A/N: Whaaaaaaaaaat? I updated in a reasonable amount of time like a normal person? I know, I surprised myself. :3 Listen, in all seriousness, thanks you guys for supporting this story and a lame person like me with reviews. I truly appreciate it. But, like all good things, this story must come to an end. Including this chapter, there will be three more chapters and then a epilogue. I know, but this gives me a chance to focus on Pursuit of Happiness (shameless promotion ;P) and even possibly give you a new story! So, enjoy these last few chappies and review!

Chapter Nine: The Goodbyes

The day started like any other day that week.

He woke up, got showered, got dressed, went to work. He worked until twelve, and then ate lunch with Caesar for an hour. After work, he looked some of the files in his cases. Jazmine came over; they had sex and went to bed.

A typical night for Huey.

So why, at three in the morning, instead of being in his bed, he was in a sitting in the waiting room of the Woodcrest hospital?

"Here." Huey looked up from his view of the yellowing tile floor to see Jazmine holding out a takeaway coffee cup. He wanted to reject it, tell her he didn't need it, but she was insisting. "Medium roast, no creamer, no sugar, no milk. It's how you like it. Take it… please?"

He reluctantly took the coffee from her hands and politely sipped as she sat down next to him. She gripped her own cup tightly, as if it would walk away from her if she sat it down. She was slightly more wired than he was; she just came from an eight hour shift and was currently running on fumes.

"You know I could've dropped you off at my house so you can sleep," he reminded her. "I know we rushed out of there pretty quickly, but you only have an hour of sleep."

"I'm fine," she reiterated.

He closed his mouth and continued to drink the coffee, not wanting to get into an unnecessary argument. He leaned back into the chair and looked out to the sliding doors.

Huey watched as Riley and Cindy walked into the emergency room. Riley's eyes scanned around the room until he fixated on his brother. "So, wassup?" he questioned his brother, walking over to where the couple was.

Huey shook his head. "They haven't talked to me yet," he replied.

"You think it's serious?" Riley finally asked, sitting down in the metal chair next to Huey. Riley looked up at his older brother for all the answers, and Huey knew it. Unfortunately, he didn't have any.

"I don't know, Riley."

Riley played with his thumbs. "What if he's like, dyin' or some shit? Like they come in and say that he only got two months to live? Or they say that he's gonna—"

"Riley!" Huey snapped in a hushed tone. The dumb questions that he asked were starting to get to Huey. "Just wait until the doctor comes in here before you jump to stupid conclusions, alright?"

Riley quieted down and sunk back into his seat. "Fine."

Huey tapped his feet on the tile. He didn't want to think negatively, for once, but he couldn't help but think about the very plausible chance that his grandfather could be dying. To say that this came as a shock would be lying; they had practically planned this since he was fifteen. Sure, during eleven years there was a few scares; numb arm, pain in the knee, migraine that wouldn't go away. But not this. Never this. He always left the hospital within the day, although Huey had a feeling that wouldn't be the case this time around.

Jazmine leaned onto Huey's arm and closed her eyes. He tensed at the touch, but loosened up after a second. She didn't seem to notice; she was already fast asleep. Out of the group, she had to be the calmest considering the situation. Even Cindy looked slightly nervous about being in the hospital. Huey had to be the strongest for everyone, but in all honesty, he was terrified. The situation was too surreal.

"Mr. Freeman?"

Huey and Riley both raised their heads at the same time. The doctor noticed the sudden movement and walked towards them. Huey woke Jazmine to move her as he and Riley stood up.

Huey held out his hand. "I'm the one you spoke to on the phone."

"Right, yes," the doctor answered, shaking Huey's hand. "You're the next of kin. This is your brother, I assume?" Riley nodded. "Well, I'm glad you made it on such short notice. I'm Dr. Weiss, and I'm the on-call doctor for the emergency room. If you want to follow me, I'll take you to your grandfather and I'll explain everything there. Your friends can come, too."

