"Let me guess," I said flatly, my eyes narrowing at the unsettling man that had just claimed he went way back with Hadley. "You and Hadley used to be best friends in high school, right?"

The man flashed an amused smile. "Why, how did you know?"

Okay. That was it.

I'd had enough of this shit today. I didn't need every creep this city had to offer coming up to me, telling me they knew my wife and that they were best friends. This was not normal. Why were things that were not normal following us around like the plague?

"Right," I said slowly. "Whatever. If you don't mind, I have more important things to do than stand around here talking to you."

I made to follow after the group of nurses that had just wheeled Hadley away, but a hand suddenly gripped my forearm and then I was being dragged down a small hallway that lead to the bathrooms.

"Oi! What the - !"

"Listen well, Archer Morales," the man said, shoving me up against the wall, grabbing fistfuls of my shirt. Looking down at the hands gripping my shirt, I noticed with a sinking feeling that he had the same tattoos that the other man and Hadley had. "Things are about to get ten times more complicated for you and for Hadley and for your unborn child. You'd do well to heed my words."

"Look, I don't even know - "

"Listen to me." He gave me a firm shake. "Do you want your wife and child to die?"

"What are you on about?" I demanded, shoving the man away from me. "Can't you just leave me and my wife alone? What did we ever do to you? Or are you in league with that creep with the mismatched eyes?"

The man's unnerving black eyes narrowed, his eyes twisting into a harsh line. "No, you daft idiot. I'm trying to help you. I'm one of the good guys."

Oh, I had a very difficult time believing that.

"Really?" I said harshly. "One of the good guys? Please, tell me more."

The man ignored this comment.

"If you really love Hadley like I think you do, then you'll do what I say. You can't stop what's coming for you, or for her. You wouldn't want anything to happen to your baby, would you?"

I glowered at him, rage boiling in the pit of my stomach.

He just had to hit that soft spot, didn't he?

"No," I snapped. "But I fail to see how this has anything to do with you."

The look that came over the man's face was one I didn't think I would ever know how to describe. He looked regretful, upset, worried, distraught, and so much more. It made him look a thousand years old, as if he had seen more sorrows in the world than anyone else in the world could ever begin to imagine.

"This has everything in the world to do with me," he muttered, not meeting my gaze. "I'm the reason you both are in this position in the first place."

What?

"How did you manage to work that one out?" I asked hesitantly. "I don't even - "

"Excuse me, sir."

The man and I both turned to look to the end of the short hallway where a nurse in purple scrubs was heading our way, a grim look on her face.

Oh, shit. This couldn't be good.

Before I even knew what I was doing, I'd already reached the nurse and was gripping her firmly by the shoulders, practically shaking her.

"Is my wife okay? Is everything alright? Is the - "

The nurse smiled slightly, holding up a hand to stop my rapid babble of words. "Your wife and the baby are just fine."

I breathed a huge sigh of relief, slumping against the wall. "Thank God."

The nurse chuckled. "Yes, well. You can go and see her now. We'll be keeping her for about an hour or so, just to make sure she and the baby get rest. She's very dehydrated and she needs as much rest as she can get. She should probably take a day or two off work. She shouldn't be as exhausted as she is now in her condition."

I nodded, listening intently. "Right. Thank you."

"Of course. Now, if you'll just -"The nurse caught sight of the man standing beside me, and she took an immediate step back, her face paling. I didn't blame her for looking so horrified. This man could probably kill someone by raising an eyebrow alone. "And you are?"

The man flashed another eerie grin. "Her father."

"R-Right," the nurse stammered before scuttling off without waiting for us to follow her.

I did not want to let this man anywhere near Hadley, but I wasn't stupid. I knew he would follow after me with little regard to anything I said or did.

"Come on, dad," I grumbled, giving the man a shove to the shoulder. "Let's go see how Hadley's doing."

"After you, son."

As we traced the nurse's footsteps, I sincerely hoped that this was some sort of hoax and that Hadley really didn't know this man at all. I wasn't sure if I could say the same for the man with the mismatched eyes. You didn't have a reaction like Hadley's about someone you didn't know.

