Chain Letters: Chapter Nine: FranticHow could Church describe the next weeks? Everything seemed to move so fast he felt dizzy. Doctor appointments, sonograms, renovations, shopping, job searching and wedding planning for after the baby was born---which included: venue visits, food tasting, tux shopping, flower shopping, cake shopping and decor shopping. And baby shopping was piling up: shoes, diapers, socks, shirts, pants, bottles, car seats, toys, blanks, hats, clippers, shampoo, towels, bassinet, stroller, two crib sheets, two water proof linens and a diaper bag. His head was spinning as the room was slowly filling and looking more like an actually livable space. But, who knew babies needed so much? He was at a loss. Never, ever had he imagined it being anything like this. Plus, he was the one dragging it up the stairs an then---if it was furniture---moving it until she liked it. He was also noticing her mood swings. One night, he woke up to her sobbing, and most of the time, none of it made any sense. Like once, he woke up to her jabbing him in the side. When he'd asked her what was wrong, she'd told him that he was being annoying. He had been sleeping! Sleeping! Another night, she was laughing. When he'd asked her what it was, she'd said that she was thinking about something funny that happened in middle school. How she remembered any of it, he'll never know. The last time, she had been cuddling a bit too close and whimpering and shaking. "What's wrong?" he asked, hanging his arm over her. "I'm scared." She answered, grabbing hold his arm. "Of what?" He scanned the room, nothing unusual. "I'm just scared." Not again, he thought. It hadn't been the first time she'd woke up scared of unknown enemies. "It's okay, Baby. I'm here." He pulled her as close as he could. "You promise not to go anywhere?" "Of course. You're not going to get rid of me that easily." She sighed and he kissed her ear. "But I'm still scared." Usually, his words did nothing and she would lie awake for hours, scared as if they'd been robbed just the day before. But by the next morning, she would be back to normal. Singing in the shower, eating a good breakfast and asking him to grab the paper from downstairs. Then there were the cravings. Oh dear god, he thought. She craved stuff that made his stomach gargle from the sound of it, causing him to wonder if it was just her or if other pregnant women had the same cravings. It still remained a mystery. Though he wondered if it would change his mind about what she wanted some days. One afternoon, she wanted lobster. She'd never even had it before! Then another day, shrimp. And it wasn't all seafood. Sometimes it was chocolate or chicken. Her swaying made grocery shopping more hassle then it was worth. Constant phone calls were inevitable while there and her mind shifted quickly. He'd tried to tell her she was running him, but she'd just turned her head and refused to listen. If she responded, she'd say, "I'm the one carrying our son." or "Suck it up you wimp." It was becoming almost inexcusable. One day, he flew off the handle and shouted at her about killing him with her calls and running around. That one got through, but she just ended up crying and he apologized. Nothing changed. He was just glad that they only had one more month left. One more month! Just one left. The word rang through his head as the car drove them to Babies R Us. Only one more month and they'd be parents. Suddenly, it hit him. They were going to be responsible for another human, their son. He just stared at the dashboard as Tex looked at him. He looked suddenly scared to death----horrified. She wondered why he suddenly looked so scared. He had been fine when they'd left, right? Yes, he had. What was wrong? Was he okay? "Church?" He turned to her. "What?" he asked. "Are you okay?" "Yeah. I just think the reality of this just set in." She grabbed his hand and gave it a squeeze. "I remember feeling that way not too long ago," he stared at her as she paused. "I don't know exactly what to say, I'm still dealing with this myself. It's not like we planned this." They said nothing and she squeezed his hand again. "I love you. And I want you to know that I think you'll make a great father. If you can handle time travel and Caboose, this should be a breeze." He chuckled. Was she right? Maybe. Caboose was a hand full to say the least. "Maybe you're right…" he trailed off and she squeezed his hand once more. "I am right. Now, let's just relax for the rest of the ride, okay?" He nodded and she nodded too and looked out the windshield. Anyhow, even with her point, he was still afraid, nervous and agitated. He never had imagined himself as a father and he---at the current moment---couldn't imagine her as a mother. She was now a retired bounty hunter. Not exactly mother material-he would never tell her that of course. And he was a time traveler. Strange couple, he thought and looked at her. Still looking out the windshield. He scanned her up and down. Red hair to her shoulders now, green emerald eyes scanning the road, a loose, white dress and flat white sandals. She looked