Following Dr. Weiss through the restricted emergency room doors, Huey watched as the overall calmness of the waiting room quickly changed into the fast-paced of the actual emergency room. There were nurses and surgeons running around the floor, scrambling to save patients. Two nurses came up to the doctor, asking for his signature on papers.

"Excuse the craziness right now. We just had a seven-car pileup come in," he explained. He hovered his badge over a keypad and unlocked the doors to the Intensive Care Unit. They stopped in front of Granddad's room.

Riley was the first to peer into the window to watch his grandfather. He stood still, unmoving as he stared through the window. "It look like he ain't even alive."

Huey peered over Riley's shoulder, also taking a look at Granddad. As he lied in the white hospital bed, Granddad seemed as if he wasn't breathing, and if it wasn't for the steady beeping of the cardiac monitor, he would've assumed he wasn't.

Dr. Weiss cleared his throat and focus was on him again. "So what we've determined so far is that your grandfather had a massive heart attack," he explained to everyone. "He has coronary artery disease, which makes his arteries narrow. He hadn't been taking his cholesterol medicine regularly, and it made the plaque build along the walls and eventually it blocked off the blood supply."

Despite the various sounds coming from the ICU, it was eerily silent when Huey only focused on Granddad. "So when did it happen?" Riley asked, snapping Huey back into reality. He hung onto every word the doctor said, trying to wrap his mind around what was happening.

The doctor sighed. "With the test we took, a large section of heart tissue was either dead or dying. He could've had the heart attack hours ago and not have known."

Huey looked down at the floor. He should've been there. He could've protected Granddad and made sure he was still taking his medication. He knew the signs of a heart attack and he could've at least got him to the hospital faster. This could've been prevented.

"I assumed you gave him aspirin?" Jazmine chimed in. "Or Plavix or something like that?"

Dr. Weiss nodded. "Yes, but since it was so late after the initial heart attack, they didn't provide much help. We tried to go ahead and proceed with surgery, but his heart was so weak that we didn't know if he would survive the operation. What we were hoping to do is stabilize him for now and go through surgery in the morning when he was stronger, except…" he trailed off.

"Except what?" Huey pressed.

"Since your grandfather didn't get the blockage fully cleared, he's at-risk for another heart attack, or, even worse, cardiac arrest," he answered. "We've already prepared for these worst-case scenarios, but Mr. Freeman has signed a DNR form."

Huey raised an eyebrow. "DNR form? What's a DNR form?"

"A 'Do Not Resuscitate' form," Jazmine said quietly. She looked over at Huey. "It's when Mr. Freeman signs a paper—"

Huey interrupted her. "Jazmine, I know what the fuck do not resuscitate means," he snapped. "My question is: why the hell did my grandfather sign one?"

"After I explained everything to him, he said that he wanted to sign the DNR form. I tried to tell him that we can help, but per his request, he still wanted to sign it. Unless the patient is not in the right state-of-mind, I have to comply with his wishes."

Riley stepped in. "Look, the nigga obviously ain't competent enough to make that kind of decision. He had a fucking heart attack and he's doped up on drugs," he said through gritted teeth.

"Aren't you supposed to notify the next of kin or something? Don't I have to sign some shit? Because he doesn't know what the fuck he's doing," Huey added.

"He wasn't under any kind of sedation when he made his decision," the doctor told the boys. "It was completely on his terms."

"So that's it, then? Huh? We just wait till he fucking dies?" Riley yelled. Cindy put her hand on his shoulder, attempting to calm him down, but he shrugged her off. "This is bullshit! Y'all just gonna watch him die and not do a goddamn thing to help him!"

"Riley…" Cindy pleaded.

Dr. Weiss also tried to calm him down. "Mr. Freeman, if you want, you can go in and talk to him to try to change his mind."

"No fuck this!" he shouted. He glanced over for the nearest exit. "That nigga is a quitter and I don't wanna hear shit he gotta say!" He stormed out of the building, leaving stunned nurses and visitors all around.

Cindy and Jazmine both turned to Huey to see his plan of action. He didn't know if he wanted to talk to Granddad or Riley first.

