"Dad, can you drive me to the hospital?"
"What? Why? What happened? Aren't you feeling well?" Deeply worried Andy looked at his son.
"I'm fine, I just like to … to visit Cassie." Ephram explained. He hoped his father would agree fast. He didn't feel like arguing about it for long.
"You just saw her yesterday, Ephram. I really think you should rest and …"
"Dad, please."
There was something in Ephram's voice and in his eyes that made Andy say yes. He could see that his son was in pain and it wasn't just physical pain. Since Amy's visit yesterday he was different … even more distant than usual. He wondered if something had happened between them. "All right, let's go."
XXXXXXX
"Hi." Bright smiled as Delia opened the door for him. He stepped in without waiting for in invitation. He knew he didn't need one. "Is Ephram upstairs?"
Bright had visited Ephram at least twice a week during the last six weeks. He wasn't here as often as Amy, not because he didn't want to, but because Ephram simply didn't have the strength to put up with both Abbott children all the time. But he always made sure to visit his friend regularly.
"Ephram isn't here." Delia told him quietly. "Dad drove him to the hospital today."
"Is something wrong? I though he didn't have any more chemo this week." Bright asked worried. He tried not to show it, but every time he saw Ephram he was afraid something awful would happen. He had never been good in dealing with crisis, but he was determined not to let his friend down. He would make sure that Ephram knew he wasn't alone in this. Especially now.
"He wants to visit a friend there. At least that's what he said." Delia said quietly.
"Hey, you don't think he's lying to you, do you?"
"I don't know." She didn't look at Bright as she spoke.
"Uh, come on. Big brothers never lie to their little sisters." Bright said cheerfully.
"You never lied to Amy?" Delia asked skeptically.
"Oh, well, uhm … that's different." Bright stammered.
"Why?"
"Because … because she's Amy." His smile faltered. "And right now I don't even like her very much."
"Why? Did she do something wrong?"
Bright looked at her in surprise, then he shook his head slightly. Of course Ephram hadn't told anyone yet. That was just like him, to keep everything bottled up. "Yes, she did." He replied quietly. "So, what do you want to do until we wait for Ephram to come home?"
Delia's face lightened up. "We could watch Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory."
"Ooh, that's one of my favorites." Bright grinned.
XXXXXXX
"I'll wait here." Andy told his son and pointed at a row of chairs standing in the corridor outside from Cassie's room.
"Okay."
"And don't stay too long."
"No." Ephram rolled his eyes. Just for once he wished his father would trust him enough to know when he needed to rest and when not. Putting up his best smile – he didn't want Cassie to know at the first sight that something was wrong - Ephram stepped into her room … and froze. The bed was empty and a nurse was busy cleaning the room.
"Uhm, excuse me ..." Ephram stammered.
The nurse looked up in surprise. "Oh hello, can I help you?"
He swallowed. "I, uhm, I'm looking for the girl who was in here."
A sad expression flickered over the nurses face. "I'm sorry. She died last night."
Ephram's chest tightened and for a moment he felt like he couldn't breathe. The nurse looked worried at his pale appearance. "Are you all right? Can I help you?"
"No ... no." Still staring at the empty bed, Ephram took a few steps backwards, back into the corridor.
When Andy saw his son coming out of the room again, he immediately got up again. "Well, you could have stayed a bit longer." He tried to joke. But when he saw his son his smile faded and a deep worry spread through him. "Ephram? What's wrong?"
Ephram felt the tears brimming in his eyes. He was trembling all over. He saw the worry in his father's eyes and suddenly he couldn't stand it. It was too much. "Cassie died." He whispered. He wasn't even aware he had spoken aloud.
"What?" Andy walked closer to his son. He hadn't understood him. "Ephram, what ..."
He would be dead too soon. That thought kept going through Ephram's mind and right now it was all he could think of. The chemo hadn't helped, just like it hadn't helped Cassie. They had found no donor yet, just like they had found no donor for Cassie. And now he would die just like she had. He saw his father walking towards him and took a few steps backwards, away from his father. "Don't ..." He mumbled and the tears started falling down his face. Then he raised his voice. He wanted to scream it all out. "Leave me alone! Amy was right, you should just leave. Stop worrying and forget all about it. It's all for nothing anyway. You'll just get hurt but it won't change anything and eventually you'll just forget all about it and ..."
