Michael's P.O.V

Within five minutes, I saw her come into the waiting room. She was with another girl, and they looked the complete opposites of each other. They hadn't noticed us yet.

It was the first time I had seen Maria wearing something other than a dress or her uniform, she had just jeans and a long sleeve shirt on. Her hair was tied up in a tight ponytail.

She looked beautiful, but there was something about her that seemed...different. She looked pale and withdrawn, and I started to worry. Where had she been while I was gone?

I got up to make my way over to her when Doctor Millstone walked into the room. His face was grave and purposeful. This wasn't going to be good.

Maria got to him first. "Doctor Millstone? Isn't Destiny still in surgery? She has at least another hour, I'm sure." He looked at Maria and cleared his throat.

"We've had to call it off earlier than we intended. She had a severe bleed and we had to stop the procedure so the damage would be kept to the absolute minimum"
"What damage? Is she okay?" I could hear her voice cracking as she spoke, I went and stood beside her but didn't touch her, even if the thing I wanted to do most was to grab her and run.
"I'm afraid that the surgery has caused a significant amount of brain damage, we had to induce her into a coma to lessen the extent. We can't be sure at this stage how much of the brain is damaged, but it is likely she will be paralysed from the waist down. If so, she is very unlikely to walk again. I'm very sorry. Excuse me, I have to inform her parents"

As he walked away she grabbed his arm "Please tell me that this isn't happening, she will be fine, won't she?"

He sighed. "Miss Rose, both you and her parents knew the risks involved with brain surgery. We are very thankful that we were able to stop in time before she died"
I could see her shaking."You might as well not have bothered!"

I stepped in this time. "Maria, I'm sure they did everything they could, we have to be thankful that she's alive" She stared at me, tears brimming in her eyes.

The doctor continued "Thank you sir. Miss, we caught her at the right moment and so she may make a good recovery. And she is in the best place in order to do so" He walked away.

"I- I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS!" She stormed past me and her friend who tried to intervene.

"Look M, just calm down, it's her parents who need to worry, not you, she's not your concern" Maria whilrled around and gripped her shoulders, she looked livid, there was no way that anything was going to get in her way.

"And I'm not yours" She carried on down the corridor. The girl looked upset.

"It's okay, she's just out of sorts... um, who are you may I ask?"

The girl looked at me and raised her eyebrow.

"You can ask... it's Roxanne. And don't worry, I know who you are" She winked at me then slumped on a chair. "Looks like she's not in the mood for me at the moment"

I looked in the direction of where Maria had gone. "I'll go after her...I just... she shouldn't be storming around in a place like this" I heard a snort of laughter.

"Sure you can go after her, she's all yours, I'm not going near her in that state, she'll pull me to pieces, I've never seen her like that before"

As I left her to chat to Matt, I couldn't help but agree. Something was definitely wrong, and I had a feeling that it was something more than just Destiny.

Maria's P.O.V

It had to be the worst day of my life. First Craig, now this. I was going to lose everything I cared about. I knew I should have got back to her ward sooner, I never had the chance to say goodbye before the Destiny I knew was lost forever.

I hadn't meant to lash out like I did, I was never violent, I didn't understand what was happening at all, I was very emotional all the time, over things that shouldn't really matter.

I found Jack's empty office and sat down. I looked out of the open door as people walked past. I wondered if their children were going to survive the night.

I put my head in my hands and squeezed my eyes shut. I wasn't going to cry. I had to be strong for all the other children, not a nervous wreck.

I heard a door close and I looked up.

"Maria... can I come in?" It was Michael. He looked cautious as if he was dealing with a small child. I guess that was how I was behaving.

"You're already in, aren't you?" Why was I being so harsh?

He came and sat down opposite me, wheeling the chair closer to mine.

"Look. I know that this is bothering you okay? But Destiny will be fine eventually. You have to be grateful that she's alive"
"YOU CALL THAT ALIVE? She's in a coma, she won't be able to walk and her brain is so damaged, she won't even be able to talk or feed herself or function like a normal child. Destiny is dead, Michael, or as good as."
He took my hand in his.
"Maria, don't say that. You've got to have faith. If you don't think she's going to make it, how will Destiny? You have to help her fight this. You should know more than anyone that children can overcome the worst things" My heart sank to my stomach.

"You're right. I'm so... I'm so sorry. I don't want to lose her... and I-" I couldn't stop the tears this time. He pulled me onto his lap as I sobbed. Why was he so good to me? And it was all going to end tomorrow if Roxanne's plan didn't work...

"I don't want to lose you either, Michael" He held me tighter, I felt his warm breath on my neck.

"You won't lose me Maria, I'm right here" He wiped my tears away and traced my face with his thumb. I closed my eyes as his lips pressed onto mine.

He ran his hands over my back, sending tingles rushing through my body. I put my hands around his neck and the kiss deepened. Suddenly he lifted me and my breath caught as I was placed so I was straddling him in the chair. I pushed my fingers through his curls and I heard a slight growl in his chest.

I would have let it all go right there, but there was something holding me back.
"Michael... " I panted "I think we should stop"

He immediately pulled away from me and sat me back on the bed.

"Maria, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to-" I grabbed his hand and played with his fingers.
"It's okay, it's not you... just... not now" He looked at me and I saw the passion still burning in his eyes. I leaned into his ear and whispered.
"Believe me I want to"

I felt his breath catch "You could always come back with me..." I felt really bad for leading him on like that, but I had to stay at Roxanne's... to protect him.

"Michael... we can't. What about the press?" He looked at me intently, his eyes sad.

"I guess I don't care. You're really bothered about them, aren't you? I'm sorry, if there was a way that we could be together and not be followed around by paparazzi, you know that I would make it possible. I'd do anything for you, I would never let them hurt you"
"They don't bother me if they don't bother you... It's not them... as such... I just don't want them to hurt you either" He nodded and stood up but he looked confused. I sighed, if only he knew what I was thinking, it would be so much easier.

The door suddenly burst open "I hope I'm not interrupting anything." She shot me a look and raised an eyebrow.

Michael cleared his throat "Absolutely not Roxanne. I was just trying to calm her down" She looked between the two of us and smirked.

"Well that's one way of putting it... anyway I need to take M home, she's had quite a rough day don't you think?" The understatement of the century, I thought.

"That's fine, we were just coming to find you actually" I crossed my arms and glared at her, she was going to get a piece of my mind once he'd left.

We made our way down to the waiting room again. I couldn't help but think about how we had nearly... I could have agreed to his offer, but Craig was hanging over my mind like a leech.

There was something else though that made me stop. I couldn't put my finger on it but maybe it was difficult to be in the mood when there was a child down the corridor clinging to life. But I didn't think it was that either.

Matt said his goodbye to Roxanne, they had probably done a little more than talk themselves.

Michael came and hugged me. It was short but he managed to whisper "I'll come by tomorrow" in my ear.
All too soon, we went our separate ways, Michael and Matt heading to the back entrance and Roxanne and me to the front.

For all the rest of the evening I couldn't think of anything else other than the fact that I had turned Michael Jackson down, for a reason I couldn't explain, and that his last words to me were like a nail to the coffin that was us.

*