"I'm going into the room."

He turned on his heel and walked into the room, where the heart rate monitor's steady beeping flooded his ears. He took the seat next to the bedside and buried his head in his lap. He sighed hard. Why did everything suddenly feel like his fault?

"You better not be blamin' yourself over there."

Huey lifted his head and looked at Granddad. "How can I not? I could've made sure you were okay."

"How? By moving back in?" Granddad questioned. He smiled. "No offense, Huey, but I've been living with you little niggas for a decade, and I was happy when y'all moved out. Y'all were some badass kids!" Huey didn't find the humor amusing. "Where's the other boy?"

"He stormed out," Huey answered. "Right after he found out that you didn't care if you lived or died," he added bluntly. "And honestly I don't blame him. You're basically giving up."

Granddad sighed and laid his head on the pillow. "When it's my time, it's my time."

It sounded stupid to Huey. The only reason it was his time was because he was pulling the plug too early. "Who makes those decisions? You? You want to stop taking meds and just leave me and Riley alone? You're thinking selfishly, Granddad."

"You know how old I am, Huey?" Granddad started. "Too old. I've seen so much of the world. I've been in two wars, and I've seen things most people would have nightmares about." He lifted his head to look at him. "I had to bury too many people, including my wife, my sister, and my daughter. When this world has nothing left to offer me, what else am I supposed to do?

"You're calling me selfish, but I've put myself behind other my whole life. Instead of letting you and Riley get in CPS's hands in Chicago, I brought you guys in, even though I wasn't sure if my income could support children. I gave you two a home, put y'all through college, raised y'all into men. And you want to call me selfish? If anyone's selfish, it's you and Riley."

Now he felt immediately bad, because he knew Granddad was right. Their lives could've went bad in a million and one different ways, but Granddad was the one who their family together. And he looked like the asshole, along with Riley. And although he didn't agree with his decision, he at least respected his grandfather in his last few hours.

"When you see Riley—"

Huey stood up. "Granddad, you can tell him yourself." And with that, he walked out of the room and went towards the exit. Jazmine stood up to follow him, but he put his hand up, and she stopped in her tracks.

The Maryland night was colder than usual, especially in at this time of year. He shivered and stood next to Riley, who looked as if he as keeping warm with his third cigarette. He shook the ash of the end of the stick.

"You're not gonna make me go in there."

Huey stuck his hands in his sweatpants' pocket and shook his head. He leaned on the concrete wall and stared up to the sky to see the stars that didn't come out often in the nights of Baltimore. It was peaceful site, really. He hasn't realize how much he missed the tranquility of it.

"You can't be okay with this."

Huey shook his head again.

"It's bullshit."

"Yeah it is."

"Do he not know we already lost a lot of people?" Riley questioned, his voice breaking at the end of his sentence. He roughly wiped tears away from his eyes. "Fuck, I'm sick of going to funerals."

"Me too," Huey added. He blinked a couple of times before completely closing them. "At least this time, you get to say goodbye." He threw the butt of the cigarette on the ground and smashed it with the sole of his foot. "Look, do what you want to, but he wants to tell you something."

Riley turned toward his brother. "Like what?"

He shook his head. "He didn't tell me."

Riley weighed out his options in his head, before turning to the hospital doors and walking through them. Huey sighed and stood quietly for a while. It had to be way past four a.m., although he hadn't looked at his watch. He could feel his body wearing down, aching for sleep, but he knew he couldn't until the deed was done. It could be any minute now, he contemplated.

"Are you okay?"

Was he okay? For now, the answer seemed to be yes. But for him, it was always the calm before the storm. People react to death in different ways, and most people went through the five stages of grief. Huey, on the other hand, went through two stages. Anger, which usually lasted about a couple of days, and then acceptance.

He knew if he said he was okay, he would be lying. Maybe he needed to believe that he was okay, so his grieving process wouldn't be so harsh. After all, he had Jazmine to fall back on. He looked down at her for the first time since they first got to the hospital. Her cheeks and nose were tinted red and Huey couldn't tell if she was crying, or if it was because she was cold.

