Fourth chapter has been posted! And like I said, this will have Scout cheering Atticus up, and then Jem will be coming in and spending some time with Scout. It involves Jem's cast…and some markers.

Enjoy!

"You okay Atticus?" He asked, and Atticus wiped his eyes.

"What if she had died, Heck? What would I have done?"

"You listen to me, Atticus Finch, and you listen to me good. Scout is not dead. She's living and breathing and she's in her bedroom very confused at this moment."

"Why?"

"She thinks she did something wrong and you're mad at her, that's why you left. She doesn't quite understand what you're going through right now. She will in time, but right now she just needs her father."

Atticus was silent for a moment and then nodded. "You're right, of course," He said with a sigh and he pulled himself together. He walked back into Scout's room and she looked at him with hesitation in her eyes.

"I'm sorry, Scout, I just needed a moment. I can't help think about what if you had died," Atticus said, sitting on Scout's bed.

"Yeah, Jem wouldn't have nobody to pester anymore," Scout said thoughtfully, and Atticus had to smile. "And Calpurnia wouldn't have nobody to eat her leftover cracked bread, and you'd have to read all by yourself and Cecil Jacobs would have to find someone else to scare the living daylights out of," Scout listed off, and Atticus had to laugh.

"Life would definitely be dull without you, Miss Scout," Heck Tate said, and Atticus hugged his daughter.

"So you're not mad at me? I didn't do anything wrong?"

"Most certainly not," Atticus said, resting his head on top of hers.

"That's good. I'm tired, Atticus," She said sleepily, yawning.

"All right, that's enough for one day," Dr. Reynolds ordered. "Everybody out," Atticus made to get up but Scout gripped his arms tightly.

"Will you read to me 'til I fall asleep, Atticus?" Atticus looked at the doctor to make sure it was okay and Dr. Reynolds gave in when Scout begged, "Please?"

"That's fine, Atticus, go ahead and read to her,"

Atticus nodded his thanks and grabbed a book before settling down with Scout resting against him. He began reading, and eventually he glanced down to see Scout fast asleep. Atticus didn't dare move in case he woke her up, so he just placed the book and his glasses on the table and got comfortable. Eventually he drifted off as well.

In the morning, Scout woke up and was disappointed to realize that Atticus was gone. She went to stretch out a bit, but carefully this time, she learned her lesson from the last time she tried to move. This time her fingers came in contact with a piece of paper that was on her bed. She picked it up and brought it to her eyes, squinting at it as she read the first line, "My daughter was born Jean Louise Finch, but from the moment she was born her mother called her Scout."

"Why's Atticus writing about me?" Scout thought to herself, and then shoved the paper under the covers as Calpurnia came in with a tray. She knew it had to be Atticus, who else had a Jean Louise Finch as a daughter who was called Scout?

"Dr. Reynolds said you can have some orange juice and bread this morning for breakfast," Cal said with a smile, setting the tray down and handing the cup of orange juice to Scout. She grasped it in her uninjured hand and allowed Cal to help her drink some of it.

"I didn't realize how thirsty I was," Scout said in surprise when she had drunk the whole glass. Next came the slices of bread with butter on them. Scout ate every little bite of those and Cal was pleased.

"Good girl," Cal said, brushing her hand over Scout's hair before taking the tray back to the kitchen. Jem came into her room next, and Scout saw his cast for the first time.

"Is that was Mr. Ewell did to your arm?" She asked, and Jem nodded as he looked down at it.

"Broke it pretty bad, but the doc fixed it up," Jem said, showing her his cast.

"Can I sign it?" Scout queried, her face lighting up at the prospect. Normally, Jem would've scoffed in her face, telling her that he couldn't wear something that girly to school, but this situation was anything but normal. He'd be proud to wear a cast that his sister had signed to school, at the very least it showed that she was alive and breathing.

"'Course you can," Jem said, and Scout beamed at him. He got up and pestered Calpurnia until she found a marker and gave it to him. "Don't we have any other colors, Cal?" Jem pleaded, and Cal sighed.

"What are you wanting these markers for anyways Mister Jem?"

"Scout wants to sign my cast," Jem said, and Cal smiled at the boy before finding a few more markers and handing them to him. He then scurried back into Scout's room and sat there like a statue while Scout carefully drew little pictures and then signed her name on the cast.

