Disclaimer: I don't own Everwood, the town, or it's characters. I'm just a
college student.
Chapter 21 uses "Always" by Irving Berlin
Chapter 21: Always
"Alright, we've got Micah Brown in room 213," a nurse said as she came out into the waiting room. This was Ephram and Amy's cue, according to the plan. They took a deep breath and stood up,
"That's our child," Amy spoke, her voice shaking. Andy Brown closed his eyes in the distance; it was odd to hear these two very young people saying something such as that, but he knew it was necessary. "Am I allowed to see my son now?" she continued, feeling as if her voice would fail her at any moment. Ephram wrapped his arm around her and looked at the ground nervously,
"How is he? Have they x-rayed him?" he added.
"Micah was under great care before this, whoever did the stitching did a marvelous job, and luckily enough there were no damages to him internally," a doctor said coming out of the room holding a chart. "Sir, are you the grandfather?" he asked looking at Andrew Brown. It was amazing, that while he was once on the cover of TIME, they didn't recognize him. He was very fortunate, in this case at least.
"Yes that's right, I'm Ephram's father," he said standing up and walking toward them.
"How old are you two, if I might ask?" the doctor said, really stepping out of line. He had no right.
"We're 18," Ephram said quickly, lying as if nothing were wrong. Andy had to fight back a chuckle.
"You look very young . . ." the doctor continued, "Certainly Micah must have been a mistake," he said slowly.
"Excuse me, Dr, but I don't think any of this is your business. Now our son was hurt, we want to see him. It shouldn't matter how Micah came about or how old we were. And in my mind, anything as sweet and gentle as that little boy in there," Ephram said now pointing, "could never be a mistake," Amy smiled as Ephram started walking toward Micah's hospital room.
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` `````````````````````````````
"Everything went wrong,
And the whole day long
I'd feel so blue.
For the longest while
I'd forget to smile,
Then I met you.
Now that my blue days have passed,
Now that I've found you at last"
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` ````````````````````````````````
Meanwhile Tommy waited outside the hospital building. It was torture not knowing how his son was doing. He hadn't gotten any updates for a few hours because cell phones weren't allowed to be used in the hospital, and Amy and Ephram had to stay up there at all times since they were the "parents." He paced back and forth, feeling almost as horrible as the day Abby had died. Back then he was happy to have a new son but he never could've imagined how much he'd love him.
Abby's death had sent him into a downward spiral; there was no question in his mind. The month after she died he was overwhelmed with grief, pressure to care for a new son, and the expectation to be a good student in high school. The parties he went to with his friends, when his parents were fighting or yelling at him, the drugs he took while at them, his infant child, crying, waiting at home. . . What he hadn't told Amy, but figured she probably assumed now, was that his parents were fighting about what to do with Micah. While they knew their son loved him because he loved Abby, he just wasn't assuming the responsibility that he should. Once he fell into his drug and alcohol addictions the answer was simple, the decision made for him: social services took his child away. Having fallen in love with Micah already, his parents waited the minimal amount of time they could before adopting him, while Tommy was away at rehab.
Maybe that's why he and Amy connected so deeply. It was as if the depression she was going through when they met almost matched what he used to have. Both of their loves died, only he was left with a child. You see, Tommy never got a bad reputation as being a teen father because no one in Everwood KNEW that he was Micah's father. As he had explained before, they all assumed the child was from out of state since the child was so young when he was taken away.
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` `````````````````````````````
"I'll be loving you always
With a love that's true always.
When the things you've planned
Need a helping hand,
I will understand always.
Always."
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` `````````````````````````````
Tommy's pacing and train of thought was interrupted by Dr. Brown exiting the sliding hospital doors. He ran up to him, asking about his son's condition and about the plan,
"How'd it go? How is he? Is he asking for me?" he spat out quickly, somehow expecting Andrew Brown to be capable of answering all three questions at once.
