't been something more serious like cancer or something even worse. "Oh thank goodness!"

And when she heard Bailey's relief, Carey turned to her with confusion written all over her face. "Is that a good thing or a bad thing? What is epit...epit...whatever that word was?"

A smile just broke out on Bailey's face as she nodded. "Epityphlitis, and all things considered, it could have been a lot worse. Acute epityphlitis is a form of appendicitis."

Carey exhaled in relief too up on hearing that. But then she tensed up again when she remembered something. "Wait a minute! Didn't I read it somewhere that Harry Houdini died from appendicitis? If it could kill someone like him, then..."

The doctor finally smiled as he interrupted them. "If not found in time, yes, appendicitis could be deadly. If an inflamed appendix were to burst, it would release toxins into the bloodstream that could be fatal. Fortunately for Mr. Martin, his appendix hadn't burst yet. But, if I may say, it was a very close call. Another thirty minutes or so, and it probably would have. That's why he was so lucky he was brought in when he was." He paused. "Now, I understand one of you was the one who called 911?"

Bailey just halfway raised her hand. "Yeah, that was me. Cody and I were leaving our last final when he got another sharp pain in his abdomen. A few minutes later, he passed out unconscious, and that's when I called for an ambulance..." She shook her head. "Sharp pains in his side, and it was very tender to the touch. I should have put two and two together and thought of appendicitis though...what kind of future doctor will I be if I can't do that?"

"Don't beat yourself up over this. You did everything you should have done, Miss. Thanks to your quick thinking, you very well could have saved his life. Once Mr. Martin was brought into the ER, we quickly discovered what was happening and rushed him up here to the OR. From there, we were able to remove his appendix via a laparoscopic surgery, and it was a complete success with no complications. He should make a full and complete recovery."

Upon hearing that Cody was going to be alright, everyone closed their eyes to say a silent word of thanks. And once they let that fact sink in, Bailey and Carey again spoke up at the same time. "When can I see him?"

The doctor laughed. "If you ladies will give me a few minutes, I'll take you to him. Right now, he's being moved to a post op recovery room. I will warn you though that he is still unconscious due to the anesthesia we had to use to put him under. Odds are that he will probably still be out of it for another hour or so..."

Carey shook her head. "I don't care. Right now, all I want to do is to see my baby boy with my own two eyes to make sure he's alright."

The doctor shrugged. "Alright. Well, follow me back, and I'll take you all to see him."

Maya spoke up. "You guys go ahead. I'm going to go find Zack and tell him the good news."

Carey frowned and looked around. "Where is Zack? I thought he was here with us..."

"No, when everyone else was having trouble getting any information about Cody, he went off to...see if he could find something out himself."

Carey just nodded. "Please find him for us, Maya..." She paused remembering what her oldest son was like. "...hopefully before he does something stupid or gets himself arrested..."

Maya nodded too and headed off to find Zack. While she headed in one direction, everyone else followed the doctor as he lead the group back to Cody's recovery room. When they got there, everyone was relieved to see Cody lying there with his chest moving up and down as he breathed. The fact that he was alive and still with them made it easy to overlook all the machines he was hooked up to. They were even able to ignore all the beeping and other noises they were making. Bailey walked over to his side, and smiled down at him. He had the same look on his face that he did when he slept, and that made her feel even better. She just wanted to take him home and take care of him.

That's when Bailey turned to the doctor. "How long will you keep him here in the hospital?"

He paused. "Well, if all goes well and there are no further complications, I think its safe to say that we'd release him on Tuesday morning. But, he won't be out of the woods yet. Some people are back to normal in a few days while others take a few weeks. By doing a laparoscopic surgery, we should have had greatly reduced his recovery time by a significant margin, but everyone heals differently. Either way, for a little while, he will need to take it easy and rest to give his body a chance to heal and recuperate."

Bailey gave him a determined look. "You don't have to worry about that. I'll make sure Cody gets his rest even if I have to strap him down to the bed to keep him there."

Carey nodded. "And if he somehow gets past Bailey, he'll have to deal with me too..."

