Author's Note – Sorry this chapter is so long, guys. I would've made cuts but I didn't feel like chopping up my story.

Sunday

            The sun seemed to stretch its gallant arms of light across the small town of Everwood every morning, painting a clear and beautiful portrait of a little slice of heaven. Not this morning, however. A dark tide of fog seemed to eerily swoop through Everwood, and the sun was no where to be seen through the giant grey blanket of clouds looming over the town.

Andy noticed this as he grabbed the morning paper, fearing the worst was coming – a snowstorm. Walking back inside, Andy made sure the door was shot behind him to keep the precious warmth inside from escaping. Setting the newspaper on the table, Andy considered making some breakfast for his meager family. The sudden image of his kids being sent to the hospital for food poisoning broke this consideration. That and the shock from Delia jumping onto his back.

"Morning honey," Andy chuckled, adjusting his back for the extra body hanging on him. "We're going out for breakfast after church this morning."

"Yay!" Delia cried in relief from the knowledge her dad wouldn't be cooking their breakfast.

"I'd love to give you a ride all day, but someone needs to wake Ephram up. You guys have twenty minutes to get ready."

Delia jumped off of his back and ran upstairs. Slowly and quietly opening the door to Ephram's room, Delia's eyes scanned Ephram's bed but didn't find anyone. Taking a few steps into the room, Delia ran her eyes back and forth looking for her brother. Just as she was about to yell his name, something jumped from the closet and grabbed her from behind. Pinning her to the bed, her older brother slowly brought his arms down.

"Can't run now…" Ephram laughed, his charming grin creeping across his face.

"No, not that!" Delia yelled in horror as she valiantly tried to escape his arms. In an instant her brother started tickling her. "No! Stop please!" Delia gasped through forced giggles.

Grinning, Ephram got up and let his sister go. "Good morning to you too, Del. I think you've had enough torture. Go get ready."

An adorable smile glued to her face, Delia ran off to her room. Ephram, who had already gotten dressed, went downstairs.

"Couldn't stop yourself from giving her the tickle treatment, eh?" Andy asked.

"Of course not," Ephram casually responded, getting a drink of orange juice.

Laughing, Andy marched up the stairs to get ready. Ephram put the carton of juice back into the fridge and looked out the window, stealing a glance of the dark scenery. Good to know that not every morning in Everwood is perfect.

****

Dr. Andy Brown packed the medical equipment back into his bag and stood up to face Nina. This was the second house call today, but Andy didn't mind this one as much. Nina's was his neighbor, making the trip pretty quick.

"Well, it looks like Sam's got the flu that's going all around town. I left the medicine for Sam on the counter. Just give him lots of liquids and make sure he gets lots of rest. He should be up and about in a few days. In the meantime, I suggest you be careful. Wouldn't want you catching that flu, too," Andy reported, patting Sam on the head.

Nina smiled warmly and patted Sam on the back, sending him off to go play. "I can't thank you enough, Andy. Dr. Abbott never did house calls."

"Well actually I also came here for some help, Nina."

Nina pointed to a seat at one end of the table and took the one opposite of him. "Okay, what do ya need?"

"I've got a problem. See, Ephram likes this girl. Though she's been playing a game of cat and mouse with my son, she's also got a boyfriend. This boyfriend wants to be Ephram's friend. Now this girl wants to cut off any close ties with Ephram. Ephram's hurt, I can tell. He's been putting on a brave face, trying to pretend nothing's bothering him. Now my limited parenting skills can point out he's in a world of hurt. I just don't know how to help him though."

Nina first looked overwhelmed by all this, but accepted it with another warm smile. "Wow, and I thought Sam screaming in hissy fit about not getting a cookie was a big parenting problem, but this? I'm impressed, Andy. You're coping pretty well."

"What do you think I should do, Nina? I want to help my son. I just don't know how."

            "Welcome to the world of parenting, Andy. You aren't gonna be able to have solutions to every problem that comes up, especially when you're dealing with a teenager. And this problem with Amy? Just another bump in the road -"

            "He told you about Amy?" Andy asked, shocked.

