Yes. I know. It took me almost a year to add more on to this story. I've been busy. Still am but I miss writing. So here I am. Same old song. I own nothing. I'm just an innocent little writer.

Winter Frost

Jack hummed a simple lullaby as he watched Gabe sleep in front of him. A hospice had set up a full care system in their farm house so she could be with the ones she loved. Her once bright and cheery room was now defaced with the machines and constant electric buzz. The horrendous tube connected to her arm gave her a constant supply of pain medication to ease the transition. The girl on the bed before him was merely a shell of the charismatic girl he loved. She was still beautiful though. Even with her pale skin and emaciated appearance she was still his beautiful Gabe.

"Jack?" a weak whisper drew him from his thoughts and put a stop to his humming. Gabe could barely part her lips as she called to him. "Jack?"

"Gabe. It's me. I'm right here." Jack was at her side immediately. He took her limp hand in his and gently rubbed it.

"I dreamed ..you were. gone." Her voice broke as she winced in pain.

"I would never leave you. I'll always be here." The tears threatened to flow but Jack pushed them far back into his eyes.

"My father, find him, please." Her eyes were filled with the darkness of death as it crept into her for one last time before consuming her whole. Jack ran from the room down to the kitchen where Gabe's father had gone for coffee.

"Quick, she needs you!" Jack burst into the kitchen and it hardly took Gabe's father a second to run past him and up to Gabe's room. The nurse who sat in the living room reading was soon to follow. They ran up the stairs and immediately tended to the dying girl. The nurse checked the machines and adjusted the pain medication drip. Her father simply sat on the side of her bed and reached out to hold his baby girl as she painfully tried to reach out for him. Jack stood in the doorway, his presence very hidden as he watched.

"Daddy." The words barely escaped Gabe's trembling mouth as her body was slowly engulfed. "I love you Daddy." His withheld tears freely flowed as his heart broke.

"I love you baby." Gabe's father held her limp body and rocked as though she were a baby. The small pieces of technology recognized her death and slowed to a dull moan. The nurse wrote down the time and gently removed the tubes and machines from the lifeless body. She left the room in an all to professional manor. It was saddening to think of how man times she had seen an innocent child die in the arms of a parent.

Jack had since left the room to give them privacy. He sat on the bed in the room they had let him use in a silent daze. He was sad, scared, and frozen. He never thought he would have to see the day when Gabe passed away. The idea of anyone his own age dying had been purely out of his own little world. Now such events were his own reality.

He had spent the entirety of his winter break after new years at their farm. He had been there for Gabe the whole time. He held her when she was afraid and made her laugh when laughing seemed like it was impossible. After he had arrived he took her out to the fields to watch the sunset. There was a deep beauty in the way the falling sunlight echoed its brilliant colors on the heaps of snow. Years of memories had to be crammed into a few weeks. Then when she slipped into this last state, he just sat there. Every day he would sit there and watch over her, living for those few moments when she would wake up and speak to him. The words of their last true conversation echoed in his mind.

They were sitting on the couch barely watching the Sunday night movie and slowly starting to talk. "That is one ugly outfit she's wearing." Gabe joked. The woman's dress was a nasty lime green and was made even worse by the bright pink shoes.

"I might be a guy but I can safely say that I would never make that kind of color mistake." Jack laughed along with her at the awful clothes of the 80s flick.

"Even Clu would know that neon colors should not be mixed." Gabe giggled devilishly as she made fun of their friend. Jack couldn't help but laugh as he thought of his often mismatched buddy.

"He's definitely a special one." Jack settled back into the couch and noticed that Gabe's blanket had slid down and across so that it was no longer covering her. He reached over to fix it for her and she suddenly nestled into him.

"You're so warm Jack." She mumbled as she placed her head on his chest. Jack put his arm around her and held her into place. There was no sexual innuendo here, only the care of two friends as they sat together. "Thank you so much for coming here Jack, for giving up your time just to watch me die."

Jack's heart broke as she spoke those words. "I'm not here to watch you die Gabe, I'm here to help you live." He looked into her eyes and felt his spirits lift as he watched that sparkle in her eyes that had yet to die. "I love you Gabe. I love you so much."

Gabe felt the tears burning but did not let them fall. "I love you Jack. Ever since the day you first looked into my eyes, I saw you and knew you were special."

Jack had adjusted so that she now could rest lying on the couch beside him with her upper body stretched out against his chest. He wrapped the blanket across them and watched her as she fell asleep.

Jack realized he had been holding the angel pendant in his hands as he remembered that night. He was surprised that he hadn't rubbed the poor thing dull by now. The necklace had rarely ever left his neck and had been through a lot.

He stood up and walked down the hall to Gabe's room. His heart fell as he saw Her father holding her on the bed. There was nothing Jack could do for them now. The nurse knew whom to call and would take care of the arrangements. All he could do was watch. Slowly he crept back to his room and collapsed on the bed. He picked up the phone and the calling card beside it. The dialing process seemed like it took centuries but soon he heard the gentle ringing come through.

"Hello?" Jack could immediately recognize the voice of his Mother.

"Mommy?" Jack was shocked at his use of such a childish term but for lack of a better phrase, he needed his mommy.

"Jack? Sweetie? Is that you?" Molly could tell that the scared voice belonged to her son. Fi's was far different from his strong tone.

"Mom, she's gone." With that Jack began to cry the tears he had held back for so long.