The doctor laughed. "He should be in good hands with you two taking care of him. Now, I know you all just got here, but I need to ask you all to step outside for a few minutes so I can examine him again real quick." He checked his watch. "Actually, visiting hours are almost over here. But, I promise I'll let you all see him again before they shoo everyone out. Hospital policy will allow one person to stay with him here in his room overnight. Who will that be?"

For the third time that evening, Bailey and Carey both again spoke at the same time. "That'll be me!" Everyone else laughed as Bailey and Carey just looked at each other.

The Hospital's Chapel

Unfortunately for Zack, he wasn't having any luck finding out anything about Cody's condition either. He had tried several ideas, but none of them had worked. However, his last attempt had gotten him into some trouble. Zack figured if he could 'borrow' one of the hospital's computers, he might be able to look up Cody's file. And he had just found Cody's record and was about to click on it when an over-sized orderly caught him red handed. Naturally, a chase ensued, and Zack was able to elude him by remembering some of his old tricks he had used during his numerous run ins with Kirby on the boat. After giving the orderly the slip, Zack decided to lay low for a little while hoping something else would come up to distract the hospital staff. He began checking doors as nonchalantly as possible looking for a room to hide out inside of. When he finally found one, he slipped inside making sure no one had seen him. Turning around, he realized he was in the hospital's chapel. Realizing he had some time to waste and he hid out, he decided to take advantage of being where he was and walked up to the front of the room. Looking up at the cross on the wall, he began to speak.

"Hey...I know I've never really tried to talk to you before, but I figure this is as good a time as any to start. You see...well, I guess you already know...my brother was brought here several hours ago because he collapsed. I'm just asking for you to take care of him for us. I know I give him a hard time and make fun of him a lot, but he's a really good guy with his whole world ahead of him. I mean...he's going to be a doctor and help people. I would figure you'd look favorably on that..."

He paused before continuing.

"More than that, there are a lot people who need him around. I can't imagine what my Mom would do if something happened to him. I think it would devastate her. And then there is Bailey. Even though, I like to give them both a hard time, I do know that those two really do love each other. And if you took Cody away from her, it might destroy her. I mean...she willingly loves and puts up with Cody and wants to spend the rest of her life with him. Hasn't that earned her some kind of big reward from you guys? Doesn't she qualify to be a saint for doing all of that?"

Zack paused again before sighing.

"Okay, you got me. Yes, there is someone else who needs him - me. I know I've probably done things before that you've frowned upon. But come on! You have to have seen that Cody is like that voice of reason to me. He's like my very own Jiminy Cricket. I need him around to keep me from doing stupid things. And look at his influence on me. I have gotten better, right?" He shook his head. "Either, way - he's my brother, and I love him."

He felt his emotions beginning to ball up in his throat, so he cleared it.

"So, I'm guessing you're probably want to know what's in it for you if you help me out here, huh? Well, I mean...I...well, just name it, and I'll do it. If it will help, I'll never pull another prank ever again and be nicer to my brother from now on. And if you still want more, I'll...I'll..." He paused. "I'll finally tell Maya the truth. No more trying to evade the issue anymore. I'll..."

Zack stopped in mid sentence when he heard someone clear their throat from behind him. Turning, he saw Maya standing there smiling at him.

"Maya!" He voice cracked. "How long have you been here?"

She kept smiling. "Long enough. I didn't mean to eavesdrop on your conversation. When you said you were going to help Cody in your own way, I have to admit that this is the last place I figured you'd go..."

Zack swallowed. "Well, it wasn't intentional. I was chased by this orderly and..."

Maya cut him off. "Well, what ever you did, it worked. Cody's going to be just fine. He was struck with a case of acute appendicitis. But, he was brought to the hospital in time, and they had an operation to remove it. He's out of surgery now, but he's still unconscious due to the anesthesia. Everyone else is with him in his recovery room right now. But the important thing to know is that he's going to make a complete recovery."