"I'm fine."

She moved closer to him, trying to get some of his body warmth. "I got to talk to him before Riley came in. Well, me and Cindy did."

She was definitely crying.

"Mr. Freeman is so insightful. I mean, he doesn't seem scared about it or anything," she continued. The tears started to build up again. "Most people have so many questions. Most people are terrified about their impending death. But he knows is coming, and he's facing it head on." She wiped her eyes at the back of her hand.

"Yeah?"

She nodded and wiped her eyes again. "Yeah, and he told me also that I need to look out for you and take care of you," she added with a small chuckle. "Because Huey Freeman needs someone to take care of him."

Huey stood quietly. Of course he didn't need anyone to take care of him. Why would his granddad even suggest such a thing?

"I'm really sorry," Jazmine added. He could tell by her voice that she was on the brink of tears again. "If you ever want to talk…"

Huey nodded, hoping that she would get the message. "Thanks." Actually, he really wanted to tell her everything. He wanted to tell her how he felt, how he was scared out of his mind, and how he didn't know what to do next. But, he decided to keep quiet and let the enjoyable silence resonate between them, even if it was only for a couple of seconds.

"Guys," Cindy panicked, out of breath from running towards the door. "I-I think… Mr. Freeman, I think it's about to happen."

The group ran into the hospital following Cindy and stopped in front of the room. Riley was stepping out, looking in horror as the steady beep continued. Huey glared at Riley.

"What the fuck did you do?" Huey snapped. Riley looked up at him, mouth open, and then looked back at his grandfather. "I leave you alone with him for five fucking minutes and this is what happens?"

Riley tried to grab the words that were stuck in his throat. "I-I… I didn't do anything," he finally spitted out. He shook his head to get rid of the thoughts. "I mean… oh, man. He was just talking to me, and… and he said how proud he was of me…" He couldn't help the tears that were flowing from his eyes. "Then he just fucking closed his eyes and that's when the flatline started."

Soon, the doctors pushed through these two couples to get inside the room. They slammed the door and pulled the curtains over the window.

This was it. Granddad was dying.

That fucking beep went on for three minutes. Three long, agonizing minutes that were the longest three minutes in Huey Freeman's life. His brain was still wrapping around the fact that the sound was his grandfather's heartbeat, still and unmoving, just as he was sitting. The others already processed the news, and was going through the grief stage. Jazmine was sobbing into Huey's shoulder, while Riley cried silent tears as Cindy held him.

Huey, on the other hand, couldn't do anything. Although shock wasn't the right word to describe him, he felt as if he permanently bolted to the floor and moving would be completely out of the question. He didn't know what to do: should he say something? Should he tell Jazmine how he felt? Should he just keep quiet?

"Mr. Freeman."

He looked up at the doctor towering in front of him. The doctor sighed and solemnly watched Huey. "Mr. Freeman, I'm sorry for your loss." Huey nodded in response. "If you would like, we have some grief specialists that you or your family can talk to."

He shook his head almost immediately. Talking to some stranger about his problems was definitely not what he wanted to do. "Look, just give me the papers I have to sign so we can get out of here." Jazmine looked up at him just to make sure she heard him right.

Dr. Weiss flustered, not sure what to do in the situation. "Right… um, here's the thing: we usually don't give the paperwork out for twenty-four hours. Maybe you'd like to go home and get some sleep, and—"

"I just…" Huey interrupted, clenching his teeth together. "I just want to get this over with, alright?" he reiterated. "I don't care if it isn't protocol or whatever; just let me sign whatever I need to sign."

"Huey, why don't you just wait a couple hours?" Jazmine sniffed under him.

"I don't want to wait a couple of hours." And with that, Huey stood up and followed the doctor into a cramped box of a room, with the furniture only being a wooden table no younger than twenty years, and two matching chairs.

Dr. Weiss dropped the stack of papers onto the aging table as Huey sat down. "Okay, so all of these papers need to be filled out. They're just liability contracts, discharge papers, things of that nature," he explained to Huey. "Fairly simple."

