Chapter Eight Bad News:

Ephram found a job at the high school, which just so happened to be the school Delia was going to be attending, in the following months.

"Ephram, what are you doing here?" Delia asked when they bumped into each other on the first day of school.

"I'm the new part time music teacher."

"Part time?"

"Yeah, I'm teaching the kid that is playing the piano piece in the next ballet recital. I don't work all day, which is good because I won't be away from the kids that much. So it all kind of works out."

Bad News:

"I'm glad you're here, even though it might make me a laughing stock having my brother teaching here. I don't care." Delia teased.

"Thanks, I think."

"Are you okay?" Delia asked hearing the lack of emotion in her brother's voice.

"I just feel a little guilty about leaving the kids this morning."

"Just postpone working until they're older."

"We need the money. I'll be fine." Ephram reassured as the bell rang.

"Okay, if you say so." Delia said heading into her class.

Bad News:

The following day Ephram was driving to the hospital when his cell phone rang. "Hello."

"Hey, where are you?" his dad asked from the other line.

"I have an appointment at the hospital and I forgot about the one with ." Ephram added realizing what day it was.

"Yeah, you did."

"Can you tell him I'm sorry?"

"You just did, you're on speaker." Harold said after coming into the room and catching the last part of the conversation.

Bad News:

"What's the appointment for, nothing serious is it?" asked Andy.

"Oh no it's for tests to make sure I'm able to go through with the operation next week." Ephram said as a car tried to come into his lane. "That guy's going to kill someone." at that moment Andy and Harold heard tire's screeching and the sound of metal hitting metal. This of course scared Andy. "Ephram?!" After only hearing a response in the form of Ephram gasping for breath, Andy and Harold called an ambulance and rushed to the hospital.

Bad News:

When Ephram got out of the exam room Harold went in to see him while Andy stayed in the hall. Harold tried, but he couldn't convince Andy to come in and see Ephram too.

Eventually Andy went in and sat by Ephram's side and even though Ephram was still alive, seeing him was still difficult. Ephram had a concussion, a bruised spine, and a broken arm, but the police explained that it could've been a lot worse.

Bad News:

It was around ten the next morning when Ephram finally woke up. He had woken up during the night, but drifted back to sleep because of all the medicine he was on. When Ephram didn't seem to know who he was or where he was Andy decided to take it slow to make sure Ephram didn't get scared. "Ephram, do you know who I am?"

"No!" Ephram responded leaning as far away from Andy as possible.

"Do you know who you are?"

"Of course, you just said my name was Ephram."

Bad News:

"Yeah, I did. I shouldn't have told you that. Do you know how old you are?"

"Fifteen?" Andy didn't like the fact that Ephram not only got the answer wrong, but the fact that his answer came out as a question.

"No, you're twenty." at this point Ephram started to fall back asleep so Andy took the opportunity to go talk to Delia. To his surprise his in-laws were sitting with her. "How did you know we were here?"

"Delia called us. How is he?" Ruth asked anxiously.

"He's awake, but his memory is gone."

"What makes you say that?" Ruth asked coming over to Andy. "I mean he wouldn't be talking yet would he?"

Bad News:

"He doesn't know who he is. He also thinks he's fifteen.""How did this happen?"

"A car came swerving into his lane."

"What's going to happen during his recovery?"

"We'll have to try and jog his memory and he'll have to be very careful not to hit his head for awhile."

"And what's going to happen while he's still out of it?"

"We'll have to be gentle with him because strangers around him all the time and asking him a lot of questions could scare him."

Bad News:

"We'll be gentle. When can we see him?"

"Well, you can see him now, but he was falling asleep when I left."

"We don't mind we'll wait for him to wake up. We just want to be with him." Ruth said as she, Jacob, Andy, and Delia walked to Ephram's room.

They all had to reintroduce themselves everyday because Ephram had short term memory loss and amnesia, so he forgot everything at the end of the day. It was as if his mind emptied itself while he slept.

Bad News:

"Hi Ephram! Are you feeling alright today?" Andy asked as he entered Ephram's room a couple days later.

"Do I even know who you are?" Ephram asked sounding completely lost. At these words Amy and Delia left the room in tears.

"I'm your dad Ephram."

"You are? Then can I ask you a question?"

"Of course anything."

"Will you stay with me until I fall asleep?"

"Of course I will, baby." Andy said as he pulled the blanket up to cover Ephram's chest.

Bad News:

Later that afternoon Delia was in the waiting room when her grandparents started to talk about what would happen if Ephram didn't get any better or worse. "Daddy will get better won't he?" Adam asked when he and Andy came in and caught the end of the conversation.

"Of course he will, why don't you go in with Amy." Andy said putting Adam down. "Why would you say something like that?" Andy asked turning to his in-laws.

"Look, no one wants to, but we have to consider the possibility that we may lose Ephram." Jacob said grabbing Ruth's hand.

"I can't, he's my baby." even the thought of losing Ephram scared Andy.

Bad News:

Around ten the next morning Ephram woke up and finally realized where he was. He didn't know why he was in the hospital, but he did know that his arm, back, and head hurt. When he looked over he saw his dad asleep in the chair next to the bed. His dad's hand laid over his own in a comforting motion, though it was hard to say who needed the comfort the most him or his dad was hard to say. Ephram put his free hand on his dad's causing him to wake up.

Bad News:

"Go get some sleep dad!" Ephram said quietly and gently.

"Ephram, what did you just call me?" his dad asked suddenly quite alert.

"Uh, dad, I've been calling you that since I could talk."

"Oh thank God!" his dad said hugging him a little too hard.

"Dad, can you loosen your grip a little?"

"Sorry." his dad said letting him go.

"What happened?"

"You were hit by car and lost your memory."

"How long was I out of it?"

Bad News:

"Not long, about a week." actually it was five days, six hours, and twenty eight minutes, but Andy didn't want to admit that he was keeping track.

"Dad, I love you." Ephram said softly as he drifted back to sleep.

"I love you too so so much." Andy said kissing Ephram on the forehead.