Zack closed his eyes and sighed in relief. Looking up, he smiled. "Thanks, Big Guy. I'm guessing you expect me to keep my part of the bargain, huh?" He paused. "You're not really going to hold me to that part about no more pranks and being nicer to Cody, are you?"

He shook his head and turned back to Maya. "Anyways, Maya, there is something I need to talk to you about..."

"You don't want to go see your brother right now?"

"Not yet. Besides, you just said he was still out of it. He won't know if we're there or not right now. Besides, I made a promise, and I intend to keep it."

She gave him a funny look. " Yeah...I heard you say you would finally tell me something. Is this the same thing you were going to tell me back in Boston before your Mom came over with the news about Cody?"

Zack nodded, sat down on one of the pews and patted the spot next to him. Maya paused before sitting down with trepidation. Once she did, Zack began. "You were right earlier when you said that something was bothering me. Several weeks ago, I realized something, and since then, I haven't known how to deal with it. You see...it all started that day that London signed off on me going for a MBA. That was the same night I came and saw you at the fit&rec center..."

Maya was confused. "I remember that night, but I don't remember anything out of the ordinary about it though..."

"When I walked up to the front door, I saw that Bruno guy flirting with you. And when I saw that, I began to feel angry and upset and jealous. But more than that, I began to feel scared."

"Scared of what?"

Zack took a deep breath before letting everything out. "Of losing you to another guy. Maya, when we first became friends again, I was okay with that because I didn't have to worry about getting hurt again. But when I kissed you on New Year's Eve, it was like something inside of me woke up that night. I tried to suppress it, but that night at the fit&rec center, it refused to be held back any longer..."

Maya was even more confused. "What is this 'it' exactly?"

He took her hand in his. "It is the fact that I don't want to be just your friend anymore. It is the fact that I'm still in love with you. It is the fact that I never stopped loving you in the first place..."

Maya was absolutely floored hearing him say all of that. For almost a solid minute, she just sat there with her eyes opened wide and mouth hanging open in shock. Eventually, she shook her head to try get a grasp on everything. "Are you saying what I think you're saying?"

Zack nodded. "I am. If you'll still have me, I want there to be an us again..."

She just looked at him for a second before reaching down to pinch her own arm. "Ouch!"

Zack laughed. "What did you do that for?"

"I was just making sure this wasn't another one of my dreams. I've dreamed of you saying all of that to me so many times over the past year..."

He paused hoping there wasn't a 'but' coming. "And now?"

Maya was absolutely beaming. "Its even hearing you say it in reality than it was in any of my dreams! Of course I want there to be an us again! I love you too, Zack!" She grabbed him on both sides of his face and leaned in and gave him a long, passionate kiss. When they finally pulled back from each other to get air, both just looked at each other and muttered.

"Wow..."

Hearing the other's reaction, both began laughing hard. Zack linked the fingers on his hand with hers. "I guess that gypsy was right after all. After a family tragedy, I knew everything I needed to know about us..."

"I guess so." She paused for a second. "Wait a minute. You said you knew all of this for the past several weeks. Cody getting sick just happened today. When you knew all of this, there was no family tragedy. In fact, you were going to tell me until your Mom interrupted you with the bad news about Cody..."

Zack frowned. "You're right..." He smiled and shrugged. "Maybe she just had her timing off. All things considerd, only being off by about five weeks isn't that bad. Either way, right now, it doesn't matter to me. I have much better things to do right now." He leaned in and kissed her again. "Like that..."

Maya smiled. "While I'm enjoying that, maybe we should go check on Cody? I mean...that is why we are here at the hospital after all."

Zack winced and felt a little guilty. "Oh yeah...I kind of forgot about him for a moment. You're right, we should go check on him before everyone else sends out another search party..."

"Don't worry though..." She winked at him. "I'll remember where we were so we can pick up where we left off later..."

Cody's Recovery Room

Everyone had quit laughing when they saw that neither Bailey nor Carey were backing down in their stance to be the one who got to stay overnight with Cody. Both of them just kept staring at the other waiting for them to back down, but neither made any indication that they were. The doctor had no inclination to interfere with his patient's family situation, so he stood there quietly as well. Finally, Carey spoke up and broke the silence.

