A/N: Sorry to the 3 1/2 of you who read this...I've been really busy and unable to update but I promise the updates will be regular from her until the end of the story (which is pretty near). Now - without further ado, I present to you: Chapter 8!

-10 minutes later-

Kara's POV

Everything was burning. My stomach was on fire and my shoulder felt like someone was using hot coals for an ice pack. I tried to open my eyes, but it was harder than I thought. After what felt like ages, I was able to slowly lift my eyelids. The first thing I saw was a pair of light green eyes, not unlike my own.

"Hi, Kara," a low voice said. I opened my eyes farther and saw short, messy black hair. "How do you feel?" Natalie asked me. I was surprised she was still here, but it made me happy.

"Oh, wonderful, just wonderful," I replied. "Not. Everything hurts."

"I'm sorry," she replied as she shifted her weight uncomfortably. It looked like she was in a wheelchair.

"Are you all right? Why are you in a wheelchair?"

"Oh, it's no big deal. I cut my leg on a piece of that old fence while I was running away from Dan...but why are you worrying about me? I'm fine. You should be worried about yourself."

I gave her a weak smile. Was Natalie just being polite or did she really care?

"Okay, fine. What happened to me? After Dan shot me, I mean," I asked her.

"Well, the paramedics got you into the ambulance and while I was telling them about what happened, you went into shock. You-" She paused, almost as if to hold back a sob or something. I had to have been imagining things. "You almost died."

I was confused. I thought she liked Bridget! But if she did, and they were together, she wouldn't be sitting at my bedside in a hospital right now. Especially not after she had gotten hurt herself.

"What time is it? And it's still Friday, right?"

"Yes, it's still Friday, and it's-" She checked her phone. "-10:47."

"Please don't take this the wrong way, Natalie, because I'm really happy about it, but why are you here? I didn't think you liked me very much. What about Bridget?"

She hesitated for a moment, as if she were choosing her words very carefully. Her response wasn't what I was expecting. "Are you...lesbian?" Her tone was cautious.

I didn't know what to say. If there was even the slightest chance she was going to tell people, I didn't want to tell her the truth. "Who wants to know?" I asked wryly.

"Just me. I wouldn't tell anyone."

"You mean that? You'd better, because it's not nice to take advantage of someone in the hospital."

"I promise. Cross my heart," she said, drawing an imaginary X on her chest over her heart.

"Okay, well...I'm bi. I've been with a few guys before but I've had feelings for girls, too. You're lesbian, though, right?"

"Yeah. Bridget and I were together for about a year and a half. How did you find out?"

"It wasn't that hard. It was kind of obvious, actually. You guys are really adorable together," I told Natalie with a small smile. "But wait, you said 'were'...you guys aren't together anymore?"

"No, we just broke up at lunch today, actually. She's been really mean to me for a while now."

"I'm so sorry, Natalie! What did she say? If you don't mind my asking."

"She'd casually slip comments like, 'I never really noticed, but you're kind of weird-looking,' and then she'd try to cover them up with laughter. I would tell her that it hurt my feelings, but she wouldn't stop. I started to sit with other friends at lunch, but Bridget kept finding me and practically begging me to sit with her again. Sometimes I would, and other times I wouldn't. When I did, the teasing would start all over again. I just got so-I'm sorry. You don't need to hear all of this."

"It's fine. I asked," I replied gently. She sounded really sad, as if she didn't want the relationship to fail, which I'm quite sure she didn't. "I'm really sorry. I don't know if this would matter, but I think you're beautiful." The moment the words fell off my lips, I wish they hadn't. "Oh God," I whispered, half to myself, covering my mouth with my hand. In my head, I started to think, "Why do I do things like that? She doesn't need this right now. I always screw everything up."

Suddenly, Natalie reached up, pulled my hand away from my mouth and said, "You know what Kara? I think that's the nicest thing anyone has said to me in a long time. Thank you."

I could feel tears in my eyes. What kind of people did she hang out with if she never heard anything nice about herself? I closed my eyes and felt a few tears roll down my cheeks.

"Are you okay?" Natalie sounded worried.

"I was just thinking about the people you hang out with and how they must not be very nice if you never hear good things about yourself."

Natalie looked as though she was about to respond when a nurse entered.