"JC!" Rachel Bass shouted in horror as she watched him collapse to the ground. She rushed to his side, dropping to her knees next to him. She stared down at the blood soaking through his shirt. A sob escaped as she pressed both her hands over the wound on his chest. 'His heart. So close to his heart,' her mind screamed. Tears dropped from her eyes.

"No!" Addison screeched seeing JC lying on the ground. The gun was still raised and her eyes narrowed at the blonde leaning over JC. "You bitch! You see what you did!"

"Me!" Rachel shrieked, turning her head to stare at Addison. "You shot him!" She looked back down at JC, his face was deathly pale. "Come on JC, stay with me. Stay with me," she pleaded.

"Ra...chel..."

"No no," she placed a finger on JC's lips. "Don't try to talk. Save your strength. God," she cried. "Why you'd push me out of the way? Why did you push me out of the way? What were you thinking?" She looked up as Jimmy fell on JC's other side. He had a handful of kitchen towels.

"Had...to...save..." JC gasped out. He tried to lift his hand, but his arm felt too heavy. "Couldn't let...hurt...you..."

As Jimmy pressed the towels to JC's wound, Rachel gripped JC's hand in hers. She held the back of his hand to her cheek, closing her eyes when she felt the soft caress of his finger. Sirens wailed in the distance. 'Hurry.' She pleaded. "Help's almost here C. Just hang on. You have to hang on for me."

"Voice...mail...wrong," JC coughed. He tasted the metallic in his mouth. He grimaced and slowly blinked. He closed his eyes feeling Rachel's hand on his forehead. "Love...you. Always...only...you."

"No damnit!" Addison yelled angrily hearing JC's whispered words. This wasn't how it was supposed to be. JC was supposed to love her! Rachel was supposed to leave giving her the opportunity to move in and make JC realize how good they'd be together. "This is your fault!" She aimed the gun back on Rachel. "I hope you rot in hell."

Rachel eyed the gun; her eyes wide in terror. She gulped and closed her eyes waiting. She flinched when she heard the shot but felt no resulting pain. Opening her eyes she saw Matt and Addison struggling for the gun. Looking back down at JC, she saw his eyes closed. He looked paler. "Stay with me JC," she cried. She pressed her hands over his wound. "Please don't leave me, JC. Stay with me, JC. I need you to stay with me."

Shouts soon filled the room. Rachel leaned over JC as hands grabbed at her. "No... JC..."

"Let the paramedics take over," Matt gripped Rachel's shoulders, lifting her away from JC. He held her against him as she cried. He stared unblinking at his friend lying deathly still on the ground. There was a lot of commotion going on as paramedics shouted orders. Police officers swarmed the living room. Addison was crying hysterically.

"What happened?" Rachel cried clutching Matt; her hands gripped his shirt tightly. "I came to grab a few things and... oh God," she cried louder. "I can't lose him Matt."

"Shhh," Matt held her tighter. He was in shock. Everything had spiraled quickly out of control. He had never expected Addison to have a gun and to shoot JC. No, not shoot JC. Addison had been ready to shoot Rachel. JC had pushed her out of the way.

"Where are you taking him?" Rachel asked, watching as JC was loaded onto the stretcher.

"Cedars-Sinai," a medic quickly replied before they rushed out of the house. Sirens soon wailed as the ambulance took off.

"Are you hurt?" A police officer approached Matt and Rachel.

"No," Matt stated. "We're not hurt. The second shot hit the wall," he nodded toward the bullet hole in the wall. "She tried to shoot Rachel."

"We're gonna need your statements..."

"I..." Rachel's voice cracked. "I need to go to the hospital." The cop blurred in front of her as more tears filled her eyes. "I need to be at the hospital."

"Calm down, Ma'am," the young officer reached out, placing a comforting hand on Rachel's arm. "We'll get you to the hospital."

~*~

Matt paced back and forth in the waiting room. Every so often his eyes would stray to the woman curled up in a chair in the back corner. She hadn't moved. She was in the same position - knees to her chest, arms wrapped around her legs - as she had been from the moment they arrived. Word had quickly spread about JC being shot and gossip rags and reporters arrived at the hospital. Security was currently working overtime to keep them away.