"Bailey, it just makes sense for me to stay here with Cody. According to what you've told us, you haven't slept all that much in the past week. You have to be exhausted. So, I think you should head back to your dorm room and get a good night's sleep. That way, you can be here first thing in the morning all refreshed..."

Bailey shook her head. "I don't care about any of that right now. I want to stay here by Cody's side and keep watch over him. When I was sick last year, he didn't leave my side once. Well, now that the situation has been reversed, I'm not going to leave his side when he needs me."

Gertie and Tapeworm just looked at each trying to keep from laughing at the absurdity of the situation. Both of the main women in Cody's life appeared to be digging in their heels and not backing down. But, neither one of them wanted to draw any attention to themselves, so they kept quiet.

Carey continued her argument. "I'm his mother though. There is no way I'm going to leave my baby boy's side either when he needs me. I was always there to take care of him when he was sick when he was little..."

Bailey countered. "Well, I'm his...girlfriend, but everyone knows our relationship is so much more than that. One day, I'm going to be his wife. You know, in sickness and health..."

Both just continued to stare down the other until everyone heard another voice.

"What's going here? Why all the arguing?"

With everything going on, no one had noticed that Cody was awake and had his eyes open. And when they heard his voice, everyone immediately turned to look down at him.

"Cody!" Immediately, Bailey reached down and hugged him as hard as she could. Unfortunately, Cody's abdomen was was still tender from the surgery, and he gasped out in pain. "Owww..."

Bailey pulled back and gasped herself. "Oh my gosh! I am so, so sorry, Sweetie!"

He grimaced and took a deep breath. "Its alright. I've deduced that I'm in a hospital room with a sore stomach, but can someone please tell me why?"

Sitting on the edge of the bed next to him, Bailey began telling Cody what had happened from the time they left their final until the moment they saw he was awake.

Cody was a little surprised to hear everything he had been unconscious during. "I had an appendectomy?"

Carey nodded. "You sure did, Sweetheart. But they said everything went perfectly. They want to keep you here for about 48 hours, and then they want you to take it easy for a while."

Gertie spoke up. "And you should be thanking Bailey. The doctor said that thanks to her quick thinking and actions, she might have saved your life. Your appendix was ready to burst within the next hour."

Cody's eyes went wide and he looked up at Bailey. "Really? You saved my life?"

She tried to deflect it. "Well, that's just what the doctor thinks..."

He smiled at her. "I owe you the rest of my life then."

Bailey smiled back at him. "You owe me nothing. I only ask that you never ever scare me like this again. I don't know if I could handle it again..."

Cody reached for her hand and rubbed it. "We both know I can't promise you that, but you know I'll do everything in my power to make sure nothing like this ever happens again...Besides, I only had one appendix, and its now gone..."

"That's good enough for me."

Cody paused and shivered. "Alright, now that that has been explained to me, what were you two arguing about when I woke up?"

Carey and Bailey both looked away not wanting to worry Cody about their stupid disagreement. He looked back and forth between them before laughing. "Let me guess...I'm only allowed one person to stay with me tonight, right?" But his laughing caused him to wince in pain. "I gotta stop laughing. That kind of hurts too..."

Carey soothed the top of his head. "I think we both just want to be here to take care of you. We both love you so much."

"I appreciate that, but according to the doctor, I'm going to be fine, right?"

The doctor finally spoke up. "Based on everything, yes, you should."

"Then there is an easy solution to this problem..." But before he could give them the answer, the door to his room opened up, and Zack and Maya walked in together – holding hands.

Zack wiped his brow. "Whew! We finally found the right room. That last lady we walked in on was not happy..." He grinned. "Well, Baby Brother. I hope you're happy now. You have everyone here worrying about you. Don't get used to it!"

"Not my intention..." Cody smiled before he paused. "Something is definitely different about you two..." He nodded at Zack and Maya's hands locked together. "Did I miss something else while I was out of it?"