"Ephram, what are you talking about?" Andy had reached his son and put his hand on his shoulder to calm him. "What is this about Amy? What happened?"
Ephram pulled away from his father. "Just leave me alone, Dad. It's not worth it." He was walking backwards as he spoke. He couldn't be with him right now. He had to get away. He turned around and ran down the corridor.
"Ephram ..." Helplessly Andy looked after his son. His first instinct was to run after him, but then he told himself that whatever had disturbed Ephram he might need a few moments for himself. And this was a hospital, he couldn't get far. He wasn't strong enough anyway to run for long. That though send a stab of pain through him and he quickly pushed it away. Then he stepped into Cassie's room to see what had happened ... when he saw the empty bed he immediately knew what had disturbed his son. He cursed himself. How could he have been so stupid? He ran out into the corridor again and started looking for his son.
XXXXXXX
Ephram didn't really know where he ran to or for how long, but eventually he found himself outside of the hospital. It was pouring with rain, but he didn't even notice it. He walked a few more steps when suddenly all his strength seemed to leave him. He sagged down on the nearest bench and put his head in his hands. He let the tears flow down freely now. He couldn't really do anything to stop them. He cried for Cassie, for himself, for his sister who would lose another close family member ... he cried and cried and he didn't think he could ever stop again.
He startled when he suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder. When he looked up he expected to meet his father's eyes ... instead he looked into the worried face of Madison Kellner.
"Ephram?" Madison was shocked at his appearance. He was soaked with rain, trembling all over, his face was pale, he had dark circles under his eyes and tears were still rolling down his face. And he looked so thin ... not at all like the Ephram she remembered. "Are you ... are you all right?"
Ephram was still so surprised, he didn't really now what to say. So he just nodded.
"What are you doing here?" She asked quietly. "Is everything all right with Delia? Your father?"
"They're all right." Ephram forced himself to say. "I ... I was just visiting a friend."
"I hope it's nothing serious."
Ephram swallowed down the lump in his throat. He didn't look at Madison as he spoke. "She's better now."
"That's good." Carefully Madison took Ephram's hand in hers and so forced him to look at her again. "I think we should go inside. It's freezing out here and you are trembling all over."
Her words took Ephram by surprise. He hadn't even noticed how cold it was. But now that she said it, he felt his wet clothes and noticed the shivers going through his body. "Yeah, maybe we should."
"Okay. There's a cafe over there. I guess we could both use something to get warm again." She smiled at him.
She didn't let go of his hand as she pulled him up from the bench and they quickly walked back into the hospital and into the cafe.
XXXXXXX
"Mhmm, this is good." Smiling Madison took another sip of her coffee. A caring waitress had given both of them a towel to get at least a bit more dry. Ephram was still trembling, but not as bad as before. He had stopped crying and looked calmer. But there was still something about him that worried her deeply. "So, who was this friend you visited here? Anyone I know?"
"No. I just met her ... a few weeks ago." It seemed like a lifetime to him.
Madison looked at him intently. She knew he was hiding something. There had to be a reason he was so agitated. He looked almost ... despaired. She took a deep breath. "So, how are things with you and Amy?"
A short, harsh laugh escaped Ephram's lips. "She ... we broke up yesterday."
"Oh ...I'm sorry." Madison looked at him sympathetically. So that was it. "I thought you would stay together forever."
"So did I."
The sad look in Ephram's eyes broke her heart. "What happened?"
Ephram closed his eyes for a moment. He didn't want to talk about it. "Can I tell you some either time?"
"Sure." She smiled at him warmly. "How is Delia doing?"
For the first time Ephram smiled at her. He was grateful for the change of topic. "She's good. She's still waiting for the horse Dad promised her."
That made Madison laugh. "I'm sure he'll keep his promise and she will get one when she's older."
"I think he has simply forgotten about it."
Madison looked at him sadly. "So your relationship still sucks?"