so different from when he'd first met her. He also noticed it was incredibly noticeable she was pregnant. She also seemed to have a certain glow about her that he'd never seen before. Her skin was perfect enough to be a model's and cheeks pink like she was blushing. And her attitude seemed to have also adjusted. She'd grown more friendly, gentle and sympathetic. They were unlikely traits for her, though he wondered if it was just her body's reaction to being pregnant. All he figured was that she was happy. And that was truly what mattered. He shuddered when his door opened. They were parked. He sighed and she got out before he did, staring at the concrete was all he could do for a moment before he heard her slam her door shut and then knock on the window. After a moment, he got out and shut his too as she eyed him from the other side of the car. "Are you okay?" He nodded and they set off inside. First they stopped at the sheets and picked up some blankets then went to the clothes and seemed to spend hours there. It was just baby clothes! he wanted to shout. What could be so hard about picking baby clothes? Something was, because Tex was taking six hours. No matter how mad he was when he looked at her and she smiled at him, he felt relieved. She grabbed his hand, knowing he was growing frustrated. "Do you want me to hurry up and finish?" He shook his head, but she knew he did. "I was just going to grab some socks. Then we can head off." He nodded and followed her to the socks aisle, where she quickly grabbed a pack of baby socks and tossed them in the cart. They set off. He felt bad about rushing her, but he had been working all day at his new job as an insurance agent and was exhausted. She understood and was trying to layoff him a bit since she knew how hard all this was on him----not technically speaking. A plus though was he had to work so he can help her. Tex just laid her hand on his on the cart and he flashed her a smile and she flashed him one back. They checked out and loaded into the car, programmed the car to take them to Church favorite restaurant. Church surprised her with a bottle of sparkling strawberry and they toasted and ordered. She had some soap and he had a hamburger. Overall, he ranked it a fun night. They had toasted at the end of their meal to his new job and the starting of their family. After that they headed home and watched a movie, he wanted to then unpacked everything, so Tex organized it in the baby's room while he took a shower and called the contractors hired to finish the floor in the living room---half of it still wasn't finished. They'd agreed to come and finish things tomorrow, but he doubted the actually would. He helped Tex finish and they got ready for bed relaxing over the covers. He was reading a magazine while she read her favorite book. "Tex?" She looked at him. "What?" He set the magazine on his lap and her expression grew weary as he grabbed her hand, not releasing his grip on the book. "Do you need anything?" She smiled. "No, I'm fine." "Sure?" "Yeah." He moved his hand from hers and grabbed his magazine again. "If you need anything, ask." She nodded with a smile. An hour later, they went to sleep. He was dreaming sweetly when he felt a stabbing pain in his back and he swatted away. He abruptly heard Tex. "Church." He moaned. "Church." He still said nothing. "Church!" He sat up straight and she stared at him. "Sleepyhead." "What? Did you wake me up just to insult my sleeping?" She just stared at him and he could tell it had nothing to do with that. "Are okay?" She grabbed his hand and took a deep breath. "Tex?" "My water broke." He just stared at her before jumping from bed like he was on fire. "Do we need to go to the hospital!?" Tex just stared at him for a moment. "Probably," she paused. "Can you get me the phone?" He nodded and ran into the kitchen and got the phone before coming back and handing it to her. "What should I do?" Tex laughed slightly, noticing the urgency in his tone. "Calm down, that's what you should do." Church sent her a look saying, well no shit. "Can you remembered the hospital's phone number?" No, he couldn't. Church cursed under his breath. "Not really, what makes you think I'd remember?" She sighed. "I was just asking, it's okay. I was just trying to scare you anyway. It's programmed into my cell." He scowled at her. Why had she done that to him? What made her think that was acceptable? She turned on her phone and called. While she was on the phone it suddenly hit him: Tex's water had broken. They were going to the hospital at some point or another. He shuddered and ran to the closet and got dressed in a light blue button up and blue jeans. As he was about to put on some socks, he heard Tex gasp and hang up. "Are you okay!?" he asked quickly and she took a couple breaths through her mouth. "Yes, yes, calm down. I was just having a contraction." He slipped on his socks and walked over to her. "What did they say? Should we leave now?" he spoke so quickly his words seemed to almost slur. "Yes, we should go now." In an attempt to calm him, she spoke as if it was a two-year-old. He