(No One's POV)

When the doctor finally arrived, he sent for the mortician to take Elizabeth away and prepare for her funeral.

Everything was happening so fast, Jack couldn't comprehend that he was about to plan a funeral for Elizabeth. He was the one who was going to have to call Elizabeth's family and tell them. Elizabeth never told her family about her cancer diagnosis because she didn't want to worry them and have them immediately come to Coal Valley. Or worse, have them insist she come back to Hamilton to spend the rest of her days after from her home in Coal Valley.

The children. Jack's heart sank even more. These kids had gone through so much, and now they were losing the one person who had put the pieces back together for them. Some of them were too young to even understand what was happening. How would he tell them? Who would be the new teacher? Jack didn't know if Rosemary would do it, or if Gowan would try to hire somebody else.

Abigail couldn't bear to come out of her room. Clara attempted to run the cafe, but not many people came anyway. Nobody knew of Elizabeth's death yet, but they still were trying to give Abigail and Jack their space. Abigail spent the rest of the day laying in bed, weeping over the loss of her best friend. Trying to come to terms with the fact that everyone she loves seems to leave. Abigail felt broken, like all hope was gone. Just like the day of the mining accidents, when Noah and Peter were among the list of those lives that were lost. This time though, it seemed possibly worse. For over the past year since the accident, Abigail had tried her best to come to grips with everything, pick up the pieces, and move on. And she had done just that. Opening the bakery was a huge accomplishment that she was proud of...but she did it with her best friend by her side. How in the world was Abigail going to deal with this? What would everyone in town do?

Jack finally got the strength to go to the church. Luckily, he didn't see anyone in town, so he didn't have to lie about how things were going. Abigail and Jack couldn't handle saying anything yet.

When arrived at the church, his boots felt like they were filled with lead when he walked up the steps to get inside. Once he was there, he sat in the back row of the pews, and just started praying.

All was quiet for quite some time, then Pastor Hogan came out from the back door. "Jack? I thought I heard someone walk in earlier." Jack didn't respond, so Frank walked up to Jack and sat beside him. "What's going on, Jack?"

Jack finally looked up, tears streaming down his face. "Elizabeth's dead. She died this morning… My wife is gone."

Frank couldn't believe what he was hearing. His heart was breaking. Though he hadn't been in Coal Valley as long as everyone else, he still knew just how devastating this news would be to the town. "Oh Jack, I'm so sorry… Is there anything I can do?"

"I don't know. Give me my wife back?" Jack began crying again.

Frank put an arm around the mountie, then just held him as he cried. Finally, Jack started to sniffle and he sat up. "You should know that Abigail won't get out of bed now. I can't even begin to imagine how much of a toll this is taking on her."

"I'll come see her when you leave. For now though, I want to make sure you're okay. Have you planned anything yet for Elizabeth's service?"

"I mean, between the fact that she was ripped away from me and I can't do anything to see her alive and well again… I've thought about it a little bit. They took her away earlier today. Abigail and I are going to pick out something for her in the next few days I think. I want the schoolchildren to be involved, but I don't even know how we're going to tell them."

"We'll figure it out. For now, let's make sure you and Abigail are at least a little better before we get the rest of the town involved."

The two stood up and began to walk out the door, back to Abigail's. "Pastor?"

"Yes?"

"Thank you...for everything."