Thank you for the reviews and for not attempting to murder me in my sleep for giving you yet another depressing chapter. May that same mercy still reign after you read this one.

Sad music is a no on this chapter, probably for the rest of the story actually. It's pretty sad when the author cries while she's writing the story, that's when you know that a couple happy stories might make a nice change.

Anyway, please enjoy and keep the reviews coming. AND TO THOSE 20 OF YOU WHO READ AND DON'T FREAKIN' REVIEW: START!!!!!

Disclaimer: Paramount Pictures is to rich as forgotten-magick is to poor, hence, I could not possibly own Four Brothers

Enjoy!

Amelia sat on Evy's hospital bed, cradling her cousin's limp hand in her own. This all felt so surreal. Evy couldn't be here, that couldn't be her face lifeless on the pillow, her arms and legs weak and unmoving on the bed. Her Evy was never lifeless, never weak. This couldn't really be Evy; Evy had to be somewhere else, anywhere else.

"Oh God, cuz," Amelia whispered. "Why didn't you tell us?"

The door opened and Amelia looked up, startled to see her sister, Daniela, standing there. "What are you doing here?" Amelia asked dully.

Daniela walked closer and stared down at Evy, her face expressionless. "I was supposed to start my practical training today," she told Amelia quietly. "But when I got here, Doctor Silva told me what had happened." Her eyes met Amelia's and her sister was surprised to see pain and sadness there. "How could this happen?" Daniela asked desperately.

Amelia stood up and hugged her older sister, wishing for the first time that they were closer, that she could understand Daniela and help her. "I don't know, Danny," she whispered. "I wish I did."

"Daniela?"

The girls turned to find Bobby and Angel standing at the door. "Hi," she said quietly.

"What are you doing here?" Bobby asked, hugging his niece. "How did you find out?"

"I was supposed to start orderly training today," Daniela explained. "One of the doctors stopped me when he saw my nametag and asked if I knew an Evy Mercer. When I said that I did, he sent me over here to be with my family." She was quiet for a moment. "You haven't told anyone yet, have you?"

Angel shook his head. "We're going to wait until she wakes up and ask what she wants," he told them.

"There's so many people to tell," Bobby said quietly as he sat down on Evy's bed and took her hand. "But I'm not sure who she wants to know. We'll have to tell her boyfriend of course, but if they've already had sex then it's a little late."

"They haven't," Amelia assured them. "Evy wasn't ready and Chris isn't the kind of guy who would push."

"Thank God for small favors I guess," Angel said.

Evy groaned and everyone turned to look at her. She started to sit up, but fell weakly back against the pillows as pain ripped through her body. "Holy fuck," she gasped weakly. She fought for breath and finally forced herself to relax. Breathing heavily, she opened her eyes and looked around.

Hospital. She was in the hospital again. Bobby was sitting on the bed, his hand clamped around hers. Amelia and Daniela stood off to her left while Angel stood on the right, sunlight from the window streaming in behind him.

"What happened?" she asked, wondering why she felt so dizzy and tired.

"Girls." They all looked around at Jerry's voice. He was standing in the doorway. "Why don't you two go down to the cafeteria and get us some coffee?" Amelia hugged Evy quickly and gave her a small smile before hurrying after her sister. Jerry shut the door after them.

Angel and Jerry sat on the bed along with Bobby, all of them looking down at their niece. "Um, before you explain," she managed weakly. "Can you sit me up please?"

After they'd adjusted the bed, Evy looked around at them all, waiting for someone to speak. As she figured, Bobby took the lead.

"You're very sick, baby," he said quietly. "You have been for a few months. Whatever your reasons for not telling us, it's not important anymore."

Evy nodded, guilt writhing in her chest. Why hadn't she told them? "What do I have?" she asked quietly. But she already knew. She'd known when she'd found the first sore and remembered one of Kevin's friends having one just like it on his leg.

"You have AIDS," Jerry said quietly.

