The days passed by in one big blur. Eric only remember flashes. A nurse softly getting him out of the hospital bed and guiding him to Cory and Topanga; the drive back home; the apartment, hollow and empty at his return; the visits from Shawn and Angela – even Rachel came to check up on him briefly one afternoon. He never made the appointment for the counseling. It did nothing to him.

I can hear you say my name

I can almost see your smile

Feel the warmth of your embrace

But there is nothing but silence now

The song kept skipping in his head, the same lines - over and over again. It didn't even irritate him. It did nothing to him.

The one time he has asked about Jack, Topanga had told him that he couldn't go see him right now. Jack was still very confused and he wasn't quite ready to be around too many people, she told him. Eric had said he didn't understand – he could help him, he knew what Jack was going through, he had seen it in his eyes. But Topanga only looked at him with a sorry, painful stare and absent-mindedly stroked his hair. The next time, she told him the exact same thing. After that, he didn't ask her again, although Jack's image never left his thoughts.

He felt how his brother and the rest were starting to get worried over him, so he put up a façade to his friends. He developed a daily ritual – getting the mail, shoving it underneath his bed, eating a cracker for breakfast, leaving the apartment for school – where he never arrived – and spending the evening listening to the radio, eating whatever leftovers Cory and Topanga had brought him, or usually just sleeping in Jack's bed. Once in every few days he cleaned up the apartment, by dusting the things that would look suspicious if they were undusted, and sweeping the spots on the floor that would look suspiciously dirty if he didn't clean them up.

Days became a week, a week became a month, months, and still no one seemed to really notice his emptiness. He felt how the void in his heart ate away his thoughts, his feelings and words. That little monster inside had eaten all of his energy, the light and the smile on his face. Every step was a burden, every spoken word a flash of pain.

And the song kept playing.

Never thought

This day would come so soon

We had no time to say goodbye

How can the world just carry on?

I feel so lost when you are not by my side

But there's nothing but silence now