Chapter 4

I sing to my best friend, "I will see you in the light of a thousand suns. I will hear you in the sound of the waves."

Come back to me, please. Give me more time, just a little more, to love you better. To find a cure. To make this all end different. He doesn't move and his face is changed now.

Not really him anymore.

And then his chest moves a little. It is not over yet. Not quite yet.

My voice thick with tears I sing, so softly I may just be saying it in my own head, "Solid stone is just sand and water, baby. Sand and water, and a million years gone by."

Minutes pass and finally, ever so slowly, I move away from himthen walk to the phone and pick it up. I know this number but it eludes me. I don't know anything right now but that Jason will not be here to love tomorrow.

And yet this is part of loving him today and I am proud to be in this room.

Finally the numbers come and I dial. When someone says hello, I tell them "You should come now." I disconnect quickly, not wanting to have to say more.

I turn and stare at Jason. And suddenly he is standing up and looking as handsome as ever. He laughs and so do I.

"That was a good joke, huh?" he says "That whole pretending to be dying thing?"

"Hilarious." I agree. I move toward him, needing to feel him holding me, but the image fades as I take the first step.

Who did I call? I can't remember now.

I'm standing there still when there is a knock on the bedroom door. Soon Robin is next to me.

"I'll check him." she says

Robin goes to the bed and takes his pulse. After a few more moments she whispers, "He's in a coma."

I nod.

Coma. A new world to add to this horrific last chapter of his life.

Every heartbreaking twist shocks me a little. It's not like I don't know these things happen. They happen to good people everyday somewhere in the world.

But how can Jason Morgan suffer the same fate as other mortal men?

Heros aren't supposed to die like this. They die in a flash, I thought.

But now I know better. Heroes can die slow.

Robin says, "Do you want a break? I could stay for a while."

"A break?" I repeat, the words sounding hollow, foreign and meaningless. "This is all I have left."

She nods, her eyes kind. How odd that I can find common ground with her when the battle is almost over now.

"I'll be downstairs if you need me." she says "Patrick is here too. Should I call anyone else?"

"Not yet. There's still time for all that...later."

Robin runs her hand down Jason's arm, I can see how she is barely touching him, and then clutches his hand. But only for a second. Soon she is gone from the room and it is just Jason and I again, as it should be.

With him gone my last day on earth will feel lonelier than if he was holding my hand, I accept that fact now. But my first moment in heaven will be glorious, when I can see his face, those eyes, again.

I pull up a chair and say, "Do you remember the time you met this wild, bitchy crazy woman at a bar? And than she wouldn't go away."

I smile, it feels odd.

"You made me never want to be without you again. Because with you I felt complete acceptance. That's how I knew it was you that I needed to spend my life with, that your faith in me would make me better that I could hope to be without you."

I reach for his hand. I love this hand.

"What made you go along with my crazy schemes I will never know. Remember the garbage strike I started? Remember the time I went to that meeting of the five families wielding a baseball bat?"

I laugh for both of us.

"What would I have done without you to save me? And you did. Every time.

Did I ever pay you back? Could I? I hoped I loved you half as well as you did me."

I gulp. How can this be my last conversation with my best friend?

This all feels so damn unfair.

But I know I was lucky Jason ever met me, loved me, stayed with me. I was lucky that day in Jake's and all the days after.

And if I was a better person that might temper my anger now. But Jason is the reasonable person between us. He thinks things out. I just feel and right now I feel pissed at God for doing this to Jason.

But I can't focus on those emotions now. I can't waste these precious moments with my love.

"What made you never give up on me, Jase? Maybe you couldn't shake the feeling we were meant to be in each other's lives. I know I couldn't. No matter how rough it got I never thought of walking away. Cause you...you, Jase...you made it all worth it. You made my life."

Tears roll down my cheeks and onto my hands.

"Remember the time..."

And it went on like for all the minutes that were left. I told him the story of us, one more time before he had to go.

THE END

Okay I doubt I will ever write anything that sad about Jason and Carly again. So thanks for reading it. I had the idea and went with it but it depressed me a little to read when I was done. Hope I didn't bring you down too bad.

The next Jason and Carly story I will post has romantic moments and some tough emotional tug of wars to get through before they see if they can get to happily ever after. But it is much more upbeat that this story. It's called The Last Mrs. Morgan.

THE END

The song in this chapter is sung by

Beth Nielsen Chapman.