Dr. Woodman sat down with Christian. His eyes were kind and supportive as he sized up Christian. He began taking out his faded green notepad, but then decided against it. Christian was nervous enough as it is, he didn't need anymore stress.

"Hello, Christian. My name is Dr. Woodman, but you can call me Rob. I've heard that things aren't going so well at home."

Christian allowed himself to chuckle. "That's the understatement of the year. My house, to be put mildly, is the roosting home of Satan himself. But you know what's so ironic," Christian leaned forward, beginning to go into his story, "is that only a few months ago I practically threatened my parents to get a divorce. Now they are, but they're trying to tear my sister and me apart in the process."

"I see. This clearly has had an affect on you, understandably. Tell me, why are your parents divorcing in the first place?"

"I know I'm not supposed to talk about this, or so they told me, but since they don't care about me I don't have to care about them. My parents can't stay in the same room for two minutes without going at each other throats. They pick at each other's faults as if their life depended on it, and they expect my sister and me to choose sides. Believe me, you'd think that my parents were in all actuality three-year-olds fighting on the playground."

"Definetly sounds like that to me. I can imagine you're in a lot of pain over seeing the two people you love most fighting."

Christian pondered the thought for a few moments. He then looked at Dr. Woodman thoughtfully, his head perched on his fist. "Maybe that is it, Dr. Woodman. I really don't know. I don't know what's going on anymore. I just want to run, Dr. Woodman," the helpless statement nearly ended in a sob. "I just want to run away and never come back. To tell the truth, Dr. Woodman, I...I'm..."

"Scared?" Dr. Woodman finished his sentence for him.

Christian brushed away a tear. He could only nod his head.

Jake walked down the hallway to Jessica's room. The staff had come to know the many friends of Jessica King, and they came to know them on first-name terms. Things were getting much better now, and everyone knew it wouldn't be long before Jessica would be out of the hospital for good.

Jake nearly collided with Carrie, who was rushing out of the room. She stopped whe she saw him. "You'd better knock some sense into your friend, Jake, before she finds herself in hot water that's going to burn the skin off of her."

Before Jake could respond, she stormed off down the hallway and out the building. He clutched the flowers and card to him. He had other things to worry about now.

Jessica, weak from so much energy expenditure, reclined motionlessly in her bed. She was tired, yes, but she had gotten the job done. Carrie now knew where she stood. Jessica heard a knock at the door, causing her to shift her eyes quickly. She smiled when she saw Jake's warm face. "Jake."

A bright smile entered Jake's face. "Hey, Jess. How's it going?"

"It's going a lot better now," she stopped as she noticed the flowers and card clutched to his chest. "What's that you have?"

Jake blushed. "They're for you," he set the flowers in a vase next to her bed. "I picked them from the park. The roses made me think of you: sweet, delicate, yet deep."

"And the card?"

"I'm getting to that," Jake laughed.

Jessica giggled. "Don't let me rush you, now. Take all the time you need."

Jake slowly sat down on the chair next to her bed. "I wrote a poem last night for you. I thought flowers wouldn't be enough to let you know exactly how I feel. This seems to be the only way for me to truly express my feelings."

Francesca lunged about in her room. Allan was supposed to be there at 5:30 and it was about to be 6:00. Finally, she heard a knock on the door. Her face lit up when she saw her boyfriend of over eight months standing there.

"I'm so sorry I'm late, but I couldn't get out of b-ball practice." He held out a small bouquet of flowers. "Forgive me?"

Francesca smiled in spite of herself. "Of course. Come on in, I'll just be a sec." She walked into her bathroom and shut the door to put the finishing touches on her make-up.

"Hey, Francesca," called Allan, "I've been meaning to ask you something."

"Yeah, sure, what's up?"

"Well, Amber Hart told me something today-"

"Oh, great," mumbled Francesca.

"-and I know it's probably not true but I thought I would ask you anyway. She said she knew something you. Something that would ruin our relationship. What do you think she was talking about?"

"Oh, I have no idea what is going through that girl's mind. She'll say anything to anybody if she thought it would get me de-throned. Probably just a heap of lies anyhow."

"Yeah, probably. Plus, I know you wouldn't do something like that anyway." Allan's voice was reassuring, but he wasn't one hundred percent positive that everything was fine & dandy.

Francesca stepped out into the main room. "You don't have a thing to worry about, Allan. You know that you are the only man for me and I'd never do anything to hurt you." She lightly kissed him. "You ready to go?"

"Yeah, let's get outta here. I'm starved."

As they walked out of the room, the phone rang. "Hold on, lemme get this."

"C'mon, Francesca. Can't you let the machine get it?"

"Well, it might be an emergency. It won't take long. Just wait right out here or come back in if you want. I'll just be a sec." She ran in and grabbed it on its third ring. "Hello?"

"Francesca!" A deep, rich voice with a thick Spanish accent spoke. "Oh, my love, how are you?"

A look of fear swept over her face. Could it be who she thought it was? "Who is this?"

"You don't recognize my voice? I can clearly recognize yours. It's Amante Aldovar! You know, from Spain."

Panic shook Francesca's entire body. "I'm sorry, I think you have the wrong number."

"But wait! Isn't this Francesca George in-"

Click.

"Who was it, babe?"

Francesca smiled at Allan. "Just someone prank calling. Let's go."

Christian finally regained his composure. "Yes, Dr. Woodman. I am terrified of what is coming up. Something that should be a major decision is being decided for me. All I can do is sit back helplessly and hope and pray that it is the right one. Do you know what that feeling's like, Dr. Woodman?"

"No," Dr. Woodman answered softly. "I can't say that I do."

"It is the most empty, hopeless feeling you could ever feel, and that's a fact. It's great to have friends to support you and a psych to talk to, but when it comes down to it, no one can help me. But you know, I should've seen it coming. The way they always tried to make us choose sides when the argued, the way they always tried to pit us against the other parent. It was in my face the whole time."

"But you can't do anything about that now, Christian. The best advice I can give you now is to go to your parents and let them know how you're feeling. You cannot be silenced unless your voice is not heard."

Again Christian paused and thought. "You're right. I've got to tell them exactly how I feel and exactly what's going on."

"That's right. If you open up the roads of communication, if you take away those roadblocks, you may find that there's another solution to this situation. Whatever you do, Christian, don't slip into the self-destructive realm of silence, because once you go there it's hard to come back. Let everyone know you have something to say, and most likely they'll listen. They really don't have much of a choice."

Christian's entire face brightened. "Yeah! They can't do this without me. It's time that they realize they can't rule over my life anymore without my having some say in it. It's time for them to know that Christian Harris will not and cannot be run over!"

Jessica was nearly speechless. "A...a...poem?" she stammered.

Jake nodded. "I know, it may sound corny and over-sentimental, but it's how I feel, Jessica, and I can't change that."

Jake took a few deep breaths before beginning.

Everyday I took for granted,
the fact that you'd be there.
Everyday I took for granted,
the feelings that were there.

I thought that I would have the chance,
to express to you how I feel.
Never did I know you'd lie here,
that by your bedside I would kneel.

I now know that I cannot put off,
something that's so prevalent.
Time for me has ceased to exist,
nothing else is relevant.

Please know that no matter what,
I'll be here through and through.
Jessica, I will be here because,
you are the wonderful you.

I know sometimes it's hard to know,
exactly what I'm thinking.
But understand now that I will be your life boat,
when your mighty ship begins sinking.

And so as I draw my thoughts to a close,
just know that one thing will remain true.
Jessica King, no matter what,
I will always love you.

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