Author's note: This chapter is a real heart-breaker too. Good luck.

Melinda awoke, only to find herself in a quiet, bright hospital room. Her eyes zig zaged across the room, as she tried to assess the situation. One of the things she had noticed was that she felt as if she were breathing through a straw Mainly, because she had an intubation tube lodged in her windpipe. When she noticed this, she began to panic. She reached for the pipe and began to pull it out; to no avail. When she pulled on the pipe, she began to choke, and she couldn't choke because she wasn't breathing on her own. Suddenly, she felt another hand on hers. She looked to her left and saw, a very tired, frazzled-looking, Jim who was still wearing his suit from the funeral.

"Hey, hey, hey...it's alright. Okay, calm down." His soft voice quieted her. "I'm gonna take this tube out, okay? When I tell you, I want you to breathe out, okay?" She nodded her head slightly to show Jim that she understood him. "Okay...breathe." With no trouble, Jim removed the tube."...You okay?" He asked, worried.

"W-w-w-where's-where's my h-husband?" She asked, weakly.

"Your...fiance?...Melinda he's...dead."

Melinda couldn't believe him. "...No...He...he can't be. He was...he was just...here."

"No, Melinda...he wasn't."

"...You're lying. You're lying!" She said, furiously. She reached over to call a nurse in.

"Melinda... wish I were."

"What's the matter, ?" Asked the nurse that had just walked in.

"Get him out of here...I don't want him in here! I want him to go away!" She screamed.

"If you're upsetting the patient, I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

"Just give me two minutes." He pleaded.

"Sir, I-"

"She's disoriented...please..."

"...Two minutes." She said, as she walked out of the room. Jim closed the door and sat down next to Melinda.

"I don't...want you in here." She said, through clenched teeth.

"Melinda...Mel...listen to me. Lee...is gone. He died in the house fire."

"You're...lying!"

"Melinda...he's been dead for over three weeks...Try to remember." Melinda closed her eyes and, suddenly, remembered everything that had happened. Melinda raised her head and began crying. "So...what's wrong with me?"

"The doctors are still running tests."

"No one's here for me...is there?"

"Uh...Your mom's here."

"And Lee's parents?" Jim shook his head. Melinda sighed. "I guess I know where I stand with them."

"Oh..Lee's brother is here, too. Him and his wife and kid."

Just then, Melinda's practitioner walked in.

"? We did some blood work, and your results just came in."

"So...what is it?"

"We need to do one more test to be sure...but we think you had, what we call an ''ectopic pregnancy' which was caused by a severe case of toxemia."

"Can we please speak English?"

"...You miscarried, Melinda...it was brought on by an extreme amount of stress and an elevated blood pressure level."

"I...I lost the baby? Are...are you saying I killed Alice!" She said, ferociously.

"Not intentionally...but, yes..." Melinda began bursting into tears.

"I'm going to refer you to a gynecologist. She'll examine you to see if there is any tissue from the pregnancy remaining in the womb. A-an ultrasound scan is usually advised to avoid heavy bleeding and prevent a possible infection of the uterus. Then she'll perform a dilatation and curettage."

"Surgery." Jim stated.

"Yes...An alternative to surgery is a medical evacuation that uses tablets to cause the womb to contract and empty itself. The success rate of a medical evacuation in completely emptying the uterus is slightly less than the surgical approach, but it is an option for some women." Melinda said nothing, and just continued crying. "I'll give you two a moment." With that, she walked out of the room.

"Mel...Are you okay?"

"...No...I lost my house, I lost my dogs, I lost my fiance...and I lost my baby." Her voice began to break." On the bright side, now that I'm note pregnant, I don't hae to worry about threatening her life if I kill myself."

"Mel-"

"No! I'm tired of...everything...I just want it all to go away."

"You really think that's a smart idea?"

"...Now that I've lost everything. I don't have to think about whether I make god or bad decisions...I don't have to worry about consequences...and I certainly don't have to wonder when my last day will be."

"Don't talk like that!" Jim screamed. Melinda was stunned. "I've lost a lot in my life, too, you know! I watched my brother die...right in front of me!...My dad and i went through hell his last few years because I couldn't...aspire to what he wanted me to be! I had to support my mom when my dad got sick! Our house was foreclosed...Three times...three different houses! I've never had a single constant in my life! You're the first thing in my life that has made me feel like I'm worth something, so I'm not about to let you throw it away because you're having it hard!"

"...Jim...I...I didn't know...I'm sorry."

"...No...I'm sorry...I've had years to egt over all of this, and maybe my heart hasn't fully healed, but...you've got all this being thrown at you in the course of less than a month."

"But you're right...Life's hard...And..ever since Lee died...everything's been so confusing to me... Just because you can't say something doesn't mean you don't want to, you can want to very much. You can be with a person and be happy with them and not love them. And you can love somebody and not want to be with them...You don't need... to love someone... to want them. Now that's frustrating, when what your brain tells you you want and what you actually want don't match up. It's exhausting. And, well, it's complicated. But that's life. And life... sucks...As for your offer...I'm afraid I'll have to pass. For now...my mom seems like she's trying to make amends...I'll see where it goes from there."

"..Okay...but just to let you know, my offer...still stands. For as long as you need. Time can't heal a broken heart...but someone else might be able to..But...one thing...Next Friday...I, uh...was gonna make a reservation to this restaurant...would you...like to go...a-as friends?"

"...Just friends?"

"Yeah."

"...You got it, Clancy." Jim smiled and started out the door.

"Oh...If you need a shoulder...I'm there."

"...Thanks." And with that, Jim was gone. And just as he left, Lee appeared.

"What was that?"

"What?"

"Did...did you just set a date?"

"It's not a date...we're just friends, Lee... He's the only one that's her for me right now.''

"But babe...I'm here."

"But you're the cause of my pain...please Lee, I am begging you...go into the light."

"Not while you're like this."

"...Lee, I'll be fine."

" 'Fine'! You just talked about killing yourself! You know I'm not going to let you do that!"

"...I'm not going to...I'm talking out of fear, Lee...I don't mean it..."

''I'm the one putting you under stress...and that killed our baby."

"And you're still putting me through it...Lee, please."

"Melinda...Beg all you want, but I'm not crossing over." Before Melinda could say anything else, Lee was gone.

Author's note: Yeah, that's right, I did it. Anyway, Chapter 7 is the big Melinda and Jim moment. The "make-it-or-break-it'' moment. Review.