Christ, this day really needed to end already.

The man and I went through the double doors past the ER entrance and down a hallway lined with rooms until she stopped outside the room marked 21R.

"She's in there," she said, gesturing to the door. "Go on in."

She scampered away before the man or I could say anything else.

I cautiously stepped into the room, so anxious to see Hadley, to see that she was okay for myself, I was having trouble walking properly.

Hadley was propped up against a pillow on the narrow bed inside the room. Her eyes were closed, but her breathing was much easier, even, than it had been before. She looked as if she had seen better days, but physically speaking? She was okay. And at this point, that was all I could ask for.

Her eyes opened as I stepped further into the room and a small smile pulled at her lips. "Hey, Archer."

"Hi, miele. How are you feeling?" I asked tentatively, moving to the overstuffed chair beside her bed.

"Okay," she answered tiredly after a moment. "I've been better. I'm just so tired, I - "

Her voice broke off abruptly as the door squeaked open and the man from earlier strolled in.

She stared at the man with her mouth open in surprise and then made this sort of choking noise.

The man gave Hadley a bleak smile. "Long time no see, kid."

"Death? What the hell are you doing here?"

I stared back and forth between the two of them, unsure of what the appropriate reaction was supposed to be.

Hadley had just called this man death. This man's name was death? She wasn't actually serious, was she?

"You're kidding," I said flatly. "Your name is Death."

"Oh, my name isn't just Death," the man said, his grim smile widening. "I am Death."

What was that supposed to mean? And what the hell was I supposed to say to that?

You're a lunatic, stay away from me and my wife?

I looked back at Hadley for help, but she was staring at the man with the same horrified look on her face. She didn't even seem to notice I was sitting next to her.

"What are you doing here, Death?" she asked, her voice growing snippy. "You never show up just for a friendly visit. It's been a decade. Please don't tell me you have another deal on the table."

"Not exactly," Death said, leaning away from the wall. He reached out and shoved the door shut, twisting the lock, before gripping the railing on the edge of the bed. "I'm afraid I have rather disconcerting news. And this isn't just about you this time."

Hadley's hands were clenched into fists and her eyes were narrowed. I'd only seen Hadley mad a fair few times - mostly at me - but she was mad.

"This has something to do with Havoc, doesn't it?" she mumbled through tight lips.

Who the hell was Havoc?

Death nodded. "Correct."

"Well, shit."

And then Hadley let loose with a string of the most creative use of curses words I'd ever heard in my entire life. Considering I was Italian, that was saying something.

This went on for about a good moment while she damned everyone to Hell, and then when she was finished that, she promptly burst into tears.

"Uh..."

I looked over at Death, unsure of what to do. Comfort her in some way or beg her to stop crying? I didn't do crying. But Death looked just as flustered as I felt.

I sincerely hoped she wasn't sobbing because she was pregnant. There was no way I could handle this degree of crying for another nine months.

"Come on, kid," Death said, reaching out to awkwardly pat Hadley's knee. "Stop crying."

"I can sure as hell cry if I want to!" she barked, actually making me duck for fear she was about to chuck something at Death. "I have every right to!"

Death shrugged. "It's not going to make anything easier."

"Why is he waltzing back into our lives now?" she demanded, her voice rising to outrageous heights. "I thought I was done and over with you and that freak and everything else to do with your unnatural world!"

Okay. I was starting to get a little aggravated. Seriously.

It was obvious now that this man and Hadley had some sort of past together, and that was all fine and dandy. I had no control over who she interacted with.

But I had the feeling that this had something to do with me for some reason. Call it crazy, but I wanted to know why that was.

"Will somebody please tell me what the hell is going on?" I interjected before Death or Hadley could speak again. "Neither of you are making any sense."

They ignored me.

"Look, kid." Death cleared his throat, looking very uncomfortable. "You knew getting into this that it was going to come with some repercussions.

