I don't own CR, I don't even own the clinic.

Thank you to all of your support!

If you haven't read "Rose Garden", "Winning Roses: A Nate Drabble", "Sweet Tooth", or "Painting Wild Flowers" and I would appreciate it if you did.

This story is dedicated to the clinic I attend. Please have hope.

Title: Kasey

"Kasey isn't coming back." What they really mean is "Kasey is dead." They take down the pictures of him, one by one until nothing is left. The kids from our original group are silent, mourning the loss. Kasey had been here at the clinic the longest, the focus of hope in our group, and now he's gone. Javi and I have been assigned to the task of going through his belongings to get it ready for shipping. Logan, Kasey's best friend at the hospital, is scratching another tally on the bottom of the pool table.

"Thirty-four out of fifty and sixteen left to go. Odds aren't looking that great for us." He chuckles darkly before locking eyes with me. I have to break away first because I'm thinking the same thing. You're next.

"Shut up." Javi grits out his hands trembling.

"What did you say, Javi? I couldn't hear you."

"I said shut up, Logan. We're all scared and angry but there's no point in scaring the newbies or Ella." Logan stalks over to where we are, and I realize that I'm crying. He looks at me than Javi. Logan grabs Kasey's prized possession, his baseball trophy, and starts slamming it into the wall.

Amber is screaming at him to stop and Nikki is calling for help. Javi's face hardens and it's like slow motion as he tackles Logan to the ground. Andy springs in to action as things start falling off the wall, yanking Javi off of Logan. About that time Mindy and Blake run in and start lecturing about how we need to get along. Broken tables, chairs, pictures, not to mention the gaping hole in the wall. I look around the room and everything just seems shattered, the people included.

"What is that?" Tori asks with her nine year old innocence. Her attention is on a newly exposed piece of wall. I walk over to see what she's talking about, but the sight leaves me speechless.

Posted to the wall are pictures and newspaper articles of all of us, from the workers at the clinic to the kids who are receiving treatment. From Javi in boxing match to little Tori playing hopscotch in the hospital lobby, everyone was celebrated, even the ones who are gone. Everyone looks at the wall in awe. Apparently Kasey had made a collage of all our greatest moments, and had also worked to make it the best kept secret ever.

There's a photo of Logan holding a golfing trophy.

Logan plays golf?

I wasn't the only one learning new things about my fellow clinicians.

"Javi, you do boxing?"

"Laura, can you teach me how to do gymnastics?"

People voice their surprise at these new discoveries, but the only thought in my head is why didn't I know these things before? Hadn't we been together for a few years now?

Finally Logan taps me on the shoulder and breaks my concentration.

"He left you a letter… oh and a late congrats on the whole singing thing." His lip is split open but he tries to smile as he hands me the envelope.

'Thanks, you too at the golf tournament"

I flip the letter over in my hands a few times, noting that it was in fact addressed to me.

"Well are you gonna read it or what?" Blake asks, making me notice that I had the attention of all the eyes in the room.

I take a shaky breath and break the seal.

"Dear Ella-belle,

And everyone else.

If you've found this letter, it's pretty safe to say that y'all have packed all my stuff to be sent to my mom. It's also a pretty good guess that you've found my "wall of fame."

To the newbies, take a look around you. This place can either be a safety or an absolute hell, if you let it be. I put pictures of all my favorite moments of y'all at the clinic for that reason alone." Sniffles are heard and I glance around the room before I continue again.

"To the originals,

First I'd like to say that I'm sorry for adding to the tally, it's never easy to lose someone. Secondly, y'all need to get y'alls act together. How many of you knew that Tori's name is short for Lotris and not Victoria? Some of you think like 'this is the end, why bother anyway?' That's why you should care that much more.

To Mindy and Blake,

Please re-paint the walls. Puke green is gross."

Blake laughs loudly and wipes his eyes slightly.

"Finally, it comes to you Ella. You have got to be one of the strangest women I know." I give a watery laugh and I hold the tears in a much as possible.

"No one else knows how to make a child calm down while getting their blood work done, but one else can be quite as terrifying as you can be. It's now your turn to be 'the person who's been here the longest.' But you need to do better thank Mark, Jane, and even me. You need to live; you need to be a ray of hope."

I want to stop but I can't help myself any more.

"I lied, I'm addressing the whole group again. Sorry Ella, you're not done yet. They tell us that we don't have an immune system, but we seem to be immune to each other. There are a few things I hope you never grow immune too.

The first loud crack of a baseball and a wooden bat at the first game of the season.

The way medicine feels when it dissolves on the tip of your tongue

Having a good laugh with your friends

And most importantly

The way a sunset looks, you never know which one will be your last.

I know it's incredibly corny and cheesy but I don't care. After all, y'all wanted to know why I always sat in the window seat. Plus, it was something that Jane taught me and I decided that she was right.

Like you I didn't, and don't, have an immune system. But there's one thing I am immune to,"

My voice cracks on the last sentence,

"The end."

A/N: This is a semi-true story in the fact that the Auto Immune System Deficiency that Ella has is real. I actually have AISD and am trying to raise awareness. This story won't be very long, maybe a few chapters.