A/N – Hello, hello! Here's the next chapter…I can't say it's a happy one, though! I'm so upset about killing him...it's the first person I've ever killed! It's just so sad!! lol, I know I'm a drama queen. Thanks to Kim and Jenn and all my loyal reviewers, please keep reading and reviewing!!
Ephram felt his eyes welling up with tears as Amy let out a strangled cry. Mrs. Hart rushed to Doctor Brown.
"He's – he's gone?" she gasped, "Where is he? Where's my son?!"
"I'm so sorry," Dr. Brown said, looking extremely tired and upset, "He's in his old hospital room, I thought I'd put his body in there so all of you can say goodbye."
"Oh my God!" Mrs. Hart cried. Her husband quickly came up behind her and led her out of the room and down the hallway.
Delia had started to cry and Bright was comforting her, and Ephram had immediately made his way to Amy after she had cried out.
There were tears running down everyone's cheeks, including Dr. Abbott. Even Edna looked like she was going to cry.
"It's okay, baby," Ephram whispered in Amy's ear as he rocked her back and forth, "He's in a better place now."
"Oh God, Ephram," Amy cried softly, "Why? Why'd he have to go?"
"He was in so much pain, he's not anymore though, and he's free." Ephram soothed, rubbing her back.
Amy continued to cry, but held onto Ephram tightly.
On the other side of the room, Mrs. Abbott was also being comforted by her husband.
"He was so young, darling, so young." she sobbed.
"I know, sweetie, I know." Dr. Abbott hugged his wife, feeling very saddened.
He wasn't even happy that he had won against Dr. Brown, the poor man looked so depressed and defeated that Dr. Abbott couldn't help feeling sorry for him.
He left his wife and walked over to Dr. Brown. He didn't say anything, but to everyone's surprise, especially Dr. Abbott himself, he gave Dr. Brown a hug.
"It's alright, Andy, it'll be okay," he said softly.
At this, Delia came running across the room into her father's arms. Dr. Brown's face suddenly was masked, and he decided to be brave for his young daughter.
"Aww, Delia," he murmured as he held her in his arms, "It'll be okay, honey."
Delia cried quietly in her father's arms.
"Ephram?" Amy whispered, pulling back so she could look at him, "I want to go say goodbye."
He nodded, "Me too. Come on."
Amy went over to her parents, giving them both hugs and telling them where she was going. They both understood and told their daughter that they'd be there when she got back.
Ephram went over to his family and gave Delia a big hug and a kiss on the head, telling her that Colin was in a better place, he was not in any pain now. He gave his Dad a supportive hug, knowing how he must feel at this horrible occurrence.
With that the couple made their way down the hall towards Colin's old room.
They didn't speak, but both knew that they were thinking about just how thankful they were to have each other.
Once they got to the room, they heard Colin's parents talking, so they patiently waited outside, not wanting to interrupt. When his parents came out of the room, Mrs. Hart with her tear-stained face and Mr. Hart, looking crushed but trying to be brave for his frail wife, they both gave Amy hugs, and told her that they loved her.
"He was very lucky to have you," Mrs. Hart whispered through her tears, "Even if you didn't love him, you were always there for him. Thank you so much, Amy."
"Don't thank me, Mrs. Hart, it was the least I could do," Amy replied, starting to cry again.
Ephram quickly put his arm around her and smoothed her hair, trying to get her to calm down.
"You take care of her, Ephram," Mr. Hart said, patting his back, "She's a special one. Colin would want you to take care of her."
Ephram tried to smile, "I will, Mr. Hart, don't worry. I will."
Amy smiled, putting her head on his shoulder as she softly continued to cry.
"We better be going, find Laynie," Mr. Hart said, putting his arm around his wife as he led her away.
"Come on, honey," Ephram said, as he led Amy into the room.
Amy gave a gasp as they entered the room. Colin was lying motionless on the bed and all of the colour had drained out of his cheeks.
"He's really dead, Ephram," Amy sobbed, putting her head on his chest.
Ephram just stroked her back, nodding.
"Time to say goodbye," he murmered.
"Okay," Amy agreed, moving towards the bed.
Ephram remained where he was, just watching.
"Colin," Amy whispered, sitting down on the bed, "I can't believe you're gone. Even though I didn't love you, I cared, I still do."
She picked up his hand and choked when she realized that it wasn't warm.
"Ephram?" she cried, and he came and sat beside her, putting his hand on her shoulder.
"Come on, keep going." he encouraged.
"I'm really going to miss you, Colin. You were one-of-a-kind, and very special to me. This town's not going to be the same without you. Remember in grade one, when you kissed me and I screamed bloody murder?"
She chuckled slightly, remembering her happy younger days.
"And you said that you'd always be here, and that this town needed you and so did I?" Amy paused, thinking and trying to put her emotions into words, "Well, you were right. This town did need you and you ended up bringing us together. You should have seen everyone being friendly towards one another, even Dr. Abbott and Dr. Brown! It's what you would have wanted to see."
Amy smiled as a single tear ran down her cheek and splashed onto his limp hand.
"God, please take care of him," she whispered, kissing his cheek, "He deserves the best."
Amy got up and walked to the door silently.
"Aims?" Ephram asked, "I'm gonna stay here, I want to say goodbye. You wait outside the door, okay?"
Amy nodded and left without a word.
"Hey Colin," Ephram began, staring at the floor, "I've never done this before, I mean, talking to someone who's already gone. I, um, I'm sorry for everything. I didn't mean to make Amy fall in love with me, though I wanted it. If I had known how much you loved Amy I wouldn't have wanted it. But I assure you; I promise that I'll take care of her. I love her a lot, and she's really hurting right now, you leaving has torn her up. But I'll help her get through it, bit by bit, and I know that you would want her to keep going and be happy. I'll make sure that happens."
He could almost hear Colin's thank you as he walked out of the room and put his arm around Amy while they walked back to the busy waiting room.
A/N – Unfortunately, another chapter will not be up until Saturday. I'm going up to a cottage for a couple days, where there is no computer!! NO! lol! But I'll be back on Saturday and I'll write more while I'm up there. Thanks for your understanding…keep reading and reviewing!
