As Jenna continued to try and comfort her best friend through her heartbreak, she began to hear voices coming from behind the closed set of double doors, and knew without a doubt that they more than likely belonged to Wade's siblings.  Knowing that it was probably in Michelle's best interest to get her out of the hospital and on her way back home, Jenna got to her feet and extended her hand out. 

"Come on Michelle.  Sitting here isn't doing you any good."  Jenna signed, dusting herself off.  "You can't feel guilty about walking out of there.  You don't owe him a damn thing, and I refuse to let you think otherwise."

"But..."

"No.  No 'but'.  We're leaving.  End of story."  Jenna said, watching on in disgust as Michelle's eyes started to drift back down the hall towards their voices.  "Michelle.  Come on."  Jenna continued, waving her hand out in front of her in an attempt to draw Michelle's attention back to her.

Hearing Chantal and Shane enter the hallway, Jenna rolled her eyes and prayed to God that this wasn't going to become a battle of wills between her and her best friend.

"Michelle, come on.  Please.  Let's just go home."

"I just wanted to make sure he's ok Jen."  Michelle replied, quickly wiping her eyes as she struggled to get to her feet.  "It will only take a minute."

"Michelle."

"I'll be right back Jen."  Michelle replied, her arm protectively wrapped around her mid-section as she made her way down the hall.

"That's just...great." Jenna groaned, quickly following after her best friend.  "Just great."

Spoting Michelle headed in their direction, Chantal slipped her hand out from under Shane's arm and sighed heavily.  The look on Michelle's face alone as she approached, breaking her heart all over again.  The situation that had developed between her brother and Michelle was so unnecessary.  She could have done more to prevent this outcome.  She should have done more.

"I didn't think you would still be here."

"Me either."  she replied softly.  "Is he...ok?"  Michelle asked, wiping away a fresh trail of tears as Shane continued down the hall past them towards Jenna.

"No."  Chantal replied, reaching out to place a comforting hand on Michelle's forearm.  "Are you?"

Unable to choke back the tears long enough to form a reply, Michelle sobbed softly and shook her head 'no'.  Nothing was 'ok', and as it had been the case for the last few weeks, there wasn't even a glimmer of hope that things would ever be 'ok'.  In fact, things just kept getting worse.

"I'm sorry."  Chantal replied softly, curiously watching as Michelle's gaze kept drifting back to the set of doors behind her.  Unable to shake the feeling that there was more to Michelle's walk down the hall than just to talk to her, Chantal cast a quick glance back over her shoulder. "Do...do you want to go back and see him?"  Chantal asked, the tone of her voice clearly displaying she was a bit puzzled by the look on Michelle's face.

"No."  Michelle quickly blurted out.  "Yes?  I don't know."  she cried, the tears once again flowing down her already moistened cheeks.  "I wouldn't even know what to say to him Chantal.”

“Then let him do the talking.”  she replied softly. “I’m sure there is a lot he wants to say.  A lot, that in all honesty, he NEEDS to say.”

“I just don’t know if I can.  It hurts too much to see him like that. He shouldn't be here.”

“I know.”  Chantal sighed, gently taking Michelle’s hand in hers. “And I know you still love him.  I can see it in your eyes, hear it in your voice.”  Chantal said, her attention briefly being redirected down the hall towards the conversation her brother and Jenna were now having.  “But despite the fact that I know he still loves you, and that he wants to work things out, I think we both know that it’s over between the two of you.  It has been for a while.  I just thought it might give you the closure that you deserve. The closure that he needs if he's ever going to move on.”

Hearing Chantal mention Wade moving on with his life without her, surprisingly brought on a wave of despair that she wasn't ready to handle.  She knew it was over, and that she couldn't go back to him after everything that had happened between them, but Chantal WAS right.  She did still love him, and it broke her heart to know that this very may well be the last time she would ever see him.  

“I never wanted it to come to this Chantal.  I tried to make it work, to be the girl he wanted me to be, but I just wasn’t good enough.  He needed more than I could give him.”

“Michelle, it wasn't you or anything you did...or didn't do for that matter.  You need to understand that, and Wade should have been honest with you from the beginning."

"About what?"  Michelle asked, a slight pang of frustration evident in her voice, as this was the second time she had been informed that he had been keeping something from her.  Something important.

After giving one final glance back down the hallway to see what her brother was doing, Chantal pulled Michelle aside and somewhat reluctantly proceeded to fill her in on her brother's troubled past.

"I really wish you would have heard this from him, but seeing as how it's a little too late for that now, I'll try to tell you as much as I can." she said, exhaling deeply. "A few years ago, Wade made some bad choices in his life.  He got involved with the wrong crowd, and allowed himself to fall victim to the extra-curicular activities that were going on around him in his line of work.  It started out simple, a few drinks here and there, but then over the course of a few weeks, it progressed, and he ending up with an addiction to prescription pills.  He claimed the pills were given to him by our family doctor, and we never questioned it.  Why would we have reason to think otherwise.  He's a very physical choreographer and injuries are common in this industry, you know that.  Not to mention that he had injured his knee a few months prior to this.  It all made sense, so nothing went any further than our initial questioning. Unfortunately the pills weren't legit, and that was just the start of the illegal activities that we would soon come to find out Wade was involved with." 

Softly shaking her head back and forth, Michelle struggled to come to terms with what she was hearing.  It was so disheartening that it literally twisted her stomach in knots.