He was torn between being here from his friend and wanting to go to the police station and make them arrest him for his part in today's events. He may not have pulled the trigger, but he was still just as guilty as Addison. If he hadn't cheated on Renee with Addison. If he had told Renee about it instead of letting himself be blackmailed by Addison. If he had seen Addison for the crazy, unstable woman she was....His actions had brought so much pain and heartache to three of his best friends.

"Matt!"

Matt turned around sighing in relief seeing Lance rushing toward him; Michael right behind him. "Lance, thank God."

"What happened? How's JC? Rachel? How'd he get shot? What's going on?" Lance asked quickly, his green eyes searching Matt's face. He tried to ignore the blood on his clothes but it kept drawing his gaze.

Matt rubbed his hands over his face. "Rachel's fine. She wasn't harmed. Addison went...crazy."

"How is JC?"

Matt shook his head. "I don't know. They haven't told us anything. It..." his eyes slid close and he swallowed the lump in his throat. "It doesn't look good Lance."

Lance felt an intense, severe pain come over him at Matt's words. God...JC... He looked past Matt and spotted his sister, curled up as small as she could make her body. Sparing Matt another look he brushed by him going to his sister. "Rachel..." he spoke softly, touching her knee lightly.

Rachel lifted her head, staring at her twin brother. Her cheeks were tear-stained, eyes red-rimmed. She jumped up from the chair, collapsing in his arms. She held Lance tightly as she sobbed against his chest. Her cries were loud and heart wrenching.

Lance felt his own tears start to fall listening to his sister cry. He could feel her pain. He wished there was something he could do but he just held her tightly and allowed her to cry. As he rubbed his hands up and down her back, he whispered in her ear. Anything he thought that would ease his sister's pain. He knew it was fruitless though; nothing would take away the pain other than JC surviving.

"He said he loved me," she cried. "The last thing he said was he loved me. Lance..."

"Shhh...." Lance shushed his sister. He threaded his hand through her blonde hair, cupping the back of her head. He pressed her head harder against his chest. He could feel her tears soaking through his shirt; could feel their wetness against his chest. He tried to imagine the scene that happened at JC's place in his mind though he had no details. All he knew was Addison shot JC. He tried to imagine how he'd feel if Michael was the one in surgery and he was stuck in the waiting room facing the unknown. Pain ripped through his heart and he quickly pushed the thought away.

She lifted her head from Lance's chest, staring into the green eyes she knew so well. They were filled with tears much like her own. "He pushed me out of the way. She was going to shoot me and he pushed me out of the way. Why did he do that?"

"Because he loves you," Lance answered feeling new pain wash over him. Everything changed drastically. His sister could have been the one who was shot. She could have been the one in surgery right now or worse... He swallowed roughly and pushed Rachel's head back into his chest as another wave of tears hit. "He pushed you out of the way because he loves you."

"If he d-dies, I'm gonna bring him back to life and kill him myself. Damnit. How dare he do this!" She clutched the t-shirt on Lance's back tightly in her firsts.

"He was protecting you. I'd do it for you, for Michael. You'd do it for me and if the roles were reversed you would have done the same thing for him," Lance murmured in her hair.

"I never...got to...tell him," her words were broken by her cries. "I never got to tell him I loved him."

"He knows, Rachel; he knows."

"Does he?" She stared at Lance. "How? I never told him. Why didn't I tell him? I had all this time to tell him and I never did and now..."

"Hey," Lance cupped his sister's face, holding her still so she could look at him. "You can't think like that. You have to stay positive. JC will make it out of this and you will get to tell him you love him and he'll tell you he loves you and you'll finally be together. Something that should have happened a long time ago."

"My God Lance, he's been a part of my life since I was seventeen," she blinked and felt more tears spill from her eyes, hitting Lance's hands. "I live with him. He's my best friend. What am I gonna do if he dies?"

"Don't think like that," Lance pressed Rachel's head back into his chest. "You can't think like that. I know it's hard, but you have to stay positive. You have to know that he pushed you out of the way to protect you; that he'll do everything in his power to come back to you. Don't give up on him."

"How did it come to this?"