Epilogue

My eyes slowly fluttered open. White walls. White bed. Colourful flowers.

Hospital.

I groaned and let my eyes open fully. I turned my head to my left. A violent pain shot through my neck. I whimpered and turned my head the other way. Sitting in a chair next to my hospital bed was Ryan. His body was slumped against the wall to the right of the chair, his sandy brown hair mussed and sticking up. The ever green eyes were tightly shut. I smiled. He really was adorable when he was sleeping.

I tried lifting my various body parts. Legs, check. Fingers, check. Arms...an IV allowed limited mobility. I cringed. I hated needles. I noticed a patch of gauze on my right shoulder. A dark red line of blood seeped through the white material. My knife wound. My eyes shot up to the door as a nurse, dressed in the same white that decorated the entire hospital, entered the room. She smiled brightly when she saw me awake.

“It's good to see you up. You've been out for while. How are you feeling, Dr. Amos?” She said, picking up the chart at the end of my bed.

“I'm okay, right now.” I said softly. She nodded.

“Can I get you anything?”

I shook my head. It hurt. I directed my eyes towards Ryan.

“How long has he been here?” I whispered. The nurse looked up from the clipboard and smiled.

“He hasn't left since you got here.”

I smiled to myself and looked over at Ryan's sleeping face. “Do you think I could have a few minutes with him alone?”

The nurse nodded and smiled. “Sure thing, sweetie. I'll be back in ten minutes with some meds.”

I nodded and waited for her to leave before I turned my head to Ryan.

“Ryan!” I whispered. His eyes shot open.

“Oh my God.” He smiled upon seeing my awake. Getting up from the chair, he pulled it over closer to my bed and sat.

“Hi.” I murmured, not knowing what to say. Ryan smiled down at me and grabbed my hand.

“Hey,” He began softly, “You've been out for a long time.”

I groaned as I shifted in the bed. “How long?”

He shrugged. “A day or two.”

“What happened?” I asked, laying my head back against the pillow. Ryan sighed and brought a hand to my face, brushing my hair away from the eyes.

“It's a long story.”

“Tell me.”

Ryan smiled. “I called back up and went to Rose's place. Door was wide open when we got there. She left a not on the kitchen table saying she had to take care of something before we could take her in. She obviously went to your place, broke in, and attacked you. We got there just before she tried to finish you off. You got pretty beat up, kiddo. Concussion, stab wound. You lost a lot of blood.” He brought my one hand to his lips.

“How'd she get into my apartment?” I asked. Ryan lowered the hand and traced circles on the skin.

“She talked to the landlord. Same thing I did. He gave her a key just like that.” He shook his head. I moaned.

“I need to talk some sense into that man. He can't go around giving everyone keys to my place.”

Ryan smiled. “They cuffed her, interrogated her. I stayed here with you while they did. Chaytor called just yesterday. Sent me the whole tape of the interrogation though the phone.”

“What did she say?”

“Confessed to everything. Not surprised. Anyway, she says Hadley was a random victim, just someone who pushed her last button. Stabbed her with the shoe, cut off the head, and dumped her in the ravine. Killed Nichlson during a therapy session at his own home. Same deal. Stabbed, decapitated, dumped. She admitted to sleeping with Tacolini. Took his money, cut off his head. Says that was here favourite one of the bunch. Liked the power. Liked watching him beg for his life. She's a psycho, that one.”

I sat there and took it all in. “Did they find the saw she used?”

Ryan nodded. “Chaytor's team searched her car. Found it in the back. Trace links the blood on the blade to all three vics.”

I sighed. “Did she place the thong there after all?”

Ryan sighed this time. “Actually, no. That was Whitney. Wanted to cover it up so we wouldn't think he killed Tacolini.”

I shook my head and sighed. I tilted my head to look at Ryan. He'd dropped my hand and was staring at the floor. I watched as he slowly looked up and sighed. His eyes seemed a little misty.

“Thought I was gonna lose you, Katie.”

My own eyes teared up. I'd never seen Ryan like this before. I grabbed his hand.

“Ryan...” I saw tears fall from the green pools. My own tear spilled over.

“Ryan...Please, don't. Don't.”

He shook his head and looked at me as the tears fell. I joined him. I watched as he leaned over me and I felt salty water drip onto my cheek. Ryan leaned down and pressed his lips to mine.

When he pulled back, he kissed my forehead and looked at me. The tears had stopped, but the water still remained around his lower lids.

“I'm in love with you, Katie,” He whispered, “I don't know what I would have done if that b***h...” He stopped mid sentence and pulled back to look at me. My heart hitched in my throat. Had Ryan just seriously used the 'L' word? I sighed inwardly. What the hell.

“I love you too.”

I watched as a small smile crept to his lips. He looked down at the floor.

“We need to re think where we're at with each other.”

Oh yeah.

Definitely.

THE END.

Author's Note

That's it, folks. That's the end. :D

What a wild ride.

Anyways, I'd like to take like, five seconds to say something.

Thank you, to all of the reviewers who followed this story from start to finish. Your support and feedback is greatly appreciated.

You're welcome to follow me on fictionpress.com as well! My username there is Just Another Lonely Girl. :)