Author's Note: So, I was really hoping the romancing would happen this chapter but after some adjustments, it was just going to be a really long chapter and I try to keep it right around 5k words. Definitely NEXT chapter there WILL be some fun that everyone has been waiting for. I promise.

10/28/16 - edits and story line additions

CHAPTER SEVEN

Spring fell upon Georgia, slowly easing its way back into the sweltering heat that Jennifer couldn't stand. She rested herself up against the side of the patrol car after she and Casey had finished up a disturbing the peace call. A couple of kids had taken it upon themselves to have a small concert in their backyard. They let the kids off with a warning, clearing out the small fenced in area, Jennifer keeping her head clear when the heat made her want to do nothing more than scream. A sticky film had already began to form its way under the long brown pants of her uniform. "Why didn't we pick some nice New England town to settle down in?" Jennifer asked her partner with a whine. The heat was stirring up a lot of unusual behaviors around town. There was a lot of talk on the news and on television about weird 'illnesses' cropping up around the world, just small little bits here and there on the news with no real details.

"Where would the fun be in that?" he asked with a laugh, agreeing with her on the inside. "It's never too late to transfer I guess. We could always shoot for New York." Her face became serious and she pulled her aviators on. With her personality she knew she wouldn't make it in a large city like that. Casey laughed, shaking his head. "Come on, I know you better than that."

"Are you sure?" They both sat down in the car and she turned to look at him and it was her turn to laugh. "Now turn that A/C on, I can't much more of this heat today!" she quipped, fanning herself with her hat.

"You know my trip is coming up soon, right?"

"Yes."

"Are you going to be alright when I'm gone?"

"I'm going to cry every night," she teased, reaching over to blast the A/C when she realized he wasn't going for it.

"I'm serious." He placed his hand on hers and smiled sadly. He was becoming more and more concerned with Jennifer after her incident at the bar with Shane. She seemed more closed off than usual and he wasn't sure what to do or how to handle it. "I don't want you to worry about me. I don't want you to go crazy either. Did Rick tell you what you're going to do without me?"

"Not really," she answered with a shrug. "He talked about desk work - which with this heat, I may not mind it that much." He nodded, thinking about his partner being out on the road by herself with him gone. His trip was less than a month away and he knew it had been affecting her whether she had said so or not.

"You and I both know that desk would drive you to the point of insanity."

"You're probably right." Casey drove them off to some small diner just on the outside of town for lunch. Inside the television was on, talking briefly about the illness hitting some town just outside of Chicago. They had placed the man in quarantine and had deemed the town as safe. The media never did show pictures of the victims, only describing them as resembling an animal with rabies: rabid and unable to reasoned with. "I bet that illness is nothing more than bad bath salts," he stated, grabbing them a small booth away from the television. The vague description of how the illness was spreading on top of the symptoms was letting everyone's imagination run wild with the news.

"I don't think so."

"How can you not think so? All the signs are there! Rabid, insane, unable to be reasoned with? You don't remember that guy who got his face bitten off from a man high on bath salts?"

"I don't think they're related." Jennifer picked up a menu and looked it over, already knowing what was on front and back of the long piece of laminated paper. She looked at it carefully, eyeballing each side as she spoke.

"Why?"

"Illnesses come out all of the time, just think about it. Remember when we got that call in Linden County for the guy that was infected? You think they can honestly afford bath salts over there? They can barely afford to buy beer."

"All I'm saying is, how do we know they aren't related?"

"Casey," she started, putting the menu down. "You really think that just out of nowhere everyone around the world has started taking bath salts? They're calling it an illness, okay? These people are severely sick. They wouldn't post up on the news about some random junkies overdosing." The media wouldn't waste time on such things. It wasn't an election year.

"It's not an overdose, it's a bad batch."

"Uh-huh, sure." The server walked up and put her pad and pencil away. She was older, in her fifties, her blonde hair starting to gray around her forehead. A greasy white apron tied around her black tank top and jeans. A blue and white name badge on the pocket read: Charlaine. She had been taking their orders for months now.

"Lemme guess, y'all want your usuals?" she drawled with a smile.

"Yeah, it'll be the usual for me, please," Casey replied, returning the smile.

"Just give me whatever the hell it is he eats, I never remember," Jennifer told her with a smile. "I don't want to eat my usual, something's not sitting well with me today." Casey's smile fell. "What?" she quipped.