"It went well, he's fine, no internal hemorrhaging," he smiled, "he's doing well adapting to his 'new parents,' because I told him we're playing a game." Tommy smiled. "If he plays along he wins, and if he wins he gets to come play with Delia sometime,"
"Oh he'd love that. He's so young but he loves everyone, thank you, Dr." he said shaking his hand.
"I'd like to talk to you later, if that's alright with you," Andy said softly, "It's nothing bad, I just have a few concerns,"
"I'd be glad to," he said as he sat back down on a bench. Dr. Brown reentered the building, and Tommy had to go back to feeling left out. It was for his son's own good, but it still killed him.
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` ```````````````````````````````
"Days may not be fair always,
That's when I'll be there always.
Not for just an hour,
Not for just a day,
Not for just a year,
But always."
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` ````````````````````````````````
"Mommy!" Micah screamed as Amy and Ephram entered the room. Her eyebrows rose because he was playing along so well. She smiled, and somewhere in her stomach she began to feel different; having someone call you 'mommy' was certainly a powerful thing, and even though it was pretend, the situation called for it to be real. They had to play things out in this way because the door was open and the doctor standing practically in the doorframe to hear the conversation and interactions. It was as if he was suspicious.
"Hi sweetie, how are you feeling?" she asked kissing his forehead.
"Okay," he said laughing as she tickled his toes. Ephram was mesmerized at how well this was going and how sweet Amy looked playing a mother. He had to snap into his role too.
"You get to go home in a few hours, what would you like to do when we get there?" Ephram asked squeezing his hand and then Amy's with his other.
"Eat ice cream!" Micah yelled.
"Oh, sweetheart, I think we have to wait a little while with the ice cream, your tummy's going to be pretty sore for awhile," Amy said softly.
"Glass tastes icky," he said sadly, tears brimming. Being inexperienced "parents," they weren't able to tell if he was crying because he couldn't have ice cream or because he thought they were angry with him for swallowing the glass.
"Yes, glass is definitely icky. If you see it, don't touch it, okay? Let your mom and I take care of it for you, just ask," Ephram said and Amy smiled.
Ephram felt both horrible and wonderful about this whole thing. While it was playing out beautifully, he had a feeling that Micah acting as if they were his parents would affect him later. It was one thing to play and make believe, but a completely other to have to do it for a doctor and make it believable. It was amazing how capable this child was of pretending.
"Okay Daddy," he said, "I won't," the young boy smiled. Amy's heart began to melt. This was beginning to be a lot to deal with. And while she didn't all together hate the idea of one day being a mother to Ephram's child, she was glad that they didn't have a kid right now. It was a lot of work and this was only one day. Tommy became a hero in her eyes that day; In Ephram's eyes too.
"We love you," Amy whispered in the boy's ear. She surprised herself with almost feeling as if what she said was real.
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` ```````````````````````````
"I'll be loving you, oh always
With a love that's true always.
When the things you've planned
Need a helping hand,
I will understand always.
Always."
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` `````````````````````````
Micah went back to sleep for a few hours while the hospital processed the papers. Amy and Ephram emerged from his room to see Dr. Brown asleep. Truth be told, the "parents" were worn out too; but they weren't able to sleep until later, when this was all worked out.
"Amy," Ephram said quietly so not wake up his father, "want to get some fresh air?" obviously meaning they'd go speak to Tommy.
"Yes, that sounds really good right now," she replied and they walked arm and arm through the hospital halls. Once they were away from the main desk and no one could hear them anymore, the continued their conversation,
"Mommy," he said chuckling, elbowing her lightly in jest.
"What's so funny?" she asked smiling, "it was sweet,"
"He's a cute kid, but he's a lot of responsibility," he added.
"Yes, which makes me think the pieces to this mystery puzzle don't fit together very well at all."
"What do you mean?" he asked, stopping so they could finish their conversation without reaching the doors to exit.
"Tommy said his parents weren't watching Micah when he was at my house, but he thought they were, right?" she asked sitting down on one of the uncomfortable hospital waiting chairs, whispering, a look of intensity in her eyes.
