DISCLAIMER:: So not mine. Cause if it was... I'll just leave that up to your imagination...

AUTHOR'S NOTE:: so, here it is, the final chapter. It leaves questions, but I intended it to. I'm going on vacation next week but I will start to post the sequel once I return. A big thank you to the real Gail, Benjamin, Michael, and Brenna for letting me use their names and their stories to make this fic much better than it would have been otherwise. Thanks to Elly who had no fear of telling me when my work was brilliant and especially when it wasn't. Thanks to all my readers for seeing this through with me. Are you ready for round 2? If not, then make sure you get ready, because there will be plenty more twists and turns coming up. So stay tuned!

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Her face was pale and beautiful, frozen, as if it was being viewed through glass. She was a mannequin in a window display at a department store, stuck in time, frozen perfectly at age 33. Her soft black waves were pooled around her face, though her eyes still closed, spectators were aware that they were still bright brown beneath the lids. She was in her wedding dress. It was less extravagant than Callie's had been, less expensive too, but it was no less beautiful. It made her look like a goddess, about to be preserved in her beauty for centuries to come. A locket was nestled against the hollow of her throat. She was perfect, just like Sleeping Beauty.

"Callie, come on, it's time." Ben's voice was barely above a whisper as he gently placed a hand on Callie's forearm and softly urged her away from where she stood at the edge of the casket, looking down at Brenna.

Erica had tried to break through to her in the days following the phone call. Callie had lapsed into silence, a sort of trance that no one had been able to break. She hadn't spoken one word since that night when Erica had caught her and picked up the phone. It was Erica who had talked to Ben and found out the details of what had happened. It was Erica who had packed Callie's things for her. It was Erica who had explained things to the Chief, and it was Erica who had drove them immediately back to Foxtail Creek. Though Erica had suggested they stay in the small cabin up the hill from the main house, just as they had their first trip there, to give Callie her privacy to mourn her loss, Callie had just walked like a zombie straight up to the guest room in the main house and laid on the bed.

Ben finally pulled her away and handed her off to Erica. Erica put a hand on the small of her back and guided her towards the front doors of the church. Callie didn't object, but she didn't help much either. Erica was sure if she removed her hand, Callie would stop, no order to move able to process in her mind. So instead she just directed her out into the sunlight.

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"Have you ever thought about it?"

"What? Dying? Um... can you say everyday since I was nine?" Brenna rolled her eyes as if the answer should be obvious.

"You just don't seem..."

"As afraid as I should be?"

"Yeah." Callie nodded.

"When I was a kid, I used to dream I was in this story, that my life was a fairytale. I always imagined that one day, someone would come and rescue me from the nightmare that was my life. I don't want to die, but am I afraid? No. If death is truly the end, and I don't believe for one second that it is, but if it is, then I got my fairytale. Kayla saved me. She gave me life. But if it's not the end, well then I get to see her." Brenna paused to smile at the possibility. "And just knowing that might happen, that I could possibly have that future, well that just eliminatess any fear I could possibly have left."

"You really believe there's life after death?"

"I have to, or I'm already dead."

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"Callie? Callie, honey, come with me." The second Erica opened the passenger door and helped Callie out of the car, Gail was there. She was still in the black dress she'd worn to the funeral, but she didn't care. "I got some tea on the stove. The boys are riding behind the..." Gail glanced at Callie and thought better of saying the word hearse. "They're making sure she gets up there okay."

Erica nodded and then followed behind Gail as she led Callie into the house. Once all three women were inside, Gail led Callie into the kitchen to give her some tea and Erica fell to the couch, exhausted.

Gail emerged ten minutes later and sat in one of the chairs across from Erica. Both women were silent for several minutes.

"Give her time."

"I'm worried about her. Callie is not the silent type. I want to help her, but I have no idea how to take this pain away. I'm a doctor. It's my job to mend people who are broken. And yet, I can't fix her."

Gail looked at Erica and sighed. "She's not dealing with this too well. You've lost many people in your life, Erica. Your parents were dead, at least to you, by the time you hit puberty. Your sister. Brylee. You've seen so much of death; it's no stranger to you. But she has never lost anyone close to her. She is taking it hard is all. She'll get better; she just needs time."

Silence ensued again.