"Yeah, well, that was nine years ago! I was sixteen!" Hadley exclaimed loudly. "That contract didn't exactly cover Havoc, now did it?"

Who was Havoc? What contract? Hadley signed a contract with Death?

My head was starting to throb painfully. This wasn't what any of us needed right now.

"It was worth it, wasn't it?" Death asked Hadley, his voice serious.

"Of course it was!" she shouted back. "I'd do it again in a heartbeat if I had to! And you just knew I was going to fall in love with him, didn't you? That just sweetened the whole deal, didn't it?"

Him? Who did she fall in love with? Was she talking about me?

Death shrugged again. "Oh, young love, you know. Girls and boys falling in love all the time and - "

"Cut the bullshit, Death!"

"I'm sorry, kid. I didn't mean to - "

"Okay, will someone please tell me WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?"

Hadley and Death abruptly stopped talking, looking over at me in shock as if they just realized that I was still in the room.

"Archer." The angered look fell from Hadley's face as she looked at me. "I know this all seems a little..."

"Off the wall," I suggested for her. "That's what this seems like. I get the fact that there's things you haven't told me, and that's fine, okay? Cool. But call me stupid if I'm wrong in thinking this has something to do with me."

Hadley swallowed hard, glancing back over at Death. He held up his hands in a gesture that said you're on your own.

"Look," she said, reaching out to grab my arm. I wanted to shake off her hand. "There are a lot of things about this that seem...confusing. It's not easy to explain, and you're not going to like it."

There were plenty of things I didn't like in this world. If there was one thing I didn't like, though, it was having secrets kept from me.

"Just tell me what this is about," I demanded. "Tell me."

I had no way of knowing if I was going to end up regretting saying that. That's what scared me.

What could Hadley possibly have to say?

"When we were juniors in high school," she began, her lips trembling, "you killed yourself."

I stared at her, my mouth opening in surprise.

That had literally been the last thing I was expecting her to say.

"Excuse me?" I said. "I don't think I heard you correctly."

Hadley's eyes narrowed. "I told you this was going to sound crazy, but this is the God honest truth, Archer."

"Funny. I'm having a hard time believing that."

"Clearly," Death cut in sarcastically.

"Shut up, Death.

There was a time in my life where my major depressive disorder had gotten the better of me. I stopped taking my medicine because I hated the zombie-like feeling that came with it. I didn't like feeling like I wasn't myself.

But in reality, I was a dumbass for weaning myself off the meds. There were reasons why I'd been put on the medicine in the first place. And I'm sure if psychologists knew what I'd been thinking back then I'd been put on even more medication. How else was an eleven year old supposed to react when he found his step-father lying dead on the kitchen floor?

The first time I'd had the thought that maybe it would just be better if I ended my life was when my biological father tried to contact me from prison just after my seventeenth birthday by writing me a letter. I'd tossed the letter into the fireplace without even bothering to open it.

It had just brought back unwanted memories of that night, memories that I didn't want to remember. And then everything had just gone down hill from there.

But despite the fact that there were times when I hadn't wanted to live anymore, I knew that I couldn't do that to my mom or my little sisters. Even if it annoyed the hell out of me sometimes, I knew they needed me.

Yet Hadley was saying that I'd actually done it? In what universe?

"I killed myself," I repeated slowly. "Right."

"And on the night of your funeral," Hadley went on, starting to babble. "Death showed up and offered me a deal. He said I had to go back in time twenty-seven days to stop you from killing yourself, and that if I failed I wasn't going to like the consequences."

I was still having a hard time believing the fact that the other guy in the room claimed to be Death, let alone the fact that I'd killed myself.

What else could I do but at least listen to the story Hadley had to tell?

"And you took the deal?"

Hadley nodded, her face growing even more pale.

"Why the hell did you do that?" I demanded, my anger suddenly spiking.

A stunned look crossed her face. "What do you mean?"

"Jesus, Hadley, you didn't even know me!" I exclaimed. "And you just decided to take a deal from some strange man claiming to be death to save my life and you didn't even know me? What the hell were you thinking?"

