Elizabeth walked towards Abigail's Café as it had not been opened yet and it was 9 am. She was concerned as Abigail had never been late to open the business. Just as she was about near the porch, the door opened and out came Cody.

"Good morning Mrs. Thornton!" he greeted her.

"Good morning to you too Cody! How are you this morning?" she replied.

"I am very well, thank you." He said and stood next to her.

"Why are you up early in the morning? We don't have school today…" she said as she tilted her head playfully.

"Oh, I am going to the infirmary to get some medication for mom." Cody said.

"Why? What happened to your mom?" she asked, concerned and leaned down so that she could be face to face with him.

"She has been in bed with a headache since last night which would not go down." Cody said.

"Oh!" she said as she leaned back up and stared up ahead at nothing in particular. She then realized Cody was there too. "Ummm…alright, you go get some medication for your mom. I will check up on her." Elizabeth said and walked into the café. It was empty as she had expected and there was a "Closed" sign on the door. She went up the stairs and knocked on Abigail's room.

"Come in…" came a faint response from inside.

Elizabeth gently opened the door to find a dressed up Abigail in bed. Her eyes were red and she was curled up like a baby on her bed.

"Abigail…" Elizabeth said in a whisper as she sat on the bed, next to Abigail, facing her. She put her hand on Abigail's forehead and it was heated up. "Oh, Abigail, you have quite a fever!" she whispered loudly but gently. Abigail managed to open her eyes ever so slightly but could not keep it open for long as the light irritated her and made her headache worse.

"Elizabeth, I…am…sorryyy…" she struggled to say as she struggled even more to get up from her bed.

"Oh, no no…" Elizabeth said as she lay her hand gently on Abigail's shoulder to motion her to go back to sleep. "Please, just rest." She said and Abigail lay back down on her bed again. "What happened?" Elizabeth whispered as she moved her head to peer into Abigail's face.

"I..I…don't know…I just woke…up…and I wasn't feeling too well... I struggled to put on my clothes and to open the café but could not find the e…nergy to leave the room." She struggled to speak.

"Oh, sweetheart, I am so sorry. You do not look or sound good at all. I will get Dr. Shepherd to have a look at you right now." Elizabeth said but Abigail did not have the energy to argue with her.

Elizabeth ran down the stairs and out of the café, towards the infirmary. She met Cody half way and asked him to stay with his mom as she ran past him to the infirmary. She found Carson and Faith standing in close proximity to one another and she cleared her throat. The two fell apart immediately, both embarrassed.

"I am so sorry, Dr. Shepherd… and Nurse Carter…" she said, out of breath, as she entered the infirmary. Carson approached her.

"No, that's perfectly fine, Elizabeth. Is…everything alright?" he asked.

"Abigail is not feeling too well. You may need to come and look at her. She may not be able to come here by herself." Elizabeth said, her voice depicting urgency and gravity.

"Yes, of course…!" Carson said as he grabbed his torchlight. He looked over at Faith who nodded and grabbed her kit. They all walked fast to Abigail's and up the stairs.

Abigail's position had not changed, except it seemed like she had drifted off to sleep. Carson went over and sat on her bed, Faith standing behind him.

"Abigail…" Carson called out to her gently. She did not respond. He touched her forehead. "Oh, she is burning up." He said and turned around to look at Elizabeth and Faith. "Elizabeth, could you please get me some cold water?" she heard him say and whisper to Faith a few more instructions to administer medication. She ran downstairs and brought back some water in a bowl. "Thank you…" Carson said as he reached for the bowl of water from Elizabeth's hands. She saw Faith injecting something in Abigail's arm. Cody stood on the side, near the window, as he watched in shock at what was happening. Elizabeth went to him and hugged him. She knelt down until she was face to face with him.

"I need you to be strong, alright?" she said to him gently, cupping his face with her hands as he nodded. "Mom will be just fine." She said and hugged him again. Just then, Robert walked in into the room and watched confusedly as he saw a flurry of activities around Abigail. "Robert, could you please come here for a second?" she called out slowly enough for him to hear her. Robert walked to her, still confused. "I would like you to take Cody downstairs, alright?" she said and Robert nodded. "Thank you." She said and got up to watch the two boys leave.