            Nina grinned. "The day of Colin's operation. He needed advice."

            "It took two months of trying to bond with him in this town just for me to figure out he liked Amy," Andy laughed.

            "Anyways, he's a teenager Andy, and there are going to be rough times in his life no matter how hard you try to help. It'll pass. Until then, all you can do is just continue being the great father you're trying to be. I'll talk to him sometime," Nina calmly offered, trying to reassure her neighbor.

            "Thanks Nina."

****

            Storming down the cold streets of Everwood at nightfall, Ephram began to wonder why he was freezing his butt out there. Oh yeah. I had to get out of the house. Couldn't stand dad constantly glaring at me every time I entered a room, constantly asking me if I was ok. Not sure where his random movement took him, Ephram found himself standing in front of Mama Joy's Diner. Shrugging, Ephram walked in.

            Taking a seat at the counter, Ephram pulled a stack of comic books from his bag and set them on the counter. A voice caught his ear before he could read one.

            "'Evening, Ephram. What can I get for ya?" Nina asked in a cheerful manner.

            "Uh…a lemonade would be great," Ephram muttered, his attention more focused on the glossy covers of this month's manga import.

            A puzzled look crept on Nina's face. "Lemonade? On a night like this?"

            Ephram nodded, his eyes returning to the first page.

            Setting the glace of lemonade by Ephram, careful not to let it spill on his precious comic books, Nina set both hands on the counter.

            "Anything you wanna talk about?" Nina asked, still unsure of how to get the boy's attention.

            "If you wanted to ask me about what's going on, you could've just said so. I know by now my dad's probably asked you for help already," Ephram replied, a smirk on his face as he took a sip of lemonade.

            Nina laughed. "Ok, Ephram, ya caught me. So you feel like telling me about what's bothering you?"

            Setting down his comic book, Ephram finally made eye contact with Nina. "Ok, sure. The thing is, I feel guilty. I had somewhat of an argument with Amy a few nights ago. I was laying a little more sarcasm into the conversation than I should have. She was trying to be serious, because she was obviously afraid that I might tell Colin that she kissed m– scratch that. Anyways, she asked what I could possibly have in common with Mr. Perfect, and I reacted pretty badly. I mean, she was right. In her eyes I probably don't have anything in common with the most perfect guy in her universe. She tried to take it back, but I told her to leave. I was jerk. I even sarcastically threatened to tell Colin if he asked," Ephram let out, speaking in one of his faster voices.

            "Guilty? Ephram, she hurt your feelings. She said some things she couldn't have meant, and after how I hear she's been treating you lately, you had every right to be angry with her at that point."

            "Amy was the first person that welcomed me to Everwood. The first friend I made here, and the only person I really care about in this whole town. She went through four months of emotional trauma when the one guy she loves is in a coma. He finally wakes up, but has no memory of her. She's afraid she might've lost the guy she loves, and she's got no one to explain her pain to. Putting up with me for the past few months probably added to the stress in her mind, and when she gets caught in a trap where she's forced to cut our friendship, I snap at her." Ephram gave a light bitter laugh. "You know, I was the one that told her to back to Colin. I got angry at the results of something I told her to do."

            "Ephram, listen to me. I know she filled that enormously crack in your life that started to form when your mom died, but you need to know something." Staring at the youth with absolute serious, Nina continued, "You filled the gaps in her life. And she probably knows that. And I'm pretty sure that deep inside she still really does carry about you, but just doesn't know what to do. Either way, I think you should talk to her. She's been sitting over there playing board games with her grandparents all night." Nina pointed at the happy trio playing a game of Risk.

            Ephram smiled weakly but shook his head. "No, I don't think so. She and I still aren't talking and I think she's happier that way."        

            Nina gave another one of her concerned looks but nodded and got back to wiping the counter. "Just remember, Ephram. You have nothing to feel guilty about."