"I know I didn't know you," Hadley said, her voice rising to match mine. "But you want to know why I did it?"

"Why? Because you thought you could change me or you thought you - "

"I did it because of your mother. Archer, you have no idea how she looked at your funeral. There was no way I could've just let her son stay dead."

My chest immediately tightened and breathing became difficult at her words.

My mother? My mother had always been a soft spot before. That just made it even worse.

When I looked up at Hadley again, her eyes were wide and shimmering with tears. I sucked in a breath and slid lower in my seat, a hand at my forehead.

Oh, God. She really was telling the truth, wasn't she?

There was a lot you couldn't expect when it came to a woman like Hadley, but if there was one thing she was not it was an actress. I knew my wife.

There was no way on Earth she could bullshit tears like this.

"As much as I hate to intrude on this special moment between the two of you," Death interjected, stepping forward to the foot of the bed, "I'm afraid we have something of a more pressing matter to discuss at the moment, and I really can't afford to waste anymore time."

Hadley and I both shot murderous glares at Death.

I had no idea how this Havoc personally really was, but judging by Death's behavior and Hadley fainting at the mentino of him, he had to be a character of considerable horror.

"Okay," I said. "I get that this Havoc person is bad, but what can he honestly do to make this seem worse than it already is?"

Death leaned across the bed, gripping its handrails, and looked straight at me, making me instinctively lean back from the dark expression in his black eyes.

"That man is going to make you regret the day you were ever born. He's the reason my wife is dead, the reason why Hadley almost died in that car accident, and the reason why you're going to die if you don't play his game."

I stared at Death, not really sure if I was supposed to believe what he just said.

I was going to die? Hadley was going to die? The baby was going to die?

Death sure didn't look like he was joking about this, and Hadley sure didn't look all that chipper either. Glancing back over at her, I was suddenly afraid that she was going to throw up or faint again she was that sickly looking.

"Do you honestly expect me to believe this?" I said after a heavy beat of silence.

"I know it seems impossible, but it's the truth," Hadley said quickly, reaching out to grip my arm again. "I wouldn't lie about something like this."

What wasn't making sense to me was that if this was honestly the truth, then why had she waited nine freaking years to suddenly bring it up?

"Yeah, but not telling me about any of this is just the same as lying."

Hadley flinched, like I'd just slapped her across the face.

I said those words more harshly than I had intended. But they're exactly what I meant. I wasn't the type of person who got easily butt-hurt over something, but I was finding this a little...offensive, maybe. I was included in this whole thing, wasn't I? I should have a right to know about something concerning myself.

"Would you have believed me even if I'd told you?" Hadley asked quietly, not meeting my eye.

I thought about that one for a moment. And she was right.

"No. I wouldn't have. But I would've wanted to know anyway."

"Ahem."

"What?!" both Hadley and I shouted, glaring over at Death.

"I believe we were discussing Havoc," Death said dryly. "Not having couples' therapy."

I wanted to throw the nearest object I could reach at Death, which happened to be a lamp. The guy could at least have enough decency to let my wife and I discuss whatever the hell he'd just brought up that was supposedly going to change our lives.

"Fine," Hadley said, throwing her hands in the air. "Fine! Tell us what it is we need to know about Havoc and then leave. The Lord only knows you've screwed things up enough already, Death."

"Not my fault, kid." Death gripped the edges of the bed's railing and leaned closer towards Hadley and me, lowering his voice to lessen the chances of someone else hearing what was bound to be a very weird conversation. "Hadley. You already know how Havoc works and operates."

"Yeah, he's a sick bastard. I got that part."

Death rolled his eyes at Hadley's words but kept talking. "And you know very well that at the end of your twenty-seven days with Archer he wasn't particularly pleased that you managed to evade him, now was he?"

Hadley flinched again, as if what she was remembering at the moment was something very bad, and I reached out to lace my fingers through hers on an impulse. She squeezed my hand tightly, her eyes locked on Death.

"I know he wasn't happy," she muttered. "He almost killed me, for God's sake."