Zack paused. "Well, yeah, but that can wait for a little while. How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine other than still having a tender abdomen. But lets return to the previous subject I was talking about, shall we? By you two holding hands, does that mean...?"

Zack looked at Maya and smiled. "Yeah, it does...We're a couple again. "

And with that, everyone began congratulating them, even Carey. But Zack wanted to shift the focus back on his brother lying in the hospital bed.

"Thank you all. Now, Codester, is there anything we can do for you while were here? Like get you some real food or send in a hot nurse?"

Bailey glared at Zack, but Cody just nodded. "Actually, there is something you can do for me. Hop back into your car and go back to Boston."

Zack looked at him in surprise. "Huh?"

Cody smiled. "You two have finals starting in a couple of days. I refuse to be the reason you don't do well on them. I don't want you to be able to hold this over my head later on. So, head back to Boston and get back to studying. Besides, you have grad school you're trying to get into..." He looked over at Tapeworm and Gertie. "And that goes for the two of you as well. You both have a final on Tuesday morning. Me lying here in a hospital bed in no excuse not to study!"

Zack shrugged. "Well, if you're sure..."

"I am. Looks like I'll be back in Boston myself on Tuesday. Head home and do well on your tests..."

Carey spoke up. "Ummm...Cody...I rode down here with them..."

Cody smiled at her. "I guessed as much..." He turned back to Zack. "And take Mom home with you..."

Carey's eyes went wide. "Cody! I'm not leaving you here in the hospital while I go home! I'd do nothing but worry about you!"

"Yeah, you are going back to Boston. Mom, you have performances again tomorrow night. I won't be the reason you miss one of those either. And like you said, I just need to recover. Its not going to do you any good to sit here and watch me do nothing for a couple of days. Besides, its not like I won't be in good hands..." Cody turned to Bailey and smiled. "I mean...Bailey did save my life, so I think you can count on her to take care of me for a couple of days..."

Carey just stared at her youngest in surprise, but Bailey smiled back at Cody before speaking up. "Carey, I promise you that I will take the best care of him that I can. If there are any changes, I will call you all immediately and let you know. And I'll make sure Cody calls you first thing in the morning so that you know he's alright..."

Carey paused to consider that. "Well..."

Cody smiled. "I'll be fine, Mom. Beyond the hospital staff, I'll have a future doctor looking out for me. I know you'll worry, but I really am in good hands."

Carey sighed. "Alright, but if anything happens..."

Bailey cut her off. "You'll be the first to know."

And the timing was just about perfect as a nurse showed up saying she had to kick everybody but one person out as visiting hours were now officially over. Everyone said goodbye to Cody and Bailey before they made their exits. Finally, it was just the two of them, and Cody turned to her again.

"Thank you again."

Bailey smiled at him. "You are very welcome. Now that your Mom is gone, how are you really feeling?"

"A little sore, but that might be because I have a couple of staples in my stomach." He grinned. "I now know what one of our term papers feels like..."

She laughed before she sighed. "I'm just so happy that you're going to be alright." She sat on the edge of his bed and took his hand in hers. "I've never been more scared in my whole life that something had happened to you. When I found out that you were going to be okay, it was like this huge weight had been lifted off of me..."

"Sorry about that."

"Its okay. Its just kind of strange actually. When it was the two of us facing the prospect of freezing to death, I was never that scared. But that was because you and I were going through it together. This time though, I felt completely helpless." She got a little choked up. "I could have lost you, and there would have been nothing I could have done about it."

Cody squeezed her hand. "Hey...I'm still here." He smiled at her. "Trust me, a vestigial structure like my appendix wasn't going to take me away from you. I love you way too much for that to happen."

"I love you too."

"I guess we've had a little bit of a roller coaster ride these past couple of months, huh?"

Bailey smiled at him. "You can say that again. But if you don't mind, I think I'm ready for us to get off of it for a while."

Cody smiled back at her. "Me too. Maybe there is a tunnel of love nearby we can find?"

She laughed. "I'd like that." She yawned. "I'd like that a lot..."