"Yes," he said confused at first, but then caught on. "But if they loved him so much to adopt him then wouldn't they take better care of him if he was their child?"
"Exactly, something about the Callahan family is suspicious," she said barely above a whisper. Ephram kissed her, breaking her thoughts. She responded and smiled as he pulled away. "Why'd you stop?" she asked breathlessly.
"I don't know," he said kissing her again. An elderly lady in a wheel chair rolled up next to them, unnoticed.
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` ```````````````````````````````
"Days may not be fair always,
That's when I'll be there always.
Not for just an hour,
Not for just a day,
Not for just a year,
But always."
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` ````````````````````````````````
"Hey! None of your shenanigans!" the old woman spoke with a very dry, grainy, voice, "You teens are all the same," she mumbled as she rolled away.
They laughed. "What just happened here?" Ephram asked.
"I think we're offending people," she said.
"You can offend me later," he said winking,
"Be careful, I might just take you up on that," she said giving him a quick kiss. They walked outside to see Tommy pacing again. Ephram shook his hand,
"It worked," he said raising his eyebrows.
"Thank you guys so much," he said hugging them both. "Has he asked for me?" he said hopefully.
"No . . . ." Amy reluctantly responded as the expression on Tommy's face dropped, "but he's been doing a wonderful job of playing along,"
"I'm just worried something will still go wrong, we've been so lucky this far,"
"Nothing will," Ephram reassured him.
"Yeah, if anything goes wrong it'll be at my house when I get home." Amy said, realizing she was in for it.
"My dad promised to explain," Ephram said rubbing her back.
"I know," her voice squeaked with nerves.
"If anyone's going to get it when they get home it's going to be me," Tommy said closing his eyes. "I really don't want to go home tonight,"
Tommy knew that what was to come at home would be hurtful. While he technically should be the one that's angry because they weren't taking care of his child like they promised, that excuse never worked in the past. Unfortunately it wouldn't work this time either.
Amy hugged him.
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` ````````````````````````````````
"Not for just an hour,
Not for just a day,
Not for just a year,
But always."
Chapter 21 uses "Always" by Irving Berlin
Chapter 21: Always
"Alright, we've got Micah Brown in room 213," a nurse said as she came out into the waiting room. This was Ephram and Amy's cue, according to the plan. They took a deep breath and stood up,
"That's our child," Amy spoke, her voice shaking. Andy Brown closed his eyes in the distance; it was odd to hear these two very young people saying something such as that, but he knew it was necessary. "Am I allowed to see my son now?" she continued, feeling as if her voice would fail her at any moment. Ephram wrapped his arm around her and looked at the ground nervously,
"How is he? Have they x-rayed him?" he added.
"Micah was under great care before this, whoever did the stitching did a marvelous job, and luckily enough there were no damages to him internally," a doctor said coming out of the room holding a chart. "Sir, are you the grandfather?" he asked looking at Andrew Brown. It was amazing, that while he was once on the cover of TIME, they didn't recognize him. He was very fortunate, in this case at least.
"Yes that's right, I'm Ephram's father," he said standing up and walking toward them.
"How old are you two, if I might ask?" the doctor said, really stepping out of line. He had no right.
"We're 18," Ephram said quickly, lying as if nothing were wrong. Andy had to fight back a chuckle.
"You look very young . . ." the doctor continued, "Certainly Micah must have been a mistake," he said slowly.
"Excuse me, Dr, but I don't think any of this is your business. Now our son was hurt, we want to see him. It shouldn't matter how Micah came about or how old we were. And in my mind, anything as sweet and gentle as that little boy in there," Ephram said now pointing, "could never be a mistake," Amy smiled as Ephram started walking toward Micah's hospital room.
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` `````````````````````````````
"Everything went wrong,
And the whole day long
I'd feel so blue.
For the longest while
I'd forget to smile,
Then I met you.
