"I'm sorry Andrew." Andra says. Andrew shakes his head and feels his tears running down his face. "We did everything we could, but...she was just done fighting." She says and he let's his head fall. He rests it on Nicole's heart and lets the tears come running down. Andra backs up giving him space and stands out in the hall.

"How is he doing?" Jake questions and Andra shakes her head.

"His body went through hell, his wolf is tore because of Nicole, and now he just lost his Mom. He's going to need time and a lot of it." She says and he nods his head. He takes a breath and walks into the room.

"I'm not giving you the chance you argue, Mason and Emma, our Gamma's will take up your duties until you have recovered. There is no debating, they were alpha's once and can understand your duties." He says and Andrew nods his head.

"But sir, can you at least give me some paperwork, just something to think about that isn't death or dying?" He asks and Jake stands there thinking about it. He thinks to what Mykalya had said to him earlier that day.

"No, just focus on you and Nicole." He says and then walks out of the room.

Andrew closes his eyes wanting to argue, but knowing he can't. He looks at Nicole and wishes she'd wake up, he just wants to see her deep blue eyes. To hear her southern accent. To see her glare at him or give him a smile, anything.

**~**

"It's been two weeks and she hasn't woken up," Andrew says pacing in the hallway outside her door.

"Andrew, I told you she needs time. Her body is still trying to recover." Addison says and he shakes his head.

"She should have woken up by now. You..you did something wrong. You hurt her." He says and Addison looks at him feeling sorry.

"Andrew, we haven't hurt her. We've been hel-"

"Well, you missed something. You...you had to have." He says shaking his head. Addison walks up to him putting her hand on his shoulder.

"She's going to wake up, just give her time. Go for a run, get this anger and emotions out." She says, but he shakes his head. "Fine, but go take a shower and shave. You look like a dog." She says and he glares at her. She nods her head and he takes a breath looking back into the room.

"Fine, but if-"

"If she twitches I will notify you." She says and he nods his head. He runs to his house to quickly take a shower.

**~**

"Maddie, what are you doing in here?" Andra asks walking into the room. She sees her holding Nicole's hand.

"Maggie misses her, but they won't let me bring her in here. They don't even know I'm here. Is that what a pack is like? If someone you love his hurt you aren't allowed to see them?" She asks and Andra shakes her head walking over to her.

"Of course not, it's just that because you two are so young we don't want you getting frightened." She says and Maddie looks at her with no emotions.

"What is frightening is everyone talking about your sister, yet you don't know what's the truth. Some said she was going to die within two days, other's said she was missing limbs, they have so many rumors around here and none are true. She's ok, she's just sleeping right now." She says and looks back over to her. "Nikki will wake up, she promised." She says and Andrew smiles.

He walks away from the doorway and puts a hand on her shoulder. "You think Maggie can handle being in here?" She nods her head.

"Then you go and get her. If they say you can't tell them that their beta said you could." He says. She smiles and nods her head before running out of the room.

"A baby shouldn't be brought in here. It could scare her." Andra says and he looks up at her.

"Nicole lives for these girls, those girls are the only reason she feels she needs to live. Having them around her is going to help her, and Maggie is a baby. She's going to be fine and Maddie's strong. She's seen worse." He says and she nods her head.

"I guess." She says with a shrug. Maddie comes back within a few minutes with Maggie in her arms.

"See Maggie, Nikki's just sleeping, but she's going to wake up. She won't leave us." Maddie says bringing Maggie closer to Nikki. Maggie reaches for her and Maddie puts her next to Nicole's right arm. She puts her little hand on her arm. Andrew smiles down at them.

The two girls stay for an hour before Max pulls them out to go and get food. "You should eat something too." He says looking at Andrew. Andrew stakes his head looking back at Nicole.

"Go get something to eat, I'll stay with her," Jake commands walking into the room. Andrew goes to protest, but he holds up his hand. "You need to eat, go with Max and the two girls, now." He says using his alpha voice. Andrew lets out a breath before nodding his head and leaving the room. Jake looks back at Nicole, he sighs and looks at Andra. "Any changes?"

"No, she's been the same. We don't even know the damages she could have because she hasn't woken up once. I don't know if her memory is ok, whether her wolf left her because of all the silver, if she can still see, or if she's colorblind. We know nothing and it's taking a toll on Andrew. He needs her to be ok. He lost his Mom because we didn't know how to heal her and now we don't know what to do with Nicole. If she doesn't pull through we are going to lose Andrew." She says and Jake closes his eyes. He opens them and looks at Nicole.