"What's wrong?" She shrugged, staring out the window at the farm next door.

"You are upset I'm going aren't you?" he asked as Charlaine walked away.

"No!" The words came out faster than she had anticipated. "No," she repeated, much slower. "I just feel kind of off today, nothing related to you."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm 100% certain."

"Is it that time of the month?" His left eyebrow quirked up and Jennifer's eyes bounced over to his face. She did her best to make a serious face at him and he did the same back to her. Trying to bring up the mood when things were headed south: Casey, without fail. He had been wondering for the last week if he and Megan should cancel their trip. He thought maybe if they waited a few more months and waited until Jennifer was better acquainted and more calm that it would be easier for him to leave her. At the same time, if she knew what he had been thinking, he would know she would pissed.

"I'll make you have your time of the month if you don't shut up!" she teased, throwing her wadded up straw paper in his direction.

"That sounds painful!" he winced, moving out of the way of her straw paper.

"That's because it will be!"

"So are you going to tell me what's up?"

"It's probably nothing, I don't know. I did eat some weird food last night."

"Oh! Shit! Your date with the guy from Linden PD, good old - what's his name again?"

"Allen. Allen is his name, Casey."

"Yes! Allen! How was it?" She an off face and bounced her head back and forth.

"Mediocre."

"That's all I get? Mediocre? Seriously! Tell me how it was."

"There's not much to say honestly. I mean, he's a cop too, obviously. Very serious. Didn't talk much, and you already know how that went for me."

"You two barely said more than maybe five words to each other. That's how it went, you just told me all I need to know. I don't want to hear anymore." He had tried to make it a double date, but Megan insisted she let Jennifer try something on her own for once. It was all he could do to not play mother hen and show up anyway. Megan wouldn't let him.

"I don't know what to say!"

"I can't be everywhere with you! I can only double date with you so often! You want me to hold your hand on the date too?"

"Well it would certainly help," she teased.

"Oh, shut up."

"Well, as the side chick, I have to say that's pretty rude of you to say."

"You're a little shit."

"Yes, I know." The smile on her face was telling. Charlaine placed their food before them, a turkey club with a side salad.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

I pulled myself out of the booth behind Casey. The hour for lunch had passed too quickly. I gave the cashier at the counter a nod and continued to follow Casey outside, instantly wishing I could be inside the minute the air hit my skin. "Fuck," I moaned, sitting my hat on my head. The beach sounded so nice. I still hadn't found the time to go, no matter how much I promised myself. Every ounce of my free time was still wrapped up in the farm house. I had finally found the time to figure what in the hell was making the porch droop. That was my newest project. The wood on the far end of the porch was rotting away and probably had been since the day the damn house was built. It was a pain in the ass to fix. "This is miserable."

"It's not even summer yet," Casey taunted, getting into the patrol car. Halfway tempted, I stared at the backseat, not even wanting to walk the rest of the way to the passenger side. I walked to my side and plopped down, thankful we didn't have leather seats like some of the other patrol cars. "Have you heard from Hansen?" Casey asked, pulling out of the small parking lot.

"No, I thought you might have?" Hansen had taken a short leave to check on sister in Atlanta. She had a run in with someone on the street that had shaken her up pretty badly. She was even afraid to leave the house to go to work, completely unable to do anything without someone else with her at all times. Hansen didn't want to go from what he had told us, but he felt like it was his brotherly duty and duty as an officer to check up on her.

"I need to call him later tonight. Don't let me forget." We drove down the road in silence, heading back into town. We passed Rick and Shane, and I instinctively turned my head in the opposite direction, choosing to look a few guys who were putting some mulch along their store's entryway. Shane and I still had our problems. We were still barely speaking to each other after the incident at the bar. I didn't know what to say half the time. What were you supposed to say in situations like those? I sure as fuck didn't know.

"Still?" Casey asked, peering over at me.

"Still what?"

"You two still aren't speaking?"

"We speak!"

"And what is it you say to each other?" I looked back him and smiled. So we may have only said pleasantries to each other, but it was a lot better than the first time we didn't speak to each other. We tried to carry on conversations, but it always seemed to awkward. I can't explain how. Maybe it was just me. Or maybe it was the fact that everyone in town knew what I had done.

"The usual stuff, you know how that goes."

"He hasn't had a girlfriend since what? Christmas time?"

"And?"

"And?"