"Sweetie, why don't you lay back on that couch over there and try to get some sleep. Mom was right. You have to be exhausted."

She shook her head. "I'm fine. Besides, you're the one who just got out of surgery."

"Yeah, but I got to take a nap for a couple of hours while I was out cold." He faked a yawn. "Besides, I don't think I'm far behind you..."

Bailey stood up to lean in and kiss him. "Well, I guess some rest will do us both some good. But if you need anything in the middle of the night, you will wake me up, right?"

"Of course. Get some rest, Boo Boo. I love you."

"Love you too. So much."

Cody closed his eyes, and Bailey tried to get comfortable on the hospital couch. Either she did or she was even more exhausted than she thought because she was asleep within a matter of a few minutes. Once she started snoring, Cody opened his eyes and just watched her for a few minutes. He found himself smiling as he knew that woman was his whole life. And as he watched her sleep, he began to think about the events of the past couple of months. Not only did she make him the happiest guy in the world, but she had also saved his life. That's when Cody decided that it was time for him to do something to show her just how much she meant to him. Quickly, he came up with a plan, and once he sorted out the details to his satisfaction, he finally fell asleep himself with a smile on his face.

The Next Morning

Early the next morning, Cody was woken up by the a doctor checking on him. And after the doctor saw everything was to his liking, he left to check on other patients. But Cody stayed awake and just watched Bailey continue to sleep for a while. And he would have continued to do so, but he had two visitors stop by and see him. Gertie and Tapeworm came into the room carrying some balloons, and their entrance caused Bailey to wake up.

Tapeworm smiled at his roommate. "How are you feeling this morning?"

Cody smiled back. "Other than literally having my guts ripped out, I'm great."

Everyone laughed at that. Gertie spoke up. "Well, we thought we'd stop by and see you before we headed to breakfast."

"Good. I need you two to do me a favor then. Take Bailey with you."

Bailey was rubbing the sleep from her eyes when stopped and began to protest. "Cody, I already told you that I'm not leaving your side!"

He smiled at her. "Bails, I know you want to be here, and I love you all the more for it. But because I do love you that much, I refuse to subject you to hospital food!"

"Cody..."

"Besides a good meal, I think a shower and fresh change of clothes will make you feel a thousand times better."

"What about you though? I don't want to leave you here all alone."

"I won't be. Leave your cell phone for me, and I'll call Mom as soon as you leave." He laughed. "Knowing her, I'll still be on the phone with her when you get back." He winced again from laughing, but it wasn't so bad that time.

"Are you sure?"

"I'm positive." He paused. "Though, before you all leave, I need to speak to Tapeworm in private for a minute..."

"What for?"

Cody smiled. "Its a guy thing, Sweetie."

Bailey wasn't so sure, but she and Gertie left the room. On the other hand, Tapeworm was looking at his friend with trepidation as he feared what Cody was going to ask of him.

"What exactly do you need?"

Cody rolled his eyes. "Its not what you're thinking, but do I need you to do me a couple of favors."

"As long as it doesn't involve helping you use the bathroom, just name them."

He ignored the first part of that. "First, I need you to bring me my cell phone. Its on my desk."

"Done. What's the other?"

Cody just smiled.

Boston

That morning in Boston, Zack woke up feeling better than he had in a long, long time. Sure, he was glad his brother was going to be alright, but he was even happier that he and Maya were back together again. The only thing that would have made things even better is if their timing had been better. Unfortunately for them, their own finals began the next day, so there was no time to celebrate just yet. But as Zack was getting ready to begin his final day of studying, there was a knock at his door. Opening it up, he found Maya standing there smiling.

"Maya!" Zack leaned in and kissed her good morning. "To what to I deserve this visit?"

She kept smiling. "Well, I wanted to double check that yesterday really happened, but I think you just answered that one for me..."

He laughed. "Yeah, it did. Come on in. Or, I was about to go out and grab some breakfast. Care to join me?"

"I'd love to."

So, they headed down the street and grabbed a quick something to eat. And as they ate, Zack spoke up.