"You need to pull through, you hear me? You need to stay for those girls and to keep Andrew here. We need Andrew, I need him and he's too young to lose everything before he can even have it." Jake says grabbing her hand. He stares down at her and looks up at Andra. She goes to say something when Nicole sits up and starts spitting up blood.

"Get Addison." She says and then realizes she just commanded her Alpha. "I'm so sorry Alpha, it's just-"

"I understand and will go get her." He says and then is out the door. Andra grabs a bucket and holds it for Nicole. She continues to puke up blood even when Addison rushes in.

"She woke up spitting up blood, it hasn't stopped," Andra says looking up at her worried. Just then Nicole's falls back down and starts shaking.

"She's seizing, help me turn her over before she chokes," Addison says grabbing her. Andra nods and they turn her over. The seizing stops after about two minutes and they turn her back. "We are going to have to clean these sheets and get her into a different gown. I want her to get-"

"What happened?" Andrew says breathlessly. She looks up at him slightly startled.

"She woke up puking blood and then had a seizure, but we are going to figure how to help her," Addison says and he looks down at Nicole. There's blood on the bed and all over the top of her gown. Andrew walks over to her with all eyes on him. He grabs her hand and leans in towards her.

"Please, please, please, don't die on me. I can't lose you." He whispers and then kisses her forehead. He looks up at Addison and then around the room. "What are you going to do?" He asks and Addison shakes her head seeming to clear her mind.

"We are going to get a scan of her brain to see what caused it and then I'm going to check her lungs to see if she has any more blood in them." He nods his head and takes a seat on the chair. "Andrew, can you hold her while we change the sheets?" She asks. He stands up and nods his head. He carefully picks her up making sure not to pull any tubes that she's hooked up to. He takes her to the chair he was sitting in and holds her close to him.

Addison and Andra quickly change the seats, but when they look over at Andrew they know he's not going to put her back on the bed. "Andrew, we need to change her gown, ca-"

"I'll do it." He says looking up at them and she nods her head. Jake and Andra leave the room while Addison lays the gown on the bed. She walks out and then closes the door, giving him some time with her.

Andrew stands up bringing Nicole back to her bed. He holds her up and begins to untie the sleeves and back. He finds a long scar on her back that goes all the way to her right side. He looks at it confused and feels anger towards the person that did it to her. He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. "Not the time." He says and opens them. He switches her gowns and then picks her up again. He lays down on the bed with her in his arms.

He doesn't know how long he sits there but is woken up when Addison and Chase walk into the room. "Andrew, we need to get her scan in," Addison says and he growls at her. "If you want us to help her we need to figure out what's wrong with her." She says and he looks down at her. He nods his head and stands up laying her on the bed. "It's only going to take ten minutes." She says and then they wheel her out of the room.

He sits there with his head in his hands. He's startled when a hand touches his shoulder. He looks up and sees Avery. "What's wrong with her?" He asks and she gives him a shake of her head.

"You know my powers can't do that." She says and he pops out of his seat shaking his head. "Andrew, it's going to be ok. I think she's going to pull through."

"But you think, you don't know. You don't know.....I can't lose her, I...can't." He says and she walks up to him. She wraps her arms around him pulling him close to her. He starts crying into her shoulder and she holds him tighter. "Not after Mom, I..I..I can't." He says shaking his head into her shoulder.

"Shhh, it's going to be ok. You aren't going to lose Nicole." She says rubbing his back. He lets it all out, crying over his Mom, over everything he's kept inside. Addison and Chase walk into the room. Avery shakes her head and Chase leaves the room. Addison quickly puts Nicole in the room and goes to walk out, but Andrew stops her.

"W..what did you find?" He asks wiping his eyes pulling away from Avery. Addison looks up at him and brings the scans out.

"The silver had made this ball so to say in her brain, we hadn't seen it when she first came in, but the seizure was caused because of her puking. Her moving around causes it to move around, then causing her to seizure. We are going to have to remove it, but we have to wait until tomorrow because her body is too weak." She says and Andrew nods his head feeling numb. He looks at Nicole and feels his chest hurt.

"Can I..can" He sees her nod his head. He walks over to her and carefully lays down next to her, pulling her in towards him. He rests his head above hers not touching afraid it could cause another seizure. Addison and Avery watch him for a few minutes before they walk out together.

"During the surgery, don't and I mean don't shock her. When her heartbeat stops, only hand and mouth CPR. Understand?" Avery says. Addison looks at her confused. "Just don't." She says not able to explain what she feels. Addison nods her head not going to ask any questions. Avery nods her head back before walking off. Addison takes one more look into the room before walking out.