"Are they still burying her next to Kayla?"

"Do you think she'd let us get away with anything less? We practically had to sign it in blood before she let herself go." Gail tried to laugh but it was a dead sound, devoid of true warmth.

Erica watched Gail get up and cross the living room to the mantle, where a picture of Brenna, Michael, Kayla, and Erica herself sat on the rightmost corner. "She would have followed Kayla anywhere; it seems death was no exception."

Before Erica could respond, a flash of movement caught her eye. Callie stood in the open doorway to the kitchen, resting against the doorframe. Erica studied her, and she met Erica's eyes for the first time in days. Erica saw purpose in them, though not quite life yet.

"Gail?"

Both of the older women froze, neither one knowing quite how to react. Finally Gail turned.

"Yes, dear?"

Callie looked at Erica and then meaningfully at the kitchen again. Gail was quick on the upkeep. She nodded and followed Callie into the kitchen.

It took several minutes for Gail to reemerge, but when she did, she was crying. Not sobs, but silent tears rolled down her cheeks. She looked at Erica and smiled. "You got a great girl in there. She has a good heart."

Erica nodded, though she had no idea what Gail was talking about. Still, she couldn't deny that Callie was a good person. "I know."

Gail wiped her eyes. "I have to go to the store and pick up a few things, make a few arrangements." She eyed Erica suspiciously. "Do you think you could watch her for an hour or so?"

Erica frowned. Since when did she become incapable? "I think I can handle it."

"I'll be back." Gail grabbed her coat from the rack near the door.

Erica was about to get up and go to Callie, but she stayed where she was when she saw Callie was already in the doorway again, eyeing her cautiously.

Erica held her arms open. Callie stumbled softly over and fell into them. She buried her face deep into Erica's neck. Erica ran her fingers through Callie's hair while the brunette silently sobbed, letting out all the emotion she'd been too numb to feel before.

Callie raised her head nearly an hour later. "You don't get to die. Ever."

Erica tried to think of a way to let the ortho resident down easy. Every speech she'd ever heard on death flashed through her mind. Everybody dies, It's a part of life, You see this everyday at the hospital, I don't make promises I can't keep. But they were all useless against Callie's stubborn glare. "Callie..."

"No! You don't have my permission to die!"

Erica considered arguing but then thought better of it. "Okay."

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"Thanks, Callie, for bringing me home." Brenna smiled up at Callie, true happiness in her eyes.

"I'll be back the second I get settled in LA, okay? You better be okay when I get back." Callie pointed at her in warning. "I mean it, missy, no dying on me, okay?"

Brenna smiled but didn't nod or agree. "Just go be happy Callie."

"This is not goodbye, Brenna." Callie headed for the door to the room.

"Callie?"

Callie turned, almost through the door. "Yeah?"

Brenna smiled. "I know. It's see you later."

Callie couldn't bring herself to answer. She just smiled and turned, walking out the door.

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SIX DAYS LATER

"You sure you're ready for this?" Erica eyed Callie warily. The raven haired surgeon had continued her silent streak, only breaking it a few times since she'd ordered immortality on Erica nearly a week earlier. She had been too withdrawn to attend the burial. She had just stayed curled up on Erica's lap all night, not moving even when Gail returned with a couple bags of groceries. They had stayed that way until near dawn when Callie had finally passed out. Ben had carried her up to the guest room and Erica had followed, slowly, on the edge of sleep herself.

"Yes." Callie crested the hill and stared down upon the sparkling lake and the graves on it's left bank. Three graves, two headstones. One worn with the seasons since the small girl's death, and the second, shinier and bigger than either girl remembered. Callie walked past Brylee's grave, nodding in acknowledgment and respect, and then stopped in front of Kayla's. The new headstone sat between the second and third graves, newly carved with two names. On the left, Kayla Marie Hahn b. January 9, 1967 d. January 28, 1999, and on the right, Brenna Crista DaSilva b. June 19, 1975 d. May 31, 2009. Between the two names was one short phrase: Two Bodies, One Heart.

Callie wiped away a couple tears that made their way lazily down her cheeks.

Erica caught the action and put a comforting hand on the small of her back. "Just don't think of this as saying goodbye, Callie."

Callie laid down the rose she was holding. "See you later."