Now that my blue days have passed,
Now that I've found you at last"
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` ````````````````````````````````
Meanwhile Tommy waited outside the hospital building. It was torture not knowing how his son was doing. He hadn't gotten any updates for a few hours because cell phones weren't allowed to be used in the hospital, and Amy and Ephram had to stay up there at all times since they were the "parents." He paced back and forth, feeling almost as horrible as the day Abby had died. Back then he was happy to have a new son but he never could've imagined how much he'd love him.
Abby's death had sent him into a downward spiral; there was no question in his mind. The month after she died he was overwhelmed with grief, pressure to care for a new son, and the expectation to be a good student in high school. The parties he went to with his friends, when his parents were fighting or yelling at him, the drugs he took while at them, his infant child, crying, waiting at home. . . What he hadn't told Amy, but figured she probably assumed now, was that his parents were fighting about what to do with Micah. While they knew their son loved him because he loved Abby, he just wasn't assuming the responsibility that he should. Once he fell into his drug and alcohol addictions the answer was simple, the decision made for him: social services took his child away. Having fallen in love with Micah already, his parents waited the minimal amount of time they could before adopting him, while Tommy was away at rehab.
Maybe that's why he and Amy connected so deeply. It was as if the depression she was going through when they met almost matched what he used to have. Both of their loves died, only he was left with a child. You see, Tommy never got a bad reputation as being a teen father because no one in Everwood KNEW that he was Micah's father. As he had explained before, they all assumed the child was from out of state since the child was so young when he was taken away.
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` `````````````````````````````
"I'll be loving you always
With a love that's true always.
When the things you've planned
Need a helping hand,
I will understand always.
Always."
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` `````````````````````````````
Tommy's pacing and train of thought was interrupted by Dr. Brown exiting the sliding hospital doors. He ran up to him, asking about his son's condition and about the plan,
"How'd it go? How is he? Is he asking for me?" he spat out quickly, somehow expecting Andrew Brown to be capable of answering all three questions at once.
"It went well, he's fine, no internal hemorrhaging," he smiled, "he's doing well adapting to his 'new parents,' because I told him we're playing a game." Tommy smiled. "If he plays along he wins, and if he wins he gets to come play with Delia sometime,"
"Oh he'd love that. He's so young but he loves everyone, thank you, Dr." he said shaking his hand.
"I'd like to talk to you later, if that's alright with you," Andy said softly, "It's nothing bad, I just have a few concerns,"
"I'd be glad to," he said as he sat back down on a bench. Dr. Brown reentered the building, and Tommy had to go back to feeling left out. It was for his son's own good, but it still killed him.
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` ```````````````````````````````
"Days may not be fair always,
That's when I'll be there always.
Not for just an hour,
Not for just a day,
Not for just a year,
But always."
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` ````````````````````````````````
"Mommy!" Micah screamed as Amy and Ephram entered the room. Her eyebrows rose because he was playing along so well. She smiled, and somewhere in her stomach she began to feel different; having someone call you 'mommy' was certainly a powerful thing, and even though it was pretend, the situation called for it to be real. They had to play things out in this way because the door was open and the doctor standing practically in the doorframe to hear the conversation and interactions. It was as if he was suspicious.
"Hi sweetie, how are you feeling?" she asked kissing his forehead.
"Okay," he said laughing as she tickled his toes. Ephram was mesmerized at how well this was going and how sweet Amy looked playing a mother. He had to snap into his role too.
"You get to go home in a few hours, what would you like to do when we get there?" Ephram asked squeezing his hand and then Amy's with his other.
"Eat ice cream!" Micah yelled.
"Oh, sweetheart, I think we have to wait a little while with the ice cream, your tummy's going to be pretty sore for awhile," Amy said softly.
"Glass tastes icky," he said sadly, tears brimming. Being inexperienced "parents," they weren't able to tell if he was crying because he couldn't have ice cream or because he thought they were angry with him for swallowing the glass.
"Yes, glass is definitely icky. If you see it, don't touch it, okay? Let your mom and I take care of it for you, just ask," Ephram said and Amy smiled.
