Chapter 11

"Brenda, wake up," Brenda hears a familiar voice say. "Come on sweetie, wake up!"

Brenda slowly opens her eyes and sees her mom looking down at her, a smile of relief on her face. "Thank God that was all a dream," Brenda says, smiling back at her mom and rubbing her eyes. "Is it time for school already?"

"School? Sweetie, I don't think you'll be going to school today," her mom says with a weird look on her face.

"What do you mean?" Brenda asks, full of puzzlement.

"Brenda, you're in the hospital. Don't you remember anything?"

"HOSPITAL?" Brenda asks, looking around the room and realizing that her mother isn't lying. "Why?"

"You lost a great deal of blood Halloween night and got injured. Do you remember anything?"

"Of course but I was hoping that was all a nightmare!"

"Calm down sweetie. The nightmare is over. Tiffany and Phil have all been arrested and put in a place where they will never harm you again. Colin definitely won't be coming back to harm you because he was killed that night."

"What about Melinda and John? Oh God, they killed everyone!"

"Melinda and John are fine. Unfortunately, nothing could be done for Jenilee. Her funeral is actually planed for today."

"What? So fast?"

"Brenda, you've been in and out of a conscious state for three days now."

"Three days? What happened?"

"Like I told you before you blacked out on me sweetie, you lost a lot of blood during that fight with Tiffany and freeing yourself of that rope," John supplies, coming closer to the bed so Brenda could see him.

Brenda's mom looks at the two and says, "I better leave you two alone to talk about this." She leaves, allowing John to take the seat she vacated.

"John, I'm so sorry," Brenda sobs. "I don't know how I could have misjudged you, thinking you were the killer."

"It's okay," John soothes, taking her hand and brushing her hair behind her ear. "It doesn't matter anymore. The real killers are locked away. Besides, I can understand now why you would believe that I was capable of those things. With all that you went through and that entire trauma, I bet I would have felt as paranoid and scared as you were. However, when push came to shove, you proved to be quite the brave one Halloween night."

"It wasn't bravery. It was the will to survive and save Melinda since she was the only one I knew that I could actually save at the time. I didn't know if you were dead or alive in that room."

"Well, I have the darkness to thank for that. Colin… Who could have guessed that he was hired and in a partnership with Phil of all people to hurt Melinda and you."

"How did you kill him?"

"Well, I hid in a corner and stuck out my leg for him to trip over. I heard the gun drop out of his hand and grabbed it but not before he grabbed me. We struggled for a bit but, well, one of us got killed with that gun and one of us lived."

"And Phil?"

"He was stupid enough to enter the room in the dark as well. He was bumping around in the dark, groping for things, and when he got to the far end of the room where I was, I hit him over the head with the butt of the gun. I stayed in silence there because I didn't know who the other person out there was but I had a sick feeling that it would be Tiffany. Once I was sure Phil was knocked out cold and I heard you and her start fighting, I got out of there and made sure that he wouldn't get out of that room until I was ready for him."

"And the rest of that story I remember. God, I don't think that I can ever go back to normal life after this."

"What do you mean?"

"It's just that so many of my friends died because of me. I accused the man I loved of being a murderer and almost lost him because of that."

"Angel, this wasn't your fault. Those three were and are sick and twisted. They need mental and emotional help. You couldn't have known that they were planning on going on a killing spree and trying to ruin your life."

"He's right Bren," Melinda says, coming into the room. "The most important thing right now is for you to get better. You can't do anything to bring back all those that have died these past few months and days."

"Oh Melinda, I don't know what I would have done if you had been killed in front of me."

"But I wasn't. You are a strong individual Brenda, I know you can pull through this and come out even stronger. Both John and I believe that."

Brenda closes her eyes, feeling how weak her body felt. "Thanks for your vote in confidence, but I honestly don't see how I can look at other people and not wonder if they think I am fully responsible for all these deaths. How am I going to go back to school?"

"Shh… Don't worry about that baby," John says, giving her a hug. "We'll take this one step at a time, together, okay?"

"Together? You mean you actually can forgive me enough to want to be my boyfriend again?"