"What's that got to do with me?" I asked, turning down the air conditioning after finally finding some relief from the sweltering conditions.

"Nothing I guess." I could tell over the last few months that Casey had grown entirely less likely to prod me for in depth answers to his questions. Part of it was seriously beginning to freak me out to the point that I had started to bore him. But he always did know the timing and areas he could press and how often. He had known pressing me for Allen was enough. And that was something I loved about our friendship. It wasn't one long interrogation after another, sometimes he knew it was best to just let me be me. If I only I could find that in a man my age and date for a while.

Rumors still spun the mill around King's County, the famous female officer with an attempt for tied down men. She even made one man commit to him and his girlfriend. She made another officer leave his girlfriend in hopes at a relationship with her. The rumors did nothing more than make me laugh after some time. The rumors didn't appear to be so funny when it was me making the call to find out "what the funny noise was behind their house" or show up when something of theirs had been stolen. The pride I felt when pulling up in front of someone's house, willing to help them no matter what their opinion was of me, was the best feeling I could have hoped for. It gave me a chance I had at proving them wrong, that I was more than some pathetic homewrecker. Of course, it didn't help that Casey and Megan totally kept on with the antics that I was involved with the both of them.

"I noticed that Shane didn't have a girlfriend," I admitted, looking over at my best friend. "I noticed, okay?" I noticed the day after Christmas when Shane was sulking around the precinct, looking the saddest I had seen him in awhile. Apparently, Lila had broken up with him the day before Christmas Eve unable to 'live the lie anymore.' I tried as hard as I could to approach him, but like usual, I was at a loss for words. I felt bad. I knew part of it was my fault. A part of me wanted to scream out that this was finally my chance to make a move, but he looked so sad. Trying to make a move right after a break up felt like a cheap shot on my part. I just couldn't bring myself to do it.

"Well, he's not in a relationship so I figured you wouldn't be interested now. You'll wait until he decides to shack up with someone else."

"That's the way my luck goes." We stopped just on the opposite end of town, sitting just outside of the new car dealership that was being built. "Do you think we sell enough cars in this po-dunk ass town to have a car dealership?"

"Probably not," he laughed, stealing a glance at the freshly paved parking lot.

"I think it's all scam, you know? Like how do these places stay in business?"

"Bad bath salts, probably." I laughed this time, barely able to contain myself.

"This time, you probably are right." The crackling of the radio made me jump almost immediately, unprepared for the sound. I turned up the volume and hunched over.

"All available units, high speed pursuit in progress Linden County units request local assistance," the voice announced. I looked over at Casey. "Two suspects in the vehicle, both armed. Proceed with caution." He took off immediately as I listened over the sirens for the meet up point. Shane's voice came on over the radio, saying something about putting some tire spikes down. Casey replied to the dispatch that we were on our way while I checked the ammunition and clip in my gun before fastening it back into the holster, watching the road ahead of us. A high speed chase with armed suspects, I wasn't exactly ready for this. We barely learned about this at school, because it rarely happened. I sank back against the seat, feeling the adrenaline rush as we arrived on scene. Shane and Rick had just finished laying down the spikes, when we both heard it, the sound of an engine and the distant sounds of sirens.

We exited the car as quickly as possible, and positioned ourselves behind our car just as Shane and Rick did the same. I tried to focus my breathing, trying not to let it get away from me right there on the side of the road. The tires hit the spikes with a loud pop, the sirens continued to wail over the shouting. There was a lot of yelling from Rick. Typical orders, 'get out with your hands up', 'keep your hands where I can see them', 'step out of the vehicle slowly.' Casey and I crept up along side our patrol car and met up with Shane and Rick where our cars met. Rick yelled some more and looked at the three of us. "Take it easy when y'all step out, okay? Ain't no use in us gettin' shot," he commanded us. He nodded over at the officers from Linden County, one of them being Allen. I felt my stomach lurch and gurgle. That was definitely not who I needed to see at this time.