Faith and Carson hovered around Abigail for another five to ten minutes.

"Elizabeth, we have administered some medicines to her. We will have to wait for her fever to go down. Continue with the cold compress on her forehead with a towel and she should be fine soon enough." He said while Faith packed up their kit. "Please let me know as soon as she comes around." He finished off as Elizabeth nodded.

"Any idea what happened?" she asked him.

"It could be an infection or sinuses. The weather does not help." He said and she nodded again. "She should be fine with the medication I have administered." He said and walked out, Faith following him behind with a reassuring smile to Elizabeth.

No sooner had they walked out than Cody and Robert peeped into Abigail's room. Elizabeth saw that and smiled, motioning them with her hand to come in. they both walked in slowly, unaware of what was happening.

"Is mom alright?" Cody asked.

"Dr. Shepherd has given her some medication, so she will be fine, most definitely." Elizabeth said reassuringly.

"Is there anything I can do?" Cody asked.

"Oh, honey, there is something you can do and I am sure your mom will be fine." Elizabeth said. That seemed to have cheered up Cody a little as he looked from Robert to Elizabeth.

"What can I do?" he asked, hopeful.

"I would like you to go to church and say a silent prayer for your mom. And hopefully your mom will be awake when you return." Elizabeth said, her eyes shining of hope.

"I will do that right away." He said and turned around to run out of the room, saying "Come on Robert. We need God to help us out!" and Robert ran out behind him. She smiled at their innocence.

Elizabeth must have used the cold compress on Abigail for about 20 minutes before Abigail opened her eyes slightly. She found herself sleeping straight on the bed, her head on the pillow. She felt sore, not sure from what.

"Hi…" Elizabeth said gently as she stroked Abigail's arm. "How are you feeling?" She asked. Abigail tried to sit up and Elizabeth helped her do so, until she was leaning on a pillow perched on the head side of the bed. She sighed. That movement required a lot of energy.

"I am not sure. Although I feel sweaty." She said as she tried to fan herself with her free hand.

"Yes, your fever is going down." Elizabeth observed.

Just then, Cody and Robert ran inside the room.

"Mom!" Cody exclaimed as he went and hugged Abigail, who was all too happy to hug her little boy back. She kissed him on the crown of his head and he leaned back to look at her. "Mrs. Thornton said that I should go to church and pray that you will be fine. We did just that and it worked! You are awake!" he said loudly as he looked at Elizabeth. "Thank you Mrs. Thornton!" He said.

"Uh-uh…" Elizabeth said, holding up her finger. "You should thank God." She said and Cody muttered a "Thank you God!" before they all smiled at him. "Cody, could you and Robert kindly get Dr. Shepherd? He was to be informed when your mom woke up." Elizabeth request.

"Of course!" Cody said and jumped up from the bed and started to walk out but stopped dead on his tracks, remembering something. He turned around and reached for his pocket to get a note, which he handed over to Abigail. "Mom, someone gave me this. He told me it was for you." He said. Abigail furrowed her eyebrows as she ran her thumb over the note. Cody and Robert walked out together.

Abigail recognized Henry's handwriting on top of the note which read "Abigail". Her breath got hitched in her throat. Elizabeth observed her closely as she opened the note.

"I am very sorry, this had to be done, as I think of you more than I think of myself.

Always remember that you will have a friend somewhere

who cares about you and loves you to best his abilities.

Enjoy the sunsets,

smell the roses,

admire the beauty in you,

As you are a treasure to all around you.

Till I see you again I bid adieu,

have a good life.

Love, Henry."

Abigail's eyes stung with tears. Elizabeth saw that and held on to Abigail's arms.

"What happened?" Elizabeth asked as she Abigail's body shook gently from crying softly. Abigail handed her the note. Elizabeth read it and looked questioningly at Abigail. "What is this about? Where is Henry going?" She asked.

"Henry's moved to Hamilton…" she said in-between sobs. "And I am responsible for that."

"I don't understand." Elizabeth said as she shook her head. She waited for a bit as Abigail composed herself and cleared her throat before she spoke.

