Author's Note: This chapter is a little farfetched, but I assure you, it will make more sense as time goes on.

CHAPTER THREE

"Buried alive?" Hope gasped in horror. "That can't be true…I mean, I held him in my arms forever, and there was no life in him. This doesn't make any sense at all!"

"You think I don't know that?" Carolyn replied in frustration. "But look where you are; how many things have happened over the years that didn't make sense? Bo has had more life and death situations than anyone, and somehow, I can't see him just closing his eyes and dying. If I believe he's alive and he needs our help—then it must be so."

Hope closed her eyes, then reopened them as her mind tried desperately to process this information…Bo was buried alive? If so, how had it happened? Then an agonizing reality sank it…

"I've got to get to the cemetery!" she shouted.

"You can't do it alone," Carolyn pointed out, but Hope had already run out the door.

A long silence had filled the car as Kayla and Steve left the hospital and headed for home. Neither one knew exactly what to say to comfort the other, for they had both lost someone they cared for deeply: Kayla had lost her little brother and Steve, his absolute best friend in the world. Bo was the person who had brought them together in the first place. It seemed he would always be there. He was like a rock, an icon of sorts.

Finally, Kayla asked a question that seemed so simple, but yet, it wasn't. "What are we going to do?"

He looked at her. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, how are we going to get through this?" Kayla asked. "It's like a piece of my heart has been ripped out from inside of me. I don't see how things are ever going to be the same again."

Steve reached out and used his free hand, the one that wasn't on the steering wheel, to grab hers. "They won't, Baby," he said gently. "We both know that. We can't just give up; we have kids and lives. And Bo wouldn't want us to stop living because he's no longer here. He would want—" His voice broke off as a sob tore from his throat. "He would want us to love others as he did. He was always doing something for someone else. That's the way I want to be."

"But you already are," Kayla said gently, touched by the sight of his tears. He was a good man with a tender heart. It was easy to see why he and Bo had been such great friends. Both could be the kindest and most gentle men in the world—until someone messed with their families, then neither would hesitate to do what had to be done. No matter the outcome. "Bo was blessed to have you in his life—and so am I."

She saw the pride in his eyes as he gently kissed her hand. 'You're really something, you know that?"

Before Kayla could answer, Steve's cell phone interrupted her. He grabbed the phone, then said simply, "Yeah?"

He looked at Kayla with concerned eyes, and Kayla instinctively grabbed his arm; she didn't like that look. She had seen it far too many times.

"Hope?" he demanded. "What's wrong? Calm down, I can't understand you…you want us to meet you where?"

Kayla grew more and more puzzled as the call went on. Finally, Steve threw the phone down in frustration, then said anxiously, "Hope wants us to meet her at the cemetery, but she wouldn't tell me why."

The concerned duo had no choice but to rush to the cemetery. When they got there, they found a troubling scene: Hope frantically using a shovel to unearth Bo's freshly-planted grave. Steve raced to her and pulled her into his arms as she shouted, "Hope, what in god's name are you doing? Have you completely lost your mind?"

"Let me go!" she screamed at him. "I have to dig this up, and you have to help me!" She struggled in his arms as he struggled to keep her close, fearful she would someone harm herself. She certainly wasn't acting rationally.

"You wanna tell me what's going on?" he demanded. "I can't help you if you don't."

"Bo's alive," Hope snapped. Kayla's hand instantly flew to her mouth in shock.

"Oh, geez," Steve groaned. "Hope, we've been over this—"

"Carolyn saw it, too," Hope insisted. "She said Bo was buried alive and we have less than 24 hours to find him. You know her visions have never been wrong. If you don't help me find him—"

Slowly, Steve released her. "That's your best friend," Hope went on, her chest heaving as she struggled to catch her breath. "If there's even a chance he's alive, you'd want to find him. You know it."

Steve still wasn't sure Hope was all there emotionally; nevertheless, he had to try and help her. She was right; he had never known Carolyn's visions to be wrong before. "I brought an extra shovel," Hope went on. "Are you going to help me or not? If not…just stay out of my way."

Without another word, Steve grabbed the shovel began digging up the grave while Kayla kept watch to make sure no one interrupted them. She could picture the headlines in the newspaper: GRIEVING WOMAN GETS ARRESTED FOR DIGGING UP HER LATE FINANCEE'S GRAVE. With all the things Bo and Hope had done together over the years, it wasn't really that hard to believe. Bo had lived to get Hope out of trouble.

For the next hour, the two exhausted people dug up the grave while Kayla held flashlights over them so they could see what they were doing. Finally, they reached the top of the casket. Hope held her breath as Steve demanded, "Are you sure this is what you want to do?"

"Yes…open it," Hope insisted.

She squeezed her eyes as Steve slowly opened the box. Two seconds later, she heard him gasp, "It can't be…it just can't be."

Fearfully, Hope reopened her eyes and shock filled them what she saw what Steve saw.

The casket was empty. Bo was not there.