"Alright, enough is enough, they're obviously not gettin' out of the damn car. Let's go," Rick ordered. We all sank down behind him. I propped myself up, with my arms on the hood of the car for support. I barely noticed how hot the metal was under my skin. My eyes were glued on the door, ready to shoot. "Come on out! Last warnin'!" The door flew open, Casey, Rick, and Shane all three standing with their guns raised. Casey side-stepped out of the way and into my line of sight. There were three loud bangs. I yelled for Casey to move. He fell to the ground in with a loud, harsh cry. His hands instantly reaching down to his right leg. There was another shout as Rick fell to the ground as well. I felt like all of time stopped. My breath caught in my chest in the most uncomfortable way. How was it possible for me to choke on air? The officers from Linden County fired off a round and brought the two suspects to their feet. My heart stopped staring at Rick and Casey on the ground. Shane yelled and fell to Rick's side. I quickly stood and ran to my partner who was now actively crying and bleeding. Unable to focus on much of anything I kept my focus on the bleeding from his leg. It was gushing out actively from the bullet hole, quickly soaking his uniform pants in his blood.

"Oh Christ, it hurts so bad!" he cried, holding his leg just above the gun shot. I pressed my hands down firmly on his leg, sitting on my knees, trying to put as much of my body weight on the wound as possible. Rick stood up in the background when there was another crack of a gunshot. I flinched and watched Rick fall to the ground again, eyes open, expression blank. Shane shouted and reached out for him. Falling to his side with him. "We need two ambulances at the scene, we have two officers down! Get 'em out here now!" he yelled into his radio.

"I gotcha, tough guy," I told him, trying to keep him from seeing how truly terrified I was. I pushed down harder on his wound with my hands. They were met with a rich, warm ooze of his blood. I swallowed and took a deep breath in. He was crying, eyes glued shut in pain. "There's an ambulance on the way."

"Jen, it just hurts so bad!" he cried again, never releasing his hands from his leg.

"I know, I know, it's all going to be okay. Just hold a little longer for me." My ears perked up as I heard the sound of the sirens in the distance. "I can hear it, it's really close. Just hold on." He continued to cry and as I took a second to look over at Shane and Rick. Rick was unconscious, blood coming from his side, Shane's hand was pressed firmly to it. Shane was muttering things to him, trying to keep Rick calm. His eyes were closed now, still no expression on his face.

The EMT's got out and helped us put Rick and Casey onto gurneys, I barely remembered what was said. I didn't remember getting into our patrol car. I watched Shane slowly climb into his. I drove ahead of Shane, trying to keep my eyes on him in the rear view mirror. He was wide-eyed, hands both firmly on the steering wheel. I hadn't processed what had happened to Casey quite yet. It was still working down on me. Finally, noticing that I hadn't been watching the road, I pulled over and parked the car on the side of the road. My stomach had started lurching again and when I looked down at my hands, I saw Casey's blood, dried and caked onto the backs of my hands. The EMT's had given me some sort of cloth and water but it didn't work very well. Pulling the car into park I climbed out of the car, running to a line of trees. I hunched down on all fours and felt everything come up. My eyes were glued shut while I just let it work its way out. I had no idea how long I was down there like that, but I stayed in that position as I dry heaved. A hand was on my back and I heard someone talking, but I couldn't focus.

I could have lost my best friend today.

The reality finally hit me and I was crying. I wiped my mouth off on the back of my arm sat backwards on the grass, looking down at my blood stained hands. Casey got shot. Casey could have died. I choked on another ragged breath and curled my fists around the grass. This was not how our job was supposed to go. Neither one of use was supposed to get hurt.

"Shh, don't look at that," spoke the voice again. Through my tears, I saw Shane. He sat down in the grass next to me and was working a wet cloth on my hands, rubbing them hard and fast. No words came to mind as he did this. I just watched silently, recalling the way Casey was crying. He needed me and here I was, losing myself on the side of the road. Some best friend I was. "Come on, ya gotta be strong now. He's okay, he's on his way to the hospital." He steadied both of my hands in his and squeezed. "You're gonna be fine, alright? Jus' fine."

"I- I- " swallowing, I shook my head, sniffing through my now clogged nose. "I don't think I can go in there."

"Nah, c'mon you're gonna go there with me, okay?"

"I can't," I told him with a sob. "Being in a hospital - that will destroy me. I haven't been in a hospital for so long. But I know he needs me."

"An' that's why you're gonna go in there."

"To make an even bigger mess of myself?"

"If that's what you're gonna do, that's what you're gonna do, but your partner needs you."

"Shane, I haven't been in a hospital since that day."

"It's gonna be alright." He helped me stand and walked me back to his squad car. I got in and sat down, watching him as he closed up my squad car and locked it.

