About one week later....

The phone ringing sounded loud and annoying throughout Joey's house. Sean hurtled down the stairs and picked up the receiver. "Hello?" he gasped, out of breath. It was Manny.

"Hey, Sean." she said.

"Oh, hi Manny. What's up?" he asked her.

She stumbled on her words. "I...I n..need you to tell me some...something." There was a pause. Sean didn't know whether he was supposed to say something now or let her continue. Manny took a deep breath and continued. "Is Emma...is Emma going to be alright?"

"Manny, I don't want to talk to you about that. You should talk to Emma...hear everything that she has to say." Sean didn't want to be the messenger of bad news. He thought that Manny should hear it all from Emma.

"No, Sean, I can't go in there...not again. I can't see her like this. But...I need to know...is Emma going to make it?" Sean didn't know what to tell her. He could hear her crying while he tried to find the right words.

"Manny...there's nothing they can do for her. She is going to die..." Sean struggled to say this. Hearing it was one thing but saying the words yourself...

Manny gave a big gasp that was mixed in with her heaving sobs. "Oh my god." Was all she said.

"Manny? Manny?" Sean said, trying not to sound too choked up. Manny hung up. "Hello, Manny? Are you there?" Sean hung up the phone. He quickly wiped away his tears before starting toward the kitchen. The phone rang again.

"Hello?" Sean thought it would be Manny calling back, but instead it was Snake. "Sean, you should get down here now."

Sean's heart stopped beating. "She's not..."

"Dead? Not yet." he replied.

"Okay, I'm coming." Sean hung up and ran out the door. He was panting by the time he reached the hospital. He only stopped running when he got to Emma's door.

Sean looked through the little glass window. Dr. West, Snake and Spike were talking quietly. Sean opened the door and made sure to close it quietly. He looked around at the three of them, expectantly.

Snake spoke. "You'd better say your goodbyes now, Sean. Dr. West said there is only about an hour, maybe two, before her system completely shuts down." Spike gave a stifled cry. "We're going to get some coffee." Snake said. He led his wife out of the room.

"I'm sorry son." Dr. West said sympathetically as he exited after Snake.

Sean went to Emma's side and sat on the provided stool. He stared at her face. She had used to look so calm and beautiful when she slept. Now, she looked weak and like she was wasting away. Sean had to wake her up, to tell her how much he loved her. He shook her arm gently.

"Emma...Emma please wake up."

She opened her eyes slowly. "Sean? What are you doing here?" Emma thought it unusual that he was here since it was the first time he had come since she had told him the grave news. Emma didn't know though that Sean came here a lot over the past week...just to watch her through the little glass window. Sometimes he would even dare to enter and watch her sleep soundlessly. But they hadn't spoken since that night.

Sean was trying hard not to act like something was wrong. He bit his lip, hard, to hold back the tears.

"Something's wrong. What is it?" Sean tried to look as if he didn't know what she was talking about. "How long?" Emma asked abruptly. Sean was taken aback.

"I don't know what..."

"How long, Sean?" Emma insisted.

"About an hour, or two." Sean said quietly. Emma looked a little shocked. She hadn't expected that. But she put on a brave face for Sean.

"Well, lets make it the best, sweetest hour of my life, okay?" Emma said in a fake cheery voice.

"I don't know if I can do that, EM." Sean said, still biting his lip.

"Sean, come on." Emma said, tears freely falling down her face now. "You don't want it to end like this." Sean shook his head.

"You promised." he said abruptly.

"What?"

"You promised me that you would beat this. You didn't keep your promise, EM."

Emma sniffed hard. "I know, Sean. I'm sorry."

Sean suddenly hated himself for bringing that up. It was in no way her fault...none at all. None of this was fair.

"I'm sorry too, EM."

"Sean, I love you. I don't want to leave you knowing that our last moments were bad. So please, talk to me."

He looked her in the face for the first time since that night. "I love you, EM, so, so much. You're always on my mind. You're are truly, the only one that I have ever felt so strongly about. I can't ever remember wanting to be with someone so much. You will always be with me and I will always, always remember you."

And there it was; Sean's final goodbye.

Emma was now glowing. He was being so sweet and trying so hard not to cry. "Sean, ever since you came to Degrassi, I've always felt a connection between us. You were always the guy that popped into my head. I never thought that we would get this far together. But we did. And that connection will always be there, Sean. I love you."

And there was hers.

For the remainder of Emma's last and final hour, she and Sean reminisced about their junior high years.

And then she went with her undying love for him. She passed right in his loving arms, just as she wanted it. Sean tried not to cry for he knew that Emma was watching over him.

Even when they took her lifeless body, Sean did not leave. He stared at her empty bed. Her petite body imprints were still impressed upon the bed dressings. Sean could feel her presence all around him. He grabbed her once used pillow and held it to his chest. He buried his face into it. It smelled of Emma's hair, sweet and soft. He couldn't hold it any longer. He broke into his tears that head been threatening to spill for the past hour.

Sean felt a warm hand on his shoulder. He turned his head; it was Manny's. Sean stood up and turned to face her. He grabbed her immediately and they cried on one another's shoulders.

Sean and Manny took a walk through the park. They sat at a bench and talked.

"I miss her so much already." Manny said. "Why did this have to happen?" She asked him softly.

"I know, it's not fair." Sean replied. "But I guess it was God's plan or something."

"Well, what are we supposed to do now?" Manny asked.

"I dunno. Maybe we're supposed to do something great."

Manny gave a short laugh. "Like what?"

"I dunno. We'll have to wait and see I guess. But come on, Manny. Emma would want us to do something good with our lives...move on...not wallow like this. She was so calm about the whole thing."

"Yeah. She always tried to put a smile on even if she was really upset."

"You were a good friend to her, Manny." Sean said, "The best."

"Thanks but I was nothing compared to her. Emma was always the better of us. She did so much."

"Yeah...she took on a lot of stuff. Even if I didn't show it, I always did admire her commitment to the environment. Emma was passionate about saving the environment."

Tears started to creep to the corners of both Sean's and Manny's eyes.

Manny liked being here with Sean. It was comforting to know that she wasn't alone in this. They sat there and talked about the good times until dark.

"Manny, I should go home. Joey probably wants me there. Want me to walk you home?"

"O no, I'll be fine. I'm in the other direction anyways. You go."

They both stood up. Sean gave Manny a quick hug. "Bye." he said.

"Bye." she repeated.

Sean started off towards Joey's. Manny watched his receding back until he was no longer visible before she turned on her heel and went the other way.