Amy sighed.
"No, Ephram you cannot give up on your trip, which you paid for by selling everything you love, just to stay here for me. It's not right."
"It's not right leaving you. No matter what you say, I'm not going anywhere." Ephram said, the tears out of his eyes now
"When I moved here, you saw how hard it was for me to not have my mom, the one person who understood me, and you helped me. I'm going to be here for you, I love you"
Amy pulled him into a hug and she started to cry. She felt safe with his arms around her, but she wasn't safe from the fact that her mom was going to die.
"Bright, would you excuse us for a second?" Harold asked
"Sure, dad." Bright said before exiting the kitchen.
"Thanks for coming by Andy, I really appreciate it." Harold began
"Harold, it's the least I could do. Talk to me." Andy said
"She's got 2, maybe 3 weeks tops. I thought it could be beaten, I thought that chemo was the worst possible thing that we had to go through…not death." Harold's voice lowered as he said 'death'
"I'm so sorry Harold. Let me look into it, let me find something or someone that can do something…I have a lot of friend that are…" Andy started rambling before Harold cut him off.
"You know there's nothing. Even the most modern medicine can't take on this stage of cancer. I don't want her to hurt anymore, she's been through a lot already." Harold said
Andy nodded. He felt terrible that Dr. Abbott didn't want him to help; then again, there was probably only a hand full of things that he could do, and none of them would probably even be successful.
Amy and Ephram stood hugging in Amy's room. Neither of them could let go.
Finally Amy pulled away knowing that holding onto him wasn't right this time.
"I need to go check on my dad." She said before leaving the room
"Ephram?" Hannah asked
"What are we going to do?"
"I have no idea. I've only been on one side of this, I have no clue what the other side does." Ephram replied
Hannah nodded. She knew what he was talking about; it was the same way with her father's disease.
"I'm afraid of what will happen if we leave her alone. You remember what she told you…about last year? Tommy and all that, right?" Ephram said
"Yeah, I couldn't believe it." Hannah said
"We'll just have to be there for her."
"I'm scared for her." Hannah said softly
Ephram gave Hannah a little hug and they sat in silence, silently praying for a miracle.
I'm giving up, I'm
giving up slowly And I've been
housing all this doubt, and insecurity I got to get out of here I've given up on doing this alone now I
got to get out of here I am a
hostage
I'm blending in so you won't even know
me
Apart from this whole world that shares my fate
This one
last bullet you mentioned
Is my one last shot at redemption
Cause
I know to live you must give your life away
And I've been locked
inside this house, all the while you hold the key
And I've been
dying to get out, but that might be the death of me
And even know
there's no way in knowing where to go
I promise I'm going
because
I'm stuck inside this
rut that I fell into by mistake
I got to get out of here
And
I'm begging you, I'm begging you, I'm begging you to be my
escape
Cause I've
failed and I'm ready to be shown how
You've showed me the way
and now I'm trying to get there
And this life sentence that I'm
serving
I admit that I'm every bit deserving
But the beauty
of grace is that it makes life not fair
Cause I've been housing
all this doubt, and insecurity
And I've been locked inside this
house, all the while you hold the key
And I've been dying to get
out, but that might be the death of me
And even know there's no
way in knowing where to go
I promise I'm going because
I'm afraid this complacency is something
I can't shake
I got to get out of here
And I'm begging you,
I'm begging you, I'm begging you to be my escape
To my own humanity
Self detained
Force to live in
this mess I've made
And all I'm asking is for you to do what
you can with me
But I can't ask you to give
What you've
already gave
I got to get out of here I fought you for so long I should have let you
in
I'm afraid
this complacency is something I can't shake
I got to get out of
here
And I'm begging you, I'm begging you, I'm begging you
to be my escape
Oh how we regret those things we do
And all I was trying to
do was save my own skin
But so were you
So were you
Amy returned to the room and saw Hannah and Ephram looking sad, she felt bad that she brought them down with her.
"Guys, my dad just asked me to go tp Mama Joy's and get some food for dinner…can you help me?" Amy asked
"Sure." They both answered at the same time.
"This is quite a large order!" Nina said
"Yeah, we have a lot of people at my house tonight…how much is it?" Amy asked
Nina bit her bottom lip; she didn't want to make Amy feel uncomfortable by letting her know
"It's on the house." Nina said
"And if there's anything I can do…just let me know." Nina whispered to Amy
Amy hugged Nina and thanked her. Ephram and Hannah each took a bag and went to the car.
When they got back to the Abbott house everyone ate in silence. It seemed so dull and gloomy inside, it had never been this way before. Not even when Collin had his accident.
After everyone had eaten and left, Andy and Harold sat at the table. They both had a beer.
"I can't imagine what the kids are thinking…we've only talked for a bit today. Bright is, very distant and I can't even think of something to do to help us pull together and be strong." Harold said sadly
"It's normal, they're very upset Harold and take it from me…it's going to get a lot worse before it gets better. But you really need to talk to them, see what they're feeling. Don't let the connection between you three get erased. One day you'll wake up and not even know little things about them." Andy said remember his own experience
"Hmm."
"What did you do after your wife passed?" Harold asked
"I moved my kids away from the hectic city where I knew I couldn't keep an eye on them and I knew no one else could either. I moved here and cared for them myself. It's the only thing I can recommend to you, don't lose them Harold." Andy said
Harold yawned.
"It's been a long day."
"I know, I need to get going." Andy said
"Again, thank you for coming, and Ephram too. I know he comforts Amy." Harold said
"Ephram!" Andy called
Ephram came down the stairs and into the dining room where they were sitting
"We're going to get going soon, okay?" Andy said
"I just want to make sure Amy gets to sleep alright first, is that okay?" Ephram asked
Andy looked at Harold who nodded as he let another yawn slip out.
Ephram raced back upstairs and into Amy's room. Bright was walking Hannah out.
"I'm afraid to go to sleep." Amy said
"Because then you won't be here, and I don't want that right now."
"I'll be right here." Ephram said taking her hand as she laid in bed
"Just close your eyes and think of good thoughts."
Amy rolled her head to the side and closed her eyes. Thoughts of her and Ephram in New York quickly came over her and she was soon off to sleep.
Ephram slowly got up after she was sound asleep and quietly went down the stairs. He grabbed his sweatshirt off the railing and proceeded to walk outside where his dad and Harold were.
"Thank you Mr. Abbott. She's asleep now." Ephram said
"Good, Lord knows she needs it the most." Harold replied.
Ephram got into the car and shut the door. It was summer in Everwood and it was going to be a very long one indeed.