Chapter 6: Moving on

Ephram looked at the doctor cautiously. Was he here to tell him he could go home? Or had the MRI scans shown that the chip had shifted, and he'd have to go under surgery?

The doctor answered his thoughts. "You can go home, Ephram Brown. You're one lucky boy."

Ephram's eyes widened in excitement. "Really?"

Dr. Kent nodded. "It seems that the chip of bone will heal by itself now, but you'll have to be extremely careful you don't bump your head. It could dislodge the chip, and in layman's terms, that would be very, very bad."

"Ok. I'm I leaving today?"

"I've spoken to your father, and he said he'll take you home immediately. Of course, you'll have to stay in a wheel chair for awhile, and have weekly MRI scans until your skull is completely healed. Now, I think your friends are dying to know what I've told you." He gestured to the window, where Ephram's three friends practically had their faces pressed against the glass. "Shall I let them in on my way out?"

Ephram nodded, and the doctor departed, allowing the three teens to rush through the doorway.

"What did he say?!" came the three replies in sync.

He made his face look depressed and sad, and watched his friends' faces fall. "He said I can go home." Then he put on a huge grin.

"Ephram that's great!" Amy hugged him happily.

"Yeah, I know. My dad's gonna take me home right away!"

Later that day, Ephram, Andy, Delia and Amy were standing in the front hall of the Brown residence. Ephram had left his wheelchair, breathing in the familiar scent of his house. "It's good to be back."

"It's good to finally see you out of that hospital. This house hasn't seen much of this family the last couple of weeks," Andy replied.

In the eyes of Ephram's family and friends, the house was exactly how they'd left it. There was a newspaper lying on the ground, which had probably been flung aside hastily when Andy received word that his son was being hospitalized in Denver, and a coffee mug on the table.

But in the eyes of Ephram, the house was wonderful. It had a transcendent feeling of peace and tranquility, and it was a haven compared to the stoic hospital. It also seemed to him that the house was happy to see him back, as was he to see the house.

Ephram looked up and saw that a huge banner had been put up, with 'Wecome Home Ephram!' written on it. How was that possible? They only found out that day, his dad couldn't have came back. Ephram voiced that question, and as if on cue, Nina came out from the kitchen.

"I phoned Nina and told her you were being let out. She was overjoyed, I might add, and this was her idea." Andy smiled.

Nina rushed over to Ephram and hugged him tightly. "We were all so worried, Ephram! When your dad called and said you were being released, I came over and Sam helped me make the banner. There's a surprise in the kitchen, too."

They went into the kitchen, curious as to what it was, thought it was quite obvious that it was something edible, being in the kitchen and all.

There, on the table, was an enormous double chocolate fudge cake with the words 'Welcome Back!!!' in red icing.

"Wow, Nina! This looks delicious!
"How'd you have time to make it?" asked Amy, astonished.

"It's my grandmother's secret recipe for when you need to make an emergency cake!"

So the Browns, Nina, Sam, Amy, Bright and Laynie all sat down to a huge cake. Afterwards, Nina, Sam and Laynie left, and Bright was waiting outside to drive Amy home.

Delia had gone to bed, and Andy was in the living room reading a newspaper. Ephram and Amy were standing in the hall, saying goodbye.

"I'm really glad you're home, Ephram. I couldn't stand it while you were in the hospital. It was too much like before."

"Hey, it's okay now. I'm gonna be fine, and we can move on." He gently wiped a tear from Amy's cheek. "Remember what I said to you that day in the hospital?" She nodded, sniffing lightly. "I'm gonna keep that promise, so don't worry."

Amy threw her arms around her boyfriend, clutching him as if he was her lifeline. Which he was, in a way. Ephram wrapped his arms around her trembling form and they held each other, until the sound of a car horn made them both jump.

"I guess I'll see you later."

Ephram smiled. "You can count on it."

In the following weeks, Ephram was careful not to bump his head, and one day, at one of his weekly checkups, the doctor said he had made a full recovery.

Him and Amy retained a strong and steady relationship, and he had even given her a promise ring that had belonged to his mother on their three- month anniversary.

Everyone said it was luck that Ephram Brown survived that fateful car crash, but Ephram had his own opinion, though he told it to no one except Amy. He thought his mother intervened when the crash should have killed him instantly. While in a coma, he had felt his mother's presence in the darkness, helping him along and coaxing him to wake up.

He had expected Amy to laugh at him, or at least snicker. But she didn't, to his amazement. Instead, she said that she used to feel Colin's presence whenever she went to put flowers on his grave. She said she knew the feeling, and that it was comforting.

"But now I have you," she had said. "Colin doesn't need to be there for me. He can move on, and I think he did. And I can move on too."

Ephram had pulled Amy into a warm embrace, and captured her lips with his. The familiar of happiness engulfed the both of them. Amy knew that in the hospital she had let go of Colin. But here, and now, she was moving on. She was getting on with life, and she wanted to spend it with Ephram, overcoming obstacles and setbacks, discovering mysteries and new adventures. The tides of fate kept moving, and Amy could not imagine what it would bring into their lives, but she felt she could triumph anything with Ephram.

And Amy was sure Ephram felt the same way.

A/N: The End! Yeah, I meant for this story to be many chapters longer, but my teacher just gave us a huge amount of projects, and for some reason I have lost interest in this story. So I decided to tie up loose ends and finish the story instead of leaving my readers hanging. So there it is. Sorry if you're disappointed. Also, if any of you are fans of Watership Down, a posted a fic today, that was really a story I wrote for school last year. Check it out, it's called Fleeing Efrafa. Thank you everyone who reviewed, it means a lot to me. Now I'll say goodbye to my readers and to this story that has been haunting me. Maybe it'll stop, now that it's finished! GOODBYE!!!!!!!!
Dark-Celeste37