The McCord family entered the hospital. Elizabeth and the kids walked along Henry's floor towards his room. A nurse stopped them before they could go in.

"You all are going to need to wear protective clothing, and only one guest at a time."

Elizabeth rolled her eyes. Her husband was dying. What did it matter if he was exposed to germs now?

"Thank you for your concern. We will take that under advisement." With that, she brushed right past the nurse.

The nurse didn't know what to do. The Secretary had acknowledged her warning, but chosen to ignore it. Standing in confusion, she allowed the woman and her children to pass.

"Dad!" With one voice, the children greeted their father.

"Hey guys. I love you. It's so good to see you. Thanks for coming."

Stevie sat on the bed by his hip. "Of course we came. When do you get to come home? How much radiation did you get?"

Henry glanced at his wife. He knew she didn't want to have this conversation, but they had to do it at some point.

"We need to talk to you about that, actually."


Following their conversation, Elizabeth sat slumped in a chair in the corner of the room. She was staring out the window. She wanted to cry, but the tears still refused to come.

Stevie had taken Jason outside. He needed to shout and rage against the world. Stevie needed a chance to cry without everyone watching her. Allison had stayed behind, trying to let her father soothe her tears.

"Dad, I didn't mean it when I called you a saint."

"This isn't your fault, Ali. I don't want you to blame yourself. I'm still not a saint. I've still made mistakes. This doesn't change that."

Elizabeth looked up from her seat. Ali had called Henry a saint? What a typical McCord insult.

Allison looked down at her dad. "But... Who's going to make me be a good person? I still need you."

"I don't make you be a good person, kiddo. I just let you know when you need to think about what you're doing. And your mom will do that, too. She and I had a conversation about the bullying website. We do talk about you, you know?"

Ali rolled her eyes. Of course her parents had discussed the website. "But Mom doesn't have good quotes like you do."

"Maybe not, but she has good stories." Henry looked up to Elizabeth and held his hand out to her. She got up and walked to sit on the bed with her daughter.

"I don't want you to worry, Noodle. I'm going to make sure you're okay. We're going to stick together." She ran a hand through Allison's hair.

"I know Mom, but I need my dad."

"I know you do. We're just going to have to do the best we can."

"I'm going to go find Stevie and Jason." Allison didn't know what else to say. She felt pressured to say something, but she didn't know what she was supposed to say.

Henry held Elizabeth's hand, and pulled her down to lean against him. "What are you thinking?"

"Nothing. I don't know what to think. I don't know what to feel. I'm just so sad. We were supposed to have more time. We were supposed to grow old together. Retirement... What will my retirement look like now?"

"I don't know, baby. I just want to make sure that you're prepared. This isn't what we planned, but you can still do good things."

"But what does it matter if you aren't with me?"


The next few days saw a steady stream of family, friends, and a few officials come by to say goodbye to Henry. He was getting weaker by the hour. His hair fell out, and his hands started shaking so bad that he couldn't sign his name. When he started losing his sight, the doctors told them that he likely only had a day or so left.

"Elizabeth?"

"I'm here, baby."

He couldn't see where she was, and adapting so quickly to life without vision was difficult. Impossible, even.

"I wish I could look at you." Henry was getting tearful.

"You are looking at me. You know what I look like. Here." She took his hand in hers and guided it to her face, letting him feel her cheek, her chin, her nose, and her hair. "I'm not going anywhere. I'm staying right here."

"Did you tell the kids to go home?" Henry knew his kids weren't in the room, but keeping track of details was getting tough.

"Yeah, I think we only have a few hours left. They're going to come say goodbye in a while, but I don't want to prolong it for them." Asking her children to stay at home had been extremely difficult, but she didn't want her kids to remember their dad this way. Extra time dwelling on the amount of pain he was in wouldn't help.

"That's probably best. I'm not much to look at now." Sorrow laced his voice.

"You're still the best looking man I've ever seen." In her eyes, he was as gorgeous as Cary Grant ever had been.

"You're biased."

"Yeah." Elizabeth acknowledged.

Henry couldn't hold his tears back anymore. "I'm so sorry I went in. I shouldn't have done it. I should have thought about you. I'm sorry I'm leaving you all alone. I just can't... I never meant to leave you."

Elizabeth held his head in her hands, "Henry, you did the right thing. You stood up for what you believe in. I'm so proud of you. I don't know how I'm going to live without you, but I'm so proud of you. I'm not mad at you, baby. I'm just sad to live without you."

"But you're going to be okay?" With tears streaming down his face, this was what he needed to know.