looked around franticly. "Where did I put that bag?" She just glowered at him. How could he have forgotten? Oh yes, she thought, he's not organized. She gripped the sheets. "Are you okay?" "Ow. Yes, just hurry up." He started moving quicker and walked out of the room and came back with the bag. "Will you be okay if I take the bag down first?" She felt anger building up at his questions. "Yes, dammit! Just go!" He hurried down the stairs to the car and loaded the bag in before trying to reprogram the car to drive them. Though for some reason it seemed to say it was having an error, so he set it to manual and a steering wheel came from under the dashboard. Church rushed back up to the apartment and realized he'd forgotten to set up the baby's car seat. "Are okay in there?!" he yelled from the hallway and peeked at her. "Hurry up, dammit!" she shouted and he just looked around frenziedly before he took off to the baby's room and grabbed the car seat he'd planned on putting in that afternoon. "I'll be back up to get you in a moment!" he yelled, causing her frustration to rise. "Where the hell are you going now?" He stopped at the door. "I'll tell you later! You'll just get mad at me if I tell you now!" Without thinking, she shouted to him. "I'm already mad at you, dammit!!" He just headed out and she snarled hearing the door shut. What had gotten into him? Was he completely insane? No, she thought, he was an idiot; a crazy idiot. She thought about the stairs. Those were not going to be fun to go down. When she heard the door swing open, she was having another contraction and he rushed in. "You ready yet, dumb ass?" The pain kicked in and a small whimper escaped her throat. "Yes, come on." When he walked over, she hit him in the chest. "Hold on!" After it passed, she stood up and he held onto her arm to help her out to the living room. She pointed to the closet. "Grab me some socks and help me put on my shoes." He started to run off, but she yelled after him. "Help me to the couch first, you idiot!" He back tracked to her, complaining quietly and then after she was on the couch, he ran into the bedroom and reemerged with a pair of white socks. Helping her get her socks and shoes on as she was gripping the couch with her eyes closed tightly wasn't an easy task. "Are you okay?" She felt like kicking him, but instead responded a moment later. "Stop asking me that, dammit! I swear if you ask me that one more time, I'm gonna rip out your skull!" "Like Jimmy?" he asked making her even madder. "Fuck yes!" He shuddered and helped her out the door and then down the stairs. It took about fifteen minutes just for them, or at least that's what it felt like. They got in the car and she glared at the steering wheel. "Why is the steering wheel out?" He got in and shut the door. "Because the car said it couldn't figure out where the hospital was or some shit." He started the car and idled before starting to drive at sixty in a fifty zone. After a minute of silence, he spoke. "You okay?" He only then remembered what she'd said. Was she serious? He didn't really want to find out. He felt his heart rate raise when he heard her snarl. "I swear I'm going to get you when this is over and I get my energy back." Would she really? He was worried. "Because quite frankly, you're driving me insane. Dealing with you is harder than this whole thing itself!" he heard her voice rise and wondered where the friendly Tex had ventured off to. "I'm sorry, Sweetheart, I promise not to ask again." "I'll tell you if anything's wrong," It seemed, like a fair deal. "Hurry up!" He felt a lump rise to his throat. "Uh...yeah…uh…okay." When they arrived at the hospital, he ran inside and made it perfectly clear that his "wife" as he called her, was in labor in the car outside. Then a nurse got him a wheelchair that he loaded Tex into and rushed inside. The line was about ten people and in Church's opinion, none of them looked sick or anything. He was tapping his foot and looking at a clock on the wall----mostly the second hand. Tick. Tex tugged on his shirt and his pulse raised instantly, worried as to what was wrong. When he went to ask, though, all he did was complain. "Dammit this line!" Tex just gazed at him a moment. "Uh...yeah…the line..." She looked away. "Are-" She glared at him, anticipating. "What's wrong?" "Nothing, I just wanted you to calm down." How could he? Church shook his head in frustration. They said nothing as the line seemed to move like a snail. After ten minutes in line, it was their turn and the receptionist looked casual and nonchalant. As if nothing was unusual, chewing gum and taking her sweet time. "Okay, your wife is having a baby?" He nodded. "Okay, here," She handed him a clipboard with three pieces of paper and a pen. "Make out the three page forum, then sign the forth. Just bring it to me when you're done." He sneered. What was with these people? Could they not see his wife was in labor? "Is this really necessary?" Tex hit his back. "Yes." Church snarled. "Shouldn't you get my wife into a room?" The women crossed her arms in desperation and looked at