**~**

"Everything went fine," Addison says for the fourth time to Andrew.

"Are you sure, nothing out of the ordinary?" He asks and she nods her head. She looks over at Avery.

"And we-"

"Didn't shock her. I know, had you have she wouldn't be alive." She says and Andrew looks over at her with wide eyes.

"Wait..what? But she-"

"I had a feeling and told Addison not to shock her and she didn't. Andrew, Nicole's fine, just focus on that." Avery says and he shuts his mouth. "Now I have somewhere to be, so have fun." She says and walks out of the room. Addison shakes her head.

"Sometimes I worry about her. That gift is going to get her in trouble one of these days." She says and Andrew shrugs.

"Nothing that she won't see coming or be able to handle." He says looking at Nicole. Addison nods her head and then checks a few things.

"Now that we took that silver out and reduced the inflammation that has been there for awhile, her wolf may be able to detect that you are her mate." She says and Andrew looks up at her. He doesn't speak and she smiles at him. "Nothing to say?" She asks and he gives a small glare.

"I wanted to tell her, not her wake up with all these confusing pent-up feelings." He says she laughs.

"You don't want her to know, not yet anyways." She says and he looks up at her holding her gaze.

"Maybe, but just because she's had so much happen and has so much on her plate. Springing this on her isn't what I wanted to do." He says looking back down at her.

"You know that having a mate is helpful, having someone there for you, understanding you. It's not a burden." She says looking at him confused.

"It was a burden for my Mom." He says and she sighs.

"That's not how it is most of the time. Your Mother and Father were...different, and when your Mom got sick it was hard for him. He couldn't do-"

"Don't you back him up. He thinks it was hard for him, what about me? I was the one that had to step up and be there for her. I had to make sure that she was going to live, and he wasn't there. He killed himself, which was selfish, that just hurt her more. Had he manned up, she may have been able to push through the sickness. He could have helped her through it, but no. He left his own mate." He says anger laced in his voice. Addison feeling his rage just nods her head and takes a seat in the back. He takes a few deep breaths trying to calm himself down. "I didn't mean to yell at you, just don't defend him." He says looking at the floor.

"I understand." She says with a small smile. He looks up and nods his head. He rests his head on the bed looking up at Nicole.

"The first day of school I felt different. My wolf was hyper and I was just confused. Nothing would calm him down. I couldn't focus on my first period. When I got into history I took my normal seat, in the back. I watched as she walked in with Andra at her side. The two were laughing and I knew. I knew she was my mate, her smell was intoxicating, her smile drawing me in, everything about her drew me towards her. I had watched her the whole class period confused about why she never even glanced at me. She was talking with Mason and Mathew, which I don't know how I didn't start a fight because I felt jealous."

"She had time for them, but couldn't even look at me. I then started to think about my Mom. What she had gone through and realized I needed to be there for her. I didn't have time to fuss with meeting the new girl that happened to be my mate.  Then she'd ran right into me and I felt all the tingles and everything, but she just smiled up at me and apologized like she hadn't felt a thing. I was angry at her. I thought she knew and was just ignoring it. So, I kinda started being an ass to her."

"Then we were partnered for writing and I begged Uncle to switch with someone else. I couldn't be by her and control my feelings. My wolf was ready to just...you don't want to know. But then she'd heard and put me in my place. She'd given me many chances and each time I shot them in the dust, but then I started to wonder why she was lying to everyone. Why would she? It didn't make sense. I kept my mouth shut and started to notice things about her. Anytime I asked about her though, she'd tell me it wasn't my business. Let me tell you how hard it was to not just tell her right then and there." He says shaking his head a with a smile.

"You can't fight it, the more you try the harder it's going to be." She says and he nods his head.

"I'm starting to get that now." He looks back at Nicole. Her face isn't as pale, almost her normal color, her hair is put to one side because of where they had to go into her head, but the hair was already growing again. Her bruises were almost gone, she almost looked healthy. "She doesn't eat because she needs to feed Maggie and Maddie. She would rather them eat than her just get one bite. She even uses her money to try and cook special things for Maggie. She would do anything for them." He says and Addison smiles.

"Yes, she would." She says and yawns. "I'm going to take a nap, just wake me if something happens." She says and gets comfortable on the chair. Andrew nods his head and holds Nicole's hand.

He just sits there staring at her. He thinks he hallucinates when her eyes flicker, but then they are open and she's looking around confused.