Evy looked at them and burst into tears. "I'm so sorry," she sobbed. "I knew that I was going to get it. I knew one of Kevin's friends had it, but I couldn't tell you. I didn't want to have to face that something was wrong, I didn't want anyone to know. I just wanted it to go away, I wanted to be okay again. I'm so sorry."

They hugged her, the four of them were so close together that Evy could hear their heartbeats. "I'm so sorry," she wept. "I'm so, so sorry."

"Shh," Bobby whispered soothingly. "It's alright, hun. We understand, really we do."

Evy sobbed herself into exhaustion and the brothers remember that first day when Angel had held her until she passed out from the violence of her crying. She had been so fragile then, so broken. Dr. Masters had told them that she needed to be committed, that she was too far gone to-

Dr. Masters. Something finally made its way past the confusion and sorrow. Dr. Masters hadn't said anything about her having AIDS. Hadn't he done blood work to find out what was in her system? How could he have missed that? "I'll be back," he said quietly, watching Jerry and Angel lay Evy carefully down on her pillow.

"Where you goin'?" Angel asked.

"I need to talk to the doctor," Bobby said.

As Bobby walked up to the nurse's station, he felt a grim sort of delight. Dr. Masters was there, talking to Dr. Alexander, the one who was taking care of Evy now. "Excuse me, Doctor Masters," Bobby said smoothly. "Could I have a word?"

Masters looked terrified. "Of-of course, Mr. Mercer," he stammered.

"You did blood tests on my niece, Evy Mercer, when she was in here a few months ago, right?"

Masters flushed, his skin going deathly pale. Dr. Alexander looked livid. "Answer the question," the older doctor snapped.

Masters nodded.

"And how the hell did you miss AIDS?" Bobby asked, his voice still carefully calm and controlled.

"I didn't do an HIV/AIDS test," the young man stammered.

"That's hospital policy, Kyle," Alexander growled. "You always run the test."

"I didn't think it was really necessary-" Masters began.

"Necessary!" Bobby exploded. "Necessary? A seventeen year old girl is dying down the hall and you say it wasn't really necessary? She's dying because of you! What the fuck kind of a doctor lets a little girl die?"

Before he knew what he was doing, before he could remember that he'd sworn off violence, Bobby threw himself at the young man and starting hitting him as hard as he could. People were yelling and suddenly Angel and Jerry were there, pulling him off the screaming young doctor.

"She was supposed to live!" Bobby screamed. "She was supposed to get the chance to grow old and to have kids of her own and do everything that her father and her mother never got the chance to do! You took that away, you let her die! I'll kill you, I'll kill you!"

But Bobby froze, staring in shock at something no one else could see. Jack, his Jackie, was standing there. He came forward and put his hands on Bobby's shoulders. "It's okay, Bobby," he whispered. "It's all going to be okay." Jack rested a long-fingered hand over Bobby's eyes and forehead. "Sleep, big brother. You're going to need it."

- - - -

Bobby sat bolt upright and almost fell out of bed as dizziness swirled in his head. Swearing, he flopped back onto a pillow as someone laughed quietly to his right. It was dark and the whole world seemed very quiet. Had hours passed so quickly? Where was he anyway? Had he just been having a dream?

"Nice of you to drop in," a voice said dryly. Bobby rolled on his side and was surprised to see Evy sitting there. He was in her hospital room, someone had put him in the other empty bed.

"Jack!" Bobby said suddenly as memories of the scene with Dr. Masters rushed back on him.

Evy frowned. "You hit your head or something?" she asked. "I'm Evy."

"No, damnit," Bobby snapped. "I saw Jack in the hallway! He told me to sleep, he touched me!"

Evy didn't look surprised. "Have you seen him too?" Bobby asked, hardly daring to believe it. She nodded.

"He was next to me when we got to the hospital," she said quietly. "He was running next to the gurney, following us." Tears filled her eyes. "I wish he was here now," she said softly.