Right, because the death of his grandfather was "fairly simple".

The beeper attached to the waist of the doctor vibrated violently. He glanced down at the tiny electronic. "Ah, that's the emergency room. I have to take this. You'll be fine in here by yourself?"

Huey nodded as he looked down at the papers in front of him. The stack wasn't tall at all; it would probably take him twenty minutes at the most. He let out a big yawn and got started on the first contract. He read through it quickly, making sure there wasn't anything out of ordinary. He signed it in Granddad's name, so none of the hospital bills would come to his apartment.

His phone rang in his pocket and he put it up to his ear after pressing the green button. "Yeah?" he said into the receiver.

"Hey. Jazzy told me what happened. Sorry man," Caesar said.

He scratched the back of his neck. "Thanks, Ceez," he replied, still focusing on signing his name.

"If you need anything…"

He shook his head, although he knew Caesar couldn't see him. "Nah, it's cool. I got this under control," he answered, although he wasn't sure if that was the case. "Look, I have to finish doing this paperwork. I'll talk to you later."

He hung up the phone as quickly as he got on it. He scribbled his signature on all the papers until he got to the body release form for the funeral home. And then it hit him. All at once, it was like weight was on his shoulders. He was the next of kin, so he was the one who had to do everything for the funeral. He was the one who had to call all his relatives, plan the services, and everything in Granddad's will was carried out. Riley can barely survive as a functioning adult, so he was out of the question. Everyone would be looking up to him to be the strong brother, as per fucking usual.

"Fuck me," he muttered aloud as his sudden epiphany started to sink in. He grabbed the papers and headed out of the room, and handed to whoever was at the front desk and sat back down in one the plastic chairs in the waiting room. He closed his eyes, but he could hear Jazmine sitting down next to him.

"Are you okay?"

In every sense of the word, he wasn't. He was cracking at the seams; the added pressure was actually starting to get to him. He hadn't even opened his eyes to look at Jazmine, but he could tell by the awkwardness that lingered between them that she was waiting on a response.

"Yeah."

She interlocked her fingers with his, and he was grateful for the simple touch that meant she was there for him. "I'm going to with Cindy to get me some clothes from my apartment," she announced.

"Why?"

She rested her head on his shoulder. "Because I don't want you to be alone and I insist that I that I stay with you," she explained.

"Oh."

"Can you say anything more than one-worded responses?"

"Yes."

She smirked as she squeezed his hand and kissed him on the cheek. "I'll be back," she responded, letting go of him before heading over to Cindy's direction, both of them walking out of the door.

He watched her until he couldn't see her anymore. Daybreak was starting to show and he still hasn't slept yet. His body was essentially begging for rest, but he couldn't possibly even think about falling asleep. He got up and walked around. He stood in front of his brother, who was wiping his eyes of the excess tears.

"I think we should go home now," he told his brother meekly. "It's early. Get some sleep."

Riley glanced over to the room where Granddad's body was being held for the time being, before it went down to the morgue. His looked back at his standing brother, his maroon eyes welling with salty tears. Huey had to look away, fearing he could imitate Riley's actions.

"We can't just leave him here!" he bawled out. Huey was taken aback by the sudden outburst. He regained his composure quickly. "He needs us. We ain't just gonna ditch him like he ain't nobody!"

Huey shrugged. "What else do you want to do?" he retorted. "Huh? Staying here until we're exhausted doesn't change the fact that he's dead, Riley." Riley gritted his teeth together. "Look, I don't know about you, but I only got three hours of sleep, and I need to sleep. You can stay here if you want, but I'm leaving."

He looked back at the hospital room, before getting up and facing Huey. "Fine," he simply said. Huey and Riley both walked out to the parking lot, spotting Huey's white car stationed towards the entrance. Riley scoffed as he got into the passenger seat. "Granddad's dead."

"Yeah," Huey nodded, cranking up the ignition.

"Last of the Freemans."

He cringed at the last part. "Yeah," he replied sadly.