"You do know that…uhhhh…Henry and I…we had something going on which both of us were giving ourselves time to process…" Abigail said and Elizabeth nodded. "So, one evening…" She said and looked at Elizabeth. "do you remember when Fiona was talking to you the other evening about how Henry would be the perfect match for her aunt in New Orleans?"

"Yes I remember." Elizabeth said patiently.

"That evening, Bill confronted Henry about how close we were." She said.

"Really?" Elizabeth asked, surprised.

"Yes, and I am not sure what he told him but it got Henry rethinking on whether he is right to be interested in me romantically, you know, given what Henry did to Noah and Peter." Abigail explained as she blew her nose politely.

"I see…" Elizabeth replied.

"And then I did not see him for the next couple of days. Lee then informed me Henry was moving to Hamilton and had in fact handed over his resignation to Lee." Abigail said, shock evidenced in her voice.

"Oh?! You think it was because of whatever Bill told him?" Elizabeth quizzed.

"I would think so…" Abigail responded and then went on to explain what happened near the lakeside and at Henry's house last evening.

Elizabeth was shocked, first by the happenings and second, by the fact that so much had happened with Abigail but she didn't sense that at all. She was ashamed that she did not take the time to find out what was happening with Abigail. She had noticed that she was not herself of late but thought it was probably some Hope Valley administration matter that Abigail was dealing with in her capacity as the mayor.

"And the next thing I know…he has left Hope Valley." Abigail concluded and threw up both her arms in the air. She gently took Henry's letter from Elizabeth's hand as her eyes filled up with tears again.

"Awwww…you poor thing" Elizabeth said sympathetically as she reached over and hugged Abigail. Abigail cried even more. "I know you didn't mean to say those things to Henry and that it was a heated moment that overtook you. That is allowed…" Elizabeth said, comfortingly.

"Yes but would you blame Henry for his actions?" Abigail said as they broke apart from the hug.

"I don't know, Abigail. I mean, he knew how you felt about him, right?" Elizabeth asked and Abigail slowly shook her head.

"We have not talked about our feelings. We just knew we were comfortable around one another and that we trusted each other." Abigail said.

"I don't know what to make of it." Elizabeth gave up.

"He does not want to talk about it. I requested him not leave without doing so…yet he did." Abigail said in defeat.

"I feel you both need time to actually figure out what you feel for each other. Maybe the distance from each other will be good for both of you. The way in which the two of you deal with this separation will influence your decision on whether you would like to proceed with this relationship or not." Elizabeth said wisely and Abigail agreed.

"I know…" Abigail whispered as she crossed her legs up to her chest and held them up with her hands. "It is just so painful." She said as fresh tears formed in her eyes.

"I understand…but you need to be strong. You have Cody and Becky to take care of…and of course, Hope Valley." Elizabeth said and Abigail agreed.

Elizabeth and Abigail spoke for a few more minutes before Carson came in to check up on Abigail. He gave her his all clear that all was well now. After he left, Elizabeth left too. Abigail found herself alone in the confines of her room. She slowly walked over to the terrace from her room and looked out, her arms crossing her chest. A gentle breeze blew strands of her hair back as she sniffed slightly, taking in the fresh air. She closed her eyes and saw Henry's face with a good-natured smile. She opened her eyes immediately and looked up at the sky sadly. She then said in a low tone as she clutched the note in her one hand. "I miss you. I really do."

Somewhere in Hamilton at that very moment, Henry stood sat at his desk in his bedroom, his eyes closed, a peaceful smile on his face. His mind was running but the only thing he could make out was "Abigail", which was the only name that was running in his brain multiple times. He opened his eyes and looked at the paper on his desk and a quill next to it. He held the quill in his hand and dipped it in ink. He put the quill on paper and wrote:

"Dear Abigail…" But he stopped immediately, his thoughts overcoming his emotions. He crumpled up the paper between his hands and threw it into the dustbin near his table, which had a mountain of similar crumpled up papers. He put the quill to his paper and wrote again:

"Abigail…" but he could not continue. He crumpled up that piece of paper too and threw it once again to the growing pile in the dustbin. He sighed and looked up ahead at nothing in particular and whispered in his heart: "I miss you, I really do."

That night, both of them went to sleep, both their hearts lonelier, a little more than usual.