Ephram waits silently on the front porch of the house, smoking. His mother is reasonable quiet, but still present. His father is inside, gathering more things that he thinks his son will need for his stay in the psychiatric ward at the hospital. When Andy steps outside, looking paler than his son does, Ephram shudders. "I don't want to go, but I have to," Ephram says.

"Give it a couple of days and if it doesn't work, we'll try something different," Andy says.

"I'm sorry, Dad."

"Ephram. This isn't your fault, okay? It's nobody's fault. You're a great kid and you don't deserve this…"

"What?" Ephram asks.

"I said you don't deserve this pain…"

"She says I deserve it…" Ephram mutters.

Andy sighs.

"I know she's not real. I do." Ephram shakes his head. "Ready?"

"Are you?"

Ephram nods, walking toward the SUV. "Dad, can you call Amy and Colin and let them know what happened? Tell them I had to go away for a while?"

"What do you want me to tell them, Ephram?" Andy asks, getting inside the SUV.

"Colin knows about me…seeing her. You can tell them the truth. I owe them that much," Ephram says.

"Okay. I'll call them after I get you settled in," Andy promises.

"You can't stay with me."

"I know. You'll be seeing a lot of therapists, psychiatrists and doctors. From what your doctor says, it should keep you pretty busy. Are you sure this is what you want to do?"

"I don't want to. I think I have to." Ephram closes his eyes and leans his head against the window.

Andy returns to the SUV around lunchtime. Ephram is settled in the inpatient psychiatric ward in a private room. He has discussed the intensive therapy with the doctors and while he doesn't approve of the many drugs they are suggesting for his son, he knows that something is wrong with Ephram. He starts to drive home but doesn't want to face the empty house with Ephram's blood still staining the floor. He drives to work instead.

Dr. Abbott has been seeing his patients so he steps into the Abbott clinic. The secretary tells him that Dr. Abbott is at lunch and Andy knocks on the lounge door.

"Andy? Is everything okay?" Dr. Abbott asks immediately. He offers him a chair.

"Ephram wanted me to tell Amy where he is."

"Where is he?"

"He's not getting better with the outpatient therapy. He asked me to put him in the hospital. I just got back from the hospital," Andy states.

"What happened?" Harold asks, quietly.

"He just…snapped. It was like he didn't know what he was doing, Harold. I mean, he says he saw her and just lost it. He took a knife…he cut himself. Then he just snapped back to reality. He's so sick and he's trying so hard…but I don't know how to fix it this time…" Andy admits.

"Andy, he asked you for help. Ephram's a smart kid. He knows when he needs help. You tried, you did everything you could but this is something that you can't handle. He needs help and now he's somewhere that he can get help."

"He said that he didn't see her yesterday. Amy and Colin, they took him out of the house. He said that he didn't see her until he got back. It set him back. I mean, he wasn't seeing her and then she reappeared…saying things to him…I've heard him talk to her and the things that he's thinking…" Andy loses his voice.

"Amy's been really worried about him but I don't think she has any idea of how sick he is."

"Can you explain it to her? I don't want to upset her any more and I…I don't think I can talk about it without getting upset."

Dr. Abbott nods. "What are you going to do?"

"Ephram…he wants me to go see Delia. He wants me to leave town for a while. He says that it'll make him feel better knowing that Delia and I are okay. I don't want to leave him here…so I think I'm going to bring Delia home. Then I can be here for him and I can be with Delia," Dr. Brown explains.

"Sounds like you know what you're doing. Ephram needs help that you can't give him Andy. Trust him. He's an intelligent, amazing boy and he will get better. You have to believe that."

Andy nods. "Thank you, Harold. For everything. If Amy has any questions, tell her to call me. Ephram says that he's going to write to her once he gets settled in."

"How long are they planning on keeping him?"

"He's on suicide watch. They're keeping him indefinitely right now. Until he shows signs of improvement, but…he was showing signs of improvement anyway. The doctor, the therapist, they all said he was getting well…but he's not. He's not getting better."

"You should go home and get some rest. Call your daughter. You've done everything that you could have done, Andy. Now comes the hard part. Waiting."

Colin comes inside the Abbott house with Amy and Bright after school. Dr. Abbott is waiting and surprises them all by asking them to sit down, politely.

"Dad…what is it?" Amy asks.

"Dr. Brown came by today. He had to hospitalize Ephram this morning."

Amy gasps. Colin immediately takes her hand.

"What happened?" Colin asks quietly.

"He suffered a setback. Dr. Brown is no longer able to help him…" Dr. Abbott explains.

"Can you tell us something that means something? Did he…" Bright surprises his father with his concern.

"He hurt himself, yes…"

"But yesterday…he was so much better…" Amy mutters.

"Andy said that Ephram was doing better. After his visit with you yesterday, cutting class aside, he was apparently in good spirits." Dr. Abbott sighs. "What exactly do you know about Ephram's problems?"

"He sees his mother. All the time," Colin sighs. "He told me. I believe him. He really sees her…"

Amy has started to cry.

"Yesterday, after a long night, he didn't see his mother anymore. When you dropped him off, he still didn't see her until he went into the house. Ephram asked his father to take him to the hospital. Andy said…this is a very delicate situation, kids…Ephram is ill. This is the kind of sickness that is hard to be treated by anyone…"

"Because it's all in his head," Bright mutters.

"He's not crazy…" Amy snaps, still crying.

"He thinks he is. He sees her and she says things to him," Colin says, quietly. He puts a hand over his face. "Poor Ephram…we should have seen this…back when he first started acting strange…"

"He's always acted strange from the way you kids talk. There's no way any of you could have known," Dr. Abbott says.

"So he's…institutionalized? At his own request? That sounds like bullshit…" Bright mutters.

"He hurt himself…" Dr. Abbott explains. "He wasn't trying to kill himself, according to Andy…but he was doing intentional damage to himself. He was in a daze, he was unresponsive to his father until he had hurt himself. Ephram needs help and he had the state of mind to ask for it. The doctors at the hospital can help him."

Bright shudders. "When they put Mattie in the hospital…she was never the same. The drugs…they did something to her brain. It was like she was just going through the motions."

"Mattie. I didn't know you knew her," Colin says suddenly.

"I don't know her anymore. I used to know her," Bright replies, quietly.

"She's that girl that got him all messed up to start with. She told him where he could get liquor…" Amy says.

"You don't mean Mattie Evans, do you?" Dr. Abbott asks, after a pause.

"Yeah," Amy replies.

"Mattie Evans died last week. Drug overdose," Dr. Abbott sighs.

"Is there something in the water around here?" Colin asks, shocked.

"I had no idea that you kids knew her…or that Ephram knew her," Dr. Abbott admits.

"Do you think he'll have to stay a while?" Amy asks, quietly.

"He's got a long road ahead of him, Amy," Dr. Abbott admits. "Andy did say that Ephram was planning on writing to you."

"How can we help him when he's locked away?" Colin asks.

"He knows that you guys are here for him when he gets out. That's all anyone can do right now. And pray."