"Of course. Didn't you ever learn that 'Being in love means never having to say you're sorry'?"

"Well yeah but-"

"But nothing. You are my reason for living. You are the one thought that made me fight for my life in that dark room. Nothing will change that. I do have one request though."

"What is it?"

"Have more faith in me, please?"

"Of course," Brenda answers right before John places a light kiss on her lips.

"Okay, enough PDAing for right now. I have to tell you the story the police told me about Halloween night," Melinda says, changing the topic to why she is there. "Apparently, Tiffany and Phil have been scheming this since about a month after I broke up with Phil. At that time, they decided to hire Colin, which is his real name, to aid him in Phil's revenge on me. Essentially, they just wanted revenge on those that hurt them. Tiffany was still hung up on John and wanted to get you, Bren, out of her way for good when she realized nothing she did could win any attention from him. As for Phil, well, his motive is still a little fuzzy to the police but they promised to keep us all informed."

"Wow… Who would have thought that anyone could go off the deep end like that," John wonders.

"I don't know but I'm starting to get more pain in my arms and stomach area. Can one of you call the nurse?" Brenda asks.

Melinda runs out and brings back a male nurse with her. "What's the problem?" he asks.

"Pain…" Brenda responds.

"Oh, just press that button you have next to you. It'll release morphine into your IV to help take the pain away. Just don't use too much, okay?"

"I understand," Brenda mutters as she presses the button and feels some relief wash over her. "But why does my stomach area hurt?"

"You have stitches on your front side."

"Stitches?" Brenda asks, getting paler.

"Don't worry, you're fine. Now that you are fully conscious, there isn't anything to worry about. You were just wounded during that fight you had that night and the wound needed to be stitched up to stop the bleeding. You are quite lucky that your boyfriend here had the right type of blood to give you. In fact, I think he pretty much saved your life."

Brenda looks at John. "Is he telling the truth?"

John laughs. "Of course he is. Why would the nurse lie to you? Giving you blood was worth it, especially because it saved your life."

"Now that isn't the actions of someone who is a killer, right Bren?" Melinda asks, hoping this would finally ease away any apprehensions her best friend may still have about John.

"Right Melinda," Brenda says, smiling up at John.

"Melinda? That's a pretty name," the nurse comments. "My name is Mike."

"Well it's nice to meet you Mike. How long have you been a nurse?"

"This is my first year. I just graduated a few months ago."

"Really? I really want to get into the medical field. What's it like?"

"A challenge but well worth it. Listen, would you like to have dinner some time so we could talk more about this? I have to get back to making the rounds."

"Sure! I'd love it!" Melinda answers with a bright smile.

"Great," Nurse Mike says. "We'll settle the details before I get off duty. Brenda, give me a holler if you need anything else. Melinda, I'll be seeing you later."

Mike walks out of the room and closes the door. "Well, I guess that means a happy ending for all of us," John says with a laugh as Melinda glares at him. "What? What did I say?"

"You're teasing me again!" Melinda whines.

"What? I didn't say anything about him becoming a clown and eating you in your sleep or anything!"

"Not funny!"

"Oh come on!"

"Stop it you two! We have a long time to tease each other unmercifully but right now I really need some quiet and rest," Brenda says. "Besides Melinda, I think that you and Mike would be very happy together. Hopefully, this will work out better than your last two relationships. You are overdue for happiness in the love department."

"One can only hope. I guess you were right to thank Tiffany. She and those two other psychos did do us a favor in the end."

"Yup, although in a twisted manner. It made us appreciate each other, our loved ones, our lives and life a great deal more than anything else could."

"Now that whole ordeal is definitely what I would call… A huge reality check!" John exclaims, earning a smile from his girlfriend and his friend.

"What are we going to do with you?" Brenda asks.

"Love me?" he suggests with a puppy dogface.

"As if any girl could love that face!" Melinda teases, regretting it as John goes after her and starts poking at her ticklish spot.

Soon, the room fills with laughter as the wounds from Halloween night and all those nights before begin to heal and make each individual stronger than before.