"Someone has to tell Megan..." I spoke, turning to look at him. He sat down with a huff.

"Yeah an' someone's gotta tell Lori," he replied, sniffing as he started the car. I hadn't thought about that. I took a second to look at Shane. How many times before did he have to tell Lori when Rick was hurt? I'm sure none of them could equal the pain this would bring. We drove to the bar first. Megan had been picking up extra shifts for their trip. They probably wouldn't even take that trip now. Shane parked the car and looked at me. "Are you gonna be okay?"

"I don't know," I answered. "What do I even say to this? What words will make this okay?"

"First of all, ain't no words gonna make it okay. You gotta find somethin' to say all on your own. Ain't no nice way of tellin' someone that their loved one got shot." He reached over and squeezed my hand. "You got this." I looked over at him and shrugged against the seat, focusing on how warm his hand was in mine. After a second, I remembered that Megan was in there totally unaware of everything. To her, Casey was fine, just out at work with me. I was his partner, I was there to protect him and I failed. I owed it to her and to him to spread the news. Opening the door, I stepped out, not feeling the heat or the sun as I walked into the bar. All eyes moved to me, I never came in in uniform. Especially not one that was covered in blood. Megan's eyes met mine. Her mouth fell open and she covered it. She shook her head as I walked up to the bar, trying to keep my eyes on the floor.

"Megan - " I spoke, pausing to look at her. She was already crying, wiping her eyes to keep her mascara from falling. "There was an accident today. Casey was shot and he's on his way to the hospital."

"Is it bad?" she muttered.

"He got shot in the leg. He was in quite a bit of pain before the ambulance got there. Shane's in the car, we're going to take you to the hospital to see him." The other bartender working at the bar embraced her in a hug. A few of the men sitting at the bar that heard me gave her their condolences as we made our way for the front door. We got into the car without another word. I waited for Shane to stop and pick up Lori on our way there, but he didn't, he continued to drive towards the hospital. I turned to look at him and before I could even speak he answered my unspoken question.

"I'll go back out an' get her. It'll take awhile, she's gonna be a wreck."

"Do you want me to go with you?"

"Nah, you an' Megan need ta get inside with Casey. I'll be there shortly." I nodded, focusing on the small buildings passing us as we headed to the outskirts of town where the hospital sat. I listened to Megan sniffle in the back seat. I felt like a complete asshole. For the rest of the car ride I had zoned out. I knew what was coming for me at the hospital. A trigger. They seemed to be getting less in number over the last year, but having the thought of being in a place I had avoided since those days... It haunted me. He pulled the car to the front entrance, he put the car in park and let Megan out of the backseat.

"I'll be back with Lori an' Carl in about thirty minutes, tell Rick I'm bringin' them up here," Shane spoke, waving us towards the front doors. I stood with my arms over my chest. When I looked down to my feet, I could see the dried blood stains on my pants and uniform shirt. Without even comprehending my actions, I pulled the light brown shirt off and tossed it in the nearest trash can, pulling my white undershirt out from the waistband of my pants. Megan walked ahead and turned when she noticed I wasn't coming.

"You go on ahead, I just need a minute," I told her, feeling a tightness grip my chest. My eyes locked in on the short four story building that made up the hospital. Pulling my hands to my head, I stood in that position slowly exhaling. That afternoon when I woke up in the hospital was the hardest time of my life. There was no hiding the abuse anymore. It was hard to lie to people about what had happened at home when you've take a damn bat to the face. It was hard to look at place that you considered to be your wake up call as anything but intimidating.

"Jen, get up here an' go inside with me," she ordered, holding out her arm.

"No, you go on, I'll meet you inside." She rolled her eyes and stomped over to my side, wrapping her arm around mine.

"Casey told me all about your hospital fear. You're gonna be fine. I'm right here. Think about Casey," she told me, giving me a squeeze. "He needs us both in there, an' I'm not goin' inside without you." My face grew serious and I turned to look at her. Her lips grew into a small smirk.

"You're not very nice," I muttered, giving her a squeeze back.

"I promise you'll thank me later." I knew in this moment Casey would have been proud of her. With a sigh, I gestured with my hand towards the hospital.