Tex. "Sweetheart, how far apart are your contractions?" "Six minutes," Tex answered and the woman looked back up at him. "Like I said, just fill out those pages." They were all crazy in his mind, but he took off to the chairs and Tex yelled to him. "Church, wait! Come back for me!" A few complaints from women arose quietly as he walked back over to her and wheeled her over to a chair and he sat down in it. "You okay, Church?" He snarled. "Never mind." After making out the three pages, he signed the forth and wheeled Tex up with him to the counter and handed it to the women. The receptionist looked at the pages one by one, then looked at him. "You didn't put an age down for yourself. If you're the father, it's necessary." He stared at her. "Uh..." Tex just stared at him expectantly. "Give it here." The women handed it to him with the pen and he put his age as twenty six and then handed the pen and board back. "Okay, just take a seat. We'll get you back with you as soon as we can." He snarled, more waiting. He wheeled Tex back where he had been and sat down again. "Dammit, Tex, I'm going to get this people." He noticed she was having a contraction and probably hadn't noticed he'd said anything. He laid his hand on hers, but she quickly grabbed his instead.. "Need anything, Tex?" She took a breath as it ended and nodded. "Call my doctor, you remember her, right? Her number is in my phone." She handed him her phone and he called. It took about five minutes to coax the doctor to get out of bed and get ready. But he did and hung up the phone. Tex grabbed the phone and he looked at the clock: three AM. They'd been in the waiting room, including in line and the forum, forty five minutes. Ridictulous, he thought. Tick. He was staring at the clock again subconsciously. The only thing that snapped him from his concentration was Tex digging her nails into his hand and whimpering. "Fuck," he complained almost silently and Tex seemed to be in complete concentration with her pain. "It's okay, Baby." Reassuring her did nothing adn she shifted in the wheel chair as if it was covered in thorns. "Just relax." He noticed sweat forming on her forehead. She was in pain, causing his throat to feel like it was constricting every moment she said nothing. "I can't relax!" She finally shouted in desperation. "Sorry, need me to do anything?" The women yelled to him at the desk. "Get up here, Mr. Church." He stood and Tex reached for him again. "Tex, hold on, I'll be right back." She didn't seem to hear him and stared at him as if she was a three-year-old getting ready to be wheeled off from their mother. "Sh, I'll be right back." He kissed her head and she moaned as he took off to the desk. "What?" The receptionist handed him two wrist bands. "One for you and one for your wife; just slip them on." He nodded and looked to Tex. "When are you guys going to come and take her back?" "Soon, the doctor only has one more patient." He moved back to Tex and as soon as he sat down, Tex reached for his hand. "You still mad at me?" Tex shook her head. "No." Tick. Not again, he thought, what's with me tonight? Tick. Dammit, he thought again. A moment later, a voice familiar broke his concentration. "Church!" It couldn't be, could it? No. He turned in the direction. It was. No! he wanted to scream. It was Tucker. Before he knew it, Tucker was sitting next to him. "I came to keep you two from killing each other, Tex playing nice, Church?" He looked to her and she only glared at him blankly. "Uh...yeah, she's been fine. It's me that's completely insane." A nurse came in. "Allison?" Church shot up faster than Tucker could respond and then the three were led into a room. Tex was in the middle of a contraction in the wheelchair, started yelling at Church. "Fuck you, Leonard Church! You forgot the bag, dammit!" He suddenly felt dumber. "Sorry! Tucker can you wa-" "I'll get it, Dude." Then Tucker took off out the door. As much as he hated Tucker, he was reminded of how helpful he can be. Rarely, but he can be. After Tex changed into a hospital gown, she was laying in bed restlessly. "You can get her some ice chips from right down the hall, a towel from the bathroom---" the nurse motioned to the bathroom behind her, "---and if you hit the nurse button, one will get here ASAP..." She looked to Tex. "Your doctor will be here shortly." Tex nodded and the nurse left as Church stood, still taking a mental note of what she'd told him. A moment later Tex spoke. "Church?" He suddenly shuddered. "Yes?" She motioned to a chair next to the bed and he sat down. "Are you afraid?" Could he lie to her? With her looking into his eyes like she was? "Of course not, everything is gonna be okay." She looked at him silent and he wondered if she believed him. "Church...I can tell your lying to me. Please don't lie, you're scared too." He turned away. How could he tell her that? He couldn't, no, that was just something he couldn't do, no matter what. The doctor stepped in and Tex turned to her. "Hello, how is everyone doing today? Hello, Leonard," she motioned to him, but he didn't seem to notice as then she put on a