Bobby got up and went to sit next to her. He cradled Evy to his chest wishing for the first time in years that he had died instead of Jack. "I'm so scared, Uncle Bobby," she whispered. "I'm so scared that I don't know whether to laugh hysterically or cry myself into unconsciousness."

"I know, baby," he said softly. "But at least you won't be alone. We'll be here no matter what."

Evy started to cry, gripping his shirt so tightly that her knuckles seemed to glow white in the dim room. "That's what Daddy told me before he left," she sobbed. "He told me that he'd come back and we'd never be alone again, that he'd always be there. But he's not. He's not! He's just fucking gone!" she screamed, pounding her fist weakly on his chest as her sobbing intensified.

"He wanted to be, Evy," Bobby said, holding her tighter. "He wanted to be there so much."

Evy sobbed into Bobby's chest for what seemed like days. Finally her body relaxed against his and her sobs became soft gasps for breath. "Know what you need?" Bobby said quietly. Evy looked up at him, wiping tears off her face. "You need a cigarette. Hang on."

He got up and went out to the nurses' station. A young woman with curly black hair smiled at him as he walked up. "Hey cutie," he said, fixing his most charming smile on his face. "My niece would like a little fresh air. I'm sure it's against the rules, but it would mean so much to her. Do you think I could get a wheelchair and directions to a smoking balcony or something?"

The girl frowned slightly and looked toward Evy's room. "Please, hun," Bobby said, letting the fatigue he still felt seep into his voice. "She's got AIDS and only a few months left. Can't you break the rules just once?"

The woman gave him a sympathetic smile. "Of course," she said. "I'll get a chair for you."

"Thanks, doll." At least there are still a few good people left in the world.

- - - -

Evy took a deep breath, savoring the clear night air. A stiff breeze had picked up and the night wasn't as blazing hot as they'd been for the last few weeks. She looked up at the stars as felt that now familiar longing that Jack could be there with her.

She sighed and took another pull on her cigarette. Bobby snorted to her left. "What?" she asked.

"I shouldn't let you smoke that shit," he said. "It's so bad for you."

Evy laughed. "Uncle Bobby, I was up to a pack at day by the time I was eleven."

"You're just like your father," Bobby said in mock disgust. "Just cause you've been doing it for years you don't see any reason to stop. Those things'll kill ya, you know." He cringed as he realized what he'd said.

Evy laughed again, but this time bitterness marred the light sound. "Uncle Bobby, I'm not going to live long enough for lung cancer to develop, much less for it to kill me." She bit her lip and Bobby walked over. He crouched down next to her wheelchair and took her hand, his eyes so filled with understanding that Evy almost burst into tears.

"It scares me, you know," she said, staring down at the red-hot ashes on her cigarette. "It scares me that my life is going to end so soon. I never wanted it to go on. I never even wanted to wake up the next day until I came here." She gave a strangled sound, somewhere between a sob and a laugh. "It's a crime that my life's going to be over right when I decide it's worth living."

Something seemed to explode inside her and tears overflowed, running down her face and into her lap. She rocked forward as pain seared through her body and she would have hit the ground if Bobby hadn't been there to catch her.

These tears were different and they cut Bobby like a knife as he held her. These were desperate tears, empty dreams being swept out of a person who could never live them. These were the tears of someone who knew that nothing would ever be okay again, that nothing could ever fix what was broken. Jack's tears as he screamed for Bobby had been like that. The final manifestation of a life that would never be lived, of a soul that would be forever abandoned.

Oh God, Jackie, Bobby thought bleakly. Why is this happening?

God, sometimes I even depress myself. I actually got a note from a girl who says that she's not reading this anymore because it's just too sad. So freakin' sue me, I can't write happy, it comes off like Disney on uppers.

Anyway, the final countdown is on: two chapters to go. Hazzeh, I'm finally going to finish a fanfic.

So, please review. I'll give a king's ransom in gold if someone who's never reviewed before leaves me a comment! And I'll give my sincere and heartfelt thanks to those of you who do review because I absolutely love you all.