"When you come to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on."

Franklin D. Roosevelt

"Get the hell away from me!" She screamed, her head flooding with thoughts she could not put away. She placed her hands on her ears. "Leave me alone!"

Jocelyn took a tentative step forward, her face overly concerned. Her hair was a ragged mess, dark bags under her brilliant wise eyes. "Honey, it's alright. We're here-"

Clary cut her off with a violent wave of her hand. "You're not my mother! You're nothing to me. He was hurting because of you!" Glistening tears fell from her orbs and she ran into Jace's room, slamming the door shut behind her. She collapsed on his bedside, watching his breathing through his chest. He was shivering uncontrollably, something she had tried to lessen by bringing the many blankets she found in the closet. It was no use. His eyelids were a vivid purple. His mouth a chaotic red. His hair in the same long tendrils she loved.

"Jace?" She whispered, reaching to lightly kiss his nose. She silently wept, wiping her nose with her sweater sleeve. She was tired. She hadn't slept for three days. She hadn't ate since breakfast the day before. Though she didn't care. Her health was the least of her worries.

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Jace was dying.

He was dying in front of her, she knew. She was getting front row seats to see lord death do his work. "Clare-?" Her head jerked upwards and she met his molten gaze. Even in sickness his eyes were its normal tawny hue. His voice was so low. No playfulness. No joking. No sarcasm.

She hurried for the glass of water of his cabinet and he stopped her with a flick to her wrist. "I don't need it. I don't need it." He repeated.

"What are we-what are we going to do?" She was surprised she still had tears to shed. The sobs racked through her body like waves crashing on shore. She dropped her head onto his chest, making sure not to hurt him.

"Stay with me Clary. Just stay. That's it. And stop crying." Jace smiled, though his face was too pale for her to respond with the same gesture.

"My mom-she wants you to go to the hospital."

"No. No hospital. They're not going to do anything but try to give me pain meds." He looked away to the window to their left where the sun was beginning to rise. It was quite beautiful for such a bad day.

"Then, we wait?" She struggled to find the words needed.

He nodded and Clary rose from her seat to lie with him on the bed. She pressed her head into the crook of his burning skin. She felt his arm snake its way around her waist, his grip so very weak. In those silent moments, she remembered his normally vibrant attitude. She remembered the visits to the doctor that led to nothing at all. She remembered school. She remembered Jordon who was probably worried sick about his best friend. For some reason, she couldn't recall her life before Jace. It was strange. She wanted to but she couldn't. Perhaps she had forgotten.

Her mother had found them the day before with the help of Simon who somehow knew their location. She had heard of Jace's condition and told them she could drive them to the hospital. Jace refused. So Clary listened. He wanted it so bad. He said he hated hospitals. They were depressing. There were a lot of annoying old people too. He just wanted to stay with Clary. He told her to act like it was a normal day.

Things were going fine a few weeks before. He was ordinary in a every positive way possible. Then he began to feel sudden aches and pains. Pains that caused him to fall onto the kitchen floor. Pains that made him grumpy and silent. Pains that changed him. She would take it all if she could. She would take the disease and give it to herself rather than him. He didn't deserve it. He could never deserve it. If only she could lift the weight off his shoulders...

He kisses her on the forehead. Then her left cheek. Her right cheek. Her nose. Her temples. Then her lips. She turns to cause him less exhaustion and he complies, his fingers slipping into her hair. She knows he wants to act normal. She knows he wants to know that he isn't dying. She could read him like a book. A book nearing its end.

She listened to the distinct sounds of footsteps coming towards their room. She didn't bother to move, nor did Jace. He looked like he was trying hard to continue to breathe. "Honey! The ambulance is here. Open the door!"

Moments of complete silence mixed with the cheerful chirping of birds passed.

"Clarissa. They will be opening this door now!" Jace tried to rise from his position on the bed. She helped him up immediately yearning for his comforting warmth.

"Give me the pills." He demanded in a soft voice, pointing to the last drawer. She gave him a questioning look before reaching down.

When she handed it to him, he lifted the cap off then stared at her. She saw everything then. She saw what he was planning to do. She knew his intentions. His golden strands of hair were growing brown at the ends, curling onto his eyes sometimes. His skin was no longer tan. But a ghoulish white.

He was asking for permission.

She felt her ribs shake. Her heart tremble. Her chest tighten. Her eyes widen. Her lips part. And she nodded. She gave him permission.

"Don't forget about me, love." He uttered, brushing his feverish lips against her ear. She shivered from the heat and watched in horror as he grabbed the pills and shoved them into his mouth. He didn't bother drinking any water. He swallowed it all. So simple. So dangerous.

"Come here." She did. She crawled to him like a child uncertain. A child afraid. A child lost. A child so naive to fall in love. He chuckled against her. "You're going to forget about me, right?"

She shook her head. "Never. Your name is written on my heart. Forever traced." He smiled. It wasn't a real smile. It was sad. Inevitably broken.

The door swung open, two police officers springing into action. Jocelyn raced to her daughter who pushed her to the wall and tried to cover up Jace. The paramedics swept the blankets away from his body and she screamed. Her mouth was rigid and her fists were clenched. Simon was holding her. Then Jordon. Then someone else. She bit one of them. They stepped away momentarily and she rushed to Jace who was covered by people in white and blue. "Get away! He doesn't want you." She caught a glimpse of his face through a nurse's crisp coat. His eyes were closed. A peaceful smile spread across his face. She knew then that her job was done. And that was the hardest part. The doctors tried to carry him but there was no point. He was long gone.

She let Jordon drag her away then. He carried her outside. To the beach beyond the large and chaotic house. He wrapped his arms around her waist. She didn't stop him. She was mumbling something. Over and over again. Jace. That's what she was saying. Her body was trembling. She was making inaudible noises Jordon could no longer decipher. She glanced up at the ocean.

Gusts of winds blew past her hair. They dried her tears and wiped her sorrows. Sand finds its way between her toes. The tides crashed against the shore and Clary breathed slowly through her nose, still mumbling. "I think he's there." Jordon said, whispering into her ear.

"Where?" She asked, distracted with the actions at sea.

"There." He pointed his finger at the ocean.

"Why there?"

"So that he can ride the waves." She turned to stare at his face, trying to figure out if this was some joke. It wasn't.

"Jordon?" She asked again.

"Yea?"

"I'm not gonna be the same again."

His answer surprised her. "I know. You of all people. I know." Clary crept deeper to his chest and heard his heart beats. Slow. Then she pulled away and rose to her feet. Then she ran. And ran. And ran. And ran.

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"Patient 104D, over there." The woman pointed to a short girl in the corner of the white room. She was staring at the window. She was mumbling something against her lips. Easing closer, the doctor tried to listen.

"He's coming. He's coming. He's coming. I'll never forget." She was a beautiful girl with bright red hair curling down her shoulders. Her skin was a light pink dotted with orange freckles. She whirled and he met her eyes. A forest green. A shattered color. She gives him her back, uninterested in his observing antics.

Then she's back to talking at the window, her red lips stretching into a happy grin. "Shut up, Jace. It's not that funny." She was seeing someone. The doctor heard that her boyfriend had died. She was simply hallucinating, seeing images that were not really there. It was quite tragic.

Quickly jotting down something on his clip board, the older man nodded his head once at the unaware girl. What a poor soul...

A/N: The epilogue will be coming soon. The end is near. :) Please review your opinions.