rubber glove. "I've been better," Tex replied irately. "I figured, do you want an epidural?" She gazed at her for a moment as if considering her question. "No." Church felt his eye begin to twitch. Why wouldn't she want one? Great, he thought and Tex looked to him while spreading her legs and lifting her sheets. "What?" He swiftly looked to her. "What?" "You said 'Great'." He suddenly realized that had been aloud. "No." She rolled her eyes and grabbed his hand. After a series of stuff Church could careless to explain, he remembered about Tucker. "Tex, do you know where Tucker went?" "He went to get the bag you forgot." He ignored her and stood. "I'll be right back." Tex started having a contraction and looked like she was holding in a scream. "Never mind." He sat down and she grabbed his hand "Ow, wow!" he said in a warbled tone. Ouch, he thought as her nail dug into his hand like a bird's beak in the ground. "She's about five centimeters," the doctor concluded and covered Tex up. "What the hell does that mean?" Morgan looked at him surprised. "When she's ten centimeters, shows on, that's my best explanation for you." Then she threw the glove in a trashcan and left. "Church! It hurts!" Tex shouted and he noticed she was sweating. Tucker walked in empty handed, hair tousled, lipstick on his face and clothes wrinkled. "Where the hell have you been?" Tucker looked at the door and closed it, then turned to Church. "Huh?" "Where's the bag?" Tex asked, recovering. "Bag?" "Yes, bag, dumb ass," Church interrupted. Silence struck as Tucker stood as if he had no idea what they were asking. "The bag you said you'd get for me! Ring a bell?" "Oh! Now I remember! Sorry dude, some hot nurse went after me." Church chuckled. "Went after you? I doubt it, did you rape her?" Tucker stared at him, rubbernecked. "Hell no!" They just stared for a minute before Tucker set off to the car. Two hours later, Church was wincing every time he knew Tex was going to have a contraction, bracing himself for her scream. Tucker had already left, saying he had done his duty and the nurses had been debiting outside the door about who was going in for about thirty minutes. "Let's try rock paper scissors," a nurse suggested. "Sounds-" Then they heard Tex yell inside. "Fine..." a younger nurse compiled with a sigh and went inside as Tex stopped screaming. "Hello, Allison." She put on a glove and walked over to her and pulled up her sheetss. "How do you feel?" "I need an epidural! NOW!" The nurse finished a moment later. "Too late, it's time to get this show on the road." Tex grabbed Church's hand. "Are you sure?" "Yes." Then the nurse left and Tex turned to Church. "I'm scared." "It's okay, everything is going to end just fine." A look of fear covered her face. "I love you, Allison." "I love you too, Leonard." The nurse came back with the doctor and another nurse. Tex recognized the nurse as the one who had been acting so funky the day she'd been chatted up about her past. "Let's do this." The doctor pulled the sheets away and put on some gloves. "Here's the deal: you push during a contraction and listen to my directions and everything should be fine." Tex nodded and took a deep breath. A second later, Tex started pushing and Church pushed her slightly forward as she screamed. "Good, good." After she stopped, Morgan noticed Tex's knuckles were white from holding onto Church's hand. "And…again." Tex continued like before, only screamed a bit louder----if that was possible. "Sh...it's okay," Church said and Tex flipped him off. "Shut the hell up!" He could have been frustrated, but this wasn't something he wanted to do. No, today was a happy day. After that, Church seemed to lose focus and only saw bits and pieces like a slide show. First Tex pushing again, her legs being lifted and he looked down to her legs where he saw the baby's head and then its shoulders an last it was over. Church suddenly felt like the room was shrunk seeing his son covered in amniotic fluid and still attached to the umbilical cord. His son at first seemed to gasp for air, but the doctor used a section tube in his mouth and nose and then Noah started crying as a nurse took him. Church finally looked to Tex and saw her eyes suddenly fill with fear, causing his smile to fade. She seemed to fall back as if she'd been shot in the chest as the steady, long beeping of her heart monitor began to sound like a fire alarm. Morgan turned to Tex and jumped atop her as the remaining nurse opened the door. The remaining nurses stationed outside burst into action instantly. One ran down the hall and the other ran inside as with the one still in. They rushed over to Church and started pushing him out of the room. "What the hell is going on!?" he shouted as they pushed him out the door and the doctor gave Tex CPR. "Tex! Dammit! Let me go!"Tucker noticed what was going on and helped them hold Church to the wall. "Dude!" Tucker shouted as the nurses ran inside and then started wheeling the bed out with the doctor on top of Tex, still giving her CPR. "Dammit, Tucker!" The doors in the hallways swung after they went through as Tucker