Ephram let out a small sigh. "No, it's getting better, I guess." He suddenly felt guilty for the way he had treated his father after finding out about Cassie. "Actually, today was the first time in weeks I yelled at him."
"What did you yell at him for?"
He shrugged. He wanted to tell her. Talking about it would help. But he couldn't get the words to leave his mouth. If he told her about Cassie she would want to know how he met her. Then he would have to tell her about his disease ... and he didn't want her to know. It felt actually good talking to someone who had no idea how sick he was. There was no pity in her eyes, no worry ... well, a bit worry, but only because she had found him crying and trembling sitting in the rain. He probably hadn't given the best first impression after not seeing her for so long.
"What were you doing here anyway?" He asked to change the topic.
Madison immediately knew what he was doing but she also knew how hard it was for him to talk about the relationship with his father, so she didn't push for an answer to her question. "I was just here for a courtesy visit. My boss had an accident and fall from the roof of his garage. He's got a broken leg and I figured it would make a good impression if I visited him. I'm planning to ask for a raise." She laughed.
"Good thinking visiting him then." Ephram replied smiling. He slung his arms around himself ... he was still freezing.
"You should get out of these wet clothes. You got anyone to drive you home?" Madison asked worried.
"Yes, my father is waiting for me ... somewhere here."
"Ah, it was one of those yelling and running away moments." Madison teased him.
"Kinda, yeah." Ephram looked uncomfortably at the coffee in front of him. He could feel the tears well up in his eyes again. He just couldn't stop thinking about Cassie. It hurt so much. He hadn't thought she would die. She had always been so positive about everything ... but when he thought about it, there had been signs. As if she had known she wouldn't get better again. She had never talked about the future, not once.
Madison could see that Ephram was close to tears again. She wondered what had happened ... she didn't think that it could just be about Amy. Sympathetically she took his hand in hers again. "If you want to talk about something, Ephram, I'm always here for you."
He looked up at her and quickly wiped away a single tear that had escaped his eyes. "Thanks, but ... I don't really want to talk about it right now. I just ... It feels good just talking about easy things, normal things, like you getting a raise or your boss falling from the roof. How did that happen anyway?"
Madison looked at him thoughtfully for a moment. The longer she talked to him, the more she got the feeling that something was seriously not right. But she would have to accept that he didn't want to talk about it. She knew Ephram well enough to know that pushing him to talk would never work. And if it helped him to hear stories about her life now, she would give him that. "I'm not sure how he did it. I think he slipped or something when he tried to get down the ladder again. He was cleaning the roof from leaves."
"Leaves?"
"Yes." Madison laughed. "I know it's stupid. As if the wind wouldn't take care of that eventually. But that's just my boss ... he always does the strangest things. That's what's making it so much fun working for him. It never gets boring."
"What kind of job is it?"
"I ..."
"Ephram!"
Startled both Madison and Ephram turned around and saw Andy walking towards them with big steps. "Where the hell have you been? I have been looking everywhere for you! Look at you, you're soaked to the bone. What have you been thinking? You know that you ..."
"Dad, I'm fine." Ephram quickly interrupted his father before he said too much. He had gotten up and grabbed his jacket. "I just ran into Madison and we talked. We can go home now if you want."
Andy looked at his son, anger and worry both sweeping through him at the same time. "All right." Taking a deep breath he turned to Madison. "It was nice seeing you again. You should come by sometime. Delia misses you."
Madison sensed that there was something going on between them. She glanced at Ephram. She wasn't sure if he would like her to come over. Sitting with your ex-girlfriend in a cafe was one thing, meeting her in your house was something completely different.
"You really should come." Ephram smiled at her. It didn't reach his eyes, but she was pretty sure he meant what he had said.
"I would love to." She replied with a warm smile.
TBC
A.N.: First of all, thank you all for your wonderful reviews. They are really appreciated and make writing this story so much easier. It is always good to know that there are people who like what I write. Second, I had planned much more for this chapter, but it turned out to be too long. So I decided to split it in two parts. I hope I get the rest done before the weekend. Thank you all again for reading and reviewing. It means a lot to me.