"I don't know." She sighed. "I'll take care of the kids, but I don't know if anything else matters."

"You have to do something to keep your mind occupied. You'll go stir-crazy. I know you."

"No one else knows me as well. I'm scared." She couldn't look him in the eye anymore, but Henry couldn't tell without his vision.

"I'm scared, too." With that admission, Henry finally allowed himself to lean on his wife for comfort. All the religious theology in the world couldn't prepare him for the unknown. It couldn't prepare him for the pain of leaving Elizabeth. He didn't want to be alone.


A bright sunrise will contradict the heavy fog that weighs you down
In spite of all the funeral songs, the birds will make their joyful sounds
You'll wonder why the Earth still moves.
You'll wonder how you'll carry on.
But you'll be okay on that first day when I'm gone

-When I'm Gone, Joey + Rory


Henry could tell he was floating between life and death. His breaths were labored as his lungs filled with fluid. He was increasingly jaundiced as his kidneys shut down. He still couldn't see anything, and he could tell his thoughts were slowing down. He wanted to offer some enduring words of wisdom to his children when they came to say goodbye, but he didn't have the energy to find his brilliance. His life and passion were waning. All he could tell them was he loved them. He told them to remember the good things he said, not the harsh things. He wanted them to know that his love was what meant most to him now, not their mistakes and his criticism.

The kids left for home after saying their goodbyes, Henry's family having come up to help take care of things. Elizabeth stayed. This was how they wanted it. Just the two of them, facing down the darkness.

"Baby, it's time." Henry rasped. Elizabeth lay against him in bed, her arm lying across his chest.

"Please don't go. Please don't leave me. I need you." She wasn't ready.

"I know you do. But this is how it is. I love you more than anything."

"I love you, too. At least you won't be in pain anymore."

Henry smiled. Over the sound of machines beeping and whirring, his wife still saw him as a person.

"You're going to be okay. If you remember how much I love you. If you believe in yourself like I do. Don't forget me. I won't leave you. I'll still be with you as long as you don't forget me."

Tears finally started to fall from Elizabeth's eyes, landing on Henry's chest. In this last moment, she was at last able to grieve.

"I'll never forget you Henry. I won't let the kids forget you." Elizabeth wanted to reassure her husband.

"That's all I ever wanted, babe. I only ever wanted to be worthy of your love."

She looked up, "You never needed to prove your worth to me. I could see it in you from the first time we met. You have so much life in you. I only ever wanted to be a part of that life."

"You were my life, babe. Of all the things, I'm the most proud of you. I'm the most proud of my relationship with you." He took a breath, and felt how little air it gave him. "I need to go. Be kind to yourself. Let yourself feel. Don't hide from it. Remember how strong you are, and don't be afraid to lean on your friends."

"Kiss me one more time."

They kissed. Henry's lungs didn't have any air left in them, but the sensation wasn't that different from their usual kisses. She always took his breath away. They used kisses to check in with each other, to make sure the other was okay. This was the last check in. They both wanted the other to be okay. This kiss was a send off into the unknown. Henry was going somewhere he had only theorized about, and Elizabeth was going into the world, but without the knowledge that someone understood and loved her. Their tears mingled together, their pain becoming one as the monitors around Henry stopped beeping.

Elizabeth could feel Henry's body go weak and his face go slack. A nurse entered the room to quietly stand beside the door. She took no notice. Silent sobs overtook her body as she clutched the body of the man she loved for more years than she hadn't. He had loved her for more years now than her parents had.

She knew she was going to make mistakes. But Henry had taught her. He taught her to love the world. He taught her to love her children. Most importantly, he taught her to love herself and trust her own judgment. It wasn't that she didn't know how to love before she had known Henry. It was that he had allowed her to access a level of love within herself that she knew she would never have found on her own. That was the legacy Henry had given her.

After a few minutes, her sobs began to soften. She wiped her eyes, placed a kiss on Henry's forehead, gripped his hand one last time, and then left the room.

It was over.


Dusk will come with fireflies and Whippoorwill and crickets call.
And every star will take its place in silvery gown and purple shawl
You'll lie down in our big bed
Dread the dark and dread the dawn.
But you'll be alright on that first night when I'm gone.
You will reach for me in vain, you'll be whispering my name
As if sorrow were your friend in this world so alien
But life will call with daffodils and morning glorious blue skies.
You'll think of me - some memory, and softly smile to your surprise.
And even though you love me still, you will know where you belong.
Just give it time
We'll both be fine when I'm gone.

-When I'm Gone, Joey + Rory