held Church to the wall with all his force. "Let go of me! Tex!" After a moment, Tucker released him. "What the hell is going on?!" Tucker just stared at him, dying to not be the one to explain. This was nothing he had wanted to deal with. "Church, Tex didn't have a pulse." Even though Church knew, he stared agape and lost. She would be okay, right? She had to be, no, she would be. "Do you need me to do anything?" A nurse approached Church and his stomach began doing flips-flops. "Come with me." Church and Tucker followed her down the hall through the doors to a waiting room that was unclosed. Chairs lining the walls, two tables that had magazines scattered on them and everything else seemed white. "Wait here, we'll let you know as soon as we know anything." The nurse then left and Tucker grabbed a magazine before sitting down. "Sit down." Church couldn't even do that, his body felt stiff and his mind felt lost. How could he just sit? Now his stomach felt like a knot. "Come on." Tucker motioned to the seat next to him. Still Church didn't move; he felt like he couldn't. Tucker finally stood, slapping the magazine into his chair. "Sit down." He hrabbed Church's arm and led him to a seat and made him sit by pushing him. "There." Tucker sat down next to him after picking up his magazine and started flipping through the pages absentmindedly. Nothing seemed to calm even Tucker's nerves. He looked at Church, not even wanting to fathom how he was probably feeling, but somehow knowing. Rebbecca, Tucker thought. Church stood and paced a bit within the next four minutes and sat down awhile and thumbed subconsciously through a magazine before throwing it onto a table. As he just stared at the shinny floor, the doctor walked in. Church looked up to her and noticed the grave expression on her face. Tucker looked to her, also noticing it and swallowed, trying to stay calm if only for Church. "What happen?" She crossed her arms. "Leonard and...whoever you are. I'm sorry to have to say this," Church stared at her, heartbroken already. Please, he thought, please Tex. Tucker noticed blood speckled on her jacket and fluid. "Allison had what's called, an amniotic fluid embolism." Church suddenly felt dizzy. What was that? Tucker thought, but the doctor continued for them. "It's when amniotic fluid somehow enters one of the vessels in the uterus. It's rare, but somehow it traveled from the vessel to her heart." "No...No..." Church whispered in disbelief. "I'm sorry, she didn't make it. There was nothing we could do. This had nothing to do with thombophilia, either. This was something completely separate. Your baby is fine on the bright side." There was no bright side. No, the love of his life was dead. It didn't matter about his baby. He suddenly felt like passing out and grabbed Tucker's knee to stable himself. Tucker noticed and looked at him. He was suddenly paled and looked like he was either going to pass out or throw up; maybe both. "Can…can I...see her?" The doctor looked at him gravely. "Yes, yes you can." Tucker stood with him to make sure he wasn't going to fall. He barely looked stable so he grabbed Tucker's shoulder to stable himself. "Come with me." Church and Tucker followed her down the hallway, Church staggering toward the middle and leaned against the wall. Both of them stopped and looked to him. "Tucker?" He nodded to him as a motion to continue. "You go firs...I can't go in...not now." Tucker nodded and two doors down, the doctor opened the door and Tucker looked in. She was laying, her arms straight at her sides, eyes closed, no machines connected and her skin paling almost by the second. He looked away. Could he even do this? Tex was his friend. Could he look at her this way? He swallowed and turned back. He inched in as the doctor shut the door slightly behind him. The lights were dim and everything felt like ten degrees. His head was spinning and his eyes filled with tears as the room began to practically spin. He sat down in a chair next to the bed and just stared before crying his heart out. It was something he'd never done before, but he couldn't stop himself. Outside, Church began to struggle hearing Tucker's sobs, to stay steady on his feet. How could this have happened? Tex was young, healthy. This couldn't be real, just a dream, it had to be. About fifteen minutes later, Tucker emerged with red puffy eyes. He just walked by Church and said nothing. He couldn't, it was too hard to spit out anything and if he did, it would be chopped. And all that would do was make things worse than silence. Church staggered into the doorway and just stared at her. "No...no..." he whispered quietly. Tex. He walked over and just stared at her face. The face he'd grown to love over a course of more than a thousand years. He remembered them younger in a flash. When they'd first met, their first kiss and first everything. His legs went weak and Church had to grab the headboard to stop from falling. No, this couldn't be real. But staring at her; he knew it was. Church sat down and put his head in his hands and just cried. Cried harder than he ever has before.