"After he missed a few master classes at Millennium, Stephanie became concerned and call me to see if I knew what was going on.  It was just so unlike him to completely skip a class without even calling.  Of course, I thought the worst and rushed over to his house.  When he didn't answer the door, I let myself in."  she said, her voice cracking slightly as she recalled the events that opened everyone's eyes.  "When I walked in, the house was a disaster.  Initially I thought, 'Oh my God!  Someone had broken in.', but after moving through the livingroom towards the back of the house, I quickly realized that wasn't the case.  After walking a few more feet, I saw Wade laying face down on the floor of the kitchen, barely dressed, with cocaine and liquor bottles scattered everywhere."  she continued, wiping a few stray tears away from her own eyes.  "He had overdosed."

Unable to listen to anymore of the heartbreaking recollection concerning what had happened with Wade, Michelle quickly threw her hand up informing Chantal that she needed her to stop. 

"I'm sorry...I just..."

"It's ok, I understand."  Chantal said, her eyes still welled with tears. "I just wanted you to know that this had nothing to do with you.  He's still sick Michelle, and he clearly needs to go back to rehab and get some help."

"Do you think I caused him to relapse?  Could I have said...or done something wrong?"  Michelle asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

"No!  No one is blaming you Michelle.  This isn't your fault."

"But..."

"Michelle, HE did this.  He did this to himself, to you, to his friends and family.  Nothing you could have said or done would have made a difference one way or another.  This thing is bigger than any of us could have imagined, so please stop blaming yourself."

Recalling a time when Wade in fact had blamed her for the stress he was under, and how far behind he was with work, an undeniable wave of guilt flooded through her.  Regardless of what anyone else said, she couldn't help but feel at least somewhat responsible for everything that had happened over the course of the last few weeks.  After pulling herself together as much as she could, Michelle slowly brought her gaze back up to the set of doors that led back to Wade's room and sighed heavily.  The urge to be near Wade suddenly becoming almost unbearable.

"Michelle...do you want to go in and see him?"  Chantal asked, watching the contemplative expressions that were consuming her features.  "I can go in with you if you want.  You don’t have to go in alone.”

After taking a minute to fully comprehend what she was asking, Michelle tucked a piece of hair behind her ear and slowly nodded her head 'yes'.

"Come on.  I'll walk back with you."  Chantal said, extending out her arm as she quickly tried to rush Michelle out of view.

Once she had taken up position beside his sister, Michelle prepared herself to once again come face to face with the man who evoked more emotions from her than one person would think possible. The tightening feeling in her chest, rapidly increasing with every step she took.  Could she really go back in there?  

"Chantal, I don't think I can do this."  Michelle stammered, her forward momentum instantly stopping once they reached the nurse's station outside of Wade's door.  

"You don't have to be scared.  Nothing is going to happen."

"No.  I thought I could do this, but...I'm not ready.  Not yet."  Michelle breathed out, her body quickly shifting away from Chantal's to avoid going any further.

"Michelle, it's ok.  I'm right here."  Chantal reassured her.  "If you don't do this, you're going to regret it.  I can see it in your eyes."  she continued, pushing the door open that led to Wade's room.  "It's ok.  Come on."

Once the door swung open, Michelle saw Wade's battered body laying motionless on the bed, and felt her heart drop to the pit of her stomach.  His eyes were uncomfortably fixated on the empty chair in the corner of the room, and the hand that he had so desperately reached out to her with earlier, was still trembling slightly as it rested on the bed beside him.  It literally broke her heart to even look at him. Squeezing her eyes closed as tightly as she could, Michelle desperately fought to supress the memories of the night that put him there.  Of the night that nearly took both of their lives.

"Ms. Robson, can I speak to you for a moment?"

Hearing the voice of another come from behind her, Michelle opened her eyes and quickly glanced over her shoulder.

"Yeah, of course...but can you just hold on.  This will only take a few minutes."

"Ms. Robson.  Please."  the doctor continued, his arm extended towards the still open door.

"Michelle, I'll be right back. I promise." Chantal apologized, quickly following Dr Pitalka back to the nurse's station.  "I'll just be a minute."

Unable to even voice a response, Michelle watched on in horror as one of the doctors who were previously standing at the nurse's station, escorted Chantal back out of the room.  

With her heart now pounding in her chest, Michelle watched helplessly as the door that Chantal had been holding open, slowly came to a close in front of her.  Realizing that she was now alone with Wade, Michelle closed her eyes and tried her best to gain at least some control over her own trembling frame.  Unfortunately, before she could accomplish the task, she heard the weak sound of Wade's voice call out to her.

"Michelle?"

After swallowing the lump that had instantly formed in her throat, Michelle wiped her eyes and took a deep breath.  There was no turning back now.  He knew she was in the room, and abandoning him once again in his condition wasn't an option her heart could endure.  She had to turn around and face him.  

Quickly wiping the moisture from her cheeks once again, Michelle lowered her gaze to the floor and slowly turned around.  The uncertainty of the situation, not allowing her to do anything more.

"Michelle....look at me."  he continued, the pain he was feeling, clearly evident by the tone of his voice.  "Please."

Feeling his eyes burning in to her, Michelle knew that she had no other choice, than to let go of the fears she felt inside and allow her eyes to drift upward.  Unfortunately, once her eyes met his, there was no stopping the emotions, or the flow of tears...from either of them.