"Sorry that this is the extent of a reunion dinner that we'll be able to have for a little while..."

Nothing could wipe the smile off Maya's face though. "Hey, fine by me. I agree our timing does suck though, but this will give me motivation to do well on my finals. That way, I know there will be a reward waiting for me when we're done."

Zack just nodded before he thought of something. "You know, I think our timing might be pretty good after all. You remember when Cody and Bailey got back together, everyone's attention was on them for a little while just seeing how it was going. We're not going to have that. With Broseph's surgery and recovery, everyone's attention will be on him for a while. That means there won't be any scrutiny or pressure on us..."

"That is a good point." She just smiled again though. "It wouldn't bother me if there was though. I've waited so long for this day, I'd even be willing to go on Yay Me! for the whole world to see..."

He laughed. "I don't know about all of that. I'm just glad everything is back to normal now. I think everything will settle back to normal now. I mean...what else can happen now?"

That Evening After Visiting Hours Were Over

Bailey was sitting on the bed with Cody, and both were just relaxing and taking it easy watching a Red Sox game. Finally, after it was over, they turned off the television, and Bailey turned to Cody.

"Alright, you need your rest if you want to get out of here tomorrow."

He nodded. "I know. We still have to head back to the dorms and pack up before we go back to Boston."

She shook her head. "Already done. Gertie and Tapeworm helped me do that earlier this morning. And tomorrow, while the doctor is giving you the final once over, I'm going to go get the car. They are going to help me load everything up before I bring the car over here to pick you up. And on the drive back, I fully expect you to get your rest."

Cody smiled at her. "Yes, Dear."

Bailey smiled back at him. "Good. But until then, I'm not going anywhere tonight."

"I'm glad, because there is something I need to do."

"You need me to help you get to the bathroom?"

He laughed. "No, nothing like that. Why is that everyone's first thought? Anyways, Bails, last night I did some serious thinking, and I realized something."

"What's that, Sweetie?"

Cody gathered the courage he needed to do what he needed to do. "You see, I've had this whole thing planned out for a couple months now about how I was going to do this. I was going to wait until your birthday, and take you back down to the storm shelter and do it there. I figured it would be kind of symbolic..."

Bailey was confused. "Do what exactly, Cody?"

He just continued though. "But after yesterday, I realized I didn't want to waste a second longer than I had to before I did this. After what happened to me yesterday, I don't want another day to go by and risk not getting a chance to do this."

"Cody, what are you talking about?"

Cody reached under his blanket and pulled out a small box. He just smiled as he opened it. And then he smiled even wider when he saw her reaction. Bailey's eyes were almost popping out of her head as she saw what was inside the small box.

She just gasped. "Cody..."

"Bailey, I know you've already told me what your answer would be when I asked. And I know I told you I was going to find the perfect ring for you. Well, turns out the perfect ring found me." Cody paused and smiled. "Bails, I'm already the luckiest and happiest guy in the world because I have you. And I want to spend the rest of our lives together. I meant it what I said the rest of my life belongs to you now. I hope you know just how much I love you, Sweetie..."

Bailey's rational though was abandoning her. "Cody...but...I...how?"

Cody kept smiling. "So, what I'm trying to say here is...Bailey Pickett, will you marry me?"

The End - of Season 2...To be Continued - In Season 3

AN1: I had planned on posting this on Saturday. Well, yesterday, a buddy offered me a free ticket to the game tonight and a cheap place to stay in Atlanta. So, with the gf's blessing, my buddy is picking me up in 15 minutes, and we're leaving for Catlanta to see the Cats curb stomp the vile Hoosiers! If all goes well, I'll post the bonus Final Four chapter (Chapter 1 of Season 3) on Sunday night when I get home. Go Cats!

AN2: Oh yeah, the poll results. I said I'd release them at the end of Season 2. The final tally was 54 to 24, almost a 70%-30% margin in favor of Zack and Maya.

AN3: I got a couple of emails saying I needed to repost Ch. 25. I'm trying to do this from my phone somewhere in northern Georgia. Hope this works.