Ephram felt both horrible and wonderful about this whole thing. While it was playing out beautifully, he had a feeling that Micah acting as if they were his parents would affect him later. It was one thing to play and make believe, but a completely other to have to do it for a doctor and make it believable. It was amazing how capable this child was of pretending.
"Okay Daddy," he said, "I won't," the young boy smiled. Amy's heart began to melt. This was beginning to be a lot to deal with. And while she didn't all together hate the idea of one day being a mother to Ephram's child, she was glad that they didn't have a kid right now. It was a lot of work and this was only one day. Tommy became a hero in her eyes that day; In Ephram's eyes too.
"We love you," Amy whispered in the boy's ear. She surprised herself with almost feeling as if what she said was real.
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` ```````````````````````````
"I'll be loving you, oh always
With a love that's true always.
When the things you've planned
Need a helping hand,
I will understand always.
Always."
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` `````````````````````````
Micah went back to sleep for a few hours while the hospital processed the papers. Amy and Ephram emerged from his room to see Dr. Brown asleep. Truth be told, the "parents" were worn out too; but they weren't able to sleep until later, when this was all worked out.
"Amy," Ephram said quietly so not wake up his father, "want to get some fresh air?" obviously meaning they'd go speak to Tommy.
"Yes, that sounds really good right now," she replied and they walked arm and arm through the hospital halls. Once they were away from the main desk and no one could hear them anymore, the continued their conversation,
"Mommy," he said chuckling, elbowing her lightly in jest.
"What's so funny?" she asked smiling, "it was sweet,"
"He's a cute kid, but he's a lot of responsibility," he added.
"Yes, which makes me think the pieces to this mystery puzzle don't fit together very well at all."
"What do you mean?" he asked, stopping so they could finish their conversation without reaching the doors to exit.
"Tommy said his parents weren't watching Micah when he was at my house, but he thought they were, right?" she asked sitting down on one of the uncomfortable hospital waiting chairs, whispering, a look of intensity in her eyes.
"Yes," he said confused at first, but then caught on. "But if they loved him so much to adopt him then wouldn't they take better care of him if he was their child?"
"Exactly, something about the Callahan family is suspicious," she said barely above a whisper. Ephram kissed her, breaking her thoughts. She responded and smiled as he pulled away. "Why'd you stop?" she asked breathlessly.
"I don't know," he said kissing her again. An elderly lady in a wheel chair rolled up next to them, unnoticed.
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` ```````````````````````````````
"Days may not be fair always,
That's when I'll be there always.
Not for just an hour,
Not for just a day,
Not for just a year,
But always."
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` ````````````````````````````````
"Hey! None of your shenanigans!" the old woman spoke with a very dry, grainy, voice, "You teens are all the same," she mumbled as she rolled away.
They laughed. "What just happened here?" Ephram asked.
"I think we're offending people," she said.
"You can offend me later," he said winking,
"Be careful, I might just take you up on that," she said giving him a quick kiss. They walked outside to see Tommy pacing again. Ephram shook his hand,
"It worked," he said raising his eyebrows.
"Thank you guys so much," he said hugging them both. "Has he asked for me?" he said hopefully.
"No . . . ." Amy reluctantly responded as the expression on Tommy's face dropped, "but he's been doing a wonderful job of playing along,"
"I'm just worried something will still go wrong, we've been so lucky this far,"
"Nothing will," Ephram reassured him.
"Yeah, if anything goes wrong it'll be at my house when I get home." Amy said, realizing she was in for it.
"My dad promised to explain," Ephram said rubbing her back.
"I know," her voice squeaked with nerves.
"If anyone's going to get it when they get home it's going to be me," Tommy said closing his eyes. "I really don't want to go home tonight,"
Tommy knew that what was to come at home would be hurtful. While he technically should be the one that's angry because they weren't taking care of his child like they promised, that excuse never worked in the past. Unfortunately it wouldn't work this time either.
Amy hugged him.
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` ````````````````````````````````
"Not for just an hour,
Not for just a day,
Not for just a year,
But always."