****

 "She won again!" Irv jokingly threw the dice down as he stood up and stretched.

            Edna roared with laughter from her mighty victory at the war of Risk. "What can I say, Irv? You never play military games with a war veteran and expect to win. You know, you should never have surrendered Venezuela to me. You might've been able to keep North America a little longer if you'd diverted more troops to that territory."

            "Yeah, yeah. I'm gonna go get the poker cards and chips from the truck. I know I can beat you at that game," Irv grumpily mumbled, leaving the diner.

            Edna gave her granddaughter a curious look while the two were packing up the game pieces. "You okay, Grover?"

            A fake smile flashed on Amy's face. "Yeah I'm fine, grandma. Why do you ask?"

            "Now look, kiddo. You know I love it when you play games with me and your grandpops, but shouldn't you be out with your boyfriend?" Edna asked.

            Amy gave her a serious look. "Don't tell anyone, but I needed a night away from all that kind of chaos in my life."

            "And I thought you'd be happy by Hart's return. What's wrong?"

            "I don't know. Everything's just really…different from what I'd imagined of his awakening," Amy whispered.

            "Look, I know these are hard times for you, Grover. But you know you've got lots of friends to help you through this, don't you?"

            Amy rolled her eyes. "There would be one friend I'd normally go to for help, but after the way I've treated him for….I'd say just about forever, I don't think I can go to him anymore."

            Edna set the Risk box under the table and stared straight at Amy with concerned eyes, wanting to help her precious granddaughter any way she could. Amy took a long sip of hot chocolate.

"A few months ago we were on a field trip to the silver mines. He asked me if we would become strangers once Colin came back. I promised him that would never happen. I broke that promise," Amy confessed. "He was always there for me, never once questioning what I was doing. He's been supportive of my waiting for Colin to wake up from the beginning, not caring about his own personal costs. I first met him hoping he would be the key to waking Colin up. Now, after all this time, after all the good he's done for me and the pain I've given in return, I made a stupid mistake that cost me one of the most miraculous friendships I've had in my entire life." A few tears rolled down Amy's face.

            "Well then I think the best thing you can do is apologize and make things right again, because the only thing I know is that you seemed happier when before Colin woke up, before you knew about his amnesia, before you learned that the man you loved isn't there. And if your relationship with this new guy was the source of all that now-lost happiness, then you have got to get that friendship back," Edna soothingly replied, doing anything she could to comfort her granddaughter.

            "I doubt I'll be able to do that. After how I've treated him lately and what I've said to him, I wouldn't be surprised if he never spoke to me again. How can I apologize to him now?"

            "Well you could start by talking to him. He's sitting right there, Grover." Edna pointed to the lone guy seated at the counter sipping lemonade with the stack of comic books as his only companion.

            "You knew it was Ephram?" Amy asked in confusion.

            Her grandmother smiled as best any tough military nurse could smile. "These eyes may be old, but there's not much they don't see."

            Amy smiled sadly and spun her mug around in circles, still not sure what to do. One thing she did know – she couldn't talk to him tonight.

Preview of Monday

            Harold Abbott burst into Mama Joy's Diner, exhausted and out of breath. Setting his scarf on the counter, Harold's high pitched whistle got the attention of every person in the diner.

            "I just received a call from my wife. There's a serious blizzard headed our way. I've been told to inform as many people as possible. Everyone needs to get home as soon as possible. Irv already as the bus warmed up and is taking all the little ones to their homes. If you don't have any emergency preparations such as food, winter blankets, and equipment, get to the Town Hall immediately and pick up the pre-made kits they've got for you there. I urge you to stay in your homes until the blizzard clears. Stay off the streets and inform anyone that you pass on your way home about the blizzard. You've a few hours before the first flakes fall," Harold announced, trying to keep as much calmness in his voice as possible. "And please don't panic. Everything will be fine, just don't go outside until the blizzard passes." 

            Fear flashed through many of the faces in Mama Joy's, including the great Dr. Brown's.