"Let's go." I didn't dare look at the doors as we entered, I kept my face on the ground, keeping my breathing even. I could smell it and hear it. My breathing jumped and I definitely felt like I was a walking contradiction. A police officer, made to protect and serve, afraid of a goddamn hospital. Casey was the only reason I walking into that place. We stopped at the front desk. I tried focusing my breathing, trying to keep the breaths even and stable, but the noises around me, it was just too much. Megan tried speaking with the receptionist, but it was like neither could understand what the other was saying, they both just kept asking each other questions. The annoyance from that on top of anger I was feeling just wasn't sitting well at all.

"For Christ's sake, we just want to know where Casey Brown is! He's an officer! He was brought here with a gunshot wound about thirty minutes ago!" I shouted, unable to control my outburst. Megan muttered something but I couldn't hear exactly what. The receptionist gasped.

"Ma'am, please keep your voice down!" she scoffed. "This is a hospital!"

"And this is the information desk, am I right?" I shouted, raising my head up to finally look at her. She gasped for a second time.

"I'm calling security!"

"No need!" I barked, slamming my badge down on the counter. "Now where is Casey Brown!?" She looked between Megan and I. Megan squeezed my arm again when I opened my mouth. She typed something into her computer and adjusted her glasses on her nose.

"He's in the operating room. If you'll have a seat in one of the waiting rooms down the hall, someone will be with you shortly." I could tell she wasn't happy with me. She certainly didn't approve of the way I speaking to her, but I could have given two fucks less. I walked down the hall with Megan and found a small alcove that I assuming was the waiting room area she was talking about. Waiting Rooms. With the ugly ass greens and blues that are meant to be calming and too overwhelming when all you feel like doing is just curling up into a ball and crying. The chairs are uncomfortable and someone is always watching the fucking news. Just sitting there watching the news. They won't let you change the channel. There's at least one person gabbing on their cellphone. Annoying. They should call it the Annoyance Room. It's a lot more fitting.

It was about four hours of waiting, at some point in that four hours, Shane had arrived with Lori and Carl. I mostly spent my time staring at the pattern in the carpet while Megan called her parents and Casey's. I remember wanting to stand up and hug Lori, but I just couldn't. She sat in the seats facing ours with Carl, crying into his hair as she held him. I tried to make myself see her side, but I couldn't. I never truly loved someone that much to think I would marry them. I had no idea what that love felt like, to wake up every day next to the person you would spend the rest of your life with. Shane sat on the end of the rows of chairs, seated near the hallway to watch as people walked by. I noticed that any time someone with a white coat on would approach, he would sit up higher in his seat, like he was readying himself for something bad. I had to fight the urge to hug him too. I knew doing so would do nothing but focus attention on the both of us. I felt like an ass. This was a time of grieving for all of us and I was worried about embarrassing myself with a display of grief. More police officers and some Linden County ones had shown up too in that four hours. Allen being in the mix. He desperately tried to make eye contact with me from across the waiting room but I just couldn't.

The surgeons finally came out and announced that both men were doing okay and in recovery. Rick was sedated more than Casey. Something about his lungs and his breathing and whatever the hell else could possibly go wrong with a gunshot like his were listed off. Casey's femur was shattered, in about five to six different places. They started listing off certain complications from his surgery and I just remember standing up to hear the news then very quickly sitting back down. He may never walk again, that was in the complications. Nausea reared its head in my stomach. Megan sat down beside me and pulled me into a hug. My best friend may never walk again.

"He's gonna be okay," she whispered, giving me a short kiss on the cheek.

"For now," I muttered. Shane, Lori, and Carl disappeared to go meet Rick in the recovery area.

"You wanna go see him?"

"Not right now."

"Jen..."

"Fine," I answered like a bratty little kid who was being told to clean my room. "But, I can't guarantee I won't cry."

"It's okay if you do." She grabbed my hand and led me to the elevators.

Casey never looked worse in all of the time we had known each other. I had seen him with the flu, terribly hungover, and through a bad break up. This was all way worse. Sweat was still beaded up on his forehead, his face contorted in pain. I instantly felt like I shouldn't be there, especially when he didn't open his eyes. I stepped back behind the curtain that shadowed him from the doorway, waiting for Megan to see him first. When she turned around, she grabbed my arm and yanked me behind her. "Go sit down," she ordered, pushing me into the chair beside his bed. I sat down next to him and took my hand in his. She did the same on the other side, except she kissed his cheeks before sitting down. "We're here, baby," she whispered. I squeezed his hand and laid my forehead down on his bed wishing for the entire world to just fade away.