"Don't let nobody else sign this cast, Jem, or it'll ruin my masterpiece," Scout said when she was done, and Jem surveyed the work with a shake of his head. "Don't you like it?" She said, her face falling.

"'Course I do, Scout, I love it," He said, reaching over and tousling her hair. Scout grinned at him and then asked him,

"How much longer can you stay out of school?"

"Dr. Reynolds said a week or so, but I don't wanna be out long or I'll miss important stuff,"

"How much longer can I stay out of school?" She asked then, and he shrugged.

"I don't know. If you stay out too long they don't let you back,"

"Really?" Scout asked, but she was happy about that prospect instead of sad like Jem would've been.

"So you're still raring to stop going to school," Atticus observed from the doorway.

"Yes sir," Scout said with a decisive nod, and Atticus chuckled.

"I like your cast, Jem," He commented, and Scout smiled happily.

"I drew all over it, Atticus,"

"Yes, I see that, I can see your signature," Atticus said as he looked over Jem's cast. "Ah, Dr. Reynolds wants to see you, Jem, wants to examine your injury and determine when you are permitted to return to your education,"

"Yes sir," Jem said and left the room. Atticus smiled at Scout and asked,

"And how is our patient feeling today?"

"Oh, I'm okay until I try to move," Scout told her father, and he nodded. "Atticus?"

"Yes?"

"I found something on my bed this morning, but I'm not sure what it is," Scout said, pulling the piece of paper out from under the covers. "The first line says 'My daughter was born Jean Louise Finch, but from the moment she was born her mother called her Scout'. I figure you wrote it, but what is it?"

Atticus took the paper from Scout and sighed. "This is something I wrote when Dr. Reynolds was saving your life, Scout,"

"I read some of it, it sounded like you were telling everyone about me, like I was dead or something," Scout observed, and Atticus nodded.

"Let me start at the beginning. When your mother was very sick, she asked me to write her eulogy,"

"What's a eulogy?" Scout pronounced slowly, and Atticus explained,

"It's a speech someone reads at a funeral, telling everyone there about the person's life, whoever had passed away, and telling everyone at the funeral how much that person meant to them. Anyways, your mother told me that when her mother was very sick, she asked her to write her eulogy."

"And my mother did," Scout predicted, and Atticus nodded.

"She did indeed, and her mother lived for a few more years. Your mother told me that when someone is close to death and their eulogy is written and finished, they'll survive."

"You didn't finish Mother's eulogy," Scout said quietly, and Atticus nodded again.

"So I was determined to finish yours. That's what this is, Scout, it's your eulogy that I wrote,"

Scout was silent for a few moments, and then she said, "I was going to ask you to read it to me, but you don't have to if you don't want to,"

It was Atticus's turn to be silent for a few moments, and then he straightened the paper out. "My daughter was born Jean Louise Finch, but from the moment she was born her mother called her Scout. She never did tell me why, and she never got the chance when she passed away, when Scout was two. The name stuck, and nearly everyone called her that Scout was definitely a wild child, but she was my wild child. She was a spitfire and a tomboy; she hated to wear dresses and when she was forced to, usually wore her britches underneath of them. Scout settled her disputes with fistfights, and though I reprimanded her for those, I knew her strong-will would never be tamed, nor did I want it to be. She looked exactly like her mother, and I was grateful because she was a piece of her mother that I thought I could keep forever. But forever never seems to last very long, not in my experience. Scout was the light of my life, and she had the biggest heart of anyone I've ever seen, even for someone so small. She had a heart that was so big, God couldn't let it live."

Atticus had to stop and give himself a moment because tears were choking the words from his throat. He bowed his head for a moment and gathered his emotions, putting them in check. Scout could tell something was wrong so she carefully sat up and took his hand in both of hers, squeezing tightly.

I wasn't sure whether I should have Atticus read the eulogy out loud to Scout, but I figured she'd be curious about it and not quite understand the pain that Atticus is going through, though she does know that he's very sad. The next chapter will involve a deeper discussion about the night the children were attacked, and a surprise visitor makes an appearance. Thanks so much for reading, and I hope you liked it!